It seems that Windows Phone will power Nokia when it comes to smart phones. Smart Phones are a sore point for Nokia. It has sat by and seen its share in this category dwindle considerably, thanks to iPhones and Android.
Nokia Maps will become of core importance to Bing Maps. This is a very interesting development as Nokia is quite good with mapping and Bing is losing steam to Google Maps. This sort of cooperation will help Bing maps become a lot more locally relevant.
Bing will power search on Nokia phones. This is crucial again for Bing for survival. Search in recent times is used more and more through phones.
Nokia might benefit when their application store is integrated with Microsoft Marketplace.
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Why this marriage could fail!
Nokia and Microsoft are different companies. Nokia has a more open corporate culture when efforts are made to keep allow employees network and work freely with each other. Microsoft on the other hand is slightly more bureaucratic. Such diverse corporate cultures can always be difficult for one partner if not both.
For Microsoft this is a way to expand, while for Nokia this partnership is a life-line. It needed a shot in the arm but I am not sure Microsoft was the what they were looking for.
Microsoft does one thing very well. That is they really good at working with other companies. Remember Apple! It has this very efficient way for working with another company and giving itself an advantage over competitors. I am not sure that is good news for Nokia in the long run. 😛
What are your views on Nokia and Microsoft partnering up? Is it too little too late for Nokia? Do drop in your comments.
Are you shocked? OK, before you skip a heart-beat, it is better to clarify that this is NOT a confirmed news. It is just a rumor that is slowly building up and doing rounds in the international news.
Microsoft’s Dilema
Since 10 years Microsoft has been developing and innovating “WindowsMobile” as its predominant mobile operating system for smartphones and other mobiles but it has not gained enough popularity and market to live upto its reputation and brand name.
As of 2010, it commanded only 5% in the worldwide market share (against 18% of Blackberry OS and 43.5% of Nokia-Symbian OS). Hence the fact remains that it has not been able to catch-up in the race of mobile operating system platform.
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With Microsoft’s latest OS “Windows Phone 7” launched just few weeks back, it has finally been able to impress many critics around the globe or at least that’s what Microsoft believes. If there is something that is missing for them in their goal to dominate the mobile market then it would be the “hardware” issue.
Microsoft might have to think about getting into the hardware foray (that is to manufacture/develop their own line of phones) to stay in the game and control the entire user experience because Blackberry develops its own phones, so does Nokia-Symbian and so does Apple.
Who could Microsoft buy out!
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The best possible option that Microsoft has got : is to go for buy-out because starting from scratch would not only be tedious job but also would consume lot of their resources. Talking of buy-out there are two possible contenders :
Nokia-Symbian
Blackberry-RIM
I may have raised quite a few eyebrows by citing these two giants name because I know what you are thinking : whether Microsoft can afford to buy any of two companies ? No one can substantiate this answer but it is worth noting that as of quarter ending December 2010, Microsoft had a cash surplus and cash equivalent of $39.98 Billion, whereas RIM-Blackberry’s Market Cap was $32 Billion and Nokia’s Market Cap was around $42 Billion.
Advantages for Nokia and RIM
Though any open offer made by Microsoft to any of these companies would have to be at a considerable high premium but one cannot rule out the whole bold incident of “attempted Yahoo buy-out” by Microsoft @ $47.5 Billion.
Techcrunch’s article few days back states that Nokia on the other hand was considering moving its office from Finland to Silicon Valley, US. Does that add to our speculation?
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As far as RIM is concerned even though its popularity it is way behind the well-liked apple and android backed phones but together, RIM and Microsoft may stand a chance.
To end I would say that Windows Phone 7 has been receiving good response but by the time it reaches pinnacle, Apple and Google might come up with something new, fancy and innovative as always.
Hence in nut-shell Microsoft is few years behind them and buying-out is the only option to propel its way to the top. Let us wait and watch whether this rumor becomes reality or Microsoft has something new in its kitty !
With a declared talk-time battery of upto 14 hours, Samsung in its recent launch “Wave 533” aka “Wave 2 Pro” has used Bada as the Operating system. The phone is a slider keyboard phone with touchscreen feature.
Let me clarify one thing here itself that Wave 533 does not support 3G network unlike mentioned on many websites including Naaptol on the web. I inquired about this myself from The Mobile Store located in Pune and even they confirmed this. The video below will clarify that there is NO 3G network supported by Wave 533.
Specifications
Weight: 100 grams
GSM and EDGE Band 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, CDMA Band, TD-SCDMA Band
3.2 inch TFT, Internal Resolution 240×400
1200 mAh Battery, Standby battery up to 1090 hours
3.2 MP Digital Camera with 2x Optical Zoom and Video Recording
Music Player included, can play MP3 Ringtones with 3D sound effects
JAVA games, Document Viewer, Mobile Printing, Offline Mode, Voice Memo & Voice Mail
SMS / MMS, Instant Messaging, vCard
Bluetooth, WAP, USB, Assisted GPS, PC Sync Application, Internet HTML Browser, Wi-Fi 802.11n
User Memory 100MB, SMS Memory upto 1300, Phone Book Entries almost Unlimited, External Memory microSD (up to 16GB)
Speakerphone enabled, Touch Phone and Mobile Tracker
Price Reality
The following places where I inquired about the current price:
Want to get a clear picture of what specifications and features the mobile offers? Visit the Official Link given below and do drop in your comments about how does it affects users when websites start publishing even wrong details!
Even if you think it doesn’t matter how far Android can go, ‘I will stick to Nokia’, then I must tell you that Android has now officially broken all records with higher sales figures than Symbian in the last quarter of 2010.
What’s more interesting is that while Android’s popularity has been ever on the rise, Nokia has adopted Symbian and have started to develop it in-house. Now we need to wait for the future which will tell us whether this was a bad business move by Nokia or not!
The survey conducted by a Research firm “Canalys” which revealed that while Symbian sales stood at 31 million, Android managed higher sales at 32.9 million smartphones during the last quarter of 2010. The sales were possibly fuelled by exciting handsets launched by Samsung, LG and HTC.
I am not predicting that Nokia’s strategy to become the leader in Mobile Technology is a failure, however Nokia must be very careful with its plans there are a lot of Nokia lovers out there specially in India.
Will Nokia manage to take Symbian to a new level ? Do drop in your comments.
In an attempt to increase its market share in a country like India, Motorola finally appears to take steps towards some innovation and hence launched the first ever Android phone with Dual sim (CDMA + GSM) technology known as the ‘Milestone XT800’ or simply Motorola Glam. The phone is a touch-screen and supports almost all features a user might be looking for in a smartphone. The price tag is around Rs. 32000 which might look big initially though it’s a great new comer for users of both CDMA as well as GSM. However now, the phone will be exclusively sold by AirTyme Communications in India.
Features at a glance
Camera: 5 Mega-pixel [autofocus, digital-zoom, dual LED flash]
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Operating System: Android 2.1 [a bit disappointing though]
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email (includes push email)
Storage: 2GB card [expandable up to 32GB]
Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth [wireless Bluetooth stereo included]
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GPS: Assisted GPS support [Google maps included]
Multimedia: Video playback/capture/streaming [HDMI output included], Audio formats supported [includes WAV, WMA, AMR, MP3, AAC and lot more]
Office: Support for viewing / editing documents [Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF and ZIP]
I think this is going to be a great buy for users who are not even willing to leave the strong CDMA network as well as want to have a nice Android phone. However you need to compromise on the Android version. Think and then comment, “are you gonna buy it?”
Much awaited Mobile Number portability or MNP (in short) is just about to launch next year in the first month for Category ‘A’ service areas. The rest of the country shall have to wait till March, 2011 to use the facility.
All Logos are respective trademarks for their companies
Generally, a huge number of customers are expecting to change their service providers as soon as MNP is launched in the various telecom circles, however most of them are still un-aware on the ‘What’ and ‘How’ of the process. Lets see what our inside story has to tell you on this:
Cost – If you are looking forward to change your operator, you just need to pay only up to Rs. 19 as Porting charges (as per TRAI), however the exact fee shall be decided by the operators themselves. The porting charge is non-refundable even if you want to cancel your request for MNP, which is possible within 24 hours of the request.
No Dues – There should be no bills pending with your existing operator if you want to migrate.
Time – It shall take a maximum of 4 days for all telecom circles except the states of J&K, Assam and North East where it will take a maximum of 12 days. The number, during this process, shall be disconnected for a maximum time of 2 hours.
Minimum usage – A porting request can be made only after 90 days from the date of activation of a connection, or after 90 days from the date of previous porting, in case of a ported number.
Instant Reply – A UPC (Unique Porting Code) shall be sent to the mobile phone after a SMS is sent to 1900 (regular SMS tariff applies).
Source: PakTelecom.net
MNP has been successfully implemented in Haryana and Karnataka Telecom circles, however the rest of India awaits the new bride with joy.
Today Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world. It is developed by Google. Sony, Nokia, HTC, Blackberry, Motorola and many other cell phone manufactures ship cells with android.
It is a one of the major competitor to the Apple iPhone and many other cell phone manufacturing companies providing their particular mobile OS.
It is an Open Source Mobile Operating System and has more than 2,00,000 free applications. Some of the best android apps for your phone are listed below.
Android phones are capable of running more than one application at a time. This can Slow down the phone performance, but Advanced Task Killer helps by aborting the background running process at a click.
Evernote is an app which is used in both computers as well as cell phones. You can easily find and search for you notes using Evernote. Also the ones made using your desktop PC. You can Capture your Ideas, Inspirations and Experiences using Evernote for android.
Fring is an android app using which a user can make calls, video calls and instant messages worldwide to their family and friends. The plus point of Fring is that it can communicate with users who are not a Fring member, also it is absolutely free of cost with more than ten million users worldwide.
You don’t need a 5MP camera for better photos if you have FxCamera. This applications have many filters and supports editing of photos. It can take snaps in special effects like ToyCam, Fisheye, Polandroid, SymmetriCam, Warhol, and Normal.
Gmote turns your android phone to a remote control of your PC. Download Gmote to your device and Gmote Server to your PC. Connect both of them and you are done. It supports standard features like Play, Pause, Rewind, Volume Control, etc and also has a built-in browser to help you select what to play easily sitting at a distance.
Now Google Earth is available for android. Using it you can explore the world in your plam. Its features are Exploring in 3D, Local Search, My Location, Search by voice, Multi Touch, Layers. Not all the phone running android have a Google Earth supports. Phones having android 2.1+ version of android are supported.
It searches information of the photo or a picture provided to it. If you see any landmark or product and want information about it just use Goggles and it will give you everything. Also it can read bar code of the products and helps you find similar products.
Google Maps as everyone know about it is now available for android based phones. You can use it to route your path, find place and paths using the maps on the Google servers at any place using your phone.
The developers of Opera Mini have now launched a final version for android phones. It can be set as a default browser and pages outside the browser can be loaded using opera min. Its compression gives smaller bill amount. It has features like Tabs, Speed-Dial Navigation, Minimise Downloads and Opera Link.
Palringo is an instant messaging app. You can connect to MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk, ICQ and many others. You never miss any chat with the notifications on your phone. You can share your location plus it supports rich media communication.
Pandora Radio is Internet Radio app. Just type in your favourite artist, composer or band and it will create a station which plays their songs and if you are an existing user of Pandora you can use you sync stations along with many new available.
All of the above apps are absolutely free and can be easily used with your Android phone. You can click on the name of the app to get more information and to download them.
Do keep an eye on the data charges. Do drop in your comments and views.
Recently Saudi Arabia has banned some of the encrypted services with Blackberry. The reason given for the banning of the encrypted messaging services has been security. The same issue might be faced by Blackberry users in India as the government here is also having security concerns. That might be a different debate but one thing is certain that many users might feel disappointed.
According to Nimbuzz blog 10 percent of the Blackberry users have chosen Nimbuzz as a alternative messaging service.
Nimbuzz works on all Blackberry devices which are OS 4.2.1 and onwards.
Nimbuzz allows Blackberry users to connect with Facebook, Gtalk, Yahoo, Skype and MSN contacts.
It’s a free app and also created with Open source technology. The added advantage for users is that it conforms to all government requirements and hence this service probably wont be blocked like Blackberry’s own encrypted service has been.
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Currently many governments have had some issues with the encryption service with Blackberrybut only a coupe of countries have actually banned it. Majority of Blackberry users are not doing this to send corporate secrets over this network and might feel let down when their favorite service gets banned. This is where they might find Nimbuzz app very useful.
What are your views on Blackberry encrypted messaging service being banned? Do you know of any other great free service like Nimbuzz? Do let me know through your comments.
Google has traditionally clashed against Microsoft and Yahoo over dominance over the internet. Recently we see Google has started stepping on the toes of Apple. One can safely assume two priorities over the next year for Google are Google TV and mobile phones.
This is where YouTube which is considered to be vastly under performing when it comes to creating revenues will be crucial for Google.
YouTube has announced a new service called Leanback which basically is helpful for watching videos on a bigger screen. It automatically keeps streaming one video after another based on your preferences. This will be quite useful for viewing YouTube videos on a Television set. Google TV anyone? 🙂
Just visit youtube.com/leanbackand start to look up video is full screen mode. I have a pretty large screen with my laptop. The controls were with directions mainly to choose screen through videos.
If YouTube has come up with leanback for large screens then m.youtube.comis meant for the ultra small screen of a mobile phone. It is a new format for looking up YouTube online.
Check out the two videos by YouTube for Leanback and mobile and let us know what you think of them through your comments.
If you use Facebook from your cell phone then it’s always recommended to use the relevant application for it in order to make Facebooking more convenient and user friendly. If you are using any mobile phone of iPhone, Palm, Sony Ericsson, INQ, Blackberry, Nokia, Android, Windows Mobile, Sidekick then Facebook or it’s 3rd party provides an application. If your phone doesn’t supports any application at all the you can simply use either your mobile browser or Facebook for Mobile.
iPhone: iPhone from Apple, you can also use this application for iPod Touch. Provided by iTunes.
Palm: For different models of Plam used in India and Abroad.
Sony Ericsson: For Sony Ericson Phones developed by official Sony Ericson cell phone company.
