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What Does Your Cell Phone Say About You?



First impressions mean everything.

But what if you declare yourself by the cell phone you use? What do these handheld packages of personality say about you? The folks at Forbes.com say the answer is obvious depending on how stylish, functional or simply fun your cell phone is designed to be.

Take, for example, the Nokia N95, a sleek-looking phone designed to capture and upload images and text to Web sites or blogs. If you're carrying one of these capable devices around, chances are you're a "mash creative," a term used by Jonathan Steuer, a vice president at cultural trends researcher Iconoculture, to describe the personality type seemingly compelled to share all daily events with everyone, with constant updates via mobile capture.

What if you use a Blackberry, iPhone or Palm smartphone? Then you're a "pioneer," since you're using your phone to organize your life and more. Pioneers likely utilize every feature on their phones, tapping in to the scheduling, communicating and organizing capabilities to the extreme.

Though it's old news by now, the Motorola Razr still holds some cachet, since it comes in many colors and can be accessorized.

Each type of phone is designed for a different kind of user, whether your interest is fashion, function or simply making a dramatic statement. Take the LG Prada phone for example. This one says you've got money to burn and, let's face it, you've got no time for those of us with regular mobile devices.

Don't hate the player, hate the game. [Source: Forbes, via Textually]

"Comes With Music" Plan Expected to Cost Nokia a Bundle

The latest round of rumors regarding the goings-on behind the scenes of Nokia's lofty Comes with Music paint a bleak picture for profitability -- but even scarier, they suggest that the company could be simply blown out if the initiative takes off. The Comes With Music plans to offer a year's worth of free music tracks to anyone who buys certain Nokia phones.

The problem stems from the claim that Nokia's deals with labels represent a huge gamble: The deals assume that buyers of Comes with Music-compatible phones won't download more than a certain number of songs, believed to be 35. Above that, Nokia is no longer covered by a flat fee and has to pay the wholesale per-song rate for each downloaded song above 35 for each consumer.

Clearly, either the rumor's wrong or Nokia seems to be betting against its own success here -- but the recent departure of a key exec involved with Comes with Music lends some credence to the latter. Maybe we don't speak for everyone here, but if we're paying a premium on our phone to earn a full year of all-you-can-eat tracks, you'd best believe we're taking full advantage. [Source: The Register via mocoNews]

Nokia's "Beautiful To Use" 6600 Slide, Fold and 3600 Slide


Nokia just announced a trio of "Beautiful to use" Nokia handsets with its Nokia 6600 slide, 6600 fold, and 3600 slide. The €250 6600 fold is said to smoothly arc open with the press of a button to reveal a 2.13-inch OLED display sporting 16 million colors. It also features tap commands. When off, a double-tap of the monolithic cover reveals the time, messages and missed calls. A double-tap also snoozes alerts and silences or rejects incoming phone calls.

The €275 6600 slide (pictured left) features the same tap technology but bumps the digital camera up from 2 to 3.2 megapixels with a 2.2-inch QVGA display based on LCD tech, presumably. The 3600 slide offers the same camera with built-in background noise cancellation -- a first for a Nokia handset -- for a respectable €175. All three ship in Q3.



Read -- Press Release
Read -- Promotional site

BMG joins Universal on Nokia's (delayed) Free Comes with Music Service

Step aside Universal Music, Sony BMG is now offering its catalog of music on Nokia's Comes With Music service. You know, the freebie, all you can eat music download service expected to launch mid-2008 (oops) "second half" of 2008.

Remember, you'll have to buy a Comes with Music device first and the free download period from the Nokia Music Store (to your PC or phone) only lasts for 12 months. Still, consumers keep the downloaded (and DRM'd) tracks at the end of the period and "can transfer their downloaded material by substituting their new [Comes with Music] device or computer for the original devices" later on. While no Comes with Music devices have been announced yet, we certainly wouldn't be surprised if Nokia's touch-screen Tube or some other S60 touch device was first. [Source: Nokia]

1 Billion Mobile Phones Sold Worldwide In 2007

One billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2007, according to a report by Gartner, with 435 million of them sporting the Nokia brand name.

This is the first time mobile phone sales have passed the billion unit mark in a single calendar year, with the largest engine of sales growth coming from China and India, as these emerging markets tap into an apparent societal need in emerging markets.

Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG all increased their market share to the detriment of Motorola, which lost its second-place market position to Samsung during the fourth quarter.

Total sales actually surpassed 1.15 billion units in 2007, a 16 percent increase from 2006 sales of 990.9 million, according to the market research firm.

While emerging markets account for much of the growth, it's the North American market that Nokia is focusing on to expand its dominant market share, which surpassed 40 percent for the first time this past quarter.


Gartner, however, suggests that Nokia will have to improve its lineup to include touch-screen models if it wants to stay competitive. Apple's iPhone has captured that American consumer's interest and seems to be influencing how other companies plan their product offerings.

Palm, for example, has had touchscreen models for a long time now, but its Centro model is the first decent effort the company has made to compete in the "stylish" category that Apple pretty much owns.

While Nokia has had a tough time cracking the U.S. market, Motorola's troubles may spell opportunity for the Finnish company.

From Textually.org.


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Nokia 'Remade' Phone Built Entirely Out of Recycled Materials

Nokia's 'Remade' Handset at MWC

At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this week, Nokia unveiled a handset made entirely of recycled materials. The green-minded handset is pieced together from old cell phones, tin cans, and recycled plastics. Unfortunately, the phone, called Remade, is currently only a concept and can't place calls. We doubt this particular handset will ever hit the market, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a Nokia handset made at least partially with recycled materials somewhere down the line.

From Engadget

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Hot New Phones Unveiled at Barcelona Congress

Mobile World Congress Coverage and Highlights

We couldn't make it out to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona -- a big international cell-phone conference focused mainly on GSM-style world phones -- but our good friends over at Engadget were able to make the trek and are sending back reports from the front line of cellular and mobile computing technologies.

All the usual suspects are there, Samsung, Nokia, even Motorola are showing off some of their 2008 handset lineups. The most innovative stars of the show, however, are unquestionably the new Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 and the Google-backed, Linux based smart phone operating system Android.

Take a look at Engadget's comprehensive coverage, and check back here for some more selective highlights.

From Engadget

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High-End Nokia N96 Multimedia Device Unveiled

The much anticipated, and much rumored, double-slider N96 Multimedia Device has finally been unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Designed as a video powerhouse, the N96 includes an integrated TV tuner, a stunning 2.8 inch QVGA display, and a clever kickstand for setting the device down for viewing. It also has more memory -- 16-gigabytes of memory for up to 40 hours of stored video (with a microSD slot for even more memory). With Digital Video Broadcasting-Handhelds (DVB-H) capability, the phone can tune in to live TV broadcasts aimed specifically at mobile phones (right now, only available in Europe, alas).

Much like its predecessor, the high-end N95, the N96 has Carl Zeiss Tessar lens with a 5-megapixel camera and DVD-like video by recording at 30 frames-per-second. It also has UPnP, which means you can easily play back your photos or videos on your television via the included TV-out cable.

Unlike the N95, the N96 is optimized for on-the-go video games as well, with dedicated gaming keys on the second slider panel. This will come in handy since Nokia recently launched its N-Gage gaming platform, which will feature dozens of titles, including EA Sports FIFA 08, Asphalt 3: Race Rules, Snakes Subsonic, and for the gambling junkie the World Series of Poker.

The N96 is crammed full of other cutting-edge features, including assisted-GPS with maps, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, High Speed USB 2.0 connectivity, FM radio, dual-LED flash (for photos and video), a secondary camera for video calls, and the ability to surf the Web/transfer data and talk on the phone at the same time.

Pricing and availability are to be announced, but it's likely the device will come out in Europe first, then make its way to the U.S. in unlocked form for T-Mobile or AT&T. We'll let you know.

From Engadget



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This Cell Phone Reads to the Blind

Reading Cellphone to Helps the BlindThe blind have long been criticizing our bills of various denominations thanks to their identical size, shape, and feel, which makes them impossible to tell apart for those with limited or no sight. Now, a potential solution is coming from a very common source: the camera phone in your pocket.

Computer software has long been able to identify characters or faces in pictures, meaning telling a $1 bill from a $100 bill is easy to do if you're a computer with the right programming. What hasn't been done on a large scale before is building this programming into smart phones with cameras and combining that with text-to-speech software. This enables the phone to verbalize what it's reading; a boon to those who would otherwise be unable to read the text.

The $2,100 smart-phone from the National Federation for the Blind and text-to-speech pioneer Ray Kurzweil is able to read currencies as well as just about any other printed words like menus or business directories. It's based on the Nokia N82 smart-phone, which can be used with AT&T and T-Mobile in the U.S. But, you won't be able to walk into your local AT&T store and buy one with this configuration. For a listing of retailers in the U.S. and abroad, plus some more details, head on over to the phone's page.

From AOL News

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1.1 Billion Cell Phones Sold Worldwide In 2007, Says Study



A recent study concludes that about 1.1 billion cell phones were sold in 2007. Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, says that the number of units sold marks a ten percent increase from the previous year. It also forecasts a ten percent increase in cell phone purchases this year, with regions such as Africa and the Middle East picking up the slack for saturated Western markets.

Finland's Nokia took the top sales spot with a market share of about 39%, or 437 million units sold. The study also noted that Apple's iPhone took about a 0.6 percent market share, which translates to about 2.3 million phones sold. Those numbers are slightly disappointing, says Strategy Analytics, pointing to the reluctance of European consumers to pay for the relatively expensive iPhone with the same fervor as the frenzied American public did last summer. Interestingly, Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently offered a more flattering figure, saying that the number of iPhones sent out numbered closer to 4 million. Somehow, we just don't see the pricey iPhone being a smashing success in economically-troubled Africa this year...

From AFP Via Textually.org

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Nokia's Sexy New Crystal 'Prism' Phone

Nokia 7900

Nokia is really pushing the whole "phone as fashion statement" concept, which is actually fine by us so long as the phone itself doesn't suck muffins. Its newest piece of tech art, the Nokia 7900, comes with a fairly standard feature set: 2-megapixel camera, built-in MP3 player, EGPRS/GPRS Web browsing, and 1-gigabyte (GB) of internal memory.

More interesting is the phone's case: the "Crystal Prism" (Nokia's words, not ours) is unique, with its customizable back-lighting in 49 different colors. Graphic artist Frederique Dubal (whose resume includes graphic and textile designs for Nike in the Netherlands, Sony PlayStation in France, and Paul Smith in the UK), now has Nokia to add to the impressive client list, with laser-etched graphic designs and exclusive wallpapers available for the handset.

It's a 3G quad-band GSM jam, which means it'll work fast on all five continents, and is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2008 -- in Europe, for roughly the Euro equivalent of 554 dollars, or 6,028 pesos.


From BetaNews


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Nokia Readying Unlimited Music Download Service

Nokia Prepping Unlimited Music Download Service
Nokia is about to make a whole bunch of people very unhappy, but it doesn't matter since those people aren't consumers. Nokia is preparing to launch an unlimited music download service to pair with some of its multimedia-focused handsets like the 5300 seen above. Nokia's new service is a challenge to the pay-per-track model that has made Apple so much cash with its iTunes store. It will also take money straight out of the service providers' pockets, who often offer their own pay-per-track download service.

The particularly threating thing about the new Nokia service is that not only can users download an unlimited amount of songs from a catalog of millions, but the tracks can be burned to CD and kept after the contract with Nokia expires or is terminated.

Nokia has already enlisted Universal Music Group in the service and is talking with the other major record labels. Currently, mobile music downloads make up roughly 13 percent of music sales, and this may be a sign that record companies are finally accepting that listeners are not willing to pay the absurd prices normally demanded for music. It may also get them to realize that allowing consumers to download music for free (or nearly free) through legitimate channels is better than forcing them to turn to outlets such as Pirate Bay.

From Reuters

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Gift Guide: Nokia N95 Multimedia Device

Let's face it: The iPhone is amazing but it does have some limitations -- for one thing, its camera is lacking (no flash, no zoom) and you can't shoot or send video. By contrast, the $699 Nokia N95 boasts a Carl Zeiss lens with a 5-Megapixel (MP) camera (with flash), a built-in camcorder, up to 2-gigabytes (GB) of external memory, quad-band GSM, GPS location technology, and Wi-Fi connectivity. The latest U.S.-optimized iteration of the N95 is optimized for the high-speed 3G HSDPA networks of AT&T, so you don't have to depend on Wi-Fi hotposts to get fast Web surfing and uplodoading/downloading.

With the N95 you are given the opportunity of creating excellent images and videos and sharing them almost instantaneously with friends or fans. For example, the built-in Lifeblog application allows for instant uploading of text, images, and videos via your high-speed data connection to a personalized blog or to Flickr.com or almost any other blogging entity out there. For those with a keen eye and artistic bent, the N95 could be the perfect multimedia device for getting their creative voices seen and heard. And, of course, the N95 lets its owners listen to music, including FM radio, or watch videos, if they still want iPod-like features.

From Nokia

Hot New N96 Phone From Nokia?




Apparently, a Netherlands-based GSM phone Web site got its hands on some photos or renderings of what looks to be the next Nokia N-series phone, the N96. With dual-sliders that reveal a QWERTY keyboard split in half by the screen, this prototype seems to promise a very user-friendly multimedia device. It also looks as if the N96 will sport a lens that projects out from the camera when in use. (Chances are this means a higher-than-five-megapixel (MP) camera, something like 3x optical zoom, and, judging by Nokia's previous N-series phones, the clarity of a Carl Zeiss lens.)

Nokia is continuing to offer state-of-the-art alternatives to the iPhone, which has been a runaway success for Apple. Nokia's phones are amazing, but they're not as easy to use as an iPhone, and the plethora of features on N-Series Nokia models have proven to be more overwhelming than alluring for most U.S. consumers. That said, Nokia is a leader in the international space and these latest phones seem like a move to keep that lead, particularly since Apple has started launching its iPhone across Europe.

Where Nokia has really set itself apart from the iPhone, as well as some other competitors, has been its focus upon excellent cameras which are not merely added as an extra but are rather a major component of the device. Hopefully we'll see the N96 in the wild soon.

From MobileMentalism

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Nokia's New $25,000 Ferrari Phone

Nokia's New $25,000 Ferrari PhoneWhat could be more exclusive than a $255,000 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti? How about a $25,000 phone given a few Ferrari 612 styling cues? The Ascent Ferrari 60, designed by Nokia's luxury sub-label Vertu, is a follow-up to the company's earlier Ferrari 1947, which commemorated Ferrari's 60th anniversary. This new version celebrates Ferrari's new Gran Turismo-style 612 roadster by using the same leather used for the car's upholstery and the same screws found in its interior. There's also a somewhat tacky looking shifter gate bolted onto the back.

Beyond the posh exterior, the Ascent Ferrari 60 is a fairly standard mobile phone. In fact, it's more of a substandard phone for its lack of a digital camera or other features such as MP3 playback. Then again, if you can afford this thing, then chances are you can also afford to hire a photographer and a DJ to follow you around. If you do intend to buy the phone for use in the U.S., you're also going to have to lay out a little extra cash for importing. While the phone is available now at Nokia stores in London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore, no U.S. release has been announced.

It certainly makes the launch price of the iPhone look like a bargain, eh?

From I4U News

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