07 September 2012

My Nokia Blog

My Nokia Blog


Sneak Peek at Helsinki Nokia flagship store’s Floating Nokia Lumia 920

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 04:54 PM PDT

Ooh what is this witchcraft? It’s a floating Nokia Lumia 920, quite appropriate to convey the message of the floating lens somewhat. Ooh but I bet it’s some fake CGI David Blane deception. Nah, no not really. You can buy these sort of levitation gadgets quite easily. It’s merely a case of magnets.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adree/7944317612/

I’ve been meaning to get one of these for sooo long. It’s not exactly what Nokia’s using but it works on the same principle. I really want one again but they’re kinda expensive :/. I’ll put it on my Christmas wish list :p

Cheers Muerte for the tip

There’s more pictures of the new store in the flickr page.

 


Poll: Battle of The PureViews- Lumia 920 Vs. 808 PureView; Which Do You Prefer?

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 01:50 PM PDT

Now with PureView Phase-2 unveiled; which focuses on acquiring amazing night-time shots by using a mix of springs and floating lenses, a conflict has risen.  Some prefer the good ol’ ginormous 41MP sensor, others appreciate the great low light optics. So which one do you prefer?

*Note this poll is more focused towards the Pureview Phases: Oversampling/Lossless Zoom Vs. Optical Image Stabilization/Great night shots more than it is a Symbian vs. WP issue, so try to stay on topic- If it helps pretend they both run Symbian or WP (your choice!) :)


Lumiappaday #295: Little Acorns demoed on the Nokia Lumia 900

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:19 AM PDT

I might clock in and call it an end to my rant with a very light hearted, relaxing and fun game of Little Acorns.

#295) Little Acorns 

Price:  £2.29

Link: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/7a5dcbbb-51e7-417b-bedc-dc4665ee1c9b

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnH4wNumfOg

Developer Blurb:

Guide Mr. Nibbles the acorn hoarding squirrel through a variety of levels in this charming platforming adventure. Collect the acorns scattered around each zone to stock up for winter. Featuring super simple controls, a variety of game mechanics with a cute and lovable look, Little Acorns is an adventure that is completely at home on Windows Phone®

• LITTLE ACORNS…BIG GAME
Little Acorns features 80 cleverly designed levels to explore! Spread out over 4 seasons and 4 years, you’ll be hunting nuts for hours on end!

• SEASONED GAMEPLAY
Fluid, simple platforming controls that mean players of all skills can enjoy this captivating adventure. With classic platformer gameplay, mixed with a modern visual style, you’d be nuts not to love it.

• SQUIRREL POWER!
Collect power-ups to save time and grab high scores including a time stopping clock and an invulnerability crash helmet. Dodge or defeat a variety of enemies including dopey caterpillars and hanging spiders on your way to collecting all the acorns and fruit in the game!

Rating:

Design: 8.5

Usability:9

Performance: 9

Price: 9



Nokia’s Damian Dinning says Nokia Lumia 920 pictures are all real.

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 11:14 AM PDT

After the mess with the video, Nokia naysayers are out with their pitchforks for the next thing to attack. It’s hard to know who to believe when it appears someone has been exposed as being (intentionally or not) deceitful.

Damian Dinning, Nokia’s imaging Guru states however that the sample pictures on Nokia’s page for the Nokia Lumia 920 are ALL REAL. This is not counter speculation by my own reasoning, but by someone who has been working with these prototypes.

https://twitter.com/PhoneDaz/status/243728652167159808

Many times in the past, it was a  great thing for people to be in disbelief that clips we’d see were shot on a Nokia phone. Why? Because they were so good, it baffles that this would be something a phone could do, whilst we knew this was all a standard practice for Nokia phones. Now when Nokia stuns, there will be real doubt as to whether they’re crying wolf again with their simulated effects.

I’m not surprised people are losing trust in Nokia again. This is all easy ammunition against Nokia now, regardless of whether PureView 2 actually works as shown in the live demoes in front of other bloggers (and by their own admission, it works and was actually awesome). As I just ranted in the previous post, whether PureView 2 works is lost to them. They’ve got the material they need to dissuade others against PureView by constantly pointing out that simulated video.

Please, just release the phone asap so we see independent bloggers (who will also honestly show what it can do) shut up the naysayers just like how the 808 PureView sealed their whiny ass mouths the last time.

Cheers Jim for the tip.

 


Some annoyances from yesterday’s keynote (will revisit when I have more time).

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 10:22 AM PDT

Reaction to the video when I first watched it.

It’s been a long day settling back in to Uni and our new base Hospital. I’ve had this on my mind since the launch yesterday but I don’t have time to fully go into it right now so I’ll just summarise some things that have annoyed me about the launch. I will revisit this at another time because it appears Nokia just don’t get it.

1) Nokia you suck at presentations. You suck. You have all the world’s eyes on you and you fritter away all the key and important things, all the years of breakthrough is skipped in a few short minutes whilst you allow Belfiore to rattle on about changing tile sizes (btw I’m a fan of Joe, but his bit was misplaced). I don’t want to nag and I don’t want to moan without something constructive to add. I was preparing a post about how the 808′s keynote should have gone too because that was also diabolical. So much so people didn’t get what PureView was until they started seeing for real how this technology actually performs and EATS their cameras for breakfast.

I’m going to recreate a post – maybe at the weekend if I get some time on how to do a keynote. I am not an expert. Far from it. I’m just a medical student. But I know damn well I can make one that didn’t suck half as bad as yours. Ooh, it just annoys me that it doesn’t seem like you prepared at all. Jo Harlow, I’m sorry mam, but you seemed like you were so bored and couldn’t wait to get off the stage. Where’s my excitement? Where’s the genuine zeal? What do we get…mo-no-to-no-us—dr-one.

It’s not just me saying it. Plenty of people were complaining about how Nokia presented their devices. The same amount of information, the same features could have all been repackaged another way to deliver something that was clear and exciting. How dare you gloss over the floating lens thing? Or PureMotion screen? You had videos to explain what PureMotion was, why not show it?

You guys don’t understand how to realise what’s important, what to shout about, what to leave out, how to present. There’s no consistency at all. Some things are done nicely (promos explaining PureMotion) and some things quite atrocious.

Kevin Shields did a better job but still could have improved in many places too. He was honest when things went wrong but he could have handled it better. He was very awkward, and a little bit like a headless chicken panicking when things went wrong. I wonder how many times they practiced demoing the accessories. I know the first time I unboxed and used an NFC accessory, I failed to make the connection and thought it wasn’t working. It looked bad on the video. But really, NFC has a precise area where connections can be made. Outside of it it doesn’t work but when it’s  at that correct placement, it works every time.

When the screen tv out thing doesn’t work, stop mumbling and crying for someone to help you. Just mention the TV out isn’t working and move on, let them look at the phone’s screen itself. It was really cringeworthy to hear what’s supposed to be simple features working fluidly being a pain to use by the people who are supposed to be presenting, showing and selling the product to you. How are we expected to use them when they can’t themselves?

I’ve already ranted too much. There’s so much more I want to cover, actually looking back and analyse the keynote video to give proper useful feedback rather than me just moaning about Nokia again.

2) The kerfuffle about you guys faking a video. Gizmodo have also posted something on this. They agree that it’s ok to have simulated videos/pictures. As long as you’re upfront about it. The first time I saw your video I was in utter shock, but also disbelief that this was real as it seemed too good (I’ve been playing with a steadicam for about 2 years and was amazed how much it smoothed out videos like professionals…and for a phone to do it on its own was mindblowing).

http://gizmodo.com/5940748/how-could-you-screw-this-up-so-badly-nokia

It annoyed me because the demo handsets on the show floor prooved this stabilisation worked. But why weren’t you upfront about that video being simulated? Did you think you’d get away with it? And yeah you’re probably angry at the guy who didn’t edit out that reflection, but wait – get mad at the one who did not indicate this wasn’t shot from the 920 (or any other Nokia for that matter).

There’s more questions now as to whether even the pictures you shot were real. Which is a total shame because we have seen pictures of PureView phase 2 in ACTION showing it DEMOLISHING the iPhone 4S and SGSIII in low light.

People don’t care if the simulated thing is exactly the same or near what the phone can do. They just care that you were being (intentionally or by accident) deceitful. It gives the Nokia whiners more ammunition against you and that’s the last thing you need. It wrecks the PureView reputation that the 808 has been building up and the Nokia name that has only recently been on the mend. The last thing you want to lose is consumer trust.

http://sefsar.com/nokia-faked-the-still-photos-too

Should I be worried about this too?

The only thing you can do to resolve this is by making sure these damn phones get to the customers soon. This means Ballmer getting his finger out of his backside and making sure  his team on Windows Phone 8 is finished before the end of the world. If WP8 takes time to finish, employ more people to finish it. Or is it better to sit around and wait? Even making the current staff work over time is simply not good enough. This is what I mean when I talk about Nokia having great opportunities and for silly stupid reasons, wasting them.

Careful execution is something you guys need to learn, otherwise you’ll just continue the history of old Nokia that failed to let the world be aware that they’re really awesome at a lot of things they care about.

 

_____

 

Sorry I couldn’t get into depth and structure this properly with useful feedback. I’m back in Uni now with 8-6 days so will be stuck for time. But I’ll do what I can when I’m free and hopefully I’ll be able to revisit this. I thought I wouldn’t need to finish my first post about how Nokia should have done the 808 launch since they have the scale, money, people, resources to do it right the next time. Clearly they’re still lacking direction.

Nokia, don’t get mad that I’m pointing out when you do crap stuff as well. It’s for your own good.


Verizon to get the Nokia Lumia 822 WP8 (820 Variant)

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 09:48 AM PDT

WPcentral reports that Verizon are getting their first Windows Phone from Nokia, the Nokia Lumia 822.

This is a variant of the 820 that was launched yesterday.

Recap on the features:

  • 4.3″ AMOLED display with ClearBlack Tech
  • SnapDragon S4 processor
  • 8MP rear camera with Carl Zeiss Optics
  • VGA front facing camera
  • 1650mah Battery
  • 8GB of storage
  • 1GB of RAM.
  • MicroSD expansion
  • Wireless Charging
  • 4G

Source: WPC

Cheers Viipottaja for the tip!


Beta Labs: City Lens also in Marketplace

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 05:36 AM PDT

Seems like a few beta labs apps are graduating today. Here we have City lens graduating, and appearing in Marketplace.

Hi All,

City Lens for Windows Phone has graduated to commercial! Thanks to everyone who participated in this trial and left feedback. Your opinions are important to us – we do read all of your suggestions and implement where possible. You are essential to improving Nokia City Lens and we are very appreciative. You can scan the QR code below with your phone to install it from Marketplace.

Stay tuned for another beta release in the upcoming weeks!

All the best,

Nokia City Lens Team

It is a bit annoying when there are beta labs apps for other platforms (Symbian, MeeGo, S40) that are not getting the same level of support, but it isn’t like we don’t expect that.

If you like using City Lens, go download it now!

Source: Beta Labs


Belle Refresh now available for Nokia 500 ? ( w/ changelog)

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 05:08 AM PDT

Was searching Nokia Developer just now for some help with a side project of mine, and came across the changelog below. It would appear that some folks are getting the update on their device. If you’ve come across it on your device, let us know.

Change log of Nokia 500 111.021.0028 (Nokia Belle Refresh) firmware release:

  • Bring web services to your home screen, and use them also offline with the new HTML5 browser
  • Personalize your phone further with new widgets for various apps and services
  • Get corrections, such as better support for Flash videos (.flv) and a time zone correction in Russia
  • Link your contacts automatically to Facebook and Twitter for easier social networking
  • Enjoy the refreshed Music player
  • Number of general performance and usability improvements
  • After updating to Nokia Belle Refresh, just like after updating from Nokia Anna to Nokia Belle, some apps may not work due to compatibility issues. For more info on available apps, please contact your local Nokia support.

Source: Nokia Developer


Beta Labs: Counters app graduates; Now in Marketplace

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 04:52 AM PDT

Super quick post guys, the Counters for WP app has finally graduated from Beta status, and is now “globally” in the WP Marketplace.

Hello there!

Many thanks to everyone that tested the Counters application during its beta trial! Thanks to your help and feedback we have published it globally on the Marketplace (open this link on your phone or scan the QR code below) and, moreover, we know what are the most important features our customers need. We will implement new features, make bug fixes, and bring them to the market as soon as we can.

Once again – big thank you for all who tried the app! Your contribution is very important for us.

Have a sunny day!
- The Counters team

From their post, it doesn’t sound like much improved from the version that was hosted on Beta Labs, except that it is now published. Let’s hope they really do listen to feedback and these updates come soon, addressing the issues of users.

Source: Beta Labs

Michael


Marko Ahtisaari “wants to out-design Apple”

Posted: 06 Sep 2012 04:33 AM PDT

Photo by nomadig via Wired

 

Over at Wired, they have posted up a great post detailing Marko Ahtisaari’s desire to “out-design Apple”. That is a pretty bold statement, seeing as Apple are consider the ‘leaders’ in design. Ahtisaari talks about the new design style being “post-industrial”.

He mentions that WP’s Live Tiles are “another take on completely solving all the things that smartphones need to do". Also bringing back the analogy about the auto-industry, going through a phase using “tillers, rudders” before settling on the steering wheel. Ahtisaari reportedly dubs WP’s tiles and the Fabula design as “a one-to-one mapping."

There are plenty of insights to be read in the post, and I don’t think I could do justice replicating it here, so I suggest you take a few minutes, and give it the once-over.

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/09/nokias-visionary-wants-to-out-design-apple/

Source: Wired


No comments:

Post a Comment