Review of Nokia E6

This is a global GSM phone. It can be used with T-Mobile USA and AT&T.

Introduction:

When we open our Nokia E6 package and gaze upon the high grade industrial design, we feel bittersweet. The device looks great, feels great in the hand and seems to check all the boxes, but leaves us with a waning trepidation when it comes to the operating system. We already know that the combination of Symbian Anna and the X7 is lacking, so why should the experience be any better on the E6?

Well, the E6 actually represents a totally different idea. With its QWERTY keyboard, smaller, but sharper screen, as well as classical Nokia business series form-factor, the handset might just provoke some nostalgic feelings amongst its targeted audience, and ultimately, end up in the pockets of a good number of people. The question is, does it offer enough to make us recommend it over the slew of other QWERTYs on the market?

Apple's retail stores can release AT&T iPhones if the unlocked pile runs low

It seems that Apple is advising staff at its retail locations to just grab an iPhone 4 from the AT&T pile, and release it from the carrier shackles, if it runs low on stock with unlocked iPhones.

Of course, this will still run you $649 for the 16GB version, and the healthy $749 for a 32GB version, but it's nice to have options. These prices are fairly indicative of how much carriers are paying to subsidize an iPhone so you can grab it at $199 with a two-year contract, resulting in Apple's fat operating margins, but that's a whole different topic.

The note in Apple's Retail Project Manager actually says to sell any of the AT&T iPhone 4's SKUs, and mark it as "Device Only" upon checkout, which it seems automagically unlocks the device for use with any SIM card you throw at it.

via 9to5Mac

'Apple is in big trouble,' tech expert holding an iPhone says

Apple might be the second-largest company in the world with a market cap of over $300 billion, but if you take the words of NBC's Today Show Gear and Technology editor, Paul Hochman, it's in serious trouble. 

Hochman, holding an iPhone, spoke at the Forward with Ford Futuring and Trends Conference:

"Apple’s in big trouble. They’re sitting on piles of cash, but they are sitting on a closed system. In biology, in history, a closed system never survives."

At the same time, he lavished praise on Ford for picking an open system, one which allows an external device like both an iOS or Android one for communication and even apps. Conversely, General Motors which opted for a closed system doesn't allow upgrade of the hardware locking you down into using the same device even when it fades out of relevance after a couple of years. This argument certainly holds ground as the lifespan of a car is usually much longer than the one of a phone, but do you agree with Hochman's comments on Apple? Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments below.

source: Pocket-lint

Nokia Maps APIs will be open to 3rd party Windows Phone developers

It's been confirmed that Nokia Maps will be used on all Windows Phone devices down the road, including ones from Samsung or LG. According to Nokia's Marko Lumivuori, however, also the “current Ovi Maps API will be supported in the oncoming devices” with the Windows Phone Mango update.

On one hand, this is great news for third party developers, who can use the APIs to port their Symbian apps to Nokia Windows Phones, if so inclined. On the other, it's another confirmation that other phone makers like HTC, Samsung, LG, Acer, ZTE and Fujitsu can also use Nokia Maps, which will seemingly become an integral part of the Windows Phone platform, providing free offline voice-guided navigation in more than 90 countries worldwide, definitely a selling point before the competition.

The first batch of Nokia Windows Phones, like the Nokia Sea Ray that leaked last week, is unlikely to see Nokia Maps integrated in Mango, as it became clear not long ago, since merging it as a backend for the current Bing Maps solution will take some more time, but hopefully they'll get it with an update upon full integration. It will be interesting to know if the resulting service will still be called Bing Maps, and very telling about the role Nokia plays in the partnership.

via WMPU

LG Optimus One gets updated to Android 2.3 Gingerbread... in Romania

The update to the latest Android is starting to roll out for the popular LG Optimus One, which was one of LG's best-sellers last year, with innovative promotional campaigns and celebrity endorsements to boot. Promised to arrive in May before, the first batch of the Gingerbread updates appears to have hit in Romania, of all places, as is confirmed from the comments on LG's Facebook page.

People who have installed it report it is working fine, with the only issue being the proximity sensor now turns the screen back on at a larger distance when you finish the conversation.

The LG Optimus One has its versions on major US carriers, and turned out to be quite a popular budget Android handset, so hopefully the Android 2.3 Gingerbread update will be rolling to the New World sooner rather than later. Knowing the US carriers policies and restrictions when it comes to updating, though, LG will have more red tape to overcome on this side of the pond.

source: LG via AndroidCentral

Nokia N5 leaks out with Symbian Anna

The Nokia N5 is the latest of Symbian Anna, but it just couldn't wait for its official announcement and broke cover with a couple of grainy overexposed images of its black and white versions. It's Apple-style secrecy for Windows Phone, Nokia has declared, but apparently this rule won't apply to Symbian as along with the N5, a source confirmed to GSM Arena that the Nokia N6 and Nokia N7 are also on track, both building on the Symbian legacy.

We don't know much about them, but we do know something about the Nokia N5 – it will come with the latest Anna update, overhauled Browser 7.4 and a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. The white version seems to also sport a vivid green back, while the black one keeps the same black color on the back cover. The interface also bears some resemblance to what we saw of MeeGo on the N9, but judging from the smallish screen, the devices will be mid- and low-level handsets replacing current Symbian^1 devices.

source: ExCellular via GSMArena

HTC EVO 3D to launch across Europe in July

The HTC EVO 3D, one of the hottest Android devices out there, has been available for purchase across the US for several days now, and we are sure that some of you are already having a great time trying out its 3D features. However, HTC fans who happen to live across the Atlantic will be happy to know that it will not be long before the 3D-enabled smartphone hits the European market as well. That is what was made clear today as the manufacturer announced its plans to launch the HTC EVO 3D across The Old Continent in July.

So, what makes the HTC EVO 3D so hot and sought after? First off, its spacious 3D-enabled display with qHD resolution lets you watch 3D content without the need for a special pair of glasses. Besides that, the EVO 3D comes equipped with a pair of 5-megapixel cameras that let you capture 3D photos and shoot 3D videos in 720p resolution with only a few taps. However, that is not all – the HTC EVO 3D boasts a speedy 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, so it has all the necessary processing power to handle almost anything you throw at it. If you want to learn more, feel free to check out our HTC EVO 3D review.

Just as it was expected, the smartphone will keep the hardware specifications of its American counterpart, yet it might eventually drop the EVO 3D title in favor of a different name. Another difference between the two EVO 3D models is that the European version will be able to take HDR photos, as seen in the screenshot below, but at this time, it isn't exactly clear whether the feature will be available in 3D shooting mode or will work only while taking plain ol' 2D pictures.

The announcement of the EVO 3D's European release was accompanied by the opening of HTC's new headquarters in Slough, UK, that will handle all of the company's operations in regards to the British and European markets. This is a definite clue that the manufacturer is determined on expanding its presence across the continent, which is not surprising considering HTC's substantial growth as a company.

source: HTC

The European version of the HTC EVO 3D is capable of taking HDR photos

Greyhound's new slogan could be "leave the texting while driving to us"

It's not just the U.S. where police are cracking down on drivers using their handsets while behind the wheel. Our neighbors up north are also keeping on eye on the road as witnessed by the Vancouver Police Department. The cops there issued 40 tickets in a 2 hour span to drivers who were illegally using their phones while driving.

One driver who managed to escape the eyes of the cops was behind the wheels of a Greyhound passenger bus. While driving the bus and having the responsibility of getting his passengers to their destinations safely, the driver uses his handset to text, take pictures, and play games while the bus was "gently swerving over the white lines". For a company whose slogan is "Relax and leave the driving to us," this video does not look good.

The passenger who recorded the video, noted that he watched the driver using his phone while driving for at least 10 minutes before recording the activity, and before that he had been asleep. Thus, there is no way of knowing just how long the driver had used his phone while his concentration should have been on the road. For its part, a spokesperson for Greyhound, Bonnie Bastian, says the company has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to driving while using a phone. An investigation is currently under way.

source: YouTube via MobileSyrup

More official info on the Nokia N9 camera, and comparison samples with the Nokia N8

Nokia's camera guru Damian Dinning is behind the shutterbug delight, called Nokia N8, with its 12MP camera, Carl Zeiss optics and healthy 1/1.83" camera sensor.

His team spent countless hours perfecting the outcome from that sensor, and has also been behind the Carl Zeiss endorsement of the 8MP camera in the Nokia N9.

The biggest achievement was that they managed to shrink the N9 camera module sensor to 70% of the Nokia N8 one's size, paving the way to slimmer devices with comparable performance, and, as it became quite evident with the "unofficial" Nokia Sea Ray leak, this sensor will likely make its way in the first batch of Nokia Windows Phones.

Nokia N9 camera sensor specs

Today Nokia posted an interview with him, which reveals a little bit behind-the-scenes info on the Nokia N9 camera peculiarities, which he summed up as follows:

•     Industry-first imaging sensor which is FULLY optimised for BOTH 16:9 AND 4:3 images
•     Industry-leading Carl Zeiss optics
•     Super wide-angle optics – the widest in the industry. Up to as much as 60% more viewing area than other broadly comparable devices
•     f/2.2 aperture – largest ever in a mobile device
•     Extremely responsive, especially switching from stills to video and vice-versa and shot to shot
•     Touch AF for both video and stills
•     Full time continuous AF in BOTH video and stills plus face detection
•     HD video with stereo audio (still one of very few devices that provide high quality audio recording in video)
•     Seamless workflows optimised for speed or editing & sharing
•     Zoom in to images directly in the post capture view, edit and share all without leaving the camera – the most seamless mobile imaging experience
•     Non-destructive editing of images – go back to the original image at any time. Undo or redo edits even months later
•     New high power dual LED flash – 20% more powerful than our previous most powerful LED flash despite its compact size
•     Geo tagging with place names rather than just co-ordinates
•     AMBR – Automatic Motion Blur Reduction
•     Not forgetting the touch to share of images between handsets using NFC technology

We did see last week the first sample HD video taken with those test Nokia N9 units that the Finns are sending around, and the result was quite pleasing, with nimble continuous autofocus and good amount of detail.

We didn't know how the real scene looked like, though, so we couldn't judge for the color reproduction accuracy, although the colors looked a tad on the blown-up, oversaturated side, especially visible in the red flowers on the balcony.

Well, now we have two videos of one and the same scene posted, taken with the 8MP Nokia N9 and the 12MP Nokia N8, both with Carl Zeiss optics. The colors in the HD 720p video from the Nokia N8 look more toned down, compared to the saturated colors from the Nokia N9, and we know from our camera comparisons, and from Nokia itself, that the N8 strives for accuracy by default, making the results lightly colder than reality, but pretty close, and leaving ample room for post-processing, if you wish.

Looking at these videos below, we can safely assume that, if the software on the Nokia N9 has been the final deal, its video capture will produce some vivid, oversaturated imagery, which many typical users prefer, right out of the box, and this is visible in the stills below as well:

Nokia N9 sample images

Nokia N9 macro	Nokia N8 macro

On a different note, the same video taken with the Nokia N8 looks sharper and more in focus than the one from the Nokia N9.

It either does worse in low-light conditions than the huge sensor in the Nokia N8, or some continuous autofocus/noise suppression/non-final software performance reductions might have influenced the outcome. Granted, it seems that the Nokia N8 is running its customized Symbian Anna update, which officially brings continuous autofocus and 30fps video recording, so that might have affected the results as well. Have a look at both videos below.

source: Nokia & AllNokia.ru via DailyMobile (samples)

Wireless battery cover for HTC ThunderBolt now available at Verizon stores

When we last saw the HTC ThunderBolt's rear battery cover for wireless charging back in May, the accessory had just come from a friendly visit with the FCC. Now, Verizon retail locations are stocked with the rear battery cover that is half the equipment necessary to wirelessly charge your HTC ThunderBolt. Priced at $29.99, for some reason the rear cover is not listed on Big Red's web site.

The other half of the equation is the wireless charging pad which will cost you $69.99. Together, that comes out to about $100 that you will be spending to avoid plugging your phone into an AC outlet. On the other hand, you can't wow your friends and family with just an ordinary charger, can you?

source: DroidLife

WeeFacebook widget for iOS 5 Notification Center goes 2.0

If you don't know what WeeFacebook does, it is a 3rd party widget for the newfangled Notification Center that brings mobile Facebook to the pull-down notifications menu in Apple's latest iOS 5 version.

The ability to shrink or expand the notification widget, so as it doesn't take so much space in Notification Center's pull-down menu, is the main update in WeeFacebook 2.0.

Also, now you can tap "slide down" to fully expose your friends' feeds and updates, and then tap "slide up" to shrink it if your attention has to shift to other events or widgets happening in Notification Center, which a pretty clean idea.

Unfortunately, it is not yet available in Cydia, so you have to follow the step-by-step guide in the source link, if you want to install and use it with your iOS 5 beta.

Bear in mind, however, that these 3rd party widgets and other changes to Notification Center are popping up for jailbroken devices only, running the beta version of iOS 5, and are a product of enthusiasts' work, not endorsed in any way by Apple.

via RedmondPie