Mobile Phone Blog:

Nokia has published its annual interim report for 2011 and it reveals that the Finnish giant is losing out across the board.

Nokia’s operating profits are down a massive €1.4 billion, with Q4 seeing a 56% loss compared to the same quarter in 2010.

There are big losses in all of Nokia’s sectors year on year, with a 13% drop in mobile phone sales and a 27% drop in the amount of smart devices sold.

One positive point is that Nokia has reported sales of its Lumia devices, such as the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710, now total more than 1 million units.

However Nokia intends to appear at the forthcoming Mobile World Congress event, in what will be its first appearance in three years… could this mean that things are finally on the up?

I reckon it’s fair to say that, thus far, Windows phones haven’t really set the world aflame; sales haven’t been bad, per se, but they’ve not been “Android good”, either. You can argue why that might be till you’re blue in the face (my personal theory is that there’s been no real superstar handsets, which exacerbates the fact that, when you get right down to it, the actual OS just ain’t as nice as Android), but even Microsoft admit that sales haven’t been stellar.

According to WMPoweruser, that situation may be changing. Yes, they’ve got some figures that might show that Windows phones are on the rise. And the tool they used to measure how it might be changing? Facebook… (more…)

Hmm, if ever there was a headline that needed to have a “well, duuuuuh” added to it, it’s that one. Yes, according to DigiTimes, Nokia have said that they’re going to be releasing more Windows phones in 2012. Now there’s a shock and half, and no mistake; I never expected them to do that (end sarcasm mode)!

Okay, sorry, I’ll stop taking the mickey. Basically, yes, we shall be seeing more phones joining the Nokia Lumia 800 next year. Michael Hus, the general manager of Nokia Taiwan, had this to say, “In addition to pushing the sale of Mango phones, Nokia will make efforts to promote the development of the Windows Phone ecosystem, including enrichment of applications.” (more…)

Now here’s a story I wasn’t expecting to read today. If you’ve been on the internet for any length of time, you may well remember ICQ, a properly vintage instant messaging platform, that was all the rage around the turn of the millennium. So, imagine my surprise when I read that Mail.ru Group (translated link, expect verbal hilarity) are releasing an official ICQ chat client for Windows Phone 7.

Still, with 80s stuff like Transformers, My Little Pony and Thundercats all making a comeback, I suppose it was only a matter of time until someone tried to bring back the late 90s. But seriously, ICQ chat? Does anyone still actually use ICQ chat any more (genuine question, I honestly don’t know if people still do)? (more…)

Whenever I watch a DVD, one of the things I love seeing is how they made the film; you know the thing I mean, where they stick those ‘Making Of’ documentaries on the disc. One thing I’ve never seen before, though, is a Making Of documentary for a phone. So, without further ado, here’s the first one I’ve ever seen, for the Nokia Lumia 800…

Well, that made my blood boil a lot more than I expected it to! This post wasn’t going to be a rant, but after hearing what Nokia had to say (in an unbearably smug tone) in the video, I was annoyed enough to make it into a rant. So, here goes… (more…)

Now then, here’s an intriguing idea. A new game’s come out, for Windows phones, called Fusion: Sentient. At first glance, it looks like a sort of isometric shooter/RTS with some hints of RPG in it (ie/ loot). Seems to be relatively simple in concept, although in execution, it’s surprisingly (and satisfyingly) complex. Here, have a look…

Only that’s not the intriguing bit. No, the intriguing bit is that it ties in with a game released through Xbox Live on consoles. So, say you play Fusion: Sentient on your HTC Titan, for example; any robots you create in that game can then be imported and used as assets in Fusion: Genesis on your Xbox 360. And that, right… that is really rather cool. (more…)

Right-o, folks, my second mobile gaming post of the day, and I hope you’re ready for some mental gear-clashing, ‘cos we’re jumping from Duke Nukem 3D to Kinectimals. Yeah. Don’t try to combine those two in your head, I made that mistake. Anyway… video!

Now then, Kinectimals is one of those things that I have trouble working out the purpose of, even before it was released for Windows phones like the HTC Titan. Even when it was still just on Xbox 360, I had trouble seeing the point; all could think was, “Okay, it’s a giant Tamagotchi.” So, what is the point? (more…)

Apple has been granted a patent for its smartphone and tablet ‘slide-to-unlock’ feature which could mean trouble for Android and Windows Phone 7 devices.

The American giant applied for the patent back in 2009 and has only now had it granted by the United States Patent and Trademark office, the patent covers  devices that are “unlocked if contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture for unlocking the device.”

This could equal more lawsuits with most manufacturers of Android and Windows Phone 7 devices.

Well, there’s not long to go until the Nokia World conference, due to happen next week, and the world seems to be psyching itself up, ‘cos we know they’ll be unveiling their new range of Windows phones (phones, plural) there. As is usually the way with these things, though, press pics of one of the phones have leaked out early. It’s the Nokia 800 (the one that was codenamed “Sea Ray”), and according to PocketNow it is, as pretty much everyone expected, the Nokia N9, but with Windows Phone 7 stuck on it instead of MeeGo.

It even comes in the same three colours as the N9, apparently, so expect to see it available in black, that electric blue colour (which does actually look damn pretty) and pink. (more…)

[The opinions expressed in the blog post are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mobileshop.com.]

Say what you like about Steve Ballmer, the big, baldy buffoon of a man certainly knows how to get tongues wagging. Case in point is this bit of news from IntoMobile, where Ballmer announced that Nokia will be unveiling a bunch of Windows Phone 7 devices, next week. That’s not the bit that’s getting tongues wagging, though. No, that would be the part where he went on to slag off Android, saying, “You don’t need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone, but I think you do to use Android.”

Riiiiiiiiiiiight. By logical extension, then, you don’t need to be a complete dullard to use Android, but you do to use Windows Phone 7? That’s how logic works, isn’t it? (more…)