02 June 2012

My Nokia Blog

My Nokia Blog


Nokia 808 PureView 8th June from Amazon Germany

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT

Another listing for the Nokia 808 PureView, this time from Amazon Germany who has set a date of 8th June 2012 for availability.

This is priced at 584.16EUR.

Cheers @herrmo1 for the tip!


Video: The Lumia Challenge: Lumia 800 vs Galaxy S3

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:41 AM PDT

 

I’ve become a little cold to the repetitive nature of the ‘smoked by WP’ then ‘smoked by lumia’ turned ‘The Lumia Challenge’ videos. You may have read several of my posts now expressing my concern about this campaign. But recently I’ve been asked by some non-techy friends about Lumia who heard from other friends that Lumia was really fast, mentioning smoking other handsets. I was surprised by how far that campaign had reached as it’s not really a nationwide thing and more so, as mentioned by a reader, it’s helping to educate people about the Lumia.

I also heard that a sales person telling another friend that the Lumia was really fast because it had a ‘GPU’ whilst only having one core processor.  :/

Anyway, here’s another of the Lumia Challenge videos from Nokia. I think I may have missed a few but this one tests it against the new shiny Samsung Galaxy S3. Also, there are a couple of stunning blondes there as Lumia reps. Nice job picking them out, Nokia UK!

I like how lively and excited they seem to be and how excited the contestants are too – even at losing.

I think it will be properly GAME ON for the WP8 Lumias. They should have more aspects to the challenge other than doing various things on the phone really fast.

by 


Nokia 808 PureView Sim Free White appears on Tesco (UK)

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:37 AM PDT

I’m not sure if this is a placeholder, but Tesco Direct has a product page for the Nokia 808 PureView!

Could Tesco (UK) sell the Nokia 808 PureView? Tesco is the second largest retailer in the world by profit (after Walmart)

http://www.tesco.com/direct/nokia-808-pureview-sim-free-white/623-2958.prd

At the moment, the tesco sidebar says:

Sorry, there are currently no sellers for this product.

Perhaps, hopefully, one will appear soon. It says on the side that this product is included the Tesco clubcard exchange.  I’ve only ever shopped once or twice at Tesco Direct – can 3rd party sellers sell through Tesco?

Cheers Mapantz  for the tip


Super high resolution phone displays – how high is too high? 1920×1080? 2560×1600? 3840×2160 etc?

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:17 AM PDT

A growing standard amongst phones of 2012 are the 720p 1280×720 pixel displays or variations close to that. Such devices have screen sizes of around 4.7-5.4″ displays – or thereabouts.

It wasn’t that long ago that it was actually Nokia that was ahead in bringing smartphones with high resolution displays. For some reason, we got left behind. 720p displays aren’t even at the very top end any more. LG already has a 5″ 1920x1080p display in the works!

If you think that’s crazy, sharp has a 6.1″ display at 2560 x 1600, first reported back in October.  That’s 498PPI.

In terms of just being really high resolution, Sharp is also said to have a 13.5″ display at 3840 x 2160. Now that’s more reasonable, no? I do remember some years back complaints on 17″ screens with 1080p displays. Now there are potential pocketable devices with that resolution and more. I think it would look pretty sweet on a tablet – something that can really show off your PureView pics, no?

Does it make a difference? Well, I haven’t seen these displays, but TheVerge says they look absolutely stunning up close.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/1/3056490/sharp-caac-igzo-498-ppi-display-prototype

How powerful with the phones have to be to push all of those pixels? Does it make a difference? Is there any point? Will we ever reach a stage when the resolution can’t go any higher?


Apple wins the Nano-SIM design drama

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 06:52 AM PDT

Surprise, surprise! Apple wins the nano-SIM drama.

 

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/03/27/the-nano-sim-fuss-between-apple-and-nokia/

http://mynokiablog.com/2012/03/30/nokia-apple-nano-sim-fuss-episode-2-rim-accuses-apple-of-cheating/

As to the repercussions for everyone else (particularly, Nokia, RIM, Moto who were against the Apple design) I’m not quite sure. Currently in the middle of doing a massive clean for our house as everyone’s moving out.

Here are some sources to read:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobile-phone/3361531/apple-wins-battle-over-nano-sim-standard/

http://www.slashgear.com/apples-nano-sim-design-chosen-by-etsi-01231195/

http://www.phonearena.com/news/New-nano-SIM-design-chosen-by-ETSI_id30812

http://9to5mac.com/2012/06/01/etsi-selects-apples-nano-sim-design-for-new-4ff-standard/


Windows Phone notification central (CONCEPT)

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 06:45 AM PDT

Central location for all notifications seems to be something many people wish they had in their Windows Phone devices. This is a very convenient feature to have, so there is a certain justification for that demand. Notification centres are a great way to show users all the new content that requires user's attention and to make sure nothing important goes unnoticed. All other big OS out there have implemented their own solutions for this, but WP is still lacking similar feature.

So there is no universal place in WP7 for all the notifications received. WP8 might bring a new solution for that, but currently there's no information if any new notification system will be implemented. WP relies on displaying notification information on Live Tiles by displaying a number of new items inside appropriate Live Tiles. While this technically does count as a notification, it's a very inefficient and uninformative way for doing that. Even with new items, Tile appearance will remain the same (color, size) as other Tiles and the distribution of Tiles require scrolling around to check if there are new notifications.

 

The problem lies in Metro UI

There have been plenty of different fan-made concepts how this could be implemented also in WP involving third home screens, modified toast notification screens and pull-down menus, but those all require messing with the Metro UI more or less. This is problematic as Microsoft is really committed to the Metro UI and if a new solution deviates from Metro UI too much it becomes unfeasible in reality, no matter how effective the solution might otherwise be. Metro UI has plenty of good points with its fresh, clean look and intuitive animations, but it is also quite rigid in its guidelines. This is especially true when it involves the home screen, the place where notifications should somehow appear as it is the starting point for the user.

Because of this, I feel that the only feasible solution (with the current pre-WP8 premise) for centralized notification system for WP is an application. If the notifications would be implemented by an application, it would give much more room how to display and interact with the new notification items. The application itself would of course get its own Live Tile, which would show condensed info about all the current notifications. As this application would require to have access to pretty much every user data and preferably also have a double-wide Live Tile, it would require it to be a 1st party application, something that's available only for Microsoft or Nokia.

 

Possible solution by Nokia

If Microsoft won't be changing anything about how the notifications are handled in WP8, Nokia would still have an option to do their own solution for that. While Nokia has said loud and clear that they aren’t going to mess with the WP8 UI with anything drastic like squircle tiles, with an application-based solution they would just be offering another Lumia-exclusive service, something they've already done several times before, like for example with Nokia Reading. With Notifications application they would actually have quite nice feature to differentiate themselves in the WP market.

One challenge would still be to figure out only how to effectively inform user about the new notifications (author's note: Nokifications?) without going against the principles of Metro UI. WP8 might bring some viable options to execute centralized notifications but since we don't really know much about WP8 yet except that it will have Live Tiles, I'll only consider next how it could be implemented in the Mango.

 

Dynamic Live Tile for Notifications

To ensure that the user won't ever miss a single new notification and that the user also gets condensed information about them with a single glance, I propose a new special Notifications Live Tile (henceforth referred as NLT) for the notification app made by Nokia. To put it simply, NLT would be a double-wide Live Tile that appears only when there's a new notification. NLT puts itself on top of the home screen above users Live Tiles and remains there until user has acknowledged the new notification by accessing it through the notification app or the said application from which the notification originates. Or maybe simply after exiting the app after opening it. After user action, the NLT simply disappears from the home screen. To push the visibility a bit further NLT would be of different color than the current choice for accent color, preferably something around the complementary color region.

 

Example illustration of Notifications Live Tile. When new notification is received, new Live Tile appears on top of the home screen and pushes the other Tiles down. In this example, the user has previously dismissed notifications from the Twitter and Mail without accessing them. New notification makes the NLT appear again, as new Whatsapp message is received.

 

This implementation could be one way to effectively solve the native notification problem for many people in Windows Phone without intruding user experience too much or deviating from the Metro UI, which is the biggest challenge. While it does allow access to notifications only from the home screen instead of everywhere like for example in iOS, similar transient notification logic has already been proved to work very well in the MeeGo Harmattan of N9. There is also plenty of alternative options to handle the NLT, such as keeping it static but changing color when new notification is received making it effectively act almost the same as Symbian Anna notification widget. I personally prefer my original suggestion, as I feel that one would provide appropriate amount visibility for the notifications without sacrificing any screen estate.

 

Notification application functions

The notification application itself would only be a repository of notifications displaying condensed information about new notifications, eg. New e-mails, messages, twitter mentions, software updates etc. Items in the application would be only links to their native applications. It's not wise to enable any further functions than that as it would require plenty of unnecessary coding effort. It could possibly be used also for browsing other notification-related information in separate pages, like reminders, today's calendar items or to-do lists. Perhaps an option to generate notification from those items (when due) could also be useful.

 

Example illustration of Notifications application. Notifications application will show condensed information about all the notifications received. Note that this is just a quick  illustration, I didn’t bother to polish the UI for the application so there’s stuff missing, wrong marginals etc.

 

There you go. Simple proposal how to add a feature missed by many people.


Lumiappaday #199: Nokia Reading demoed on the Nokia Lumia 800

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 06:36 AM PDT

I wasn’t the most excited about Nokia Reading when it was launched since I already had Amazon Kindle. I also thought it wouldn’t be as good an experience. I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.

Reading is rather pleasant – it has as expected the night/day options to save the AMOLED screens from eating too much battery, as well as changing font size for easier reading. I like how it previews the font sizes in the options. Each book can be pinned to your homescreen and the live tile will show the past page you were on. Opening it resumes that portion of the book.

An advantage over Amazon Kindle is that Nokia Reading’s store is an integrated metro experience in the app. With Kindle, it opens up a mobile website. Furthermore, you don’t need an Amazon Kindle account. Nokia Reading immediately recognised my Nokia account and automatically is signed in. You can buy straight from Nokia Reading’s store as you can with Ovi Store for apps. I’m not sure if it’s possible to use operator billing – useful for some that don’t connect cards with their accounts. There store is well laid out for discovery and there’s also a section for free eBooks.

#199) Nokia Reading 

Price:  Free

Link: Go to Nokia Collection or search ‘Nokia Reading’

Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrHmpzbsagA

Developer Blurb:

 

Rating:

Design: 8

Usability: 9

Performance: 9

Price: 10


Awesome Nokia Evolution infographic.

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:32 AM PDT

Check out this super cool Nokia Evolution infographic.

This got tweeted to me by Maksim Elistratov @BST_1,

I think N95 (for 2006) is missing. N9 should technically come after 808 in terms of design – that’s my favourite Nokia design out of all of them so far (sleek obsidian monoblock with no buttons and swipe!)

Loving the 20?? placement for the flexible device. Can Nokia ever bring that to marker quickly enough and make it relevant?

Source:  my-nokia.livejournal.com

Cheers @BST_1, for the tip!


Lumia 900 available in Australia thorugh Optus – Online only?

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 03:33 AM PDT

Last month we heard that the Lumia 900 would be coming to Australia in June. Without further ado, on June 1, the Lumia 900 is out.

For now, it has appeared online (updated after the retail stores closed this afternoon) so there is no way of knowing (until tomorrow of course) if the device will be sold in stores yet, but I will update when I find out.

The pricing is reasonable, and as expected.

The device will be sold in the Black and White variants on Optus (at least for now). So if you’re an Aussie on the network and keen on the Lumia 900, I suggest you jump online and take a look.

Source: Optus via PetersKitchen


Fosspatents: Nokia calls Google’s EU antitrust complaint “frivolous” and a waste of time and resources

Posted: 01 Jun 2012 02:12 AM PDT

Nokia has apparently responded to Google’s Antitrust complaint

Though we have not yet seen the complaint, Google’s suggestion that Nokia and Microsoft are colluding on IPR [Intellectual Property Rights] is wrong. Both companies have their own IPR portfolios and strategies and operate independently…

…We agree with Google that Android devices have significant IP infringement issues, and would welcome constructive efforts to stop unauthorised use of Nokia intellectual property.

http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/06/nokia-calls-googles-eu-antitrust.html

A very excellent blog that specifically is in the know about the patent game is fosspatents. I don’t usually pay attention to the patent dramas but when I find something interesting, fosspatents is a great place to get some insight. Please read the fosspatent post as it tries to clear up what on earth is happening.  You may have seen fosspatents cited on many blogs before. It is written by Florian Mueller,

an award-winning intellectual property activist-turned-analyst with 25 years of software industry expertise spanning across different market segments….

“My personal take on non-practicing entities has always been that there’s nothing wrong with the concept known as division of labor,provided that the patents they monetize are legitimate. In terms of which patents should and should not be granted, I don’t agree with any large tech company, whether it’s Apple, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, or Oracle.”

Some snippets

  • Nokia forms coalitions with many companies. Nokia worked with RIM and Motorola, agreeing on the new nano SIM design and that they should receive FRAND royalties.
  • Patent transfers to non-practicing entities apparently a reality, one which Google has supposedly played itself – in fact, Mueller links to a post where Google has also done a deal with MOSAID.

Another quick follow up post by Mueller:

The Google complaint, which I did not see in the source links from the first post

Google alleges MOSAID is reneging on a commitment that Nokia made in a 2005 regulatory filing when the company pledged not to enforce patents against software relying on the Linux Kernel

http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/06/nokias-promise-not-to-assert-patents.html

One of the many points from Mueller. He points out many other limitations from the pledge.

“it’s crystal clear that Nokia’s promise was limited to the “Linux kernel”, as opposed to something like Android. While Android uses the Linux kernel, it’s not Linux, and in particular, it’s not published under the same license, the GPL”

http://www.fosspatents.com/2012/06/nokias-promise-not-to-assert-patents.html


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