Video: Nokia 6710 Navigator

MWC 2009: Nokia Announces Nokia 6710 Navigator and Ovi Store

Apart from the E55 and the E75, Nokia announced the successor of its 6210 Navigator named Nokia 6710 Navigator. This phone focuses more on in-car navigation and pedestrian guidance. Maybe Nokia learnt some lesson from the poor in-car navigation of the Nokia 6210 and made this amendments. Nokia 6710 comes with the latest Nokia 3.0 maps applications with a 5 mega pixel snapper. You can also geo-tag your snaps, I guess this is becoming a must-have function for all phones equipped with Navigation capabilities.

Apart from the three phones, Nokia also announced its Ovi store that will offer users a lot of content, which will be based on their locations and preferences. The content that will be offered in the Ovi Store will range from rich applications, games to widgets fro smart phones. The store will be live from May and Nokia users with S40 and S60 devices can make use of various applications and products available on this store. This is Nokia's version of its App Store. Nokia has also opened up this store for developers so that they can showcase their applications on this store and earn 70% of the money, which comes from the sale of the applications they have developed. This strategy will encourage more and more developers to develop applications for Nokia phones and make their presence felt on the Ovi Store.

via NAMP

Review: Nokia N97

Nokia unveils the Nokia N97, the world's most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5" touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an 'always open' window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia's flagship N97 mobile device introduces leading technology - including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds - for people to create a personal Internet and share their 'social location.'


Nokia N97 multimedia phone
"From the desktop to the laptop and now to your pocket, the Nokia N97 is the most powerful, multi-sensory mobile computer in existence," said Jonas Geust, Vice President, heading Nokia Nseries. "Together with the Ovi services announced today, the Nokia N97 mobile computer adjusts to the world around us, helping stay connected to the people and things that matter most. With the Nokia N97, Nseries leads the charge in helping to transform the Internet into your Internet".

A-GPS integrated in the Nokia N97
The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of 'social location'. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their 'status' and share their 'social location' as well as related pictures or videos.

Nokia N97 features a tilting touch display
The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favorite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

Nokia N97 boosts a 5 MP digtal camera
The Nokia N97 supports up to 48 GB of storage, including 32 GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16 GB microSD card for music, media and more. This is complemented by excellent music capabilities, full support for the Nokia Music Store and continuous playback time of up to 1.5 days. The Nokia N97 also has a 5 Megapixel digital camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture, and support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN.

Nokia N97 price & availability
The Nokia N97 camera phone is expected to begin shipping in the first half of 2009 at an estimated retail price of 550 Euro before taxes or subsidies.

[Source]

BlackBerry 8820 with GPS and Wi-Fi Confirmed by T-Mobile

Here's some good news for all the T-Mobile subscribers in the audience, because the pink-themed mobile operator has confirmed that it will indeed be getting the BlackBerry 8820. As you recall, this is the lovely QWERTY-packing device that comes equipped with both Wi-Fi and GPS.

The good thing about having Wi-Fi built into this latest version of the BlackBerry Curve is the fact that it can then take advantage of T-Mobile's Hotspot@Home service, helping you reduce the minutes racked up on the cellular network. The GPS side of things is taken care of with the preloaded TeleNav navigation software. The major feature missing from this handset is a camera, no doubt because of demands from enterprise users.

The BlackBerry 8820 will sell through T-Mobile for a price of $350, assuming you're willing to lock 'er down for a two-year contract.

[via MobileMag]

G810 by Samsung: HSDPA/WiFi/GPS rival to Nokia N96

Samsung have featured in excess of a dozen new and tweaked handsets at the Mobile World Congress - including the U900 Soul, KF700, KF600 and KF510 sliders and the i900 smartphone - which is pretty much their line-up for the next six months, and frankly I’m losing the will to live trawling through them. Still, there’s the occasional diamond among the dross, and one such gem is the G810; thankfully it’s looking a whole lot more attractive than the claylike mockup we last saw.

Samsung have blessed the G810 with 3.6Mbps HSDPA, WiFi, GPS, a 5-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, face detection and onboard image editor, and a 2.6-inch screen. Running the Symbian S60 3rd edition Feature Pack 1, it will be available in Europe come March 2008, and be a direct competitor to Nokia’s freshly announced N96.

The gang over at the ever-reliable Mobile-Review have put together a preview of the SGH-G810 with more screenshots and tidbits than you could shake a cellular stick at; this looks to be a very interesting phone indeed!

[via PhoneMag]

BlackBerry Curve 8330 CDMA has GPS

Verizon Wireless customer who’ve been waiting anxiously for the CDMA version of the BlackBerry Curve can breathe a sigh of relief: BBGeeks have photos of the 8330 that show it is physically almost identical to the 8310 GSM version currently on sale, keeping the same lauded QWERTY keyboard.

The photo below also confirms that the CDMA Curve will have GPS functionality, although it is unclear as to what use different carriers might make of that. Speculation is that an announcement regarding the handset may come next month.

[via PhoneMag]

LG's KT610 S60 smartphone with GPS: sounds good, looks like something

While Sony Ericsson has the tongues wagging over at the Mobile World Congress, LG has quietly loosed its LG-KT610 without any photos. We know it's a 2.4-inch QVGA flip with QWERTY based on Symbian v9.2 and S60 3rd edition feature pack 1.



That's a damn good start before adding 3.6Mbps HSDPA and GPS navigation. As to the looks it's said to be "sleek" and "uniquely designed." Thanks LG, but that isn't quit enough information to form a mental picture now is it? We'll slap in some pics as soon as they roll in.



Update: Found itty bitty pic and more specs: 2.4-inch QVGA main, 1.45-inch 160 x 64 pixel external display; 2 megapixel camera; Bluetooth 2.0; and May 2008 availability.



Source: engadget

GPS spreading from cars to mobile phones

After replacing paper maps for millions of drivers, GPS technology is now being put into mobile phones and was one of the most-hyped developments at this week's Mobile World Congress.

The biggest handset manufacturers and GPS (global positioning system) specialists have begun building handsets with personal navigation software, planning routes and guiding pedestrians with detailed digital maps.

Advertising for GPS in phones, long-awaited by the industry, was everywhere at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, one of the industry's biggest trade shows.

The leading maker of GPS devices, US-based Garmin, is betting on increased demand and it showcased its first mobile phone at this week's event, which finished Thursday.

"We believe in the development of personal navigation," said development director for the company, Mark Perini.

Called the "Nuvifone," the Garmin device resembles the Apple iPhone, using touchscreen technology for navigation. It will also include a camera and MP3 music player.

The device is set to be launched in the third quarter of the year and will be aimed at the top-end of the market. A partnership agreement has been signed with Google to include some of the Internet giant's services.

After bringing out a GPS-enabled phone last year, Finnish handset maker Nokia is now counting on a new range with sat-nav and personal mapping to drive sales.

Nokia cites a study by British research institute Canalys which found that 60 percent of users would appreciate the function on their mobile phones.

The Finnish group, the biggest handset maker in the world, plans to sell 35 million GPS phones in 2008 and presented the 6210 Navigator this week.

The main brake on development might be the price, however.

GPS-enabled phones start at about 450 euros (650 dollars), then there is the added cost of a subscription to the GPS service.

Like Garmin, Nokia is working on a phone that would allow a user to tag photos with their geographic coordinates, allowing them to position the photos on a map on social networking sites.
South Korean electronics maker Samsung, the second-biggest manufacturer in the world after overtaking US rival Motorola last year, also launched its first GPS phone.

The aim is to "widen the integration of GPS on about 80 percent of our smart phones," said marketing director for Samsung France, Jean-Philippe Illarine, referring to the top-end phones produced by the group.

Japanese-Swedish group Sony Ericsson launched its X1 smart phone, the top product of a new range called "Xperia," which will integrate GPS functionality.

Only South Korea's LG and Motorola have so far not joined the bandwagon.

LG is following a strategy of producing phones with the emphasis on ease of use while the future of Motorola is highly uncertain after the group said it was considering breaking itself up.

Motorola announced at the end of last month that it might separate its mobile devices division from its other businesses to enhance shareholder value.

AFP

Unlock your Samsung BlackJack II's integrated GPS receiver to work outside of TeleNav

The good news is that the new Samsung BlackJack II rocks a full-fledged SiRF III GPS receiver - none of that cell-tower signal triangulation stuff here. The bad news, unfortunately, is that the GPS hardware in the BlackJack II is locked-down to only work with the bundled TeleNav software (AT&T’s way of getting more TeleNav revenue).
You see, there’s this driver, called GPS Intermediary Driver (GPSID), that Microsoft uses to serve as the communications middle-man between the GPS hardware and applications that need to access the hardware. While the GPSID driver seems to be configured to work with the TeleNav software and Windows Live Search, there’s no provision for any other application to make use of the SiRF III GPS module.

Well, BlackJack 2 hopefuls will be glad to hear that the MoDaCo Smartphone GPS Activator will open up the GPS hardware on your Samsung BlackJack II (and probably the Motorola Q9h) to a host of GPS-enabled applications. The MoDaCo hack will open up the COM4 port for GPS access, allowing you to use associate your favorite apps like Virtual Mobile Earth or Google Maps with the GPS unit.

Turns out, the MoDaCo Smartphone GPS Activator also Application Unlocks your Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard handset. That means you can re-order the applications on your Start Menu - bonus!

Oh, and if any Motorola Q9h owners out there want to give this utility a go, please drop us a line and let us know how it works.

Over-The-Air install:
Point your mobile browser to: http://modaco.com/gpsactivatorbj2

On-device CAB install:
Run this CAB file from your handset: http://content.modaco.net/MoDaCo.SmartphoneGPSActivator.COM4.CAB

Computer installation:
Run this executable from your PC: http://content.modaco.net/Setup.MoDaCo.SmartphoneGPSActivator.COM4.EXE

Props to Paul for this awesome hack!

[Via: MoDaCo]

Motorola updates MC70 EDA with GPS

Motorola’s Enterprise Digital Assistant (EDA) lineup of business-oriented smartphones is getting a much needed refresh today. The Motorola MC70 EDA will be getting a spec-sheet boost with some integrated GPS goodness.

The addition of GPS to the Motorola MC70 will “allow organisations with field-based employees, such as postal companies, to track and manage dynamic, real-time tasking, as well as verify specific locations of activities and provide mobile workers with pinpoint navigation support to improve location-based productivity.”

With an already impressive feature-set, boasting features like quad-band GSM/EDGE, WiFi a/b/g, barcode scanning, signature capture, Bluetooth, Windows Mobile 5.0, and a blazing-fast 624MHz PXA270 processor, the updated MC70 is sure to appeal to business that rely on employees “in the field.”

Source

Chinese Linux-powered phone with a GPS

It’s quite impressive to watch Chinese handset makers advancing so fast — I guess that’s one of the reasons Nokia and other leading phone brands keep investing in services.

Anyway, this is the first China-made device we’re featuring which doesn’t only sports a GPS receiver, but also runs on top of Linux OS. But there more in this candybar, which measures 110X52X16.5 mm and weighs only 85 grams. Above all, it’s notable to emphasize a decent (nothing too fancy) and unique design (or at least I’m not aware of any similar device), large 2.8″ QVGA 16 million colors touchscreen, 1.3 MP camera which can take both photos and videos (QVGA quality), Bluetooth, DivX-enabled media player, as well as the standard microSD memory slot.

Add the price in the equation — which according to my belief will not surpass $300 — and you have a winner, right?

[Via: Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]

Samsung i550 cellphone is the new GPS smartphone coming your way

Samsung have always given us all good phones and to top it off they want to give us another, the new handset is the Samsung i550 cellphone which is the new GPS smartphone and of which is coming your way soon.

We are not entirely sure when this phone is coming but we will keep you informed, so what has the Samsung i550 got? Will according to the source below it is a GPS smartphone that runs on Symbian OS S60 UI plus it features a 3.2 MP camera and dedicated keys for GPS, so far so good. How about HSDPA (3.6 Mbps) and 3G; sounds all good.

It will have a 2.6” screen and 128 MB RAM and much more. To learn more about the Samsung i550 GPS smartphone go over to Phones Review for more details. We will keep you posted on pricing and release dates as soon as we know more.

Nokia LD-4W Bluetooth GPS Module Approved by FCC

Nokia has come up with its latest Bluetooth GPS module LD-4W that has been given a green signal by FCC.

For getting access to this GPS module, Bluetooth-enabled Nokia mobile phones are the biggest prerequisites. Especially smartphone or Nokia 770 users can get their hands on LD-4W to track roads and directions.

Nokia N95 is one of the phones which have built-in GPS ability. But the high cost doesn’t allow most of the consumers to go for it.

Nokia Bluetooth GPS Module is still not in the process of production. The Finnish mobile giant has kept lot of details confidential. Price and the availability of the Nokia LD-4W Bluetooth GPS Module are also unknown. However, it is expected to release very soon.

Nokia Upgrades Its Mobile GPS

While GPS is one of the best new features currently hitting (high end) mobile phones performance can be ropey – something Nokia, in particular, is determined to fix.

Late last week it announced it will introduce 'A-GPS' (Assisted GPS) a GPS upgrade service designed to improve reception quality and reduce the Time to First Fix (TTFF): the period taken to lock onto enough satellites to tie-down a user's location.

In essence it works by compiling fragmentary or weaker GPS signals into a single powerful connection and can also anticipate orbital positions for GPS satellites allowing them to be found faster as well as interpret signals better based on atmospheric conditions.

This sounds like complicated stuff, but Nokia actually plans to introduce A-GPS into all its impending GPS featured handsets – the first of which will be the 6110 Navigator (above) – and will also provide it for the already released Nokia N95 via a firmware update.

Now if only the company could actually make an attractive handset which would look worthy of it...

Nokia speeds up cell phone GPS

By Reuters

Nokia launched on Thursday a service that it said will cut the time a GPS-enabled cell phone takes to pinpoint its whereabouts, opening new opportunities for location-based online services.

Nokia hopes the service, available for people who own its flagship N95 smart phones, will cut the start-up time to one minute, from up to three minutes currently. The slowness has so far hampered interest in cell phone navigation.

"It will be reliably under one minute in most countries," said Ralph Eric Kunz, head of Nokia's navigation and mapping operations.

Handset makers see GPS (Global Positioning System) as one of the next big "value-adds."
Analysis firm Berg Insight has forecast annual shipments of handset-based personal navigation devices in Europe and the United States to reach 12 million units by 2009, compared with 1 million in 2005.

While most assisted-GPS technologies use mobile carriers cell sites to find locations faster, Nokia's new service bypasses operator networks, using data from a SIM card and new software that helps the phone to catch satellite signals.


GPS chips use satellites orbiting the earth to determine the exact position of a person. They are found in car navigation systems, which have surged in popularity in recent years, and the technology is now making the jump to mobile phones.

Nokia's N95, with a $967 (700 euro) price tag, is not within reach of the wider market, but the Finnish company aims to bring GPS chips to a wide array of its phones. All of Nokia's GPS-enabled phones will have the new service, Kunz said.

Nokia bought into the navigation industry last year through its acquisition of German firm Gate5 and started to offer free maps and routing data in February, while charging extra fees for navigation.

While a few years ago personal navigation device makers like TomTom shrugged off possible rivalry from the handset industry, they have now acknowledged the potential risk to their business.

Story Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Airtel introduces GPS Navigation on BlackBerry 8800 Smartphones in India

Bharti Airtel, one of India’s leading providers of telecommunications services has just announced the launch of GPS-based Navigation Application on Mobile handsets.

The company has collaborated with Swedish-based Wayfinder Systems AB for application of this navigation system.

Using this navigation system, users will be continuously updated with real-time content and geographical data via the wireless network using EDGE/GPRS.

This GPS-based Navigation Application turns compatible mobile phones into a GPS-based navigation system complete with detailed maps and Points-of-Interest of a number of Indian cities such as Delhi and NCR ( Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad), Bangalore, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chandigarh.

Besides, Airtel users will also have the option to purchase map information as well as area coverage details in other countries such as Europe and North America.

According to Sanjay Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel, “We are now introducing in India, a state of the art GPS based navigation system that will largely benefit all frequent travelers using compatible mobile handsets like BlackBerry 8800.”

For starters, this GPS Navigation application will be available on the BlackBerry 8800 smartphone.

In fact, Airtel is offering a six month free trial for all its Airtel BlackBerry 8800 users. As per this offer, the customer will not be required to pay any subscription charges on the GPS application during this period.

However, data download charges will apply as per the subscriber’s BlackBerry plan.

If you wish to download this GPS Navigation application on to your BlackBerry 8800 smartphone, you will need to send ‘NAV’ as an SMS to ‘3636’.

Telenav replies to Ask Mobile GPS with new features

This week TeleNav has unveiled new features to its off-board navigation solution GPS Navigator available notably on the US wireless operator Sprint. These new features can be understood as a direct reply to the launch of Ask Mobile GPS by InterActiveCorp (IAC) on the same wireless network one month ago (see our article here). While Telenav remains « the » de facto key navigation partner for Sprint, powering its Sprint Navigation solution, IAC includes much more than navigation to its solution (friend finder, Evite mobile, Citysearch) for the same US$9.99 .

With this new version of Telenav subscribers can now send their current location to any other mobile phone that can receive text messages, creating a quick and easy way to meet with friends or co-workers while on-the-go.

The biz Finder option offers more than 10 million Points of Interest and now users can also share addresses of favorite businesses. Before they head to a restaurant or make a reservation at a hotel, users can see how it was rated and reviewed by other people and sort by highest to lowest rating to help them make a decision, or view all of the search results on a map. TeleNav GPS Navigator also allows customers to rate restaurants themselves - directly from a mobile phone.

These new features are definitely a good move for Telenav, that was obviously working on it before the IAC launch (read our interview with TeleNav's CEO H.P. Jin here). Nevertheless TeleNav will have to find web content partners soon if it want to sustain the competition against IAC which web properties include Ask.com, Ticketmaster, Evite, Match.com, RealEstate.com - to name the most well-known - and attract 73 million unique monthly visitors in the US.

What's In Nokia's Future? Exec Talks Symbian, GPS, WiMax and More

Mobile freaks know that Nokia is a funny company, at the same time the biggest brand in handsets worldwide, and a niche player in the American cellphone market. This week, I sat down with Bill Plummer, Nokia's North America VP of sales and channel management for Multimedia to discuss matters Nokia faces in the immediate future: WiMax handsets (by 2008?), GPS in every phone, American HSDPA compatibility, chunky designs, the slender N76 multimedia handset (shown above), QWERTY keyboards and more.

Read on for my questions and Plummer's italicized answers—some of them direct, and some of them a little more, shall we say, courteously evasive. (Hey, he's a nice guy, but he's also a sales VP. That's why they pay him the big bucks.)

Will there really be GPS in all Nokia phones?

"You will see GPS in a broader range of devices in the future, with N Series out in front. We will also deliver a range of handsets with a range of functionality to meet a range of consumer lifestyle demands. Consumers that aren't as interested in GPS, because they are cost-conscious or primarily focused on voice, will still have non-GPS options." So, like, more GPS but no commitment to full deployment across the board.

Why doesn't GPS navigation come free with N95?

"Turn-by-turn navigation is a service offering that does indeed require a fee. It is software we developed after our acquisition of gate5; it's a service you purchase from Nokia. Anything beyond that, the GPS functionality and the downloadable maps from Tele Atlas, that's all free. What's great is that you can get the maps for what you need. A map of your home, or any additional maps you need. You don't necessarily need the map to Crete."Assuming you have a big enough memory card—the N76 supports MicroSD cards up to 4GB—you probably can get the whole world database in there.

How are N95 sales doing?

"We are very pleased."

We knew they wouldn't actually answer that one.

Since there are Nokia music download stores in the UK and Australia, part of Nokia's Music Recommender service, when will we see a Nokia music store in the US?"We will be rolling out broader music services, including ways for the consumer to stream and acquire music in other markets, but I can't to speak to the timetable."Pretty sure that means that US is on the list, but it could take years.

Are there plans to use an OS other than Symbian?

"Certainly if you look at the N800 and N770 Internet tablets, they are Linux powered devices. But from the standpoint of multimedia business, we are still very committed to Symbian and Series 60 OS on Symbian. Unlike other mobile OS's, Symbian was designed with mobile-device characteristics in mind, such as the display and the processor, from the outset. It is optimized for the mobile computing experience."Plummer did at least support the argument with some sweet Symbian(-compatible) apps such as ComVu PocketCaster.

Why are Nokia phones still so large?

"Our answer to that is the N76. There's no 5 megapixel camera. It's for the technology stylists, people in the high-end tech community who also want to demonstrate their flair."It's the age-old tradeoff between size and capability. Nokia did ship the N76 this week globally. There's no US arrival date yet, nor is there a price. However, we are told it will cost "under $500."

Why no QWERTY keyboard on the N Series?

"The Bluetooth keyboard is one answer to that. When I am mobile, my replies are Yes, No, Maybe. When I stop being nomadic, I whip out my Bluetooth keypad and write real emails. In the future we're bringing a range of devices with different form factors and different functionalities."OK, so I'm reading that as a QWERTY play coming sometime soon.

When will Nokia phones be compatible with the US version of HSDPA?

"On a global basis, N Series are multiradio GSM and 3G radios, as well as wireless LAN and GPS—they are very sophisticated devices. In US bands, these run on EDGE. The change to that will be the Nokia N75, which will work on US UMTS networks. I also have to add: Watch this space."Nudge nudge, wink wink.

Will carriers pick up the N series?

"There's a constant ongoing dialog with the carriers—a Nokia-wide dialog, but also one with the Multimedia business as well. We are working with them to help them building their understanding of the emerging mobile multimedia space, and sharing the experiences we're gathering by being first to market. Carriers are strategic partners—we're going to collaborate to address their needs and their consumer's needs as they perceive them."Plummer also added that Nokia had divided its handset business into two separate teams. There is the "mobile phones" division, which more directly addresses the hardware needs of the carriers, and Plummer's Multimedia group, which is more focused on building new products and bringing them to early adopters, and less focused on designing something that is necessarily a perfect fit in a carrier lineup.

How is the WiMax rollout going?

"Beginning of this year, Nokia was announced as a strategic partner with Sprint in WiMax network. We will be bringing devices in 2008 and beyond that will take advantage of that network. It's an exciting way for Sprint to be approaching the marketplace. It's an open Internet model, they build it to spec and people who have a relationship with Sprint will be able to attach a device to that network. It's akin to the fixed Internet model today. It will have a good impact on overall marketplace, allowing consumers better access to the networks, whether fixed or wireless."We, too, like the idea of a high-bandwidth "open Internet model," but can we trust Sprint, or any carrier for that matter, to pull it off without some kind of walled-garden architecture? We'll see about that.

Plummer concluded with what he thought was the real mission of his Multimedia division, to bring the Web 2.0 experience into the real world. Why glue yourself to your computer for the latest social networks and Web apps? Eventually, we will be able to manage all of this wherever we happen to be, with GPS and 3G networks to facilitate transactions and interactions.

I have to apologize to the Glaswegians and general fans of weepy music out there: we didn't get a chance to talk about the just-announced N76 partnership with Travis. Frankly, the only Travis who entertains us is the Gizmodo associate editor, not so much the "thought-provoking and inspirational band". – Wilson Rothman