03 March 2013

My Nokia Blog

My Nokia Blog

A Closer Look at the “New Asha Design language” Leak

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 12:05 PM PST

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A couple days ago, hours before the Nokia keynote in Barcelona Evleaks posted the image above, captioned “Sneak preview of upcoming Nokia Asha design language”. We saw the truth behind this image in the Nokia keynote, where the Nokia 301 and 105 were both launched taking obvious hints from the Lumia range, however the images above don’t seem to be of either of them (also  both the 301 and 105 are NOT Asha devices).

I honestly never had a chance to closely examine these pictures seeing how they were leaked hours before the event and I was sound asleep in my hotel room, but a little birdie  told me to take a closer look at the pictures. Upon closer inspection you can see that all the devices in the picture aren’t the same; in fact there are some pretty obvious differences.

Asha leak 2

So let’s start with the first phone (Above); the first give away of it being a different phone is the inclusion of a flash on the 5 Mp rear camera; so here’s a quick run down of what I could deduce from the picture:

  • Dual shot cover, obvious influence from the Lumia 620; meaning we should probably expect some exciting colors (as seen above).
  • Always on screen, a further evolution of the Meego/Symbian influence on S40.
  • Dual Sim support
  • Single on-screen capacitive button; possibly a completely revamped UI to do away with the hardware call/end buttons.
  • 5MP Camera with LED flash.
  • “interesting” screen size (going off the picture showing the capacitive button), if that render is accurate the screen is somewhere between 2.4′-3.0″ which made me think of an iPod influenced design.

*The inclusion of a dual shot cover would logically point towards interchangeable covers on the phone, which might lead to Wireless charging and NFC enabled covers in the future.

Ashal leak 1

 

The second phone seems to be pretty standard in shape, but let’s take a run at what we can see:

  • Candy-bar design, Lumia influenced; probably similar colors as well
  • Dedicated Lock screen button on the side of the device, something we haven’t seen in many Asha devices.
  • Same “Back” button as seen in the other phone, this time in physical form.
  • Camera on the back without flash
  • Always on menu/settings shortcut? This would make sense if there were no other buttons on the phone besides the end/back- but it’s not the most elegant solution, but it would go along with the concept of a new redesigned UI.
  • Redesigned music player/ general UI?

This is what the UI for the music player on the Asha 308 looks like:

There has been a lot of speculation that we might see a complete redesign of S40/Asha heavily influenced by the acquisition of Smarterphone; which so far hasn’t bared any obvious fruits, this might be the case; but there haven’t been any solid rumors going around to support this.

So what do you guys think? Did we miss anything? Have any theories of your own? Sound down in the comments down below.

Temple Run 2, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds Rio and More Coming to Asha/S40?

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 10:34 AM PST

Here’s an interesting bit of information I was just tweeted; according to a certificate and badge passed out at a Nokia Developer’s event high end games such as Temple Run 2, Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds Rio and more should be coming to the S40/Asha platform.

Obviously this is a huge bit of news if true, seeing how Windows Phone is still waiting on Temple Run 1, let alone 2. If these games do come to the S40 platform that would be a huge up for the Asha range, pushing it closer and closer to smartphone territory.

On the other hand this could be a simple example of what is possible with the S40 platform, should developers decide to embrace it.

Source

Lumia 928 Shows up on Verizon’s Internal Servers, Is This the “Laser”?

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 08:54 AM PST

lumia928-2Phonearena have gotten there hands on a screenshot of Verizon’s internal server that displays a list of their devices. An interesting Lumia “928″ appears listed as a 4G device added on January 17th; of course we’ve long awaited a Verizon variant of the 920 and this looks to be it.

In terms of specs we have almost nothing to go on besides the fact that it’s probably at the least equal to the 920; this might be the “Laser” which is supposed to be the Lumia 920 repackaged in a sleek aluminum body. Whatever it is it’s got our skin itching; and one thing’s for sure; Nokia World this year is going to be amazing!

Source

 

Random Mini Gallery: Red Lumia 920 With Matching Red In Ear Purities

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 08:06 AM PST

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While we were in Barcelona the folks from @Nokiamusic (seriously give them a follow!) hooked us up with a pair of in ear purities to match our beautiful red Lumia. So here’s a quick gallery of these two beauties chilling together! (I still haven’t gotten over how pretty the red Lumia is!).

Sure this gallery isn’t as cool as Jay’s Yellow On Ear Purity unboxing; but I do have some kickass Nokia Music stickers in the background (plus the subtle Nokia Music plug playing on screen).DSC02281 DSC02286 DSC02287 DSC02292 DSC02294 DSC02296

Q&A With @Deano_42 The Nokia Music Man

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 05:11 AM PST

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While we were in Barcelona covering MWC we got a chance to meet up with some great Nokia people, including the Product managers for all the new Nokia devices. We also met up with Dean Pattrick who we already met last year at MWC who you may recall from the Nokia Music promos

-I must say the greatest thing about Dean (besides his hair :P ) is his passion for his work; Nokia Music- it makes it so easy to get sucked into what he’s talking about simply due to the enthusiasm he has for his own work. (Also I look kinda creepy in the picture above mainly because my lack of sleep was starting to catch up to me by day 3).

So here’s a quick run down of what we covered (I thought it would be easier to simply put it in bulletin points rather than wording both the question and the answer:

  • Nokia Music, is and will remain a Nokia Lumia exclusive, just another example of all the great software features you’re in store for once you buy a Nokia Lumia Windows Phone device.
  • The music playback through Nokia Music+ is high quality streaming at 192 AAC with Dolby Pulse audio.
  • Nokia Music + is an optional upgrade that we provided due to feedback gathered from consumers; in essence it’s a “soft sell” meaning we’re not trying to force it on to consumers, the app might suggest you subscribe if you want these extra features, but in no way are we trying to be “pushy” with it. 
  • With Nokia Music + the main advantages are the removed skip barrier,unlimited number of offline mixes, higher quality streaming and synchronized lyrics.
  • We’ve had some great feedback in terms of the lyrics; and we were surprised to find that it was one of the features that most users appreciated in Music +
  • With the lyrics you can either have them run as synchronized (karaoke style) lyrics or you can scroll ahead and view the complete lyrics of the song
  • We’ve also introduced a new unified screen layout were you can access the same great Nokia Music interface across multiple devices, with a new Music Windows 8 app coming soon that will provide the same great interface on your tablet or Windows 8 PC.
  • If you don’t have a Windows 8/RT device you can still access your Nokia Music + account from the new HTML website, which lets you stream music through the browser (no mix downloads though).
  • Nokia Music doesn’t aim to compete with Xbox music, think of them as completions of each other; where one is available in regions where the other isn’t.
  • Due to Background task restrictions on Windows Phone, devices can only download 25 “things” at a time in the background; since mixes on Nokia music are made up of 50 tracks this means that Nokia music can’t fully download mixes while running in the background/lock screen; but we’re working with Microsoft to fix this.

One huge announcement is the fact that the Nokia Music API’s are openly available to use/download in the making of your own app; and there are already some great examples utilizing the Nokia Music library/APIs:

  • MIX NFC Writer- which allows writing NFC Music Tags; which allows writing a specific mix onto a NFC tag, the once the tag is read by any phone it will instantly launch Nokia Music and start playing that Mix.
  • Music Scene- uses integrated maps to show the birthplace/origin of nearby musicians; and gives a detailed bio.
  • Pop Quiz- which plays random snippets of music and tests your trivia at guessing which artist/track is playing
  • the New Nokia Burton App

*note: you can find the links to the Nokia Music APIs under the settings in THIS APP

Check out an awesome video demo of NFC tagging Nokia music in action by Sam down below:

And while we’re at it another recap of Nokia Music + and everything involved

Future Nokia Devices – with Harlow, Ahtisaari and Pannenbecker

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:56 AM PST

Screen Shot 2013-03-02 at 10.56.16Some key Nokia execs have spoken with SlashGear on the subject of future Nokia devices. Of course, they can’t be specific enough to actually talk about upcoming products but it’s somewhat of an interesting read.

http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-head-up-how-lumias-future-is-sharper-than-glass-28271951/

Ahtisaari says he reckons there’s room for ‘specialised devices’ but also more ‘complex phones’.

I’m taking this as possibly super dedicated cameras or tablets?

I think there'll be room for more and more dedicated devices that do a few things really well again

And that is slightly a contrarian view, but I think what we'll see is increasing complexity and ability… you can either shortcut through the environment, but this means also space for dedicated devices that do a few things really well. Yes, a phone, but other functionalities too.

You’ll see many examples and images in the article of past Nokia concepts that are being made reality by other manufacturers. Execution is key and Nokia isn’t the most well known for executing well.

Pannenbecker was also coy, presenting the conventional smartphone idea but indicating Nokia may have other approaches.

"For us as designers. Because ultimately again it comes to better problems. This is more what we think a smartphone is supposed to be [holds up phone], but I think obviously there's other ways of doing that.

The heads up mantra first hinted about prior to the N9 launch is very pervasive throughout the article. Nokia’s keen on making more human to human contact with technology enabling consumers rather than making them into ‘robots’.

Cheers jiipee for the tip!

Nokia Lumia WP8 to get future major OS updates…

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:45 AM PST

GSMAApparently, WP8 devices will get future updates to the next iteration of the OS.

Ideally, this shouldn’t be news but something we should expect but given MS’s previous actions towards WP7.5 users, we can’t take anything for granted anymore.

Source: PCMag Via GSM Arena

 

Nokia working on more waterproof phones, Nokia Lumia 1000 EOS possible guinea pig?

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:37 AM PST

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GSM Arena reports that Nokia are working with P2i on a water repelling phone for 2013. The more interesting bit is that they reckon it could possibly be the new Nokia Lumia 1000 EOS, a camera successor to the 808 PureView.

Now, Nokia isn’t a stranger to the waterproof, super robust devices (e.g. 5100, 5410, 5500, 3720) but it has been a while since we last saw a waterproof Nokia.

Perhaps you’ll remember Stephen Elop commenting on some Nokia innovations that were remarkable but were stuck inside labs. One of these has already come to market (PureView in the 808, he said although the N8 was amazing, that was literally just a fraction of what’s in the labs) but he also mentioned waterproof, dunkable devices due to a layer of nano-repellant coating. That type of coating means the phone doesn’t necessarily have to be a thick, bulky device.

I’ve seen some services already where you can send your present devicein  (to HzO) and get it coated with waterproof layer but in tests, they don’t always seem to work. I hope this is gonna be fool proof, especially given the expectations behind the invincible Nokias.

Weekend Watch: Exposure – Lumia Photography tips from Rankin Film Productions – NOKIA UK

Posted: 02 Mar 2013 02:24 AM PST

Screen Shot 2013-03-02 at 10.23.23Another video from Rankin Film Productions, this time covering Exposure on your Lumia.

Alex from Rankin Film Productions explains digital exposure value on your Lumia and shows you how to improve your photos based on different lighting conditions.

Nokia have teamed up with Rankin Film Productions for year two of Collabor8te — a scheme to support the next generation of image-makers.

Find out more about the Collabor8te project here: http://nokia.ly/TIruri
View the latest from Rankin here: http://nokia.ly/YHda2i

nokiauk

 
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