The following bit of information comes from NokiaLino.it- An Italian blogger who recently attended a Lumia 610/900 launch event in Italy; he got some very interesting pieces of information regarding practically all the current Handsets that were announced last February.

The most interesting of which is the fact that “Nokia Carla” Which was supposed to be the successor to Nokia Belle is no longer a thing, apparently Belle FP1 is the same as what Nokia Carla could have been (with other changes maybe coming in FP2). The other interesting fact is that the N8 our beloved Retired Camera Phone king will be getting a “FP1 Lite” as Jay mentioned earlier today (lite obviously due to it’s ridiculously under-powered CPU- I still can’t get over the fact that the Asha 302 that I was playing with had more power- Insert Jeremy Clarkson shouting POWER!~); however he also mentioned that the N8 would get a second update or Belle FP2. FP1 on the N8 will mainly feature the new browser as well as the new Nokia social (maybe the new status bar notifications integration for messages?).

Here’s the original post (after running it through google translate)- whoever he was talking to seemed quite open about Nokias roadmap and plans:

What are the actual dates of the output of the phones announced today?

Then, the dates are approximate because it depends on our willingness volume (said in a nutshell: to fill the warehouses of stores NDR) but by June they will all be available on the market.

The 610 is already out in white and black version, when will the next color?

The other colors will be available within 3 months.

Can you tell me something about 610 NFC?

610 NFC is a different version from that produced at this time and will be available around the end of August.

To answer this question … definitely not upgrade to Windows 8 Phone Lumia also cover the market today?

We say that this is not a question for Nokia but it is a question for Microsoft(I asked the question but I’m sure that will come … I’m a mentalist expert! ahahahah NDR)

A few days ago a story circulated on the net when he was told that Nokia would bring an application to bring the exchange of files via bluetooth on Nokia Lumia, confirmation?

This I swear that I will not say I know! I was not informed about it!

As Nokia is contributing to the development of Windows Phone 8?

We are of course very important partners for development and we are intervening in many areas to bring their own experience of Nokia to Microsoft and then be able to create and innovate with them.

More details on the processors of 808? Models, acronyms and more technical information …

As for the 808 are secret the details of processing, but they are powerful processors, has well 3: for the graphics processing, one for the processing of 41MP and one who supervises the processing of the software.

The contents of the sales package contain dell’808 enclosures with cover lens and tripod?

The sales package is similar to other phones (earphones, charger and USB cable) , you mentioned accessories are sold separately.

One can say that Symbian FP1 and Symbian Belle Carla or this latest update will be released in the coming months?

Then: Carla is no longer a name we use. FP1 is pretty much that was once called Carla.

Nokia Italy is satisfied with the sales results in our country, particularly Lumia?

Clearly, the Lumia is reaching a moment of popularity that meets and makes us proud every day to go to work and produce something that will delight our consumers.

My interpretation/Notes:

• Phones announced today = Lumia 610 & 900- released in June which is less than a week away now.
• The Lumia 610 with NFC will come in August (isn’t that when WP8 is supposed to come out?? Which supports my previous theory
• Microsoft sure have the wraps on the whole WP8 situation, nobody knows what’s going on!
• Partners in Development of WP8 = Some Nokia UI customizations???????
• More vague sales references, hope they really are good.

Source 1 & Source 2

Hey Guys, Today I received  my trail 302 from the Nokia Connects guys (shout out!), basically the whole reason I have one is because me @psychomania666, @alsiladka  and a couple other guys on twitter are doing this challenge thing were the only phone we’re going to sue all week is this piece of S40 goodness, the Asha 302. So here’s an unboxing video, a gallery and an update of what I’ve gone through so far.

Gallery:

Honestly the 302 is quite the looker, I find it bears a close resemblance to the More recently launched Lumia 610; but that could be due to the chrome border/finish. The black/Dark Grey device has a very premium look/feel about it that would make you second guess it’s price.

Spec wise the 302 has a 1Ghz processes (I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that i’s more powerful than my N8), a 3.2 MP camera (don’t expect any miracles- if you like I’ll upload some samples later), Micro SD Card supported (up to 32GB) and the usual BT, WiFi Etc.

On selling point alone the feel of sliding this phone into your pocket is more than enough to be a notable feature, I’m serious the curves of the body can’t help put a smile on your face as you slide it into your pocket.

Worth mentioning that the Asha range comes preloaded with Whatsapp- which would make it one of the first device to come with a CROSS-messenger platform Semi-built in.

Woes of Day one:

A couple hours ago my Asha 302 arrived, and #SmartPhoneLiteWeek commenced, after a quick unboxing I moved on with setting up my email accounts, whatsapp, social etc… The first problem I encountered was that No matter what I try Gmail refuses to link up to the phone- even though there are some pre-set options that enable you to just slam down your password and Email and get moving, I always end up with the same error, till now I haven’t been able to resolve it (if anyone know please drop a comment).

The second and much more critical issue was that of contacts- Recently Mail For Exchange was released for the Asha 302- however the variant that Nokia Connects sent me isn’t yet supported (Gradual roll out); meaning I would have to find another way to copy my contacts from the World Wide Web, what I tried:

1. Simple copy through Nokia Suite- issue was that my contacts on Nokia Suite weren’t updated with my latest Lumia contacts (since WP doesn’t sync through it)
2. Downloading MFE – which was unavailable
3. Downloading .CSV file from Gmail and moving that to the phone- Failed
4. Installed the older NOkia PC Suite and attempted to copy the .CSV file through it- Also failed
5. Re-Downloaded the contacts in Vcard format and tried copying them through Pc Suite- Which also failed.
6. At the brink of desperation Richard Dorman (@Sheridan01) ‏Suggested I copy them through my N9 to the 302- this worked however multiple contacts where only partially copies (names and emails minus numbers = defeats the purpose)
7. I tried porting them onto the Asha off my Lumia but was faced with an unsupported file error.
8.  In the end I gave up and used the partial contact info off the N9 and added the vital contacts manually. Thankfully it’s only for a week.

Blatant lies of a successful transfer, I WANT MY NUMBERS!

Source

I’m not exactly sure how many of you are racing enthusiasts, even if you aren’t I suggest you try this app (Yes I’m recommending the app before even starting the review, here’s why). Personally I consider myself an above-average car fan, nothing over the top but just enough to get excited when I see a rare car (I don’t follow ANY championships AT ALL), but I was interested in the WRC because one of the legs/tracks is actually in Jerash, Jordan- seen above (that’s where I am YAY!- I was planning on checking it out with some friends but we totally forgot about it).

Well a quick re-cap anyways, the 2011 season is of course over, won by Sebastian Loeb  for the eighth time straight, I would not want to mess with this guy, I’ve tried rally driving on Gran Turismo 5 and IT IS HARD!!! so that’s a serious achievement. The 2012 season starts sometime late January, and if you’re interested in cars at all I suggest you keep this app with you till then.

The Review:

Nokias’ WRC Live app is available for all Nokia platforms from S40 to Windows Phone- (Exclusive for Nokia Lumias) & Meego too! FOR FREE.  The app itself is EXTREMELY thorough, it has everything from normal news, to championship rankings, to hall of fame, and of course it has content Exclusive to the app not even available on the official WRC.com from images to videos to live text commentary.

Now as mentioned above I’ve never followed a single racing event (Except what I hear on TopGear – Salute to Jezzah, Hamster and James for my favorite show), so I wasn’t expecting much once I installed the app (My initial intention was just a quick review to enter the contest- more on that later); but I was honestly surprised once I saw how awesome the app was.

From a developers point of view the integration of the app into the OS is really impressive (tested on S^3/N8-00), I assume it’s written in QT (not sure how to check) which would explain why it’s really smooth. For an app with as much content as this I expected slow stuttering performance with the occasional un-responsiveness, but none of that was there at all. Transition from one topic/content section to another is nice and fluid with no apparent lag.

One thing I really liked about the app was the integration of the phone’s status onto it, something as simple as informing me that my battery is low is a nice touch that proves that the app was made by someone who understands how the OS runs (of course being an official Nokia app they should).

Once you open the app after the initial loading screen (first screen-shot) you get to the screen above/ home-screen, as you can see you can select between news (the bar on-top automatically refreshes giving you the latest news. To the left under “just finished” you’ll find a re-cap of the latest race (in this case the final race of the season in Wales), and on the right you can access ALOT of information about whatever you want, be it Race results, Drivers history/hall of fame, or exclusive media.

News:

Once you select the “News” tab you’ll find a list of articles even in the off season (23rd of Dec. = today), which means you can stay on top of things even when the seasons over, best part is it’s not an RSS feed, it’s a full news app; meaning no need to open the browser for more pictures/details jsut tap on it and you’re there. You can even share the news article through Facebook or Email!

Live Text- commentary, Race Overview & Championship Standings-

Simple but effective, live updates for you on the go brings you twitter feeds with the “#WRC” hashtag as well as official updates for when you’re not in front of the TV.

The WRC Live App even has a Route Overview which shows you the track/course outline on our favorite Ovi/Nokia Maps (another sign of how well integrated this app is, reminds me of sportstracker a bit; except instead of running/hiking your zooming through mud, sand and snow)

You can even turn on Itinerary/split time records to get detailed info about how long it takes each racer to finish each leg/lap, plus the split difference between the racers!

Of course you can always check the rally results at any time to see what the standing of your favorite driver is under Championship Standings,  where you can find detailed results for every single leg of the  rally so far including what position each driver got and what their total score is.

Drivers/Teams-

Here you can find all the information about every driver participating in the rally along with a nice list of ‘Hall of Famers” each with more information about their career history than a Wikipedia page.

Anyone else notice “The Stig” ???

Media Content:

As mentioned before the app contains Exclusive Images and Videos (that’s how Nokia rolls, none of that mainstream stuff) from crashes to interviews to race round-ups, unfortunately for some reason I wasn’t able to view any of the videos as I kept on getting a server error. (Can someone check if it’s a wide-spread problem or only me?)

Thankfully though the images were working fine, and that by itself is a treat; some of the images available are truly breathtaking, capable of conveying the intensity and sheer awesomeness involved in the World Rally Championship. Which is of course the main point of this whole app; so well done on that front Nokia

Of course you can also choose to share these photos via email/Facebook as well, so you have no excuse not to spread the racing fever.

Wrap-up:

Throughout the whole experience of this app I only felt that two things were missing; (well not missing, probably just because this app spoiled me so much that I found myself craving for more). Anyways if possible two things I’d like to see are:

• The ability to save/download media content onto your own mobile device, or at least be able to set them as wallpaper. (If I can share them with others I might as well help myself first)
• A little silly but I felt that the app could use some background music, maybe at least through the first loading screen; something rally related, maybe some engines roaring or crowds cheering- Just my own personal crazy opinion.

The Nokia WRC app is truly something worth downloading, it has more content than most “premium/paid” apps and it runs as smooth as you could hope for; head on over to the Nokia store to download it.

http://store.ovi.com/content/128268

Or if you’re still not convinced watch our quick video review (not really that quick):

And heres the official preview video by Nokia:

How to Win a Lumia 800-

(I know it’s the part most of you are here for), The people over at Nokia connects are running a competition, simply all you have to do is review the Nokia WRC app and share it to enter the competition to win a Lumia 800.

- As I was saying above I was planning on doing a tiny review in the comments section about the app, just to enter the competition, but once I tried the app it felt unfair to sum it up in 50 words. Good Luck.

In case you’re interested here are some shots of 2011 season (showing Nokias partnership with the WRC, as well as some awesome looking cars)

Of course you can find a bunch more over at Nokia Connects Flickr Page or at the Official WRC Website (contains alot of the images available through the app):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nokiaconnects/sets/72157628536008907/

http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/gallery/

To coincide with this tip from Glenn about eBuddy, here’s a video we got during Nokia World. Unfortunately, it seems to have cut off just before we got to see it working on other Nokia devices:

eBuddy XMS coming to MeeGo, its not WhatsApp, but its good enough allowing web SMS’s to be sent.

http://www.intomobile.com/2011/10/29/ebuddy-becomes-nokias-preferred-messaging-partner/

Clients are also available for iOS, Android and Blackberry.

Will also be coming to S40, Symbian and WP7

Another Nokia App from Beta Labs folks. It’s for both S40 and S60 but mainly for S40 devices.

This is called Nokia Nearby, where without Ovi Maps or GPS,  you can search for things nearby.

Introducing Nokia Nearby, an innovative ‘Hyper-Local Search’ application where you can look for information about local places & listings within your vicinity. Discover places & listings like restaurants, movie theaters, and malls etc even without maps on your phone. Get details about the places that interest you and contact them from within the app.

• Discover & access info on places & listings around your location
• Search for location specific information within your vicinity
• Share place information with friends via SMS
• Send the entire app to friends via Bluetooth
• Call the listing from within the app

http://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/nokia-nearby

However the way this new and improved C5 came into the world doesn’t matter, what does matter is the C5 itself.

Key features

• Improved camera, 3.2MP to 5MP. (Still an EDoF unit though)
• A bump in internal memory from 50MB to 270MB
• More RAM, now 256MB instead of 128MB
• Runs Symbian S60v3.2

Eventhough it’s a device most of our readers won’t jump out of their seats for, it is a rather compelling device. Styled in an modest way, comes with OVI Maps 3.4 (or Nokia Maps whatever you want to call it) and thus lifetime free navigation and with the uprated RAM and internal memory it’s a much more flexibile device that can last at least a couple of years.

So if calling and SMS is your priority and you want just a little bit extra, then the C5 is a real contender.

via AllAboutSymbian

Nokia Conversations have posted up that they’ll be releasing updates to several Symbian 3.2 and 5.0 handsets. These are the Symbian phones before Symbian^3 (of which remember, Anna update for August for current customers)

http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/06/29/updates-to-symbian-3-2-and-5-0/

What will we be getting?

Anna Browser

Well, first and foremost, amazingly, we’re getting the new Symbian Anna web browser. I’m not sure exactly how on earth S60 5th will cope with it, but that would be awesome to see it. It’s worth the update (though not meeting the promise of being as good as competitors – namely their own MicroB browser on the N900) But lets keep on the positive – new browser for S60. You haven’t been totally forgotten.

New Maps

There will also be new Maps. There will be different versions for Ovi Maps 3.0 bringing indoor positioning through WiFi as well as travel recommendations (SR4). s60 5th edition will get Ovi Maps SR6 that adds public transport lines as well as check-in services to social networks like FourSquare and facebook.

Nok Conv also mentions new sets of emoticons.

When?

Apparently the wait won’t be too long. It begins today actually with the Nokia C6-00 (the slide QWERTY one) and 5230 (the cheap 5800). Rest of devices in the following weeks.

 

And one more thing: it’s worth noting that the updates won’t hit all the phones at the same time but will be rolled out in stages, as normally happens. So make sure you have the software update autocheck switched on in your phone!

Which handsets?

S60 3rd

• Nokia E72
• Nokia E52
• Nokia E5
• Nokia C5-00
• Nokia 6700 slide

S60 5th

• Nokia C6-00
• Nokia C5-03
• Nokia 5230
• Nokia 5235
• Nokia 5250
• Nokia X6
• Nokia N97 mini
• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
• Nokia 5530 XpressMusic

Why no Nokia N97? You know, the flagship S60 5th edition handset?

Cheers @driqbd

I wouldn’t think this is the same PR2.0 that Symbian^3 users are waiting for.

Currently, the latest version for N97 mini should be: v12.0.110. I think this may be equivalent

A quick search finds this thread over at: http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/t5/Software-Updates/N97-Mini-Firmware-Update-t0-v2x-x-xxx/td-p/862891

Nokia addresses Chinese character input again with a new app called Nokia Diexie. Instead of having to write one character at a time, you can now write complete sentences. You can try it out on your Symbian^3 or S60 5th Edition devices. No Stylus needed, your finger is your pen.

http://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/nokia-diexie

Nokia Diexie (诺基亚叠写) is a unique Chinese character handwriting input technology designed specifically for smaller touch screen phones where writing out a full sentence just won’t fit on a small screen.  Nokia Diexie allows users to simply write a full sentence one character over another in a stacking style with using your pointer finger as a pen.  (Diexie in Chinese  means “overlapping handwriting”).  As you begin writing the next character over the previous character, the previous character begins to fade away, creating an overlapped visual, allowing you to concentrate on finishing the next character.

Research has shown that this input method not only increases the overall user experience for Chinese character text input, but also increases the accuracy of the recognition to identify different handwriting styles.

 

The folks over at Nokia beta labs have brought to us an update to Soundtrckr for Symbian ^3 and S60 5th Edition.

If you don’t know what Soundtrckr is, you can find out more on Jay’s earlier post, but the official blurb from Ovi is:

Soundtrckr makes it easy to discover and play the music your friends and your neighbors are listening to anywhere. Use Soundtrckr to comment on your friends’ stations, check their latest stations, and more. Discover your city’s favorite artists. Access any artist, any genre from the largest music catalog on Internet radio with more than 8M songs for FREE. Create your own radio stations, share them with your friends via Twitter and Email.

The updates are listed below and there are some specific to S^3 and others for S60 5th.

Symbian ^3 and S60 5th Edition:

• Email & password are visible to user (fixes login failure issue)
• Bug fix for application restart on S^3
• Proper display of artist/song in the music player

S60 5th Edition specific bug:

• Improved experience
• Nearby station application error
• Faster response from music player
• Various performance fixes

To download the latest version and the latest developments, head over to: http://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/soundtrckr (You need to login/register to download)