The N-Gage is a mobile phone that was designed to be more user friendly for gaming. The mobile phone was based on the Series 60 line of Nokia products and was officially launched in October 2003. The device was intended to challenge the Game Boy Advance.

Around 2005 Nokia said that they are planning to add the same capabilities as the N-Gage to smartphones. The N-Gage did not actualy get an app store until February 2008. Now Nokia has announced that they are ending the N-Gage by the end of 2010. The launch price of the device when it launched was about $299. One of the reasons why the gaming/mobile device did not take off as much as Nokia anticipated was because the lack of a good number of games.

In total the company estimated to have shipped slightly over 2 million units. When the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS handheld consoles were released, it was even more bad news for the N-Gage. If you own an N-Gage what do you think of Nokia ceasing the development of the device?

In the third quarter of 2009, the smartphone mobile market soared like an eagle. About 290.5 million smartphones were sold in the quarter which is an increase of 5.6% from the year before. Between the five major telecommunications companies, all of them sold more phones in this quarter than the previous quarter. However Motorola slipped into 5th place behind Sony Ericsson this quarter. Samsung and LG broke new sales records this quarter too.

Samsung shipped over 60 million phones this quarter which is the highest they have ever done. Below is the break-down of the numbers provided by our friends over at UnwiredView:
* Nokia – 108.5 million units, 37.3% market share
* Samsung – 60.2 million units, 20.7% market share
* LG – 31.6 million units, 10.9% market share
* Sony Ericsson – 14.1 million units, 4.9% market share
* Motorola – 13.6 million units, 4.7% market share
* Others – 60.1 million units, 21.5% market share

Dopplr is a social travel company that was just reportedly acquired by Nokia. Although the price was not disclosed, the rumored price is about $15-$22 million. This is Nokia’s third acquisition in the last two months. Earlier this month Nokia bought out Plum and last month they bought out cellity.

Dopplr is based in London and they focus on getting consumers to reveal where they plan to travel in the future. This makes it so that they can set up meetings at different locations. Altogether Dopplr.com raised about $1.8 million. The founder and CEO of Dopplr Marko Ahtisaari was previously Director of Design Strategy at Nokia. Many other employees at Dopplr also previously worked at Nokia.

Once we have confirmation, this post will be updated.

Nokia recently released the Nokia X6, a mobile device that has a 3.2″ capacitive touchscreen and 5 megapixel camera.  The X6 also has 32GB of storage and 35 hours of music playback time.  The X6 has a 16:9 widescreen, making photos and videos optimal to view.

The phone also has a major focus on social networking features.  There are over 20 virtual community applications built in to the phone including Facebook.  The phone is expected to cost 450 Euros ($645) and will start shipping in the fourt quarter of this year. The design of the phone is very sleek and there is a built in Mini Speaker MD-9. Hopefully the phone will make its way to the U.S.

Nokia has announced today will be launching a new service called Nokia Money.  This means that anyone that has a Nokia phone will have access to basic financial services.

Nokia users will be able to send money to another person just by entering another person’s mobile phone number.  Merchants will also be able to collect bills through this service as well.

The telecommunications giant is currently building a network of Nokia Money agents where consumers will be able to deposit and withdraw cash.

“We believe mobile financial services offer a market opportunity with long term growth potential. In many countries, mobile phone ownership significantly exceeds bank account usage, suggesting that many mobile phone users have very limited or no access to basic financial services. With more than 4 billion mobile phone users and only 1.6 billion bank accounts, global demand for access to financial services presents a strong opportunity to combine mobile devices with simple but powerful financial services such as Nokia Money”, stated Nokia EVP and Chief Development Officer Mary McDowell in a press release.

The service is being put together through a partnership between Nokia and Obopay.  Obopay already has a mobile payment platform in place, now they are working on getting it integrated with Nokia.

Nokia Corporation made a big announcement today by unveiling the Booklet 3G mini laptop.  The 3G mini laptop specs are very netbook-like.  The Booklet has an Atom processor, 10.1″ display, and has a high-resolution screen.

The mini-laptop also has an integrated 3G wireless SIM card.  The mini-laptop will be powered by Windows 7.  Other features include aGPS, Ovi Maps, HDMI output, 12 hour battery life, Bluetooth, and WiFi.  The weigh is only 2.7 lbs. and aluminum body is 2cm. thick.  Those measurements make it comparable to a Macbook Air.

Check out the promo video below too:

Excellent news for Nokia fans in the U.S.  Sources at The Nokia Blog are reporting that the Nokia N86 mobile phone with an 8 megapixel camera will be arriving on August 22nd.  The device started shipping back in June and was officially announced at Mobile World Congress in February.

Aside from the high-res camera, the phone also has 3G HSDPA/HSUPA connection, 2.6″ OLED display with 240×320 QVGA resolution.  The camera has autofocus and flash built in.  The price of the phone is going for $499.

[via SlashGear]

Nokia has announced the D300s.  The price of the camera is $1,799.95.  Features include 24fps 720p with contrast-detect autofocus.  For better audio quality there is external mic input.  There is also a 12.3 megapixel DX sensor.  The autofocus is 51-point.   Burst shooting works at 7fps.  To store the video and pictures, the camera has a CF and SD slot.  The screen of the camera is 920k pixel.

[via Engadget]

Based on the growth rate of the Apple iPhone, Nokia will no longer be the smartphone market leader by the year 2013.  Nokia currently has a 40% market share and that will be reduced to 20% within the next four years as Apple’s market share rises.  In terms of unit sales, Apple is expected to move about 77 million iPhones by 2011 matching Nokia’s sales.

The study was conducted by Generator Research, a digital media research and consulting company.

The reason why Generator believes that Nokia’s market share will drop is because they are focused on making budget devices for developing countries.  The market for the devices in developing countries is still growing, but the company doesn’t have financial stake in ensuring that their smartphones stay on top.  Nokia’s true profits do not lie in the smartphone business.

Nokia also slowly responds to competition.  After the iPhone was released, it took Nokia a year and a half to reply with a phone that matches the features.  After the iPhone App Store boasted 1 billion application downloads, Nokia was pushed to create the Ovi Store as a central place to download applications, music, ringtones, and video.

[via BusinessInsider]

Intel and Nokia Corporation have announced a partnership that focuses on developing a new Intel Architecture class for mobile computing.  The new platform will be used in future notebooks, netbooks, and mobile devices.

Both companies will partner on several open source mobile projects using the Linux operating system.  Through the partnership, Intel will also buy the Nokia HSPA/3G modem IP license for future products.

“This Intel and Nokia collaboration unites and focuses many of the brightest computing and communications minds in the world, and will ultimately deliver open and standards-based technologies, which history shows drive rapid innovation, adoption and consumer choice,” stated Intel SVP and General Manager Anand Chandrasekher, Intel Corporation. “With the convergence of the Internet and mobility as the team’s only barrier, I can only imagine the innovation that will come out of our unique relationship with Nokia. The possibilities are endless.”

[via Intel PR/TechMeme]

The Nokia E72 is the successor to the Nokia E71.  The E72 has a QWERTY keyboard, optical navigation key, and the ability to make the phone into a flashlight by pressing the space bar.

The camera on the E72 is 5 megapixels and has a built-in flash.  The E71 had a 3.2 megapixel so this is a major improvement in image quality.

In terms of plugging in headphones, there is a 3.5 mm headphone jack which was not available in the E71.  The audio has an active noise cancellation feature to make calls more clear.

The E72 has a 3G data connection and has 3.6 Mbps HSDPA.  The downlink speed is about 10.2Mbps and the uplink speed can hit up to 2Mbps.

The phone will be available in 3Q of this year and will cost 350 Euros before tax and subsidies.  No word on the phone’s availability and price in the U.S. as of yet.

[via CNET]

The specs of the Nokia N86 was announced back in February.  One of the biggest highlights of the phone is the speed that they were able to get it to the market.  Within two months, the N86 was announced, passed through the FCC, and hit retail shelves. The phone boasts an 8 megapixel camera and a sliding QWERTY keyboard.  There is also 8GB of internal memory and a microSD card slot.  The camera on the phone has a mechanical shutter, variable aperture, and a dual-LED flash.  There is also an FM transmitter, WiFi, Bluetooth support, and video-out capabilities.

The price of the phone unlocked is $524 unlocked.  The cost of the North American version of the phone with subsidies is not yet known.

[via CNET/Engadget]

Earlier this month, Nokia announced that they were aiming to move 10 million units of the Nokia N97 NAM.  The N97 rivals the iPhone 3G S.  The phone officially started shipping this past week and we will be monitoring the sales progress of the device as the time passes.

The N97 is selling in about 75 countries across the globe and they are available for purchase at Nokia’s flagship stores in Chicago and New York.  The price of the device is $699 unlocked.  The device can also be pre-ordered from Nokia USA’s website.  The phone is available in black and white.

[via UnwiredView]

At the end of this month, the Nokia N97 will start shipping in the U.S.  The device touts features such as a 360×240 resolution, touch screen, full QWERTY keyboard, accelerometer, compass, magnetometer, access to the Ovi store, TV out, visual radio, A-GPS, Flash video capabilities, 5 megapixel camera, video editor, FM transmitter, Bluetooth, and a talk time of about 9.5 hours.

However this device will be competing head on with the launch of the Palm Pre on June 6th and the possibility of a new iPhone hitting the mobile market.  To make things even harder, the N97 does not come at a cheap price.

Before all the subsidies, the retail price of the device is roughly $700.  In the U.K., the device will be selling for £499 (about $820+).  Despite the high price tag, Nokia is hoping to sell at least 10 million of these devices.

“This should not be a niche product,” stated Nokia VP Jonas Geust. “Clearly our ambition is to have a similar success to the N95 family.” The N95 sold roughly 10 million units.

AT&T is planning to unveil four new Nokia handsets on their network later this year.  The four phones include the Mako, Grouper, Thresher, and the Snapper.  Below are the specs of each of the new phones.

Thresher
- Platform: Same as Grouper
- Form factor: Slide
- GSM EDGE BAND: Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900
- UMTS BANDS: 850/1900/2100, HSDPA
- EDGE GPRS Class 10
- Size: 60cc
- Weight: 119g
- Dimensions: 100×48x14mm
- Display: 2.4″ 240×320, TFT, 16M
Target LE Date: June 23, 2009
Target TA Date: September 18, 2009

- Navigation & entertainment enabler
- A-GPS:SUPL and Control Plane support for AT&T Navigator
- Compass and accelerometer
- 360 degree optical joystick for navigating maps and browsing
- AT&T Address Book Native Sync
- Uplink noise cancellation
- Bluetooth 2.1 (stereo)
- Over 4 hours UMTS talk time
- Removal memory microSD and up to 140MB on board memory
- Micro USB for data/charging
- 3.2 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and integrated flash
- Full focus (enhanced depth of focus technology)
- Music player
- MAXD submenu requirements for 3G with WM-DRM/MTP
- NB-AMR, Midi, MP3, WMA, AAC+, eAAC, MPEG-4, WAV
- 2.5 universal headset
- HAC (M3/T3), FOTA, IM/Email

Snapper
LE Date: May 18, 2009
TA Date: August 7, 2009
- GSM EDGE BAND: Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 — UMTS BANDS: 850/1900/2100, HSDPA
- awarded 1H09 RFP
- Form factor: Fold
- EDGE Class 10
- Size: 61cc
- Weight: 91g
- Dimensions: 93×47x17mm
- Display – Intenal: 2.0″, 240×320, 16M, TFT — External: 1.36″, 128×160, 262k, TFT
- Cellular video
- 4.2 hours talk time in 3G
- Kodiak PTT 5.2
- Navigation & entertainment enabler
- A-GPS:SUPL and Control Plane support for AT&T Navigator
- Bluetooth 2.1 w/A2DP and Flight Mode Support, and USB 2.0
- Removal memory microSD and up to 70MB on board memory
- 2.0 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and integrated flash
- Music optimized
- OMA DRM/OTA + WM-DRM/MTP
- NB-AMR, Midi, MP3, WMA, AAC+, eAAC, MPEG-4, WAV
- Stereo 2.5 mm UHJ
- HAC (M3/T3), FOTA, IM/Email

Grouper
- Platform: Same as Snapper
- GSM EDGE BAND: Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 — Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100
- awarded 2H08 RFP- EDGE Class 10
- Size: 60.4cc
- Dimensions: 97×47x16mm
- Display – Intenal: 2.2″, 240×320, QVGA 16M — External: 1.36″, 128×160, hid-til-lit
- 4.2 hours talk time UMTS
- Weight: 112g
- HAC (M3/T3)
- AT&T FOTA
- Kodiak Push to Talk v5.2
- A-GPS:SUPL and Control Plane support for AT&T Navigator
- Bluetooth 2.1 w/A2DP and Flight Mode Support, and USB 2.0
- Removal memory microSD and up to 70MB on board memory
- 2.0 megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and integrated flash
- Music optimized
- OMA DRM/OTA + WM-DRM/MTP
- NB-AMR, Midi, MP3, WMA, AAC+, eAAC, MPEG-4, WAV
- Stereo 2.5 mm UHJ
- Video share calling
- Cellular video
- Messaging: Oz Email/IM

Mako
LE Date: March 16, 2009
TA Date: June 5, 2009
- awarded 1H09 RFP
- Platform: same as Tarpon and Piranha
- Form factor: slide
- Landscape: hidden keyboard
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 — UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900
- EDGE Class 10
- Size 103cc
- Weight: 125g
- Dimensions: 96×54x15mm
- Display: 2.4″ 240×320, 16M, TFT
- 4 hours UMTS talk time
- A-GPS: SUPL and Control Plane support for AT&T Navigator
- Dedicated GPS key for 1 touch access
- Messaging optimized
- Automatic landscape/portrait display orientation
- Camera: 2 megapixel digital HP camera, 4x digital zoom
- Music – capable
- OMA DRM/OTA + WM-DRM/MTP
- NB-AMR, MIDI, MP3, WMA, AAC+, eAAC, eAAC+, WAV, RealAudio 10
- Media player
- Video Playback: H.263, MPEG4, H.264, RealVideo 10, WMV 9
- Video Share Calling
- AT&T Address Book (Phase 1)
- Video exchange
- Cellular video
- OSS Browser
- XHTML Internet browser
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP, USB 2.0
- 128MB internal memory + removable hot swappable memory
- 2.5 mm UHJ
- Integrated hands free speaker
- AT&T FOTA

[via EngadgetMobile]