Hasta La Gadget!

What do you get when you combine the N8‘s HDMI output, its 12 megapixel camera, and your trusty old TV set? As Anssi Vanjoki might say, you get a big new smartphone. Nokia’s research labs have thrown up a neat little “prototype” app called Plug and Touch, which enhances the N8’s already famed HDTV friendliness with the ability to recognize touch input. This is done by positioning your aluminum-clad Nokia about five feet away from the display and letting its camera pick up your hand’s gestures and touches, essentially resulting in a massively enlarged Symbian^3 handset device. Naturally, it’s not terribly precise at this stage and there are no plans for an actual release, but it sure is a tantalizing glimpse of what may be coming down the pipe. Video after the break.

Continue reading Nokia’s Plug and Touch turns your HDTV into a giant N8 (video)

Nokia’s Plug and Touch turns your HDTV into a giant N8 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When Nokia partnered with Paramount for the 2009 Star Trek movie, they got a little product placement in the movie and in Europe released a Star Trek themed version of the Nokia 5800 with a couple of special wallpapers, screen savers, and some alert sounds. What’s just come to light however is that Nokia actually built a prototype Star Trek communicator flip-phone that looks a lot like the communicators from the movie and the original Star Trek television series.

The communicator phone was based on Nokia’s N76 flip phone, and featured a brass screen on top with lights underneath to make it look like the old television props, a black body with a large screen on the inside and soft black buttons, and a Starfleet logo on the back. Best of all, it’s a fully functional phone, not just a prop for a movie set or a toy. Unfortunately for Star Trek fans, only 14 of these prototypes were ever made, but at least it shows that while it’s often been said Star Trek communicators inspired flip-model cell phones, it’s easily possible to make cell phones inspired by Star Trek communicators.

[via TrekMovie]

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Nokia had a little product placement going on in the latest Star Trek movie, you know that already. But did you also know that those crazy Finns made a few never-released prototypes for a most bodacious tie-in handset? That “Starfleet Communicator” above is said to be one of only 14 units built by Nokia, intended to simulate the iconic voice comms devices of the original TV series. Hardware-wise, it’s based on the somewhat less exciting N76 and comes with an external LCD and a trifecta of lights on its front, both protected by a big and heavy brass grill. It’s a fully functioning phone, too, replete with preinstalled chirps when flipping it open. Check it out on video after the break!

[Thanks, Randall]

Continue reading Nokia Star Trek Communicator is simply awesome, sadly just a prototype (video)

Nokia Star Trek Communicator is simply awesome, sadly just a prototype (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After a year of lackluster handset launches, Nokia may have a winner on its hands with the N8 smartphone. We spent some time with the new device at Nokia World 2010 in London, and while it wasn’t enough time to draw up a full review, we were able to get some hands-on first impressions.

First off, the hardware is fantastic. Wrapped in a beautiful anodized aluminum body with a 3.5-inch OLED display, the N8 will ship in green, blue, orange, silver, and graphite colors. While the display size is a bit smaller than the 4+ inch options on the market, it strikes a nice balance between “too small” and “way too big.” At 4.76 ounces, the phone is lightweight, feels good in the hand, and can easily be slipped into a tight pocket or purse.

The unit ships with Symbian^3, the newest version of the Symbian platform. Among the improvements, the user is greeted with three homescreens and the ability to add up to 24 shortcuts to each. Simply press and hold the screen for a few seconds to add or remove widgets and applications. It’s a nice revision to Symbian versions of the past and does a decent job of bringing the platform into the 21st century. Despite the updates, the OS still seems a bit tired at this point.

The phone is powered by a 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, which falls below the typical 1 GHz benchmark in today’s high-end smartphones. In our hands-on time with it, we noticed a bit of lag when transitioning between homescreens and opening apps. It wasn’t terribly alarming, but could be a point of contention for those used to the speedy performance of Android and iOS.

Thanks to the capacitive touchscreen, the virtual keyboard is responsive. In portrait mode, the N8 displays a T9-style keypad, while in landscape mode, the user is given a full QWERTY layout to work with. We tested it by typing out several messages, and within minutes, we were clicking away with ease.

The device sports a non-removable battery, so for those that travel on a regular basis, the inability to replace the battery on the go could prove to be frustrating. That said, Symbian has proven itself to be a warrior in the battery life department, and early reports claim over one day of juice with moderate use.

The N8 packs a 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash, so pictures look great. It also has the ability to capture HD video in 720p resolution at 25 frames per second, and offers an HDMI port for direct connections to the television. The combination of powerful camera optics and a mechanical shutter creates a bulge on the back of the unit, but Nokia has done a decent job of integrating it with the overall device design.

The Nokia N8 is a solid step forward for the Finnish manufacturer, and given Nokia’s name recognition, it’s a device that should sell well worldwide. The hardware is top-notch and feels fantastic, but the user interface seems a bit tired in comparison to other options on the market.

What’s more, no carrier partnerships have been announced in the United States, so those wanting the device will be forced to pay the full retail price.

The combination of an unsubsidized price and inability to view it in a retail store (yet) will likely lead U.S. buyers to choose other devices.

The Nokia N8 is expected to be available in the last week of September, and you can pre-order it for $550 from NokiaUSA.com.

For more on the N8 and its business-oriented sister phone, the Nokia E7, check out PhoneDog’s video of the N8 and E7, below.

Photos: Aaron Baker/PhoneDog.com

See Also:

• Nokia N8 Packs Every Known Feature into Sleek Slab
• Nokia's Snazzy New Smartphones Stick with Symbian OS
• Symbian Operating System, Now Open Source and Free

Nokia’s official marketing documentation for the just-announced DT-600 says that you can “charge in style” and “enjoy the life with full battery.” After checking it out here at Nokia World, we don’t think we could say it any better ourselves. The device is basically a rubber tray for setting your battery-dependent gadgets with a squid-like array of charging cables coming out of the corners; there are very similar products to this on the market already, but Nokia’s got a couple trump cards up its sleeve. Actually, one of them is less of a trump card and more of a Wild Draw Four: although one cable is micro-USB, two of the others are permanently connected 2mm Nokia jacks, an odd decision considering that modern Nokias are moving away from those to micro-USB — as are most manufacturers — so we guess they’re expecting you to keep a few antiques juiced up.

The other differentiator, though, is that you don’t need to snake your own chargers through the mess — the fourth cable is interchangeable and connects to one of two USB ports on the side, and you can use the other port for a fifth cable that isn’t routed through one of the four corners’ holes. Nokia includes mini-USB, LG, Sony Ericsson, and two flavors of Samsung connectors for this one; Apple’s noticeably missing, but we’re sure these guys had zero interest in licensing the 20-pin design — and obviously, you can just use your own cable if you like. In a nod to Mother Nature, the DT-600 burns no power when devices aren’t connected, but if you’re in the US, tough luck — there’s no plan in place for availability there. Hit up the gallery for a few in-the-wild shots (taken at Nokia’s Experience Lounge coffee bar, by the way, so the phones weren’t the only things getting juiced up).

Nokia Charging Plate DT-600 hands-on: ‘charge in style’ is all you need to know originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 08:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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