Dec 12

Nokia N900 gamepad hack dispenses with beauty, sidles up to sore thumbs (video)

Posted in: controller, hack, mobilepostcross, mod, nokia, Today's Chili, video games, VideoGames

Know what’s kicking and screaming its way into obsolescence? If you guessed the N900, pat yourself on the back with this hack. Nokia’s internetting tablet that simply refuses to quit has already run the multi-purpose gamut, standing in as a brain scanner / replacement, OS dual-booter and Ice Cream Sandwich biter — just to name a few. Now, a homebrew mod from Polish hacker Emeryth, has that soon-to-be retro QWERTY slider sporting a custom gamepad to make those long hours logged into video game emulation that much more thumb-friendly. The exposed overlay is based on an ATmega8A microcontroller and plugs directly into the device’s USB port, giving gamers an eight button solution, plus a PSP-like analog stick. It’s a handy, albeit ugly, add-on that’ll help get your gaming heros of old through well trodden enemy lines. Video demo lies in wait after the break.

Continue reading Nokia N900 gamepad hack dispenses with beauty, sidles up to sore thumbs (video)

Nokia N900 gamepad hack dispenses with beauty, sidles up to sore thumbs (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 02

Nokia Maps to be available for all Windows Phone handsets, sans voice navigation

Posted in: app, download, free, maps, mobilepostmini, navigation, nokia, Software, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

Just because you don’t have a new Lumia handset doesn’t mean you won’t be able to use Nokia Maps — or most of it, anyway. According to ZDNet, Windows Phone users should expect to see Nokia Maps pop up as a free app on the Windows Phone Marketplace “within the next couple of weeks,” though offline voice navigation feature will remain restricted to the Lumia 710 and 800, in the form of Nokia Drive. No word yet on when the app will officially hit the market, but we’ll definitely keep a close eye on it.

Nokia Maps to be available for all Windows Phone handsets, sans voice navigation originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 02

ST-Ericsson’s NovaThor to power Nokia’s Windows Phone devices, loosens Qualcomm’s grip

Posted in: arm, business, deal, dual-core, mobilepostcross, nokia, processor, qualcomm, Today's Chili, windows phone, WindowsPhone
Earlier this year, as you may recall, we learned that at least some of Nokia’s Windows Phone devices would be powered by a dual-core chip from ST-Ericsson. At the time, this report came as something of a surprise, considering the fact that Qualcomm had long enjoyed hegemony over the Windows Phone market. Today, however, it becomes official, as Nokia has now selected ST-Ericsson’s NovaThor platform as its Windows Phone supplier. There is no sign, however, that this deal will be exclusive, so it’s likely that the manufacturer will continue to use Qualcomm silicon in addition to ST-Ericsson’s ARM-based line of U9500, U8500, and U5500 dual-core CPUs. We also have yet to hear any confirmation on the specific devices that these chips will power, or when they’ll go into production, though we’ll be sure to let you know as soon as we get word. Skip past the break for a really short press release.

Continue reading ST-Ericsson’s NovaThor to power Nokia’s Windows Phone devices, loosens Qualcomm’s grip

ST-Ericsson’s NovaThor to power Nokia’s Windows Phone devices, loosens Qualcomm’s grip originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 01

Nokia Trials Free Wi-Fi in London

Posted in: free, london, nokia, Today's Chili, wi-fi

A London bus. The last thing you’ll see if you cross the street distracted by free Wi-Fi. Photo Charlie Sorrel

If you live in London, and own a portable device with Wi-Fi, then today is your lucky day. Nokia has just launched a trial service offering free Wi-Fi in Central London. Better yet — if it works, then the Finnish company will turn it into a full (and still free) service.

The trial will be concentrated around Oxford Street in the West End, but also has hotspots in Victoria, Marylebone and Westminster. Users won’t need to sign up or sign in. It’ll be just like joining the Wi-Fi network that your neighbor foolishly left open.

The 20 Megabit pipes will be limited to 1Mbit per user, to stop the tubes from getting clogged, and if the trial is successful, Nokia plans to add 1,000 hotspots around London.

Of course, the awesomeness of this scheme is offset somewhat by the fact that you have to get near Oxford Circus to use it. Then again, it’s most likely to be useful to tourists who want to avoid expensive roaming charges. In this case, the situation could be ideal.

Free wi-fi in central London promotion launched [BBC via The Verge]

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Nov 01

Lumia 800 to hit the UK on November 16th, Nokia confirms

Posted in: availability, launch, mobilepostcross, nokia, samsung, smartphone, Today's Chili, uk, united kingdom, UnitedKingdom, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7

We knew that the Lumia 800 would be making its way to the UK sometime in November, but today, that timeline has become slightly more specific. We’ve just received confirmation that Nokia’s “first real Windows Phone” will indeed be available within the UK on November 16th, just a day before Samsung unleashes its Galaxy Nexus handset to British users. Last month, the company confirmed that the device would be priced at €420, though there’s no word yet on what that price tag may look like in sterling. As always, we’ll let you know as soon as we hear more.

Lumia 800 to hit the UK on November 16th, Nokia confirms originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 29

Nokia World 2011 wrap-up

Posted in: cellphone, cellphones, london, Microsoft, mobilepostcross, nokia, phone, Phones, smartphone, Smartphones, Today's Chili, uk

Nokia had something to prove at its annual event, and an eight-month turnaround of its smartphone arm is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. While Nokia’s first Windows Phone devices were undoubtably the stars of the two-day expo, there was plenty more to investigate — Nokia’s legion of development labs certainly didn’t let us down. Check out a veritable world of coverage neatly arranged below the break for everything Nokia World had to show us, and few more tidbits we found for ourselves.

Gallery: Nokia World 2011 wrap-up gallery

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Nokia World 2011 wrap-up originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

IDC: Samsung, ZTE see jump in mobile shipments, Apple slides to fifth place

Posted in: Apple, business, LG, market, market share, marketshare, mobile, mobilepostcross, money, nokia, research, samsung, smartphone, statistics, Today's Chili
Q3 earnings reports have been pouring in over the past few days, which means it’s time to check in with IDC on the state of the mobile market. The research firm’s latest report, released today, is something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Q3 global shipments increased by 12.8 percent year-over-year — higher than the 9.3 percent that IDC had predicted for the quarter and the 9.8 percent growth observed last quarter. At the same time, however, the market grew at the second slowest pace in two years and shipments to Western Europe and the US actually declined over the year, something the company attributes to more restrained consumer spending and more widespread economic uncertainty.

On the company level, both Samsung and ZTE came away as the biggest winners this quarter; Sammy’s shipments increased by 23 percent over the year, good for second place, while ZTE’s shot up by a whopping 57.9 percent, launching the company into fourth place. Apple, meanwhile, saw 26.2 percent growth in its shipments and a slight bump in market share, but still couldn’t avoid getting leapfrogged by ZTE and dropping down to fifth place. And then there’s LG, which had by far the worst quarter, relative to Q3 2010. The manufacturer saw shipments decline by nearly 26 percent over the year, while its market share slipped to 5.4 percent. All these horses, however, are still chasing Nokia, which saw a small drop in shipments, but managed to hang on to the top spot, with over 106 million shipments during the quarter — good for 27 percent of the market. For more numbers and insight, check out the full PR after the break.

Continue reading IDC: Samsung, ZTE see jump in mobile shipments, Apple slides to fifth place

IDC: Samsung, ZTE see jump in mobile shipments, Apple slides to fifth place originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

Gadget Lab Podcast: Nokia Windows Phones, iOS 5 Newsstand and Google TV

Posted in: Google, ios 5, mango, nokia, steve jobs, Today's Chili, windows phone


          

This week on the Gadget Lab Podcast: The gang talks about Nokia’s latest troop deployments in the smartphone battlefield, the Steve Jobs biography, the success of iOS 5’s Newsstand app, and a big new update to Google TV set top boxes.

Staff writers Mike Isaac and Christina Bonnington open the show discussing Nokia’s just-announced Lumia series, which runs the new Mango version of Windows Phone, and comes in two flavors: the 710 and the 800 (the latter is a ringer for the Nokia N9 that we saw last week). In the past, Nokia has mostly stuck with the “dumb phone” market, so this is the company’s big foray into the smartphone field.

Next, Mike and Christina talk about Steve Jobs’ biography, the heavily leaked tome that debuted on Monday. The duo then chat about a new feature in iOS 5 called Newsstand, which is proving  to be a huge success for digital publishers — this despite flak from some iOS aficionados.

We finish off the show this week with Mike and Gadget Lab editor Jon Phillips talking about Google’s big update to Google TV. The “next version” of software for the set-top box brings some much-needed improvements to the system, including a revamped UI, the availability of Android apps, a redesigned YouTube experience and more. The Google TV update will roll out to Sony devices first, starting next week, followed by Logitech hardware.

Like the show? You can also get the Gadget Lab video podcast via iTunes, or if you don’t want to be distracted by our unholy on-camera talent, check out the Gadget Lab audio podcast. Prefer RSS? You can subscribe to the Gadget Lab video or audio podcast feeds.

Or listen to the audio below:

Gadget Lab audio podcast #130

http://downloads.wired.com/podcasts/assets/gadgetlabaudio/GadgetLabAudio0130.mp3


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Oct 28

Did the Nokia Lumia 710 pass through the FCC?

Posted in: mango, Microsoft, mobilepostcross, nokia, Today's Chili, Windows, windows phone, WindowsPhone

Lookee here, it’s the other new Windows Phone-packing Nokia handset. No, not that one, this is the Lumia 710 — you know, the budget phone with the 3.7-inch LCD and those colorful backplates. The Mangoriffic phone appears to have made its way through the FCC, with the ID on the filing matching up with listings on the Finnish phonemaker’s site. Don’t get too excited, however — while this and the product page are certainly enough to get some stateside Nokia fanatics’ blood pumping, the company has given us word that the Lumia is not destined for our shores, sadly — at least not in any official capacity.

Update: We just received word from Nokia that, contrary to earlier information, Lumia devices will in fact be arriving in the States. As far as what those specific products will be, however, the company isn’t quite ready to talk just yet.

Did the Nokia Lumia 710 pass through the FCC? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 28

Bendy Nokia Phone Prototype and 8 Other Bizarro Cell Phone Concepts

Posted in: concept, HTC, nokia, Phones, R&D and Inventions, Today's Chili

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Today’s smartphones all seem to share the same silhouette. You’ll find a large, flat touchscreen on the front, and maybe a few buttons across the bottom. The form factor will be thin enough to fit in your pocket, and it might include a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Snooze. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as futuristic cell phone concepts constantly remind us.

At the Nokia World Conference in London — the location where Nokia’s Windows Phone handsets made their debut — a new flexible handset was being demoed. It’s called the Nokia Kinetic Device and, yes, the entire phone is being flexed in the photo above.

The entire device is made of plastic, right down to the AMOLED display on the front. Rather than using swipes and pinches to navigate the UI, you would use bends and twists. To zoom into a page, you bend the phone so its center buckles towards you; zoom out by doing the opposite. A twisting action is used to scroll through photos or adjust the volume.

Since it is all plastic, and all bendy, the prototype lacks a number of features that would allow it to be a true smartphone — or even a cell phone, if we’re being honest. The touchscreen isn’t capacitive, there’s no camera, no GPS and no actual phone functionality. We said it was a prototype, right?

So it clearly has a way to go before it starts landing in consumer hands. Here’s a collection of eight other concepts and protypes that push cell phone design to the limit.

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