Category: Nokia

Nokia : Blackberries Make a Great Snack, But For The World’s Best Business Smartphone Try a Lumia

The big news today comes from the company-formerly-known-as-RIM and their new OS and flagship smartphone. Blackberry has always been loved by businesses for it’s many business features, but in the past few years the competition, such as Windows Phone, has made big strides to be business ready. This has lead a lot of businesses to adopt “bring your own phone,” which lets employees use many different popular smartphones, not just Blackberry devices.

Nokia has taken to Facebook to point out that Lumia devices are just as business-ready, if not more, than Blackberry devices.

[quote]Nokia Canada’s Facebook page stated that “Blackberries make a great snack, but for the world’s best business smartphone try a Lumia.” This is of course part of the new “Make the Switch” marketing campaign that encourages people to use the Lumia.[/quote]

Windows Phone has native Skype support along with Office applications, plus SkyDrive for backup. BlackBerry is known in the industry for having the best, probably most secure, email support for businesses, but Windows Phone 8 also added many modern security protocols. In addition, BlackBerry has SAP support, Box and Dropbox for cloud storage and will soon be adding Skype to their list of apps.

It’ll be very interesting to see who wins the battle for 3rd place.

January 31, 2013
Windows Phone 7.8 Rollout Starts For Many Devices Including Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia has started to roll out the Windows Phone 7.8 update to all its smartphones currently sitting on Windows Phone 7.5.

Handsets confirmed for the upgrade so far are the Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800 and 900, with Windows Phone 7.8 arriving over the coming weeks on all the handsets.

Annoyingly you’ll have to dig out your USB cable, turn on your computer and fire up the Zune desktop software to get Windows Phone 7.8 downloaded and installed on your handset, as over-the-air support only arrived with Windows Phone 8.

Windows Phone 7.8 update will add new features like a new start screen UI with resizable live tiles, as found in Windows Phone 8. The update brings Windows Phone 8 branding to existing Lumia devices on the splash screen and icons for Games, Office and Windows Phone Store.

Windows Phone 7.8 doubles the number of theme and accent colours to 20 and adds other new lock screen features: the option to automatically display the Bing Picture of the Day plus the ‘A1B2C3’ PIN/password challenge to prevent accidental device wipes on phones connected to Exchange accounts.

No word yet from the likes of Samsung and HTC on Windows Phone 7.8 update plans for their devices.

January 31, 2013
End Of The Road! Nokia 808 Pureview Was Last Symbian Phone

Nokia has confirmed in its Q4 financial results that the 808 Pureview smartphone will be the last Symbian device it will ever produce.

This morning Nokia reported operating profits for the first time in six quarters of €439m on revenues of €8.04bn and chimed that its strategy to turn its fortunes around is working.

An essential part of that turnaround strategy has been an alliance with Microsoft to produce smartphones based on the Windows Phone operating system.

That strategy is paying dividends with over 4m Lumia devices shipped during the busy Christmas sales season. The casualty of this strategy, however, is Nokia’s longstanding use of the Symbian operating system.

[quote]In its fourth quarter and full year 2012 Interim Report (spotted by the eagle eyes at TechCrunch), Nokia states: “During our transition to Windows Phone through 2012, we continued to ship devices based on Symbian. The Nokia 808 PureView, a device which showcases our imaging capabilities and which came to market in mid 2012, was the last Symbian device from Nokia.”[/quote]

The news, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone really, means the transition to Windows Phone is complete from a hardware perspective, although we suspect Nokia still has plenty of Symbian handsets still on shelves around the world for those that want a piece of history.

Symbian OS on Nokia devices has played a key part in the smartphone game over the past ten years, but its significance was severely reduced once the touchscreen revolution started. Some of the most notable phones to come out of Nokia were powered by Symbian – beginning with the 9210 Communicator. The Nokia E61 started a messenger phone hype that peaked with the E71, making Symbian OS the only viable competitor to the then-strong BlackBerry portfolio of messengers.

The 808 PureView, Nokia’s last Symbian device, picked up the Best New Mobile Handset Award at the Mobile World Congress in 2012. The device created quite a stir at the time because it came with a 41-megapixel camera lens from Carl Zeiss as well as NFC capabilities.

Nokia is rumoured, and almost expected, to include PureView technology in a new Windows Phone 8 smartphone out later this year.

We will keep you posted.

January 24, 2013
Rumour : Nokia EOS Rumored To Be First True PureView Windows Phone

The Nokia EOS is set to be the first Windows Phone 8 handset to sport the Finnish firm’s impressive PureView camera technology.

A source “familiar with Nokia’s plans” claims that the codenamed EOS will pack a camera similar to the one found in the 808 PureView – suggesting it also sports a 41MP sensor.

Sources also claim that the Pureview EOS will also be built using an aluminum shell as opposed to the polycarbonate generally used in Nokia Constructions. The phone will be pegged in a higher end category, so it may never reach markets like India commercially, considering the already high price of the Lumia 920. While many rumors are pointing toward a total remake of the Lumia series, the Pureview EOS will be the flagship, while the whole lineup drops polycarbonate to go for a aluminum chassis.

Nokia had first showcased its 808 PureView at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2012. This smartphone garnered a lot of attention, thanks to the massive 41-megapixel camera sensor that it has on-board. Other features of the smartphone include a 4-inch 360x640pixel AMOLED display, 16GB of internal storage, 1.3GHz processor and Nokia Symbian Belle OS.

This rumor is also being backed up by Italian smartphone guru Flavio via his Twitter account, which claims “project EOS” will indeed have a 41-megapixel camera.

Nokia 808 PureView debuted in India in June 2012. Its current price is mentioned as Rs. 26,499 but it is currently listed as out of stock on Nokia India official store.

The Verge claims that the Pureview EOS handset will be primarily designed for US network AT&T, who will make the device available to consumers later this year. Reports are already rimming a replacement of the 920 with a lighter aluminum shell called “Catwalk” . Nokia’s Catwalk device is designed as a successor to the Lumia 920 and will debut as a replacement to the company’s current Windows Phone 8 flagship with similar internal hardware specifications. A move towards aluminum brings Nokia back to the pre-Windows Phone days when the company launched N8 a Symbian 3 device.

[Verge]

January 23, 2013
Video : Nokia Lumia 920 And Samsung Galaxy S III Get Hit By A Fast Ball To Check Build Quality

So, how would you further test the Nokia Lumia 920?s sturdiness when it has already faced so many “Torture tests” and has proved why it is “the Premium device” among the so many Flagships out there.

Now, Nokia has tested both Lumia 920 and SGS III in a “Pitching Machine challenge“. Both the devices were set to facehigh-speed “fastballs” pitched from the machine.

The S III goes up to bat first, and unfortunately suffers a career-ending injury (as you can see in the video). Not only does its screen crack, but the back panel careens off, leaving its innards exposed. Really, what happens is to be expected.

The video captured the fastball impact and continued to record after being knocked off the stand. The screen survived and the casing was left unscathed.

We would certainly ask you to watch the video yourself and see what happened. The video is part of Nokia’s #switch campaign, with a whole series of videos which can be seen on Nokia’s YouTube page here.

January 18, 2013
Nokia Sold 4.4 Million Lumias in Q4 2012, Says Mobile Division “Exceeded Expectations”

Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year, as the company’s Devices & Services unit exceeded expectations, according to preliminary data.

[quote]Stephen Elop, the company’s often-criticized CEO said, “We are pleased that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where we exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability in Devices & Services.” While net profit was minimal at around $262 million USD, there is reason to be bullish for the next several quarters as Lumia sales continue to rise as the company releases its phones into more markets.[/quote]

The next 12 months will be key for Nokia and Microsoft, and the sale of 4.4 million Lumia smartphones is a step in the right direction, according to Pete Cunningham, principal analyst at market research company Canalys.

Nokia also sold 9.3 million Asha touch smartphones, as well as 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.

During the fourth quarter in 2011 Nokia sold 113.5 million units, including around a million Lumia devices and a total of 19.6 million smartphones.

The 4.4 million Lumia smartphones Nokia sold also compares to the 2.9 million it sold during the third quarter. The company could have sold even more if it hadn’t been for supply constraints, which especially affected the Lumia 920.

Nokia is also getting a €50 million sum from non-recurring IPR income (coincidentally, RIM recently had to pay Nokia €50 million after a patent settlement).

Anyway, the Nokia Siemens networks also exceeded expectations and posted a profit for a third quarter in a row. The non-IFRS operating margin for this division in Q4 2012 is expected to be 13-15%.

While Nokia is ending 2012 on a positive note, the start of 2013 will be less rosy – the seasonally weak quarter will lead to a non-IFRS operating margin of negative 2% (+/- 4%).

Meanwhile, Nokia today launched the Lumia 920, 820 and 620 at an event here in New Delhi.

January 10, 2013
Nokia 10.1-inch Windows RT Tablet To Come With Battery-Equipped Keyboard Cover?

Quoting information provided by sources familiar with Nokia’s plans, The Verge claims that Nokia is working on a 10.1-inch Windows RT tablet. While rumors of a Nokia Windows RT tablet have surfaced as early as March this year, the latest report reveals some specifications of the device.

The Nokia Windows RT slate is said to be equipped with an ARM chip, HDMI and USB ports. It also has cellular connectivity and AT&T will be among the first carriers to sell it in the U.S.

Nokia’s tablet will go head-to-head with Microsoft’s Surface RT and will feature a battery-equipped cover that “clicks in” like the Surface’s, plus has a built-in kickstand, a keyboard, 10-hour battery life, two USB ports.

Nokia design chief Marko Ahtisaari had said in an interview with Finnish magazine Kauppalehti Optio that he was spending a third of his time on creating a tablet for the cellphone maker, which would stand out among hundreds of iPad-challengers. “We are working on it,” he was quoted as saying.

DigiTimes previously pointed out that the tablet will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2013.

December 26, 2012
Nokia And RIM Agree To New Patent Licenses

Finnish mobile giant Nokia said on Friday it was withdrawing all its lawsuits against Blackberry-maker Research In Motion after reaching an agreement on patent licencing.

Last month Nokia filed lawsuits in the United States, Britain and Canada against RIM claiming it had breached an agreement on using Nokia patents on WLAN local area network technology.

[quote]”We are very pleased to have resolved our patent licensing issues with RIM and reached this new agreement, while maintaining Nokia’s ability to protect our unique product differentiation,” said Paul Melin, chief intellectual property officer at Nokia, in a statement.[/quote]

The terms were not disclosed, but Nokia will receive an unknown one-time payment plus on-going payments from RIM.

Nokia may have lost the title as the top-selling mobile phone maker, but the Finnish company holds patents to over 10,000 types of technology after having invested approximately €45bn in research and development over the past two decades.

Now RIM can focus on bringing BlackBerry 10 to market, plus the new BlackBerry 10 smartphones – which was potentially revealed yesterday as the BlackBerry Z10.

December 21, 2012
Rumour : Nokia Windows RT Tablet Release Date Set For February

Rumours of Nokia coming to market with a tablet has surfaced today. The source is overseas from DigiTimes who states Nokia is in talks with Microsoft and Qualcomm to launch a a 10-inch Windows RT tablet. The unnamed tablet will reportedly be showcased at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in February, known specs are minimal.

Apparently the Windows 8 tablet was supposed to be available in Q1 2013 with a test market of 200,000 units, but Microsoft released the Surface and Nokia wanted to see how consumers responded to it.

Sources say that Nokia was waiting for the Windows tablet market, “To be proven.” It obviously now feels that it has and is preparing to restart development of its 10-inch tablet, with a view to announcing it during Mobile World Congress. Nokia has again teamed up with Qualcomm and Compal Electronics to manufacture it.

As Nokia makes one of the most popular Windows Phone handsets, and has a reputation for producing durable, well-designed mobile products, a Windows RT tablet from the company is an interesting proposition.

December 19, 2012
NaviFirm Showing Windows Phone 7.8 For Nokia Lumia 800, Lumia 510

The Windows Phone 7.8 platform has been spotted in NaviFirm for Nokia’s devices powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 OS, suggesting that it should not be too long before users receive it officially.

What Windows Phone 7.8 brings is a new home screen with live tiles available in 3 different sizes, just like in Windows Phone 8. A whole bunch of new interface theme colors have been thrown in, although the background can still be had in either white or black. Also, the lock screen wallpaper can be replaced with the one featured in the Bing application.

If you want to upgrade your Nokia Lumia 900,800,710,610 and Nokia Lumia 510 to Windows Phone 7.8 by flashing method (all data(s) will be loss), you can just download the firmware from navifirm and use flashing tools (e.g Nokia Care Suite). Simply select the device from the list, and then choose to download the latest firmware available for it (it should be the last item in the list in the middle, labeled 1750.823.8858.12460 for Lumia 800, for example).

Please note that you flash your device at your own risk and we cannot take any responsibility for damage caused to your Windows Phone.

December 14, 2012
Lumia 620 : Nokia Launches The Most Affordable Windows 8 Phone

Nokia has just launched their most affordable Windows Phone 8 device the Nokia Lumia 620. The Phone which runs Microsoft latest Mobile operating system is powered by a Qualcomm S4 1GHz dual-core CPU. Includes a 3.8-inch ClearBlack WVGA screen running at 800 x 480 resolution. FOr Optics we have a 5-megapixel rear camera and a front facing VGA one. The Phone has a fixed storage of 8 GB and no expandability upto 64GB via MicroSD.

Nokia is ready to play the 610 game with the Lumia 620 as the company will offer seven colors with exchangeable shells in gloss and matte finishes depending on color. You will also get a full host of Nokia only apps including Nokia Drive, Nokia Music and Nokia Maps. Nokia is also calling it the world’d most affordable Windows Phone 8 device yet with a price of 190 euros or Rs. 12,999 globally. We are hopeful that the company can quickly launch and make the device available in India around the same price mark

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Nokia introduces new Nokia Lumia 620

Nokia’s third and most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone offers youthful appeal

Espoo, Finland and Paris, France – Nokia today introduced the Nokia Lumia 620, the third and most affordable in its range of Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Alongside the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 and mid-range Nokia Lumia 820, the Nokia Lumia 620 offers a more fun, youthful appeal, and compact design.

The Nokia Lumia 620 uses a new dual-shot color technique to deliver a variety of striking color and texture effects. Dual-shot adds a second layer of colored, transparent or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer to produce secondary color blends and depth effects. With seven different exchangeable shells to choose from, people can adapt the look of their Nokia Lumia 620 to their own personal taste and style.

“We continue to execute on our strategy to reach new audiences and new markets,” said Jo Harlow, executive vice president, Nokia Smart Devices. “With its innovative design, the latest Windows Phone 8 software and signature experiences from Nokia, like Nokia lenses, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music, the Nokia Lumia 620 is a highly competitive smartphone at this price point.”

Among the features shared with the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 are exclusive camera lenses that transform the creative power of the Nokia Lumia 620’s five megapixel main camera and VGA front-facing camera. The Cinemagraph lens adds simple animations to still photographs, while Smart Shoot creates a single, perfect shot from multiple images, even removing unwanted objects from the picture.

The Nokia Lumia 620 also provides access to the world’s best maps and location experience, including Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport and the exclusive Nokia City Lens. Nokia City Lens displays information about local surroundings overlaid onto buildings as seen through the camera viewfinder.

Making it easy to discover and enjoy new music, Nokia Music provides free streaming of ad-free tracks without registration or subscription and the ability to download playlists for listening offline.

With NFC support, the Nokia Lumia 620 can easily pair with NFC-enabled accessories like the JBL PlayUp Portable Speaker for Nokia. Open and secure NFC-connectivity makes it possible to share and receive content by tapping with compatible devices, or make secure payments using the Wallet application in Windows Phone 8.

Powered by Windows Phone 8, the Nokia Lumia 620 delivers a more personal smartphone experience. Adjustable Live Tiles update direct to the Start Screen. People Hub pulls together contact information from multiple address books and social networks into a single location, making it easy to stay in touch with friends and set up contact Groups and private Rooms for sharing. From the Me Tile people can check in to their location, post an update, set chat status, see what’s new and monitor notifications across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Windows Phone 8 also includes Xbox Live, Microsoft Office, 7GB of online SkyDrive storage and faster, safer surfing with Internet Explorer 10.

These features and capabilities are enabled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon(TM) S4 Plus processors.

“People can do more of the things they love when they choose a mobile device that has a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor,” said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm Europe. “The Snapdragon S4 Plus processor is the heart of the Nokia Lumia 620, making it possible to multi-task, stream in HD and share content at super-fast speeds.”

The Nokia Lumia 620 will be available in a range of colors* including, lime green, orange, magenta, yellow, cyan, white and black. Estimated at USD 249, excluding taxes and subsidies, the Nokia Lumia 620 will begin selling in January 2013 in Asia, followed closely by Europe and the Middle East before expanding further.

* Availability of colored shells may vary by country.

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December 5, 2012
Nokia 114 Dual SIM Feature Phone Launched in India

The Nokia India website has just listed a new device, the Nokia 114. It is a dual-SIM budget phone which offers hot swappable capabilities with its SIM card.

Nokia 114 looks like the dual-SIM variant of the Nokia 109 that was unveiled in some markets (but not India) last month. The phone features a 1.8-inch (4.57 cm) QVGA colour display, 32GB of expandable storage and Bluetooth. It comes with a 0.3-megapixel camera capable of recording QCIF video at 15fps. The Nokia 114 comes with a 1020mAh battery capable of 637 hours standby time and 10.5 hours talk-time or 27 hours of music playback.

This 2G-only phone measures 110.0mm (H) x 46.0mm (W) x 14.8mm (D) and weighs just 80 grams.

The Nokia 114 is current listed as “Coming soon” on the Nokia website and there is no mention of exact price or date of availability.

December 3, 2012
Video Of Nokia Lumia 510 Running Windows Phone 7.8 Surfaces Online

After the Windows Phone 7.8-powerd Nokia Lumia 900 spotted in China earlier this month, a new device has been caught on camera running the unannounced operating system, the Lumia 510.

A new video, presumably from Winp.cn, shows the current build of Windows Phone 7.8 (8858) in action on the Nokia Lumia 510. Actually, it’s less action and more of a nice, soothing stroll on some of the more superficial changes coming in the OS update. The new tiles are shown off and we even see the Bing lockscreen wallpaper working.

A new rumour states that Windows Phone 7.8 will launch as early as Wednesday of this week, though in what capacity we don’t know. We may get a roll-out schedule in the very least, though even that is up in the air.

There have been several leaks that indicate Nokia is actively working on a new major Windows Phone update for its first generation Lumia handsets, though there has been no word on availability.

One nice feature exclusive, it seems, to Nokia phones is the ability to keep WiFi on in the background when the screen is off. This may seem trivial to most smartphone users but amazingly the functionality is not currently present in Windows Phone as we know it.

We still expect WP 7.8 to come out sometime early 2013.

November 26, 2012
Nokia HERE Maps For iPhone And iPad Released

HERE Maps by Nokia, the mapping alternative to Google Maps and Apple’s own Maps service, is now available for iOS. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices running iOS 4.3 or above and is optimised for the iPhone 5.

The app is based off HTML 5 and offers an array of mapping views – map view, live traffic view, public transport line view or satellite view – and has maps/directions from over 200 countries.

The UI follows Nokia’s own interface pattern, rather than the usual iOS conventions, which could lead to some confusion, but otherwise it’s pretty much what we’ve grown to expect from the Nokia Maps browser-based option.

HERE has a public transport view that handily shows nearby routes and stops overlaid on the map. It also provides driving and walking directions, and even lets you cycle through the days of the week when planning routes to see how traffic and other factors on different days might affect trip times and planning. Searching for locales brings up nearby interest points, too, in addition to routing options, as well as website and phone number info if they’re available.

We’ve had a quick look around the app and it features an extensive database of locations and points of interests. The navigation feature seems to work nicely as well.

You can download Nokia HERE from the iOS App Store. Check it out and let us know what you think about this Apple Maps alternative in the comments.

[toggle_box title=”Features” width=”Width of toggle box”]

Features:
• Map views: Pick the map you need from map view, live traffic, public transport line or satellite
• Save map areas & wander without data coverage
• In selected countries, access community maps created and updated by users
• Maps, search and place coverage for nearly 200 countries
• Search with history and suggestions
• Share places with just a tap, including location & how to get there, over SMS, email, social networks
• Organize places you love into Collections
• Sign in to HERE Maps with your Nokia Account or Facebook login
• Sync with Here.net – Access your Collections anywhere
• Step-by-Step voice-guided walk navigation
• Walk navigation through pedestrian routes, parks, alleyways, and more
• Public transportation and driving directions

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November 20, 2012
Launched : Nokia Here Cloud Maps for iOS, Android and others (PR)

Looks like it was the right opportunity for Nokia to jump on the iOS maps bashing wagon. No one does maps like Nokia and with iPhone users feeling the incompleteness of iOS Maps, Nokia has stepped on to the winning plate with Nokia HERE. A cloud service delivering excellent mapping for those all over the world on any device.

[quote]Titled “Here,” it’ll tap into Nokia’s map expertise and better still, work across multiple devices and operating systems — CEO Stephen Elop, attending the launch event in San Francisco[/quote]

The new web-based map is live now and will work on any PC running Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome and Macs using Safari, Firefox or Chrome. On mobile, it’ll run on iOS 4+ and Android 2.2’s (or above) internet browser.

Reports also claim that iOS and Android Apps are already on their way pending approval from the “authorities”. Nokia will have a Here SDK for Android and a web version of Nokia Here maps for Firefox OS ready by early next year.

Nokia has seen 75 times more use of its mapping data compared to last year, and it’s looking to tap into user-submitted data. A new Map Creator tool will let people assign more specific information and detail to Nokia’s original maps and satellite photos. Nokia Here.net will allow users to log in using their Nokia accounts or create new ones to save places as “collections” add images etc. which will all be launched soon.

According to reports iOS app for Nokia Here will provide offline maps, voice guided walking directions and public transportation directions at launch. Additionally, Nokia revealed the name for the technology powering its City Lens app. Live Sight will be available and in other applications as well.

Nokia will also foray into 3D mapping by acquiring company “earthmine Inc.”based in Berkeley, California, is a privately-owned company that develops a powerful end-to-end 3D street level imaging solution – from collection hardware to processing workflows, cloud hosting and client software. This information is to be used for future expansion of Nokia Here service.

[toggle_box title=”Press Release” width=”Width of toggle box”]

Nokia redefines digital map landscape by introducing HERE as new brand for its location and mapping service

Nokia extends its service across devices and operating systems

Nokia announces new partnership with Mozilla and planned acquisition of 3D capture company, earthmine

San Francisco, California – Today Nokia introduced HERE, the first location cloud to deliver the world’s best maps and location experiences across multiple screens and operating systems. With the new brand, HERE, Nokia aims to inspire a new generation of location services and devices that make the mobile experience more personally significant for people everywhere.

“People want great maps, and with HERE we can bring together Nokia’s location offering to deliver people a better way to explore, discover and share their world,” said Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop. “Additionally, with HERE we can extend our 20 years of location expertise to new devices and operating systems that reach beyond Nokia. As a result, we believe that more people benefit from and contribute to our leading mapping and location service.”

Pushing location beyond Nokia

To further extend its location services, Nokia is launching a maps application for iOS under the HERE brand. Based on HTML5, it will include offline capabilities, voice-guided walk navigation, and public transport directions. The application is scheduled to be available for free download from Apple’s App Store in the coming weeks.

Nokia further announced a strategic partnership with Mozilla to bring new location experiences to the Firefox OS. Nokia plans to debut a mobile Web version of HERE Maps for the new Firefox OS next year. The companies are working together to give people the best mapping experience on Firefox OS.

“Mozilla is a leader in HTML5, building the Web as a platform for developing compelling applications, and location is a key part of that platform,” said Jay Sullivan, Mozilla Vice President of Products. “We are excited to work with Nokia as the combination of Firefox OS and HERE’s location platform provides rich possibilities for mobile application developers to create amazing experiences for users.”

Nokia also demonstrated an Android OS-based reference application and announced plans for the availability of a HERE SDK for Android OEMs in early 2013. This is aimed at enabling partners to create location-based applications for Android devices with Nokia’s leading content.

Innovating modern mapmaking
To advance the 3D capabilities of HERE, Nokia announced the planned acquisition of Berkeley, Calif. company earthmine. The company’s reality capture and processing technologies will become integral parts of HERE’s 3D map making capabilities.

Nokia expects the transaction to close by the end of 2012.

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[Here (Nokia), (2)]

“Maps are hard to get right – but location is revolutionizing how we use technology to engage with the real world,” said Michael Halbherr, Executive Vice President of Location & Commerce and responsible for the HERE brand. “That’s why we have been investing and will continue to invest in building the world’s most powerful location offering, one that is unlike anything in the market today.”

Using LiveSight(TM) to see more of the real world
As part of its announcement, Nokia introduced LiveSight(TM), a technology based on a highly accurate, 3D map of the world. LiveSight(TM) provides the most precise and intuitive augmented reality experience and uses a phone’s camera viewfinder to make discovering the world as easy as lifting up a phone. Nokia City Lens, which was developed exclusively for Nokia Lumia devices, is the first application providing a LiveSight-enabled experience.

“Establishing a new brand is the right move for Nokia in the map and location business. Nokia’s assets in this space are world class. We believe mapping and location will be increasingly important to developing next generation devices and services across a wide array of segments,” said Crawford Del Prete, Executive Vice President and Head of worldwide research at IDC.

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Nokia To Acquire earthmine Inc.

BERKELEY, CA – November 13th, 2012 – earthmine Inc. announced today that it is has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Nokia. earthmine, based in Berkeley, California, is a privately-owned company that develops a powerful end-to-end 3D street level imaging solution – from collection hardware to processing workflows, cloud hosting and client software.

The earthmine team is expected to join the Nokia Location & Commerce business and Berkeley, California will become a key site for the development of 3D reality capture technology.

“We are very excited to be joining Nokia – a company with a huge presence and vision in mapping,” said John Ristevski, co-CEO of earthmine Inc. “We could not hope for a better place to fulfill and accelerate our mission of indexing the world in 3D.

November 14, 2012