Hasta La Gadget!

Sales of Nokia handsets in the North American market dived by 50-percent in Q3 2012 versus the previous quarter, the company has confirmed, with just 300,000 phones sold in the lucrative region. In fact, Nokia sales only increased in Q3 in two markets – up 10-percent in Europe and 5-percent in Asia-Pacific – with Greater China sales ditching 27-percent and Latin America down 9-percent, for a total decline of 1-percent in volumes compared to Q2 2012.

Year on year, the numbers are even more dismal, with overall volumes stopping 22-percent. In the same period, net sales dropped 34-percent.

Nokia blames “lower operator and distributor demand for Lumia as well as our efforts to prepare the distribution channel for the upcoming sales start of new devices” for the drop in North America, while sales in China were down because of “competitive pressures” trampling on Symbian interest.

There’s frustration ahead for existing Lumia owners, however, with the news earlier this year that their hardware would not be compatible with the next version of Windows Phone. Instead, they’ll get Windows Phone 7.8, a UI refresh, but few of the underlying software improvements. How that might impact the warm, fuzzy feelings toward the Finnish firm by early-adopters remains to be seen.

All hopes are now on Nokia’s new Windows Phone 8 line-up, which currently consists of the Lumia 920 flagship and the Lumia 820 mainstream handset. Nokia is also focusing on wireless charging as a differentiator, though the company has been criticized for the relatively high prices of its charging accessories.

Nokia North American phone sales slashed in half in Q3 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia has slashed the price of its existing Windows Phone 7 devices and reportedly plans to take responsibility for manufacturing its new Lumia 920 and 820 models, according to industry whispers. Prices for the Lumia 800 have been slashed by around 15-percent, the biggest cut to the range, according to Reuters‘ insiders, with talk that the firm has not outsourced production of the new Windows Phone 8 handsets revealed yesterday, but will instead build them in-house.

Previously, Compal Communications had been responsible for production of the Lumia 800 and other existing first-gen Windwos Phones, but that’s set to change for the Lumia 920 and 820. Nokia will supposedly use its own facilities, DigiTimes says, though may continue to outsource mid- and entry-level Windows Phone devices to Compal and other OEMs in the future.

As for the cheaper prices for existing phones, Nokia painted the decision as a standard part of device evolution. “Our pricing has been business as usual, reflecting typical product lifecycle changes” a Nokia spokesperson said in a statement, though declined to comment specifically on the reported cuts.

Nonetheless, with no official release date given for the new phones, nor indications of how much they will cost, there’s uncertainty as to how Nokia’s ailing fortunes will do over the next few months. Although pressed, the company declined to say when exactly the Windows Phone 8 Lumias would hit shelves, or indeed with which carriers.

Instead, it promised availability later in the year, with both 4G LTE and HSPA+ versions on offer. More on the new Lumia devices in our full wrap-up.

[via Unwired View]

Nokia WP8 Lumia production reportedly in-house; Existing phone prices slashed is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you love Groupon deals and have a phone capable of running Nokia Maps, then boy does Nokia have the update for you. Today, Nokia’s Pino Bonetti announced that Nokia Maps has been updated and now includes support for Groupon Now! deals. This means that you’re never too far from the next great Groupon deal, as Groupon Now! allows you to purchase them and use them immediately. Pretty cool, no?

Bonetti explains the process of buying a Groupon deal on your phone in a post on the Nokia Conversations blog – when you’re looking for something in Nokia Maps, you’ll be alerted to Groupon deals at nearby places. Each deal listed on your map comes with an “exhaustive description,” and deciding to buy one will take you to the Groupon mobile site where you’ll complete your purchase. Unfortunately, those living outside the US are out of luck for the time being, as Groupon Now! deals are currently only available in the US due to their “geographically limited” nature.

Support for Groupon Now! isn’t the only thing Nokia is touting with this update. Nokia has introduced a new feature called “advanced route setting” in this update, which allows users to plan trips within the Nokia Maps app. Select your starting point and destination, tell the app if you’ll be walking, driving, or taking public transportation, and you’re good to go. Nokia also says that users can save the route to their start screen, so it will be ready for future trips.

At this point in time, Nokia Maps is only compatible with the Nokia Lumia 610, 710, 800, and 900, so if you don’t own one of those models, then this update doesn’t apply to you. Users can get the update by either waiting for the notification from the Windows Phone Marketplace or downloading it from the Nokia Collection. It sounds like an excellent update, so if you’re a regular user of Nokia Maps, be sure to grab it.

Nokia Maps updated with support for Groupon Now! deals is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’d heard that the Lumia 800 and 710 were to get Windows Phone 7.5 sometime soon, but the time has officially arrived for these two to Tango. Today Nokia announced that the fresh code has already started rolling out, bringing hotspot and flip-to-silence functionality to the handsets. Plus, once you’ve updated via your Zune desktop software, access to the nifty Camera Extras software — already promised to Lumia 900 owners — is but a download away. As a refresher, those Extras allow Lumias to take Scalado-powered Smart Group Shots, provide a better burst mode for action pics, plus add a self-timer and panorama mode as well. Want to see the new camera features in action before taking the plunge? Check out the video after the break.

Update: As our astute commenters have pointed out, the Lumias both have Mango onboard, so this bit of software is but an update to Windows Phone 7.5 that brings additional features.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 get Windows Phone 7.5 update, finally get to Tango (updated)

Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 get Windows Phone 7.5 update, finally get to Tango (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 18:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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