Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently purchased a Nokia Lumia 900 and thus far has had nothing but a pleasant experience with the device. The folks over at aNewDomain.net caught up with “the Woz” and spoke to him about his opinion on the Windows Phone platform. “Just for looks and beauty I definitely favor the Windows Phone over Android,” he said. Wozniak called the operating system “intuitive and beautiful,” and said it makes him feel as if he is “with a friend not a tool.” He also noted that apps on the Lumia look “more beautiful than on Android or iPhone.” Despite his praise, Woz maintains that the iPhone is still his favorite smartphone. The co-founder isn’t shy about his opinions and has previously stated that in many ways Android had lept ahead of Apple and the iPhone. 

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Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we learned that ZTE intends to release a phablet of its own, and Samsung unseated Nokia as the world's largest supplier of mobile phones. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of April 23rd, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of April 23rd, 2012

Mobile Miscellany: week of April 23rd, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung has just toppled Nokia's 14-year run as the world's biggest vendor of mobile phones in terms of shipments. In the first quarter of 2012 Samsung shipped 93.5 million handsets—36 per cent more than a year earlier—overtaking the Finnish phone giant who shipped a mere 82.7 million. More »

Nokia announced earlier today the release of Browser 2.0 for its Series 40 devices, which of course includes the colorful Asha lineup. The update promises an overall speedier and easier browsing experience, this in large part due to the application condensing data by up to 90 percent. In addition to these enhancements, there's also a novel Download Manager in the refresh, giving users the ability to choose where they'd like to save content without leaving the app. Also included in the update is a new multitasking-while-browsing feature (finally!), as well as a social-sharing bit that lets you push out page URLs to sites like Twitter, Facebook, Sina Weibo and RenRen. Browser 2.0 will be native on future Series 40s, but for now those whom already own a small chunk of the 1.5 billion can grab the goods from the Nokia Store or wait for the OTA package to hit your device.

Nokia releases Browser 2.0 update for Series 40 handsets with improved speed, multitasking in tow originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here's how you know your phone's camera is powerful. If it has 41 freaking megapixels. Here's how you know to trust your powerful camera phone. If it's used to make a commercial about itself. Yep, the Nokia 808 PureView was used to make a commercial about the Nokia 808 PureView. A clever way to see how good (and ridiculous) the camera is. [YouTube] More »

Nokia has just announced its first quarter financial results, and while the company's managing to shift its new Lumia range in the US, its performance elsewhere is less impressive—in fact, it suffered a $775 million dollar net loss over the period. More »

Nokia has just announced its first quarter financial results, and while the company's managing to shift its new Lumia range in the US, its performance elsewhere is less impressive—in fact, it suffered a $775 million dollar net loss over the period. More »

Nokia warned that its first-quarter earnings would be weak, and the numbers are now in. Revenue declined 30% to €7.4 billion, or $9.7 billion USD last quarter, down from €10.4 billion, or $13.6 billion in the same quarter last year. The company posted a massive €1.3 billion loss, or $1.7 billion USD, which breaks down to a loss of €0.25 per share. Smartphone sales plummeted 52% to 1.7 billion units in the first quarter, and net device sales dropped 40% to 4.2 billion units. Read on for more.

“We are navigating through a significant company transition in an industry environment that continues to evolve and shift quickly,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said. “Over the last year we have made progress on our new strategy, but we have faced greater than expected competitive challenges. We have launched four Lumia devices ahead of schedule to encouraging awards and popular acclaim. The actual sales results have been mixed. We exceeded expectations in markets including the United States, but establishing momentum in certain markets including the UK has been more challenging.”

Nokia confirmed earlier this month that it sold 2 million Lumia Windows Phones in the first quarter, and it said on Wednesday that sales of its Lumia 900 smartphone at AT&T have been “encouraging” thus far. The Lumia 900 launched on April 8th, so sales are not reflected in Nokia’s first-quarter report.

The company confirmed in a separate statement that Colin Giles, executive vice president of sales, has resigned.

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Nokia’s attempt to regain the traction in the mobile market is turning out to be more difficult than the company once thought. Four major wireless carriers in Europe have said that Nokia’s Lumia smartphones are “not good enough” to compete with Apple’s iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Nokia bet big on Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform last year, however the gamble has yet to pay off according to the report. “No one comes into the store and asks for a Windows phone,” said an executive in charge of mobile devices at a European operator. The company is now playing catch up with Apple and Google after suffering a huge decline that hurt its image in the high-end market, and according to Reuters’s sources, Windows Phone might be making matters worse. “Nokia have given themselves a double challenge: to restore their credibility in terms of making hardware smartphones and succeed with the Microsoft Windows operating system, which lags in the market,” the executive said. “If the Lumia with the same hardware came with Android in it and not Windows, it would be much easier to sell.”

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It's now been a few months since we first laid our eager palms on Nokia's Lumia 710, and although it isn't getting any younger, some carriers are still adding the device to their lineup. We'd previously seen Rogers land the entry-level 710 as an exclusive in Canada, but now it's looking like the deal's expiring and WIND Mobile's ready to give its users a taste of the Mango-flavored handset. So far, WIND's keeping deets to a minimum, with the site only listing the device as "coming soon." One thing we do know, however, is that specs-wise it's likely to be a clone of any other network's variant. Needless to say, WIND may have to match, if not best, Rogers' prices in order to attract a new breed of customers to its white and orange shop. While you wait for the rest of the info to spill, you can always give those free Nokia covers a gander and decide which one you're snagging when the time's right.

Canada's WIND Mobile lists Nokia Lumia 710, says it's coming soon originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia's having a bit of a rough go with its launch of the beautiful Lumia 900. But today it launched the new, NFC-packing Lumia 610 at WIMA, and it'll have support from Visa and MasterCard when it gets here. More »

Nokia's having a bit of a rough go with its launch of the beautiful Lumia 900. But today it launched the new, NFC-packing Lumia 610 at WIMA, and it'll have support from Visa and MasterCard when it gets here. More »

As promised, Nokia and Microsoft have made the mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint and Excel available to select Symbian Belle handsets. Earlier this year, the duo heralded the release of OneNote, Document Connection, Lync and PowerPoint Broadcast. With this latest software add, the Office suite for Symbian is (seemingly) complete. Those of you rocking an E7, C7, C6-01, X7, Oro, 700, 701 or 603 can acquire the fresh bits by launching the Nokia Software Update utility. Not bad for a dead mobile operating system.

Microsoft brings Word, PowerPoint, Excel to Symbian Belle handsets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia’s new Lumia 900 smartphone is getting a huge push at AT&T, but the carrier’s marketing budget for the new flagship Windows Phone won’t quite add up to sky-high figure suggested on Monday. Ad Age published an unconfirmed report on Monday stating that AT&T is preparing a massive marketing blitz to promote the new Nokia smartphone BGR called Windows Phone’s best shot yet to gain ground in the mass market. The carrier will spend as much as $150 million promoting the Lumia 900 according to the report, more than it spent to launch the iPhone. Following our coverage of Ad Age’s report, a trusted source confirmed to BGR that this is, in fact, not the case. Our well-placed source states that while AT&T is planning to push Nokia’s new Lumia smartphone aggressively, the $150 million figure is not even close to reality. This makes sense considering the big budget Nokia reportedly has set aside for the Lumia 900, but our source had no information to offer regarding Nokia’s marketing plans. An AT&T spokesperson declined to comment.

In the coming months, AT&T will spend as much as $150 million to help promote Nokia’s latest flagship smartphone, the Lumia 900. According to Ad Age, the massive advertising budget is even greater than what the carrier spent promoting Apple’s iPhone, which continues to be the company’s top selling device. Since losing its exclusive partnership with Apple, AT&T has been adding smartphone subscribers at a slower rate than rival Verizon Wireless. With other revenue streams drying up, carriers are looking to add new smartphone users to propel growth from profitable data plans. “The bulk of the growth for carriers is coming from smartphone subscribers,” said Chris Larsen, telecom analyst for Piper Jaffray. “They generate higher monthly recurring fees and more revenue.” With Verizon nipping at the heels of AT&T’s smartphone users base — thanks to numerous high-end exclusives —the carrier needs to push its own exclusive smartphones to counter Verizon’s growth. “You can tell when you walk into a Verizon store they’ve made a lot of money selling Android—that’s what they’re promoting,” Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps told Ad Age.

UPDATE: BGR has confirmed with a trusted source that AT&T’s marketing plans for the Nokia Lumia 900 are not in line with this report.

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Despite reinforcements arriving this year from Nokia, Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform will only account for 2% of all mobile application downloads in 2012, a recent report suggests. Market research firm ABI Research recently released a new study stating that nearly 36 billion apps will be downloaded to smartphones and tablets this year, and an overwhelming 83% of those downloads will be served to either Android or iOS-powered devices. “Although Windows Phone lags behind RIM’s BlackBerry and even Nokia’s Symbian, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the two percent that we forecast for 2012 would be twice the share the platform achieved last year,” ABI analyst Lim Shiyang said in a statement. “Microsoft is gaining momentum, but its starting point is frustratingly low.” Devices like Nokia’s new Lumia 900, which BGR reviewed on Tuesday, are expected to improve Microsoft’s position in the smartphone market while the firm works on its next major OS release, Windows Phone 8. ABI Research’s press release follows below.

Windows Phone to Represent 2% of 2012’s App Downloads, but Its Future Will Be Brighter

LONDON – April 3, 2012

Mobile users will download nearly 36 billion apps in 2012 and Android and iOS will make up for 83% of the app downloads, while only 2% can be attributed to Windows Phone.

Research associate Lim Shiyang says, “Although Windows Phone lags behind RIM’s BlackBerry and even Nokia’s Symbian, we shouldn’t ignore the fact that the two percent that we forecast for 2012 would be twice the share the platform achieved last year. Microsoft is gaining momentum, but its starting point is frustratingly low. Contrary to popular belief, this isn’t really a chicken-and-egg problem of low device sales holding back the app business and the slow app business holding back the device sales. It’s more complicated than that.�

There are four factors undermining Windows Phone’s app growth. First, the small device market share is the most obvious drag. Second, Windows Marketplace’s global roll-out has taken a long time, further limiting the number of potential customers. Third, Microsoft has also been slow to enable in-app purchasing, meaning that most of the quality apps remain behind an upfront paywall. And fourth, there have been no tablets built on the platform. Advancement on any of these fronts will have a positive impact.

According to senior analyst Aapo Markkanen, “One message we hear from many developers is that, purely technically speaking, Windows Phone is actually a rather appealing platform. And if it turns out to be a platform for relatively high-end devices, avoiding the fragmentation pitfalls of Android, it won’t even need to achieve a remarkably large market share to attract a vibrant app scene. The arrival of the first Windows 8 tablets, as well as Windows Phone’s upgrade to the Apollo iteration, should also give it a boost, since developers can reuse their code to launch on various screen sizes.�

ABI Research’s study, “Mobile Applications Market Data,� provides insight into the fast-growing mobile applications market. The market data include a forecast for application downloads, segmented by operating system platform, as well as a forecast for application revenues. Also, a list of storefronts, with their key features and regional availability, is provided.

It is part of the firm’s Mobile Applications Research Service.

The Google Project Glass concept video is pretty mind-blowing. But it's also a little familiar, no? Perhaps that's because it's so similar to this Nokia Research Center video from 2009. More »