Hasta La Gadget!

There’s not long to go until Nokia World kicks off in Helsinki on September 5th, but what exactly can we expect from the event? Chinese website WPDang has it on good authority that Nokia will be unveiled two Windows Phone 8 devices at the event, making them one of the first vendors to bring Windows Phone 8 handsets to the table. WPDang believes that the two handsets could be the Nokia Lumia 910 and Lumia 920.

Sources speaking to WPDang indicate that Nokia will unveil two new handsets, and in addition, Microsoft representatives will make an appearance at the event to showcase even more consumer features in Windows Phone 8 using Nokia’s new phones. WPDang couldn’t confirm, however, if Nokia’s PureView tech, the raison d’être for the Symbian-based 808 PureView, would make it to these new handsets.

Microsoft did announce several hardware partners for Windows Phone 8 at its Windows Phone Summit back in June, which included Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and Huawei. None of those vendors have announced any Windows Phone 8 plans just yet, although HTC’s lineup was leaked not too long after the event. The company is reportedly planning to offer three handsets that will address the entry-level, mid-range, and high-end of the market.

Windows Phone 8, meanwhile, brings a whole host of new functionality to the table, including support for multi-core processors and high-resolution screens. The user interface has also been modified, allowing users to select different tiles sizes that can be rearranged onscreen as they see fit. Nokia Maps will be the default maps application for all Windows Phone 8 devices, and Microsoft placed a strong emphasis on its new NFC capabilities, as well as business friendly security features.

[via SoMobile/TechRadar]

Nokia reportedly unveiling Windows Phone 8 devices on September 5th is written by Ben Kersey & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has announced the dates for BUILD 2012, its next big developer conference, held at the Microsoft campus the week after Windows 8 goes on sale. Kicking off October 30 and running until November 2, BUILD 2012 will focus not only on the new desktop platform – and its ARM-focused Windows RT counterpart – but cover Windows Phone 8, Windows Azure, Server2012, and Visual Studio 2012, among other things.

There’ll also be some surprises in store, though Microsoft is playing its cards close to its chest. “This will be unlike anything we’ve held on our corporate campus in a long time” Microsoft’s Tim O’Brien teases. “Most of the speakers and participants are from our engineering teams, so a campus event puts you in the thick of things along with the engineers directly responsible for our products and the platform opportunities they represent. This one’s not to be missed.”

Back at BUILD 2011, Microsoft officially released the Windows 8 Developer Preview into the wild, while chipset partner NVIDIA demonstrated a prototype Windows RT on ARM tablet running its Kal-El platform. That chip went on to launch as Tegra 3, of course, expected to be at the heart of Windows RT models from ASUS and Lenovo later this year.

Registration for BUILD 2012 opens at 8AM Pacific on August 8 2012, at the BUILD site, when Microsoft says we can expect more details on keynotes, sessions and the like. SlashGear will be there to bring you all the news from the opening keynote, never fear.

Microsoft BUILD 2012 puts developer focus on Windows 8 and WP8 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia has been further downgraded by financial ratings agency Moody’s, with the credit company blaming uncertainty around Windows Phone 8′s potential for success and unanticipated hurdles for its pessimism. Moody’s had already downgraded Nokia once this year, classing the Finnish firm only one step up from non-investment status, and this second slap does nothing to improve that. However, Nokia is defiant about Moody’s decision, with chief financial officer Timo Ihamuotila arguing that “its impact on the company is limited.”

“Today’s rating action reflects our view that Nokia’s transition in the smartphone business will cause deeper operating losses and consequently cash consumption in the coming quarters than we had previously assumed,” SVP and lead Nokia analyst at Moody’s Wolfgang Draack said of the new rating. “A return to profitability in the Devices & Services (D&S) segment on the back of smartphones with the Windows Phone 8 mobile operating systems is by no means assured.”

Key to the downgrading is Nokia’s operating loss in the last quarter, which was almost double what Moody’s had expected. In fact, the analyst firm suggests Nokia may not have even seen its lowest point of the “transition” to Windows Phone 8:

“At around 16% gross profit margin, the new Lumia devices are loss-making at operating level at this time. In view of a very price competitive and fast moving smartphone industry, Moody’s expects that the next, Windows Phone 8-based smartphone generation will find it challenging to achieve a level of differentiation and market penetration to become a meaningful income generator in the first few quarters after launch. If the devices are launched and first units shipped in Q4 2012 and find immediate traction, it might still take until mid-2013, before volumes and margins reach a level of sustainable profitability” Moody’s

Moody’s now predicts that Nokia will only return to profitability in the second half of 2013.

Unsurprisingly, Nokia’s reaction is brief and combative. “While we are disappointed with Moody’s decision, its impact on the company is limited” CFO Timo Ihamuotila said in a statement today. “We are quickly taking action to position Nokia for future growth and success. Nokia will continue to focus on lowering the company’s cost structure rapidly, improving cash flow and maintaining a strong financial position.”

Still, Nokia itself warned that Q3 would be another miserable quarter, with roughly the same performance as in Q2 though with a +/- 4-percent gutter indicating how uncertain Windows Phone 8′s reception is. It remains to be seen whether other analysts follow Moody’s as before, and also downgrade the Finnish firm.

Nokia defiant over junk downgrade by Moody’s over WP8 uncertainty is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Financial Times has reported that Nokia is in “exploratory” talks with several European carriers to share revenue for its upcoming Windows Phone 8 handsets in exchange for dedicated support. This would be a shift from its normal modus operandi, which is to sell as many phones as it can across all carriers at once, in favor of an approach which resembles Apple’s deal with AT&T for the iPhone in 2007. The Finnish company could be hoping to create the same level of excitement for its WP8 phone that Cupertino did back then — and may also be trying to offer a more profitable carrier alternative to Apple and Samsung, who use their dominance to grab the lion’s share of handset revenue. While operators like France Telecom (Orange) and Deutsche Telekom are said to be involved, all parties have declined to comment. So, take this for what it is — just a rumor at the moment — but based on deals it made in the US with AT&T and the Lumia 900, it wouldn’t be a shocker for Nokia to at least consider it.

Filed under: Cellphones

Financial Times: Nokia mulling revenue split with carriers for Windows Phone 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 01:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may have followed our coverage of the upcoming Windows Phone 8 when it was unveiled in San Francisco. We knew that the very promising mobile OS update was going to around the end of the year, but ZDnet’s Mary Jo Foley has reported about a possible Release to Manufacturer (RTM) in September, followed by the arrival of actual devices in November. (more…)

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