Cell Addict Blog: September 2008

9.27.2008

Nokia N96 Firmware/Software Update Now Available

N96's first firmware update, to v11.018 is now available at Nokia's Software Update site...

soure: allaboutsymbian

Apple iPhone Available In Russia October 3

Reuters reports on the official arrival of the iPhone in Russia...

Major Russian home electronics and cell phone retailers said on Friday they would kick off Apple Inc's iPhone sales in Russia beginning on October 3, and estimated that 150,000 units could be sold by year end.

"All retailers will begin sales of iPhone in Russia at the same time, during the night between October 2 and October 3. Our company will be also selling them," Nadezhda Senyuk, a PR director at retail chain Tekhnosila, said by telephone.

Rival chain Eldorado and M.video, Russia's only listed electronics retailer, said in separate statements they would start selling Apple's newly launched 3G iPhone on October 3.

Eldorado estimated overall sales of the handset in Russia to reach 150,000 before the end of 2008, of which it plans to sell about 15,000.

It will sell the iPhone with 8 gigabytes of storage capacity for 22,999 roubles ($923.6) and with 16 gigabytes for 26,999 roubles ($1,084) -- the same price as Russian mobile phone operators will charge for the iPhone, without a contract.

The 'Big Three' carriers, MTS , Vimpelcom and MegaFon, had earlier reached a distribution deal with Apple and are currently taking advance orders.

Nokia's "Tube" Touchscreen Phone Out on October 2

According to Reuters, Nokia's "Tube" will be launched next week...

Nokia will unveil its first touch-screen phone next week in a direct challenge to Apple's successful iPhone, two industry sources told Reuters on Friday.

LG Electronics and several smaller handset vendors have rolled out their own touch-screen phones over the last two years, while the first handset using Google's Android platform will also have a touch screen.

But so far, the world's top cellphone maker, Nokia, has stuck with traditional screens.

Both sources said Nokia would unveil its new phone -- code-named "Tube" -- on October 2 at an analyst and media event in London. A Nokia spokeswoman declined to comment.

"The phone is extremely important," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "We have been waiting for the market leader to respond to Apple's iPhone for a year and a half now. There is a lot of pressure on Nokia."

Nokia shares hit 13.21 euros on Friday, down 50 percent from the start of the year in part because of the slow introduction of touch-screen models.

Milanesi said that the Finnish firm had a history of coming late to the market with innovations, and succeeding anyway.

"With 3G they were late, but they got it right. They delivered and are the market leader. They did it with slim phones. They could do it with the touch screen," she said.

Nokia, which has a strong track record in the lower-end handset market, said in July its touch-screen offering would come this year and be cheaper than rival models in order to tap into a higher-volume market.

"The demand outlook in emerging markets, like India, is good for a cheaper touch-screen phone," said Hannu Rauhala, an analyst with Pohjola Bank.

Kai Oistamo, head of Nokia's devices business, said in July the Finnish firm was committed to bringing a complete portfolio of touch devices to the market, both in the high-end and low-end segments.

"Taking into account the attention Apple has got, and good sales of LG and Samsung touch-screen phones, Nokia has to be there," said Pohjola's Rauhala. "As there is demand, there is no reason to leave it for rivals."

Nokia has used touch screens before in its Internet tablet product range, which are phone-like devices for Web surfing but lack a calling function.

The popularity of touch screens surged with introduction of the capacitive touch-screen technology, which gives higher clarity of picture and that figures in both iPhone and in LG's Prada and Secret phones.

"Demand for touch screens in mobile handsets has certainly taken off with the introduction of capacitive touch-based devices," said Andrew Hsu, an official at a U.S. touch screen technology firm Synaptics.

source: reuters, symbian-freak

9.24.2008

T-Mobile's G1 Google Android Phone Live Hands-On Video

source: stuff.tv

9.23.2008

Samsung Emporio Armani Night Effect Hands-On Live Video

source: engadgetmobile, clipsetvideo

Samsung Emporio Armani Night Effect Phone

Another collaboration by Samsung and Armani has brought out the Night Effect Phone.

Specs include:

2.2-inch OLED display
LED accents
HSDPA
3.2-megapixel camera
FM radio tuner
120MB of internal memory
microSD expansion slot

Due to be released this November in both black and white, each costing €300 ($439).

Click here for the official promo site

source: engadgetmobile

Nokia E75 Live Leaked Prototype Pictures

Symbian-frea k has just posted live pics to confirm the existence of the Nokia E75 with the slide-out keyboard....

source: symbian-freak

Nokia E75 and E72 Promo Video Leaked

E75

E72

Another promo video of Nokia's E-Series phones (video has now been deleted) has just leaked out on Youtube...the E75 with a slide-out keyboard and the red/black E72 QWERTY phone...

source: symbian-freak