Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia has ended one of the more significant chapters in its tumultuous history: the Finnish phone giant has finished divesting Vertu to private equity firm EQT VI, shedding direct control of the definitive luxury phone brand. The formal switch lets Nokia keep a 10 percent stake and move 1,000 staffers to the newly independent company. Where Vertu goes next may be more intriguing, however. There’s no official word on any change of direction, but that hasn’t stopped tipsters from claiming to TechCrunch that there’s a big shakeup ahead. Supposedly, former Nokia VP Anssi Vanjoki will finally get the phone maker CEO position he’s been looking for through a Vertu spot, and he won’t simply follow in his former employer’s footsteps — upcoming Vertu phones may use Android, not Windows Phone. While it’s a very unconfirmed rumor, a switch-up wouldn’t be completely surprising when Vertu is still an all-Symbian house that needs more than just a few extra jewels to stay relevant.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

Nokia finishes offloading Vertu, rumors claim Vertu plans a matching switch to Android originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like the proverbial groundhog, Nokia’s Feature Pack 2 for Symbian Belle peeked out a bit too early last month and had to withdraw back into its burrow. Now the new firmware upgrade for the Nokia 701, 700, 602 and Pureview 808 is out for realsies, with the latter star of the lineup getting the lion’s share of new trinkets. Specifically, the big-sensored phone will now have a landscape Gallery Grid view option, which will enable faster and easier zooming, editing and sharing of images; more picture info like ISO value, white balance and location; and a reset button to get back to the default image setting in one touch. All the above Symbian Belle phones will get an updated browser with better HTML5 support, a (much) faster keyboard, the Video Pro editing application and Car Mode — which gives “easy access to your phone’s key features when you’re driving,” according to Nokia. If that makes you feel better about your legacy Nokia OS investment after all the company’s Windows Phone 8 hoopla, check the source to see how to get it.

[Thanks, Fakhre]

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Nokia

Nokia launches Belle Feature Pack 2 firmware OTA, Pureview 808 gets extra imaging goodies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it’s easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don’t escape without notice, we’ve gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!

Continue reading Refresh Roundup: week of September 17th, 2012

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile

Refresh Roundup: week of September 17th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 20:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia has been tuning up its Symbian Belle phones with new software over the past few days, but there’s been one glaring exception: the 808 PureView. The camera-centered behemoth isn’t far behind, though, as a handful of users have spotted and grabbed a 113.10.1506 OS update lurking on Nokia’s servers before it was abruptly yanked. While Nokia hasn’t confirmed details of the upgrade, those few who tried the download can vouch that it really is Belle FP2, or Belle Refresh. As such, it’s bringing an overhauled keyboard with text prediction, new versions of the browser and music player apps, fresh widgets and no doubt a few under-the-radar bug fixes. It’s hard to know if the update is final code, so we’d advise caution before loading up any unofficial copies you might find — even so, it’s a portentous sign for 808 owners who’d like to have a definitive instance of smartphone-grade Symbian before the platform rides into the sunset.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Symbian Belle FP2 for Nokia 808 PureView spotted early, pulled quickly originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just this afternoon Nokia released a significant software update to their Symbian collection of devices going by the name of Nokia Belle Refresh. This update will affect a whole batch of Nokia smartphones including the Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7, Nokia C6-01, Nokia X7 and Nokia Oro. The Nokia E6 will also be updated later this week while the Nokia 500 is set to pop up within a few weeks from now.

This update to Nokia devices working with Symbian software is bringing on several rather fabulous upgrades including, first of all, a brand new web browser. This new web browser comes with HTML5 support for web apps of all kinds, and the release comes right alongside a brand new set of homescreen widgets as well. This update is also bringing on the previously released Microsoft Office Mobile App and Nokia Maps Suite 2.0 in one handy package.

With this update also comes a selection of new apps dedicated to imaging. You’ll get the update in one of several rollout phases that will be popping up very, very soon. Vanilla versions of devices will be coming first, those being the devices with no software variants depending on country or mobile carrier. After this software rollout is complete, the country and operator variants of the software will appear inside the next few weeks.

Users should be prepared – however one might prepare – for the possibility that certain 3rd party apps will not work immediately after updating to Nokia Belle Refresh. Nokia notes that “Just like after updating from Nokia Anna to Nokia Belle, some apps may not work due to compatibility issues. If you need more information on available apps, please contact your local Nokia Care support. Furthermore, you can also contact the respective App developer to enquire about the compatibility.”

Nokia Belle Refresh released worldwide today is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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