Nokia getting exclusive WP features only in 2012?

According to smarthouse.com.au, Nokia will be getting ‘exclusive’ Windows Phone Capabilities starting in 2012. These features will be revealed to the world in February of 2012 during MWC.

European Nokia sources, revealed  the OS will include  “several new software upgrades, exclusive functions forNokia phones and software that will not be available for other manufacturers who licence the OS” .

On hearing this, if true, I am happy that Nokia will be getting exclusive, but am also disappointed with the timing. Nokia executives when speaking about Windows Phone, never specified which version, thus we could safely assume it was the next big iteration. When Nokia launches its first WP, it should have this next iteration with the unique capabilities that Nokia will bring. They should not just release a slightly upgraded Windows Phone with ‘mango’ update, that makes Nokia look like any other manufacturer especially when people are doubting the partnership. The 1st NWP device needs to speak for itself, i.e. show the partnership was worth it.

Nokia is going to release a WP with the aim of 2011, but it could be 2012 1st Quarter. Their main priority should not be to get some WP out ASAP, it should be to get a a compelling experience, with the aim of instilling confidence in all the ‘doubters’ by the updates and UI changes specifically for Nokia users to help them transition from Symbian.

Having used 2 WP devices I can attest to it being a beautiful experience, however there are severe, severe limitation. I will have a post coming about the applications I want WP to have coming from Symbian, the features, the changes, and other UI niggles which need to be changed to actually make it a smooth transition.

So stay tuned and hope that when Nokia does release its 1st WP its actually their own ‘exclusive’ version, not the current version. In its current version most Symbian users will be perplexed with many of the gaping holes in the platform that Symbian/Maemo users enjoy every single day.

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Dell Venue Pro Impressions

I received the Dell Venue Pro a few days ago. After using the HD7 I really did not like the hardware, it was too big, flat, easy to drop and felt cheap. In addition I needed a QWERTY keyboard my one criteria, I hate using virtual keyboards they are far too easy to mistype on, impossible to use without looking at the screen, and just a painful experience compared to hardware keyboards.

Nokia launches Chat for Symbian S60 5.0..Symbian 3 forthcoming

Nokia has launched the Nokia chat application for S60 5.0 finally. This application has been forthcoming for a long, long time and its about time really. It is still surprising that the Nokia N8 manual had references to chat, yet it still does not have the application available months after its launch.

Hope it is worth the wait for people.

Here are some screen shots. It is available for download here.

The interface looks much improved. Having used the N8 I always wanted something that feels more ‘native’ and cohesive with the UI, like the N900, but Fring, Numbuzz etc are not satisfactory especially coming from the N900. This applications seems much better, with better home screen integration and a nice UI. I like how Google Talk, Yahoo, Ovi chat,  and MSN Live Messenger are part of the chat app. All extremely popular good to see it is not limited to Ovi chat.

In addition, I believe the reason for the delay for the Symbian 3 update would be waiting for PR 2.0, which amongst many other things would include the split keyboard, which is one my BIGGEST gripes with chat on Symbian 3.

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Nokia C7 coming as Astound to T-Mobile: $79

Tmonews is reporting that the Nokia C7 will be coming to  the US as the Nokia Astound on the 6th of April for $79.99 after mail in rebate.

In addition, they have information that there will be 4 more Nokia Symbian devices launching this year, which is actually quite surprising.

We can expect the launch this Monday evening at CTIA for the Astound, and is rumored to launch with PR 2.0. This should be a much more refined user experience with the split keyboard, and surely with more ‘eye candy’ effects. Plus PR 3.0 is coming which should be good, I think this is a good way to ensure Nokia brand becomes more visible in the US before the WP devices come.

Look forward to hearing about the new Symbian phones, if there are 4 for the US market they are part of the 20 Symbian devices Nokia is expected to launch this year.

Nokia Tablet

These are images of a possible Nokia was considering launching, and the patent was applied for in May 2010. This could easily have been the Meego tablet that Eldar had mentioned. Or it may be something entirely different. This is basically a big Nokia N8 and the hardware would have been freaking awesome knowing Nokia. However, the software and ‘ecosystem’ would have been another story.

The chances of this seeing the light of day seem low given tablets were all Meego. Now that it is for future disruption only (with the N950 being the only confirmed Meego device this year), thus we can assume the device as it was meant to be was scrapped.

But if does not mean we will not be seeing this device with another OS. We could see this with Windows 8 on it, which will have a special tablet edition that is rumored to be a merge with Windows Phone of some sort.

Let us see what the largest phone and software makers in the world can cook up together.

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Nokia India’s VP possible delay to Nokia Windows Phone + Updated WP Version for Nokia Phones

Talking to the Economic Times D Shivakumar India’s VP states that we can expect to see the next windows phone in the next 12 months in addition to other tidbits. The main take away points are:

Windows Marketplace hits 10K Apps

The number in itself it not very impressive, however the rate of growth is . The Marketplace has grown faster than Android and Apple, which is very impressive given its slow adoption.

This number will only get bigger, at a much faster rate as the Nokia partnership bears fruit with handsets on the market, and the full developer community starts developing in full swing.

Good sign for for a platform that many are doubting. Having used WP I can say that I have had no trouble finding any of the applications I used with Symbian (bar a few) or would have wanted from other platforms. Some great applications are the AP app, Netflix, and a whole variety of other games.

Hit the source to check out live graphs displaying the impressive rate of growth over the past 2 weeks and since its release.

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Why Nokia failed: ‘Wasted 2,000 man years’ on UIs that didn’t work

The Register has a great post on why Nokia is where they are today (jumping off a burning platform). It is a relatively long article with insight from Symbian developers that take you through history of when Symbian was born to all the bad decisions made on the way resulting in the result results.

The basic takeaway is that Nokia thought the whole touch thing was a ‘passing obsession’, reverse engineered everything with no emphasis on UX, and changed their strategy for Symbian many, many times with no unified action throughout the company. The company it self was fragmented.

Read it here

Samsung enticing unhappy Symbian Developers

Samsung has been sending out an email to developers in India currently urging them to check out Bada, if they are unhappy with Nokias strategy. Not surprised that this is happening really, Samsung has been trying for years to nip at Nokias heels. They are coming close since Nokia has been a little ‘lost’ in the last few years, and are close in market share in certain markets.

In 2011 they are aiming to sell more than 10 million Bada devices this year. It seems their strategy is Android with the Galaxy S line in the North America and pushing Bada worldwide. Nokia could have done something like this, with WP for NA and Symbian/Meego worldwide.

Only time will tell if the fans gained, and developers interested are greater in number than the ones deflecting to other platforms.

If done right, I personally believe Nokia can succeed with WP if they implement changes from the Symbian/Meego platforms that everyone loved. There is absolutely NO doubt that WP is an extremely slick experience, if they add the right features all the people thinking about joining the Android/iOS platform (especially in developing contries like India/China) where Symbian is at lower price points , can get a slick experience at a cheaper price. That is course contingent upon them being able to push WP down to lower price points, but given WP current hardware requirements I do not know how it will be achieved.

Perhaps they will have a lighter version for lower price points, but that will lead to fragmentation..let us hope the largest software company and hardware company in the world can get things right from the beginning. They cannot afford not to.

Microsoft Marketplace hits 9K applications, trial apps a major advantage

The Windows Team Blog stated that the Windows Marketplace hit 9000 applications. This is excellent in terms of growth rate and is similar in terms of growth to Android initially. This is further helped by other strategies Microsoft is following to motivate developers such as increasing free application limit from 5 to a 100. The developer tools have been downloaded more than a million times.

Anyway this is helped by the ‘trial use’ feature that the market place offers which is unique to Windows. According to the Windows Blog these applications are downloaded 70 times more. If the application is deigned well, there is a much higher chance of it being converted to a sale.

All in all, from a Nokia user stand point their success now is good news. The growth rate will only increase as they join forces with Nokia, as Nokia developers focus on WP, and local content starts to get written for WP. The Global Publisher Program from Microsoft is already aiming to do that, and as the partnership matures we can expect more unique, rich applications for the 3rd ecosystem.

Hit the break for the full breakup.

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