Hasta La Gadget!

We didn’t expect too many fireworks from Microsoft and Nokia’s joint teleconference this morning, and, well, we didn’t get any. As expected, Office Mobile is coming to Symbian, along with Office Communicator Mobile, SharePoint, and Microsoft System Center, and the two companies also said they’ll be working on “future user experiences” for Nokia customers. Don’t get too worked up about that, though — Nokia said it was “deeply committed to Symbian,” and that “there are no such plans” to work on a Windows Mobile device. So much for that. We did ask whether this partnership would affect Nokia’s rumored Maemo plans, and we were told that development is Symbian-focused for now, but that there might be “other business opportunities” in the future, so at least that door remains open a hair — but for the most part this is all about Microsoft and Nokia trying to stake out a stronger enterprise position, not anything else. Video after the break, if you’re having a hard time taking that nap.

Continue reading Microsoft and Nokia announce Office coming to Symbian

Filed under: Cellphones, Software

Microsoft and Nokia announce Office coming to Symbian originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re not sure what to make of this, but we were just invited to a joint Microsoft / Nokia teleconference during which the two companies will announce an “alliance.” Yeah, there are some pretty wild possibilities there — Nokia going WinMo? Redmond going Symbian? The creation of MaeWinMo? — but considering the featured speakers are Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft’s business division, and Kai Öistämö, Nokia’s EVP for devices, we’re guessing the real announcement will be something more pedestrian, like native Exchange support on Symbian or possibly that upcoming Atom netbook running Windows 7. Otherwise, hell — Nokia would be supporting three different mobile OSs, and that seems just a little too crazy, even for Espoo. We’ll see — it all goes down tomorrow at 11AM Eastern.

Update: This is probably unrelated, but Microsoft’s Mac BU just called its own presser for Thursday, so if you’re looking to spend the night weaving wild nonsensical conspiracy theories, we’d say all the pieces are in place.

Update 2: Told you it was nothing too out there — the Wall Street Journal says Microsoft will announce it’s working on a version of Office for Nokia phones. Anyone surprised? Didn’t think so.

Filed under: Cellphones, Laptops

Nokia and Microsoft to announce an “alliance” tomorrow — what? Update: Office on Nokia phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Every week, random, seemingly anonymous Nokia handsets quietly pick up FCC approval. Most will never see the light of day on an American carrier, and the ones that do have usually already been announced so that by the time we figure out what the FCC filing refers to, it’s uninteresting. Today, though, we noticed a Nokia RX-51 get certification, and we were immediately intrigued; standard Nokia phones have an “RM” designation, so “RX” has us thinking that this is no ordinary phone. Taking a peek at the SAR documentation reveals that it rolls deep with AWS 3G, just the kind that T-Mobile USA needs to do its thing. The final piece in this amazing puzzle has to be the ID placement doc, which shows the outline of a device far wider than your standard dumbphone. Where are we going with this? You might recall MobileCrunch‘s information from a while back suggesting that T-Mobile USA would be getting a Maemo 5-powered superphone codenamed “Rover” — and, well, we’re pretty sure this is it. Stay tuned — things are about to get interesting.

Nokia device passes FCC for T-Mobile USA, looks an awful lot like a new Internet Tablet to us originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just as we heard, Intel and Nokia have today announced a long-term partnership that just might / might not revolutionize the way you live. The all-too-mysterious release doesn’t go into great detail about what exactly the partnership will lead to, but it’s clear that the two are joining hands in order to “shape the next era of mobile computing.” Indeed, the duo has stated that they expect “many innovations to result from this collaboration over time” and they are hoping to “define a new mobile platform beyond today’s smartphones, notebooks and netbooks, enabling the development of a variety of innovative hardware, software and mobile internet services.” It’s hard to say if we’ll be seeing a Nokia UMPC, MID or smartbook in the near future, but we have to wonder if the world is even interested. An Intel-powered smartphone? Color us interested. An Intel-powered Nokiabook? Meh.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Intel and Nokia officially partner on mobile devices: “the possibilities are endless” originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, you’ve seen the alpha SDK, and you’ve even seen it in pre-alpha, but if you’re really serious about your Maemo 5 development you gotta check out the beta release. This should be music to the ears of all you crazy kids who are hard at work developing software for Nokia’s next-gen Internet tablets. And “Maemo 5 Beta SDK” is not only fun to say, but it also brings several new features to the table, including: support for widget development, a new version of the Modest open-source email app, OMAP3 support, HSPA data connectivity, hi-def camera support, and hardware-based graphics acceleration. Lastly (though certainly not leastly) you’ll finally be able to get your hands on a Maemo 5 Development Manual. We hear that one’s a real page-turner. Hit that read link and get to work.

[Via Brighthand]

Filed under: Handhelds

Maemo 5 Beta SDK released into the hands of an eagerly waiting world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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