Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia’s “around breakeven” outlook announced earlier today is discouraging at best, and now it looks like the company has begun shuttering online stores in response to growing competition from resellers, which offer lower prices on the same hardware. So far, online stores in France and Spain have been replaced with a closure notice, so customers in those countries will need to turn to third-party vendors to get their smartphone fix. European online stores in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and the UK remain open for business, but low online sales figures (and the inevitable death of Symbian) mean we may see more countries falling offline in the near future. “Prices are too subsidized by the carriers and sales were low, so they will keep providing support,” a representative from Nokia Spain told us today, so as expected, the shutdown only affects sales operations — of course, you’ll still be able to turn to your local Nokia site for support.

[Thanks, Reppu]

Nokia’s online stores go offline in France and Spain originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 17:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Nokia Spain  | Email this | Comments

While we eagerly await Nokia’s first Mango device, millions of others (we’re told) have been patiently anticipating shipments of the first Symbian Anna smartphones. Well, today’s the day, good sir. Nokia just loosed its 4-inch X7 media slab and E6 portrait QWERTY with 326ppi display into the shipping lanes. Look for the E6 worldwide while the X7 will skip the US carriers (as expected) targeting the friendlier Symbian climates of Europe, Eurasia, China, India and other countries around AsiaPac. Huzzah?

Nokia X7 and E6 Symbian Anna phones start shipping into obsolescence originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 31 May 2011 03:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Nokia Conversations  | Email this | Comments

How much does it take to convince Symbian users their OS is doomed? Just the one slide you see above. Now it seems Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is attempting damage control. In an interview with Nokia Conversations, Elop attempted to placate his shareholders and customers by stating that the OS’s last update will take place somewhere around 2016 at the earliest. He isn’t switching the focus away from Windows Phone as his company’s bright new future, but he does want to assuage folks who sunk money into Symbian that their investment isn’t just going down the drain. Stating there is “a long history still to be paved for Symbian in the future,” Elop didn’t volunteer any additional details on update strategy or how much longer new Symbian phones will be sold. We’re a bit surprised at the length of this extension of relevancy; we can’t help but feel as though it’s all because Nokia’s breakup with Symbian was too emotional and they’re both trying to stay friends. Or perhaps four years is just how long the company thinks it will take to sell all of the remaining 150 million units it originally planned to push. Either way, check out the full video after the break and let us know what you think below.

[Thanks, Chris]

Continue reading Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least

Elop: Symbian will continue getting updates until 2016, at least originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 May 2011 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All About Symbian  |  Nokia Conversations China  | Email this | Comments

Last November, to the surprise and dismay of many, the European Commission decided it needed to stimulate some homegrown innovation in the mobile space and pulled together €22 million in a public/private investment designed to help Symbian get ahead. It was intended to turn Nokia’s former lover into the Embedded Operating System for Europe (hence the name SYMBEOSE), but alas the breakup between Symbian and the Finnish mobile maker was too much to overcome. The EC has decided, quite rightly, that there’s no sense in continuing its symbtopia project, and now a member of Neelie Kroes’ team has confirmed the entire venture has been cancelled. European taxpayers (two of whom you see on the right) will also be glad to know that no money has exchanged hands, so the bullet has been well and truly dodged. Guess that’s why they’re looking so happy.

[Thanks, Danijel]

European Commission regains sanity, cancels €22 million SYMBEOSE project originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All About Phones  |  @ccbuhr (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

Samsung’s Hercules was the entree, but there’s always room for dessert, and if you’d like to finish off your meal with juicy cellular rumors, This is my next has you covered. The publication now claims to have T-Mobile’s entire 2011 device roadmap in their possession, replete with alleged release dates for a stable of phones and hotspots — some of which we’ve never heard of before — which should make for plenty of excitement in the months to come. Find all the highlights after the break.

Continue reading T-Mobile 2011 roadmap leaks, lists loads of specific release dates?

T-Mobile 2011 roadmap leaks, lists loads of specific release dates? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 May 2011 20:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  This is my next  | Email this | Comments