Mobile Phone Blog:

Okay, I’m going to confess that when I first read about this, I wasn’t entirely sure of the point behind this new app, that Nokia are releasing on their Windows phones over here in Blighty (as well as in a select few other countries); in fact, I was so convinced it would fail, that I made the image to the right, to show why it would fail.

And do you know something? After reading about it, I reckon my first instincts were wrong. Y’see, the app is called Nokia Reading, and to put it simply, it’s an e-book reader; thus, when I first read about it, my first thought was that the Amazon Kindle app would smash this wee upstart into the dirt. However, there’s actually a very good reason why that won’t necessarily happen… (more…)

Well folks, it’s Friday, and furthermore, it’s a slow news day, so let’s talk about something pointless. I’ve gone on record several times, to say that I love Chinese clone phones, ‘cos they also make me titter. There’s something inherently seeing a phone that’s blatantly a Nokia, but with a big badge on it that says NOKLA. Or that Blackberry rip-off that had the awesomely funny (seriously, I lol’d) Bleckbarry name.

So yes. Chinese rip-offs amuse me, so imagine my glee when I saw a story on Engadget, about a company who’ve ripped off the phone I myself own, the HTC One X. It’s called the Konka W900 (oh, and humorously, the name uses the Nokia font), and my first thought was that there’s no way it’s as powerful as the One X. And am I right..? (more…)

Hohohohohoho, this gon’ be good! In the time that’s passed since the last time I did a blog post about him, I’ve decided that I actually love Stephen Elop. Y’see, every time he opens his mouth, he comes out with something that, to me, sound so wrong-headed, that I can’t help but laugh like one of those weird people you see in the street, who you fervently avoid making eye contact with.

Anyway, enough with the preamble; what amusing little peccadillo has Elop perpetrated this time? Well, according to Wired (and as I wrote in the title, up there), he reckons that people don’t care what OS their phone runs on.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight… (more…)

After the lukewarm reception to the Nokia Lumia 800, the last thing Nokia needed was there to be a problem with its big brother, the Nokia Lumia 900. I reckon it’s fair to say that there’s a lot riding on this phone, so the fact that there is a problem with the Lumia 900 (or, at least, some Lumia 900s) is a bit bad, really.

According to WPCentral, the problem is colour-related; more specifically, some Lumia 900s have a purple tint to the screen, so that where the user should see grey, they’re seeing a sort of purple-y colour, as you can see in the pic. The good news, though, is that the problem is apparently limited to a small percentage of the Lumia 900s out there, but there’s even better news than that… (more…)

Well, cover me in packing tape and post me to Ascension Island, I didn’t expect to be writing that as a headline, today! Y’see, the BBWC event thing is happening, and they’ve taken some of the wraps off BlackberryOS 10. To my very great surprise, it actually looks really nice…

Blimey, that looks sooooo much better than I expected! One of my complaints about Blackberry phones is that, in a world where the Android and Windows Phone platforms exist, BlackberryOS was just not funky enough to survive. Well, the new gesture controls in BlackberryOS 10 (and in its new keyboard, in particular) have me convinced my conclusion may have been reached a little too hastily… (more…)

Right then, I’ve done loads and loads of posts about how my usual reaction to seeing a ‘luxury phone’ is one of complete and utter disdain. It’s fair to say that I’ve never been a fan, but I still like to keep my eye on them, to see what overpriced, ostentatious hideousness will appear next. When ye’re talking luxury phones, though, one brand name stands for that concept more than any other, and that brand is one owned by Nokia.

Yup, I’m talking about Vertu, although according to Reuters, the brand possibly won’t be owned by Nokia for too much longer. Apparently, they’re in talks to sell off the brand, to private equity group Permira. And how much are they planning on flogging it for? (more…)

Hmm, well, I wondered how long it’d take for this to happen, after the close partnership betwixt Nokia and Microsoft was announced, although this latest bit of news has nothing officially to do with that partnership. Unofficially, though, I’d be lying if I said my brain wasn’t going, “Microsoft are working heavily with Nokia, and I bet other manufacturers’ll work with them less, because of that.”

Y’see, LG are distancing themselves from the Windows Phone platform, and according to The Korea Herald, the official reason is because sales of Windows Phone devices have been weak. Or, as LG themselves put it, “The total unit of Windows Phone sold in the global market is not a meaningful figure…” (more…)

Yup, it seems that things really aren’t looking good for Nokia. After a former exec came out yesterday to say that Elop is struggling, and after Samsung took the lead as the world’s biggest phone manufacturer, knocking Nokia off the top spot, a bit more news has appeared today, and this time it’s about Nokia’s stock status.

According to TheVerge, Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the Finnish manufacturer’s stock status from low investment-grade, to non-investment; or, to put it another way, their stocks now have ‘junk’ status. So, that’s pretty bad, right?

The thing is, though, that they’re not the first firm to do that exact same thing… (more…)

I’ve gone on record as saying that I’m not the world’s biggest fan of Stephen Elop, and it’s also well-known that I reckon the Windows Phone platform is a bit, well, underwhelming. It’s not bad, it’s just a bit disappointing, and the same can be said of the Windows phones that Nokia has released so far (largely due to the OS, not the phones themselves, if I’m honest).

According to CNet, I’m not the only one who has concerns about the Finnish manufacturer. Y’see, they’ve interviewed a former Nokia executive, Lee Williams, and he had some damning things to say about what’s currently going in their headquarters.

So, what’s the crack? (more…)

Well, according to IntoMobile, Nokia have posted their financial results for the first quarter of this year, and I can honestly say that I was not expecting to see what I’m seeing. I mean I knew things were not brilliant for the Finnish manufacturer, but ye gods, I didn’t think they were this bad. Yes, it seems that Nokia’s sales are down from last year, by 3 billion euros, and that is really not an insubstantial figure.

That translates to a net loss, during Q1, of around 1.3 billion euros, or, to put in less Euro-friendly terms, just over a billion quid. Just… wow, how is that even possible? How has Nokia, once the undisputed king of the mobile world, gone from the very top of the pack, to losing a billion quid in three months? (more…)