Nokia sets sights a little lower

Okay, when I said "lower," I meant, LOW, and Nokia is taking respectable measures, to put it nicely. The world's largest mobile phone maker just announced a 66% yearly drop in Q2 profit, as well as lowering its market share target for 2009. Nokia is definitely feeling the pressure from its closest rivals, Apple, RIM and Samsung, which coincidentally, lead the smartphone market.

This looks to really spell trouble for Nokia. They had actually expected their market share to rise in 2009, but it looks like they set their sights a little too high. Nokia had probably expected an increase in market share because of the successful launch of its flagship phone, the N97, but other than the S60 groupies, the N97 hasn't actually received critical acclaims... not even anywhere close. With their trump card, the N97, receiving bland reviews (probably because it was launch after its competitors with no real advantages or revolutionary features) and with nothing special being announced by Nokia, their troubles may have just began.

Sony Ericsson posts $299 million Q2 loss, but a gain for us... Playstation Phone coming Q4?

I'm sure it comes to no surprise that many, MANY companies are suffering losses nowadays, but for Ericsson, it's not all that bad, at least not as bad as its recent $382 million loss. Sony Ericsson also believes this is due to the waves of smartphones that have been coming out that their losing out on their mid-tier mobile phones. For SE fans, all isn't lost, SE said that they are working in that direction and their higher end devices should smack us in the face this Q4. But wait, theres more... one of their devices thats said to be hitting this fourth quarter is rumored "to integrate with Playstation." What that means, only time will tell. Will we have our coveted PSP phone, a phone that just has similar OS and look to the Playstation, or even just a device that allows for remote-play?

I'm most definitely rooting for a PSP phone, but even s smart phone that integrates the Playstation OS' look and feel, and actually looks good is always welcome competition for iPhone lovers such as myself and fellow Vantage bloggers. More competition usually equals good news for consumers like us. But one thing is for sure, we probably wont be seeing anything for the next 3 months (since nothing's coming out in Q3) except for another Sony Ericsson loss. Good luck to you guys at SE!

Next iPhone to launch in June?

There has been a lot of buzz in the mobile world on a new iPhone, and it looks like it could be just around the corner! Apple has reportedly been sourcing for different parts from suppliers such as LG and other Taiwan-based companies. So far, its rumored specs include a 3.2mp still/video CMOS camera, digital compass, 802.11 wifi, more storage, MMS, copy and paste, among others. Its also rumored that the infamous iPhone nano will debut as well.

But for those who know Apple, we know that they aren't the type to announce what they are working on or what/when things are coming out, so I guess we just have to wait. June isn't that far away, but then again, a new iPhone anytime in '09 would be great. Looks like its time to upgrade again!

Looks like the iPhone is up against some coming competition this time around in the mysterious Huawei phone & Sony Ericsson's Idou. But I'm still rooting for you iPhone! iPhone FTW!

N97 Live pics

Here are some live pics of the upcoming Nokia N97 for those interested. I must say, its definitely looking suhweet!!! I didn't think it would be that small! I figured it would be around the same size as the Nokia E90. Either that or that dude's hands are freakin big! I can't wait to see the white one.

Its said to be the best phone running on the S60 platform to date. As mentioned before, its slated to be released early 2009 (which for me, should be Jan-March) though I'm somewhat doubtful of that. But then again... "early 2009" can be relative or mean early fiscal year 2009. But don't worry, we'll give you guys the heads up when it arrives at our shores!

And to Nokia, make sure you guys fix all the bugs before its release. We don't want your ever-so-famous first batch of buggy phones!

Nokia N97

Is Nokia finally going to take the full jump into our soon-to-be touch screen world of mobile phones? The 5800 was their first effort (which was already released in some countries), but got mediocre reviews, but this one looks promising (but actually, so did the 5800 haha!).


The N97 was just announced in Spain a few days ago during the Nokia World '08 event. This feature-rich handset is dubbed by some as the “Facebook Phone” mainly because this device is geared towards users who are into social networking and multimedia. Based on the specs though, this “handheld computer” device can also cater to the power/business user. But then again, here in the PI, who really cares about what the phone is originally or supposedly for?! Its all about what it can do, how it looks and what it says about the user. And this one looks great, its a high-end phone (for sure!) so not everyone is going to be able to buy it... horray for us!

Here are some of the more common specs...

• 3.5″, 640 x 360 resistive touch screen
• QWERTY keyboard
• Tri-band HSDPA 3G
• 802.11 b/g WiFi
• A-GPS and Stand-alone GPS for directions and geo-tagging
• 32GB Built-In Memory
• microSD expansion support for ADDITIONAL 16GB
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
• Flash Lite 3.0 support and Flash Video in web browser
• Music player up to 36 hours playback time
• Share and Ovi services support

For the complete phone specs, check out GSMarena.

Check out some video demos of the N97 here & here!

Verdict? Well, it really does look promising, especially for those who loved any of the previous communicator phones by Nokia. Its packed with features, looks-wise, is a definite head turner and for certain, a phone that confirms you're social stature. Though for me its still iPhone: 1 and all other phones: 0!

HTC Touch HD reviews

I've always told people that if I didn't have my iPhone or if the iPhone never came out, the HTC Touch HD would be my phone of choice. It would be the phone I'd be carrying in my pocket right now. With its gorgeous, large and in charge, screen along with its slew of other impressive features, its a no brainer for a techie like myself.

Reviews are calling this "HTC's best Windows Mobile phone yet," along with other great praises in lines with features and battery life (which is very important for a lot of people). Of course, it still has its drawbacks, such as it running on the Windows OS, its size and it's lack of US 3G bands. But honestly, who really cares about 3G here in the PI?! Anyways, give the links a click for more in depth reviews!

CNet
Phone Arena
Slash Gear
Pocket Now

Possible Threat to the iPhone? - HTC Touch HD

Though with still no official press release on HTC's part, someone was able to find a page on HTC's official site showing off the new HTC Touch HD in all its glory. Specs were also shown which include a 3.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, and 3.5mm audio jack. I have the iPhone and its gorgeous display is only 480 x 320, I cant image what 800 x 480 will look like! dayum! The phone also only measures 12mm thick & is essentially the same size as the iPhone 3G.

Other features include Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR and a microSD slot. On the software side there's TouchFLO 3D on top of Windows Mobile 6.1 Pro. There's also a front-facing VGA camera for video calls, 512MB of ROM and 288MB of RAM. HTC expects the 1350 mAh battery to score you 390 minutes of 3G talk and 450 ours of 3G standby, with 120 minute video calls just for kicks. Still no word on availability and pricing, though its rumored that it will be released in time for Santa.

What I failed to find out was whether this phone makes use of multi-tap technology for its touchscreen, other than that, this phone is shaping up to be a sweet one! A lot of touchscreens nowadays still make use of a stylus & none with the capacity to compete with the ease of using the iPhone's screen and tapping capabilities. Maybe the HTC Touch HD can change that.

You guys share my sentiment on this phone? Will this one be the one to truly compete with the iPhone? Comment Comment!

Vertu Signature Series 3G

Nokia's luxury brand Vertu, is giving its top of the line Signature Series, a much needed, refreshed design, packing 3G as well as WiFi (a first for Vertu) in its new slim shell. Sweet aint it? The Vertu finally gives the technophiles among us something to appreciate, especially when you factor in the extra little tidbit that it's apparently sporting an OLED QVGA display... which simply means a screen thats, brighter... crisper... and just flat out nicer than yours. Nothing is super official yet but the Signature Series has been long overdue for a makeover. I'm sure less than a handful of us can afford this, and those who can, probably wont shell out the cash for price Vertu's usually go for. But if you can and you do, drop me a line, I wanna see it!

For more info, check out friedblogs

Can you buy one of these?or better yet, WOULD you?! Comment Comment