My Nokia Blog

Elop On an Android Nokia Phone: “Anything Is Possible”
Speaker Output Test: Lumia 920 vs. Lumia 900 vs. 808 PureView
Nokia Conversations: Designing the Asha 205
Video: DIY Nokia Wireless Car Charger Mod for Lumia 920

Elop On an Android Nokia Phone: “Anything Is Possible”

Posted: 07 Jan 2013 09:47 AM PST

In an interview with Gizmodo Stephen Elop let some surprising words out, when asked about the possibility of a Nokia Android phone in the future he said “Anything is possible”; just that there probably won’t be one right now

Do you discard launching an Android phone next year?

Elop: In the current ecosystem wars we are using Windows Phone as our weapon. But we are always thinking about what’s coming next, what will be the role of HTML 5, Android… HTML5 could make the platform itself—being Android, Windows Phone or any other—irrelevant in the future, but it’s still too soon [to tell]. Today we are committed and satisfied with Microsoft, but anything is possible.

This is in complete contrast to Elop’s usual statements that they are completely dedicated to Windows Phone platform and have no intention of branching out; instead now Elop is basically saying that Nokia will be willing to jump ship should the need arise, or once they gain enough market-share you might see an Android Windows phone. Also asked about their current goals he replied:

I can’t give figures, but the first objective, without giving any dates, is getting a double-digit marketshare. Then, keep pushing and establish an equilibrium with the other two big ecosystems, Apple and Android.

Note that he didn’t say get Windowsphone to a double digit marketshare, but he’s talking about Nokia alone…..

I personally wouldn’t actually hate an Android Nokia, especially with the latest changes that have come with jelly bean (google now is kickass!); also Android would leave Nokia with more room to customize and skin it to their own liking (hell you can throw a swipe skin on it maybe!)

But for now I’m content with my 920 running Windows Phone

Source

Speaker Output Test: Lumia 920 vs. Lumia 900 vs. 808 PureView

Posted: 07 Jan 2013 06:35 AM PST

In my opinion the N8 was one of the last Nokia phones to have a decent speaker; but of course the awkward placement on the back of the phone didn’t help. After that the Lumia 800 has a pitiful excuse of a speaker, and the Lumia 900 although better still wasn’t up to par with the past; let alone the iPhone 4S which has a very impressive loudspeaker. The Lumia 920 changes all that and brings sound back, the speakers placed on the bottom of the phone (same placement as the 800 and 900) ~~is actually two speakers as far as I can gather~~ (Actually the ports on the bottom of the 920 come from one single speaker source, separated by a “wall” into to different outputs- thanks to everyone who pointed that out), meaning that it outputs audio in stereo rather than mono; making it the only one of the three to do so. Even though the 808 records in stereo with rich recording it only out[puts from the one speaker near the camera bump in mono, however the big camera bump also provides it with larger “air space” which is essential for louder outputs.

So check out the video below and see for yourselves:

As far as I can make out the 808 and 920 are almost tied in terms of output volume (if not then the 808 is slightly louder, but nothing significant).

Nokia Conversations: Designing the Asha 205

Posted: 07 Jan 2013 06:25 AM PST

Nokia Asha 205

The Nokia Asha 205; one of Nokia’s latest feature-phones that packs a funky design, a QWERTY keyboard and dubbed “super social” is a pretty interesting phone. The folks at Nokia Conversations talked to the man behind the design, “Ruth Ng” and asked him a few questions.

One of the most striking features of the Nokia Asha 205 is the two-tone colour approach. Why did you decide to go down this route?

This was inspired by some research that we did in the India and China markets, which are two of our biggest markets. One of the micro-trends that we discovered was something called dark sumptuous tones – these are tones that are nearly black but not quite.

The Asha 205 also uses the same Double shot technique that’s used in the upcoming Lumia 620 so here’s a bit more on that here:

What about the materials used in the Asha 205?

The material combination on the Asha 205 is really interesting. I don't think that many people will have realised that if you look at the battery cover it is made of a two-shot material, plastic and soft polymer. The idea is to bring some aspiration to this value proposition.

A lot of thought has gone into the design of Asha 205 and the choice of materials. The front has the glossy integrated front cover with the screen to give a more seamless look and feel. The pattern on the battery cover helps to give a high gloss effect, which contrasts nicely with the tactile grip along the sides.

Read the full interview over at Nokia Conservations here: http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/01/07/the-asha-205-a-fresh-approach-to-qwerty/

Video: DIY Nokia Wireless Car Charger Mod for Lumia 920

Posted: 06 Jan 2013 11:32 PM PST

Here’s another mod for Nokia’s charging plates. This time it’s used as a car charger. The plate (in black) is connected to a car mount (removable) and on the plate itself are some neodymium magnets to stick to the phone. The phone itself however has to use a case (also with magnets inside) which attaches to the charger.