I have liked the Nokia Nseries devices over the years for their media creation experiences, but it was always the Eseries that earned a spot in my pocket and long term use of my SIM card due to their workhorse functionality. The Nokia E61 was the first front facing QWERTY keyboard Nokia Eseries I bought and I enjoyed using it. However, when the E71 came out in that ultra-sleek form factor and design I jumped all over it and picked up one of them.

I wasn’t as impressed with the E72, but the E73 Mode won me back and up until now I consider that my ultimate Nokia front facing QWERTY device. After spending a couple of weeks with my new Nokia E6 I have to say that I find little reason to pull out my T-Mobile SIM card and think this device may just have all that I need in a beautiful form factor and it trumps all other front facing QWERTY Nokia devices.

I also think it easily beats the BlackBerry QWERTY devices as I have said many times because it has dedicated keys for commonly used things such as @, ?, period, and comma that alone make it more functional for me.

The hardware of the Nokia E6 is just about what I wanted with a 640×480 pixel resolution display that rivals the iPhone 4 retina display with a density of 326 pixels per inch (the iPhone 4 is the same). It is only a 2.46 inch display though, which causes some issues with apps (Slacker Radio is offset and doesn’t fill the display). I like the solid metal back plate, huge 1500 mAh battery that matches my other Eseries devices, 8 megapixel camera, touchscreen display, slider/lock switch, and microSD card expandability. There is a lot more to the hardware I will cover in a full review.

Overall, I am pleased with the software, primarily that the E6 comes with Anna loaded out of the box. I still have issues with Nokia’s email solution and Gmail wasn’t working right at first and is still lazy about updating properly. Mail for Exchange works well though and I can now respond to meeting invites. I like the new home screen layout with 3 customizable widgets on the right and three common ones always on the left for time/date and quick alarm access, quick profile switcher, and notifications area. Including JoikuSpot out of the box has been helpful for keeping me connected during my vacation.

I am find a LOT to like with the E6, but also some things that need work. I still thik it is a fabulous Eseries QWERTY and a testament to that is the fact that my SIM has been in it most of these past two weeks. Stay tuned for more thoughts in a week or so.

While I am on vacation this week I still wanted to give you a few of my first thoughts on the device and show you some photos of it. For more in-depth analysis on the Nokia E6 take a look at these great articles:

• The PhoneBoy Blog (Dameon D. Welch-Abernathy)
• All About Symbian, Part 1: Hardware
• All About Symbian, Part 2: Software
• SlashGear

Nokia will exit Symbian and low-finish telephone businesses in North America, says the Wall Street Journal. The company will put all its muscle into Windows Phone in the United States and Canada, reports Ina Fried.

In an interview with AllThingsD, the head of Nokia’s U.S. subsidiary said that the business will also focus exclusively on sales by way of conventional wireless carriers.

“When we launch Windows Phones we will basically be out of the Symbian company, the S40 business, and so on., ” Nokia President Chris Weber stated in the interview. “It will be Windows Phone and the accessories about that. The reality is if we are not profitable with Windows Telephone, it does not matter what we do (elsewhere).”

As component of the shift, Nokia also said it has no existing plans to bring its lone Meego-based phone, the Nokia N9, to the U.S., a reality reported earlier Tuesday by Engadget.

dailywireless.org

Dieter and the folks here in the Smartphone Experts family let me launch Nokia Experts back in January 2009 as a way to share my passion for Nokia and its products and complete the full circle of mobile operating systems for the Smartphone Experts body of sites. Since then I have posted 794 posts and enjoyed sharing my enthusiasm with readers and the wonderful folks at Nokia. However, it is time for me to focus on my work on ZDNet at The Mobile Gadgeteer and Smartphones & Cell Phones blogs, on helping my employees in my day job develop professionally, and on spending time with my family and my daughters as they prepare to enter college and start their own lives.

Back in 2009 Nokia had a major lead in the smartphone market and seemed untouchable, but over the last couple of years we have seen how a large company without a clear focus can lose its way and market share. Back when my buddy Ricky Cadden shut down Symbian-Guru I thought of joining him and have had my own ups and downs over the past year. One thing that kept me going here more than the devices was the people of Nokia and those writing about Nokia and I appreciate their friendship over the years and hope we can continue those relationships for years to come.

I am extremely excited to see the Windows Phone OS running on Nokia hardware and while it may not have a major impact on Nokia’s market share I think it is the right move for them at this time. I do still enjoy Symbian and will keep a few devices around to continue using, but my primary smartphone love right now is Windows Phone and I cannot find much motivation to write about Nokia here on this site. Don’t worry though I will include Nokia coverage more on my ZDNet blog so I may not be focused on it here, but will still cover the company and the devices. Nokia’s Windows Phone devices will be well covered by the great folks at WPCentral and I hope to contribute some articles there and across some other Smartphone Experts sites since I enjoy using devices from every smartphone platform.

Thank you again to all of you readers for you support, questions, and die hard attitude. There were not many of us in the United States who discovered and heavily used Nokia’s Symbian and Maemo devices, but I hope I helped some of you out over the past couple of years.

Nokia Experts

It comes as no surprise that Nokia’s 2nd quarter monetary outcomes are poor considering that they are in the middle of a enormous smartphone operating method method alter. We saw a comparable form of scenario happen when Microsoft transitioned from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone 7, but Nokia is nonetheless performing much better than Microsoft did by means of that time. Nokia nonetheless sold 88.five million mobile devices (16.7 million of them had been smartphones) so those that appreciate utilizing Nokia devices still seem to be buying them.

Stephen Elop stated that a Windows Phone device will be coming out from Nokia in 2011 and that excites me. I enjoy the new Windows Phone operating program and think it much better than iOS and Android for me. I won’t predict that Windows Phone will resurrect Nokia’s sales numbers, but they will have a positive impact. Hopefully the Nokia brand will introduce Windows Phone to much more folks due to the fact I just feel folks require to try it first to see how wonderful it is. At this time people seem to stay away from it due to the fact it is from Microsoft and they have existing feelings about the old Microsoft mobile operating systems.

Nokia is nonetheless creating very very good Symbian smartphones and those of us who nonetheless in fact like Symbian are discovering some fantastic devices in the N8, E7, and E6.

Nokia Specialists

I saw recently that the overseas online Nokia stores were closing, but figured the US one would stay open given that just a small number of carriers sell Nokia smartphones. However, if you go visit the Nokia USA store website you will find that it is now CLOSED. After the crazy Nokia N8 experiences I had, I have to say good riddance. You were much better off finding phones at Amazon, Newegg, Dell, and through other online retailers anyway.

This is what is posted on the Nokia USA site:

The Nokia US Online Store has been closed from June 30, 2011. Below you will find information on where to purchase a new Nokia product and/or compatible accessory and information on where to find support for your current online order from the Nokia Store.

The site lists the various questions and answers you may have regarding current orders, promotions, and service issues.

Nokia Experts

It is clear that the Nokia N8 is the best cameraphone available and should hold onto that title even though T-Mobile is promoting the new myTouch 4G Slide as having the best camera on a smartphone. I use my N8 quite a bit to capture video of my daughters’ sports and other events, but need to learn how to do better so I can hang with folks that turn out videos like these taken for the Nokia Shorts 2011 video contest.

Thousands of videos were submitted and judged over a four month period and JW Griffiths, from Great Britain, was selected as the winner with his Splitscreen: A Love Story movie (embedded below). He earned a $ 10,000 USD prize.

Splitscreen: A Love Story from JW Griffiths on Vimeo.

Seven others were selected as finalists and all of these can be viewed on the Nokia Shorts 2011 website. These include the following videos:

1. ‘Pearls of Wisdom ‘
   Jason Van Genderen – Australia
   A unique, short documentary featuring ‘pearls of wisdom’ from homeless and displaced people

2. ‘The Adventures of a Cardboard Box’
   Temujin Doran – UK
   The escapades of one boy and his cardboard box – his own gateway to a million, fantasy adventures

3. ‘Dirt’
   Joseph Marcantonio – UK
   A post-apocalyptic cowboy film

4. ‘The Rider’
   Josh Brooks – USA
   A classic story with a twist set in the hills of Montana

5. ‘Thunk in Public’
   Ryan Maples – USA
   A comedy short on unfiltered thoughts, leading to awkward situations

6. Homecoming
   Teemu Nikki – Finland
   Humourous film featuring key props including salmon, knife and a pair of gloves

7. Daniel
   Aurora Fearnley – UK
   A drama fantasy about one person coming to terms with a special, mystery gift

These are great to view for motivation to capture even better movies myself. Do you capture video with your Nokia N8?

Nokia Experts

As I told you a couple of days ago I won a Nokia E7 in a video contest and if you all voted for my video I sincerely appreciate it! Nokia let me choose from a silver or blue E7 and I like color so I went with the blue one. As you can see in my gallery below, I now own three of the latest Symbian^3 devices; the orange Nokia N8, silver Nokia Astound (C7), and blue Nokia E7. No matter what I may think about the response by Nokia regarding software updates you cannot argue they make some amazing hardware and the E7 has fired up my passion once again.

I will be working on my full review of the Nokia E7 as my T-Mobile SIM is back in the device after sending back the evaluation HTC Sensation 4G. Obviously, I am a fan of Nokia and Symbian or I would not write here on this site. I saw a good post on All About Symbian about the powerful and yet simple home screen we have on Symbian devices and it is honestly one of the reasons I use Symbian devices. If we could just get Anna on the E7 and N8 with the email client, web browser, and other improvements I would be happy until Windows Phone comes to Nokia. Even then, I will honestly miss many features of Symbian and plan to hold onto these three devices for quite some time.

Nokia Experts

We have heard rumors of a MeeGo device coming from Nokia for some time and late last night Nokia announced the Nokia N9 MeeGo device. As much as I like Nokia products, I don’t know why they want to again have four operating systems to support with Symbian, Series 40, Windows Phone, and MeeGo. I think MeeGo will just end up being another hobby device, like the N900, and according to FoneArena the US is not a launch country so we may not even see it here until 2012.

Their press release states it will ship later this year and honestly I would rather just see Nokia devote these resources to Windows Phone or even improving Symbian rather than spending time on a phone that will appeal only to the most die hard Nokia fan who doesn’t care about smartphones being part of a complete ecosystem.

The N9 specifications include the following:

• 1 GHz Arm Cortex A8 OMAP3630 processor
• MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan operating system
• Penta-band 3G radio (Yeah Nokia, why can’t anyone else do this?) at just 14.4 Mbps
• 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with dual LED flash
• Front facing camera for video calls
• 3.9 inch AMOLED display at 854×480 pixel resolution
• NFC chip
• Bluetooth 2.1
• 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
• A-GPS
• 1450 mAh battery
• Dimenions of 116.45 x 61.2 x 7.6 mm and 135 grams

It looks to have specs matching current devices, except for the processor and slower wireless cellular radio and in six months won’t stand out in the crowd at all. There are no buttons on the front and everything is controlled by the touchscreen interface. The N9 will come in Magenta, Cyan, and Black and the design does look beautiful with the curved Gorilla glass.

Check out some Nokia N9 resource sites for more information:

• Nokia N9 main site
• Nokia N9 UX Guidelines
• Nokia N9 specs (PDF file)

Nokia Experts

I currently have the Nokia Astound, Nokia E7, and Nokia N8, not to mention other devices like the Nokia E73 Mode and Nokia N97 Mini. I cannot find my Nokia N900 So then, why in the world am I considering pre-ordering a Nokia E6 from Amazon for $ 446?

The Eseries with front facing QWERTY was always one of my favorite form factors that I found extremely useful and functional. Nokia provided some optimal calendar and messaging experiences with the Eseries and they were all built like tanks. The Nokia E6 has that same wonderful form factor with the addition of a touchscreen and Symbian Anna OS. Here are some other key specifications that look to make this the best front facing Eseries device ever:

• Quad-band GSM and penta-band 3G (Thank you Nokia!)
• Symbian Anna OS
• 8GB internal memory and microSD card slot for up to 32GB more
• 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p video capture
• Front facing VGA camera
• 2.46 inch 640×480 pixels touchscreen display (That’s 326 ppi which is the same as the iPhone 4 retina display.)
• Dedicated graphics processor with OpenGL 2.0 support
• BP-4L 1500 mAh battery
• A-GPS
• WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)
• Bluetooth 3.0
• FM radio with RDS
• USB on-the-to support
• 3.5mm headset jack with TV-out support
• Both microUSB and 2mm charging ports

My only real complaint with the last front facing QWERTY Eseries I tested, the Nokia E73 Mode, was the lower resolution display and this E6 fixes that with specs that sound fantastic for such a small display.

I went ahead and purchased one from Star Telecom Mobile on eBay since the tax alone for me to buy from Amazon was nearly $ 50 over the purchase price and they have the E6 available NOW! Stay tuned for E6 coverage here on Nokia Experts since the E6 should arrive next week.

Nokia Experts

Back in late 2009 Nokia sued Apple for using their patented technologies while not paying any license fees like many others in the wireless industry were doing. Apple then countersued and acted like a child who was ticked that someone had the nerve to take action. When all the others were licensing these patents that Nokia had spent billions developing, it was pretty obvious Apple was just trying to show they didn’t have to follow the rules like everyone else. Nokia just announced that Apple has now become a licensee and lawsuits related to patent infringement are now dropped.

While Nokia’s market share is falling during this transitional phase and increasing competition from Apple and Google, they still are due recognition and payment for the billions they spent on R&D over the years as they led the world in wireless technologies. It is nice to finally see Apple realize Nokia was due such payments and will be making a one time lump sum payment followed by future royalty payments so when Apple succeeds Nokia gets a piece of the pie too. The length and financials of the agreement were not disclosed.

Nokia Experts

Regular readers know I have been a long time fan of Nokia products and I still am or I would not spend my time writing here on Nokia Experts. While I am one of Nokia biggest fans, I am also a critic and point out when I think they need to step up to the plate. Rita, previously of All About Symbian, posted on the Mobile R’n’R site that we should all give Nokia a break.

I agree with much of what Rita wrote, except I am not willing to give up on the lack of the Anna update for existing N8, E7, and C7 owners because they should have the update if there are devices shipping with it too and there are no excuses as we approach one year without the update that was promised when the N8 was released.

I do think it is ridiculous to make any judgements about the success of Nokia with Windows Phone since we have no idea when we might see a device and what that will look like with Mango or later on the devices. Like Rita, there is a place in my heart for the people of Nokia and the company itself with its Finnish heritage. I wish Nokia would have seen that Symbian needed to be refreshed earlier because I honestly still do like Symbian and am loving this Nokia E7 and Nokia Astound devices.

It’s good to see Rita is excited about Nokia and Windows Phone as I thought I was one of the few that is looking forward to two of my favorites getting together. I would LOVE to see a Nokia E7 device with Windows Phone 7.

Do you agree with Rita that Nokia deserves a break?

Nokia Experts

One thing about Nokia devices that appeals to me is the way they include the little things that just work to make your life better. For example, the always on standby clock on the Nokia N8, and other new Symbian^3 phones, is awesome. On other phones I am often tapping a button or flipping a switch to see the time and date since I rarely wear a watch and with the clock screensaver (on by default) you get this information with very little impact on battery life.

The one issue I do have with this clock screensaver is that at night when my Nokia N8 is next to my bed the clock can be a bit bright. Nokia provides a fix for this though with the Nokia Sleeping Screen utility available now on the Nokia Beta Labs site. By installing this utility you get nine new clock screensavers to choose from, with color, and the automatic capability that turns it off when your device is covered (such as when in your pocket or a bag). You set the range of time when the screensaver will turn off so you can sleep at night.

After installation you go then go to Settings >> Themes >> Screen saver to choose your clock and set the time period for night clock mode. There is no application icon or anything on your device after you install this utility so you must go to this settings area.

Have you found any other cool utilities or apps in the Nokia Beta Labs that you enjoy?

Nokia Experts

I was chatting with Dieter and told him I was quite pleased with the short time I spent with the Nokia Astound and that I was thinking of picking one up for the site. He gave me the thumbs up and was going to get one for me to use, but I decided to just visit a local store to see what I could work out with the expectation I would pay the full $ 299.99 (before 9.5% tax) no contract price. I went to my local T-Mobile store in Federal Way and was shocked by what happened next.

I went into the store and there were six employees standing around with only one other customer being helped. Richard asked me kindly what I would like and I told him I wanted to buy a Nokia Astound off contract. He told me they had them in stock and he would see what he could do for me. He said he thought he could work out something in the system because there were some special offers on accessories. After logging into the system and trying some different things, he worked out a deal where he was able to give me the following gear and still cut my total price out the door to $ 255.08 that included the 9.5% sales tax.

• Nokia Astound (shown as only $ 99.99 on the receipt)
• Jabra Stone 2 Bluetooth headset ($ 129.99 down to $ 90.99)
• MicroUSB car charger ($ 29.99 down to $ 20.99)
• Nokia Astound 2-pack screen protector ($ 14.99 down to $ 10.49)
• Nokia Astound black gel skin case ($ 14.99 down to $ 10.49)

I was amazed by what he was able to get for me while still saving me just over $ 73. My account stayed the same, my excellent family plan remained untouched, and I ended up saving money and walking out with some great accessories. If my head wasn’t lost in the clouds as he was handing me all this gear I would have asked for a 32GB microSD card instead of the Bluetooth headset since I need those more than headsets.

If you are considering the Nokia Astound, you may want to visit your local store and see if they have any special offers for you as well. Richard mentioned that the future AT&T purchase had something to do with his ability to offer me all of these accessories and knock a couple hundred off of the phone price too.

I put my SIM card into my new Nokia Astound and plan to use it as my primary device for a while and create a Guide page for the site. I already like that I can use Swype in portrait orientation and the email client is MUCH better!

Nokia Experts

I enjoyed using the Nokia Astound and am seriously considering picking one up so I can put together some featured articles here on Nokia Experts. I find it to be more functional than my Nokia N8, primarily due to the upgraded OS with a much better email client and other features. If you want a C7 with Nokia Anna loaded onto it and a device that has real gold plating then take a look at this video below. I have to admit the Nokia Oro is one sexy device. Maybe Dieter will purchase one for me to put together a Guide here on Nokia Experts

Unfortunately, it won’t be available until Q3 and the price is upwards of EUR800!

Nokia Experts

Nokia has been running a lot of contests and Nokia Experts readers seem to have pretty good luck at winning so I wanted to share a US-based contest going on now that has five days left to enter. The Nokia Care US contest is accepting videos that show different “How-tos” for Nokia devices in just three minutes. The contest deadline is 16 May, next Monday.

I entered the video embedded below (it was tough to cut it to 3 minutes and get all the steps in there) that shows how to enjoy Amazon Video On Demand movies and Zune Pass music on your Nokia device. I thought it was timely given that Windows Phone 7 will eventually be on Nokia hardware so using the method I described you can get a glimpse of the Zune Pass functionality on your Nokia device. My video is now in the contest playlist and next week they will Tweet out the voting start with directions on how to vote.

Voting starts 17 May and goes through 24 May so I will post again when it starts so you can all vote for my video if you think it is worthy. Voters also have a chance to win a Nokia N8 so it is in your best interest to vote as well. Remember, you can only vote once during the voting period so make it count

The grand prize is a Nokia E7 and if I win I will post a review of the device here since I have yet to get a loaner eval unit and have only seen it at Nokia World last year. The runner-up prize is a Nokia Astound, which I would also love to win and would follow up here with more articles on that device.

Nokia Experts

I just saw the official T-Mobile Twitter account post that they have several phones available for the next six hours for FREE with new account or eligible upgrade. Visit this page to see the deals that include the Nokia Astound. I would love to pick up one of these, but I already have five lines on T-Mobile and none are currently eligible for an upgrade.

I wish that carriers would offer some kind of discount to existing customers who are still within their contract because that would give us incentive to continue signing up for future contracts knowing we could get the latest and greatest phones rather than having to wait every two years for any kind of discount.

Nokia Experts

I noticed some Nokia people referring to Ovi Maps as Nokia Maps a couple of months ago and today Nokia announced that Ovi services will be rebranded as Nokia services starting with new Nokia devices coming in July and August. There is no planned disruption or discontinuation of services, simply a rebranding of them. I don’t think the Ovi branding ever really caught on in the U.S. and this rebranding may have something to do with the eventual Windows Phone 7 adoption.

Nokia’s EVP and Chief Marketing Officer, Jerri DeVard explains the shift:

We have made the decision to change our service branding from Ovi to Nokia. By centralizing our services identity under one brand, not two, we will reinforce the powerful master brand of Nokia and unify our brand architecture while continuing to deliver compellingopportunities and experiences for partners and consumers alike.

This transition in branding and singular focus sounds like a good idea to me and will reduce the number of questions I get from people about Ovi. I wonder if the Ovi Store will be rebranded as the Nokia Store.

Nokia Experts

Last week I posted about the Nokia Care US contest and let you know I entered with a video showing how to get Amazon Video On Demand movies and Zune Pass music on your Nokia device. Voting opened up today and runs through 24 May. If you like my video and would like to see more coverage of the Nokia Astound here on Nokia Experts please vote for my video.

To vote for my video, post this from your Twitter account:

@NokiaCareUS Amazon Video & Zune Pass on Nokia N8 #NokiaCareUSContest

You can check out all the video contest entries on the Nokia Care US YouTube site. If you don’t like my video, but like another, then please vote for it too since a vote gets you entered into a drawing for a Nokia N8 (available only to US residents).

Here is a look at my video entry again too:

Thanks everyone and best of luck to all entrants, many of them are my friends so whoever wins deserves it as there are some great tips in there.

Nokia Experts

Last week I wrote about the PR 1.1 update for the Nokia N8 and I was disappointed that we didn’t have it in the US. Well folks, you can now check your N8 and you should find it available. The update is just about 6.9 MB and I just finished downloading it on my orange N8. One week after it started to roll out really is not that bad, especially when we look at the history of updates for North American Nokia devices.

The way I checked was to simply go to phone dialer and enter *#0000#. Then tap on the left soft key and check for updates. After downloading you then choose to install now or later. After choosing now your phone will shutdown and then a white display with an updating status bar will appear.

View full post on Nokia Experts

We’ve just been informed that as Nokia shopped their hardware to the two premium third-party smartphone OS providers in the United States, Google took initiative and asked them to join powers. The end result? Well, you already know – Microsoft won.

Schmidt said Google expressed disappointment when they made that choice. And it wasn’t exactly because Nokia doesn’t like what Android has to offer, I think. It’s because of a man named Stephen Elop, Microsoft’s former head of their Business Division.

Elop was recently appointed CEO and President of Finnish-bred Nokia, but his ties to Microsoft remained close. It’s not a coincidence, folks. And I’m not knocking Nokia for this at all – it’s their business. But I can’t imagine it was easy for them to ignore how big Android already is.

Was it Money? We know Microsoft has a lot of it. Google has even more. Or is it just vision? Does Nokia see something in Windows Phone 7 that has them genuinely optimistic? Or is there something in Android’s ecosystem that turned them away?

Whatever the case is, I imagine if Nokia ever does adopt our little baby robot, it won’t be under the direction of Elop. We’ll keep dreaming regardless.

View full post on Android Phone Fans

I just posted an article on ZDNet about my thoughts regarding adoption of Windows Phone 7 by Nokia in regards to Zune  Marketplace services and as you can read the Windows Phone 7 experience is very broken outside the US. In my opinion, the memo supposedly from Stephen Elop has a very US-based focus which is great for Nokia fans in the US like me, but just doesn’t feel quite right for Nokia.

I now have two Windows Phone 7 devices that I use on T-Mobile, the HTC HD7 and Dell Venue Pro, and I personally find them both to be quite fantastic with Xbox LIVE games, Zune music services and streaming, awesome applications in a Marketplace just getting past 8,000 apps, and a very fun and fresh UI. As I point out though, these services and experiences are NOT what people around the world will see on a Nokia Windows Phone 7 device. If Nokia’s intent with WP7 is to focus these devices on the US and UK, then maybe this strategy will add a few thousand more users. However, Nokia doesn’t have a high end brand association here in the US so they would have to tell the story of both their hardware and the slowly rolling out Windows Phone 7 platform. Going with WP7 is not an easy task and Nokia will have to work just as hard to sell them as they would by putting efforts into MeeGo or Symbian with full Qt support.

View full post on Nokia Experts

My flight from Alaska back to Washington was delayed last night due to a problem with the wing and my first thought went to the Twilight Zone episode where the monster was tearing apart the wing as they flew. I then boarded another plane, fell asleep, and eventually made it home. When I landed I saw all of the Microsoft Nokia news and thought I might really be in a Twilight Zone show or I was still dreaming, but after jumping on Twitter I realized that my ultimate smartphone dream had come true.

I just posted my initial thoughts on the Nokia – Microsoft partnership on my ZDNet site and won’t repeat everything I wrote over there. As you know I am obviously a fan of Nokia smartphones and have been for years. You might also have picked up in my writing here that I am a Windows Phone 7 fan. I am probably one of the very few people in the world that have a love of both platforms and also quite a bit of usage of both under my belt. Needless to say, I am quite ecstatic about the news and think it will result in the best of both resulting in a product that easily competes and in many respects blows away the iOS and Android competition.

There is a great post on the Nokia Conversations site where Steve Ballmer and Stephen Elop provide so strong words to support this partnership, including the following:

Together, we have some of the world’s most admired brands, including Windows, Office, Bing, Xbox Live, NAVTEQ and Nokia. We also have a shared understanding of what it takes to build and sustain a mobile ecosystem, which includes the entire experience from the device to the software to the applications, services and the marketplace.

Today, the battle is moving from one of mobile devices to one of mobile ecosystems, and our strengths here are complementary. Ecosystems thrive when they reach scale, when they are fueled by energy and innovation and when they provide benefits and value to each person or company who participates. This is what we are creating; this is our vision; this is the work we are driving from this day forward.

There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them.

There will be challenges. We will overcome them.

Success requires speed. We will be swift.

Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed.

I LOVE everything they are saying here and like the specifically stated they do indeed need to be swift and get something out this year.

I wrote the following points as I see them from a user perspective:

• All cameras in Microsoft’s smartphones have sucked, but Nokia rules the world with Carl Zeiss optics and imaging technology that rivals high end dedicated cameras
• Nokia has the ONLY penta-band smartphones so it doesn’t matter who your GSM carrier is you can get 3G data support (this includes T-Mobile’s special 1700 MHz band)
• Nokia brings hardware with aluminum colored bodies, Gorilla Glass, HDMI out, USB on-the-go, amazing RF reception and call quality, long battery life, and more
• Windows Phone 7 is amazingly fast and responsive while also being unique
• Windows Phone 7 is rock solid stable and after using it since July 2010 I can confirm it is the MOST stable mobile operating system I have ever used
• Windows Phone 7 gaming rocks, Zune is fantastic, multiple Exchange support is solid, Office integration is great, and developers are building apps
• Email on Symbian blows, but on Windows Phone 7 it absolutely rocks and I prefer to use my WP7 smartphone for email handling over even my Outlook desktop client

I know that die hard Nokia fans will likely react negatively to such a deal with Microsoft, but is that due to some kind of unfounded hatred for the Microsoft name? If you try Windows Phone 7 then you may change your mind. I know that Microsoft has stumbled in the past, as has Nokia. However, there are brilliant people at both companies and the potential for amazing success is there and can be realized through this partnership.

Is anyone else excited about this partnership like I am? Stay tuned for MUCH more of my writing here as I will have a platform that I am very excited about along with hardware that I love. We’ll see how it works out with WPCentral, but since there will still be other Windows Phone 7 makers and Nokia will still make non-WP7 devices we might see both sites remain as they are too.

View full post on Nokia Experts

It’s s done deal. Microsoft and Nokia have agreed to make Windows Phone Nokia’s “principal smartphone strategy”.

This strategy will transition the installed base of 200 million Symbian owners. Nokia expects to sell approximately 150 million more Symbian devices in the years to come, but the smartphone platform of the future is Windows Mobile.

Here are the press releases and coverage from the NY Times, Engadget, Gigaom, C/Net, TechCrunch, and others.

The details of the deal are still being worked out, but here’s a quick summary of what they are working towards:

• Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy.
• Nokia will help drive and define the future of Windows Phone. Nokia will contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.
• Nokia and Microsoft will closely collaborate on development, joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.
• Bing will power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services. Microsoft adCenter will provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.
• Nokia Maps will be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience.
• Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements will make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low.
• Microsoft development tools will be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.
• Microsoft will continue to invest in the development of Windows Phone and cloud services so customers can do more with their phone, across their work and personal lives.
• Nokia’s content and application store will be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

Under the new strategy, MeeGo becomes an open-source, mobile operating system project. MeeGo will place increased emphasis on longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms and user experiences. Nokia still plans to ship a MeeGo-related product later this year.

It’s serious business. Nokia plans to phase out Symbian, the most popular mobile phone operating system on Earth, almost completely. The latest version, Symbian^3, was officially released in Q4 2010, first used in the Nokia N8.

“Finland will remain our home,” Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in the press conference. But, Nokia will cut jobs in Finland and elsewhere, according to Elop.

“This is the biggest structural reform which has ever impacted new technology in Finland,” Economy Minister Mauri Pekkarinen said in a statement.

Shipments of smartphones, tablets and other app-enabled devices will overtake PCs shipments in the next 18 months, says market research firm IDC. Shipments of personal computers will still continue to increase even as they are surpassed by other devices. According to In-Stat, unit shipments for smartphones will reach nearly 850 million by 2015.

Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker previously predicted the shift to mobile (above). IDC predicts worldwide shipments of smartphones and media tablets will reach 284 million in 2010. In 2011, makers will ship 377 million of these devices, and in 2012, the number will reach 462 million shipments, exceeding PC shipments, says IDC.

Only nine million of India’s 1 billion people have access to broadband. India’s Department of Telecoms hopes the country will have about 48 million broadband users by 2012, and 100 million by 2014.

ABI Research says more than two billion of the world’s population is now being covered by high-speed data networks, with more than 500 3G networks, and over 300 WiMAX and LTE announcements to date. World-wide, mobile devices with integrated wireless broadband are expected to top 2 billion by 2014, according to research firm In-Stat.

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Wow, I am almost embarrassed by my rocket launch entry video after seeing the eight winners of the Nokia N8 Producers contest. I thought mine had a fun story, but these winners all have fantastic video productions that blew mine out of the water. Thankfully, my orange Nokia N8 didn’t fly too far and end up broken since that would have been a real waste too.

These producers really showed the power of the Carl Zeiss optics and 12 megapixel camera. One great thing about viewing these winning videos is that you learn techniques and methods for how to create some fantastic videos yourself and I found them inspirational.

Which of these eight is your favorite?

View full post on Nokia Experts