You read the title right and I meant it. I paid just over $1800 for my new car last November. At least that is the case if you price it out using the “Walt Mossberg Method of Valuation”.… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Over the last week or so we have seen evidence that Windows Phone sales might be picking up … and in no small part thanks to Nokia! Sales of the Lumia 800 and 710 were reported at ~1.3 million for 2011 in spite of only having the phones for part of the fourth quarter.

But that was enough to earn them 45% of all ‘second generation’ Windows Phone devices. HTC holds 40% of the market with their Radar and massive Titan devices (which Dan & Judie love), and Samsung has 12% with the Focus. The remaining 3% is split amongst minor players.

In terms of ALL Windows Phone devices, HTC still holds… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This afternoon I attended a standing room only event in the impossibly small Ballroom A at the Venetian. The purpose was to hear about Nokia’s latest announcement for North America, and what I was hoping for specifically was news that the Lumia 900 (the North American version of the Euro Lumia 800) would soon be available. I wasn’t disappointed.

The front of the room was decorated with color tiles on the wall reminiscent of the live tiles in Windows Phone 7; if there were any doubts about what we were there to see, these should have removed them.

Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia, came out and mentioned the first pillar of their global… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Nokia has long been one of my favorite hardware manufacturers because they consistently have devices with a better than usual build quality, their phones typically have strong radios, and they usually throw in a few excellent features not easily found elsewhere  – like the built-in FM radio transmitters and Zeiss optics cameras many of their media phones sport. Like everyone else, I watched with interest when Nokia and Microsoft partnered up in February 2011; I wanted to see what types of designs these two titans would create, and I hoped that this would mean a bigger (and better) selection of Windows Phones from which consumers could choose… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

After a first year that can most generously be called “disappointing”, Microsoft and their key partner Nokia have been working hard to make this second year a success. Microsoft started with an amazing launch of Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’, which rolled out to all phones worldwide within only a few weeks – and that is counting a specific technical issue with an EU carrier that delayed roll-out for a couple of weeks!

Nokia introduced their first two Windows Phone 7 devices recently, and while many had hoped for powerhouse phones (or a front facing camera), what Nokia is delivering is a stylish package and reasonable hardware that will work well… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

On February 11, Nokia and Microsoft made a major announcement that Nokia would be adopting Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy which meant they would be building hardware that would run the Windows Phone Operating System. This was huge news for both Nokia and for Microsoft, and now things are finally starting to happen.

Early today, Nokia World 2011 kicked off in London. First up was the introduction of four “Asha” or “Hope” models aimed at consumers in developing countries that want smartphones but don’t have a lot of money. Nokia’s goal is to help a billion extra people who who don’t currently have access connect to the internet using phones that look… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

This is so good, it’s almost hard to believe: Microsoft and Nokia have just formally announced their “Broad Strategic Partnership” as they “combine assets and develop innovative mobile products on an unprecedented scale.”  The joint press conference occurred at 2:00 a.m. PST/5:00 a.m. EST, and unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) I was still awake trying to catch up on things when the news came out.

From a post titled “Open Letter from CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia and CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft” on the Official Microsoft Blog, here is a summary of what the two companies hope to achieve. (Note that the emphasis was added by me):

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Today’s Gear Deal brings us into the world of smart phones. To be more specifics… It brings us into the world of unlocked smart phones with some nice savings on the Nokia N8.

The Nokia N8 is an Unlocked GSM phone that sports 3G, a touchscreen, a 12 MP Camera (yes you read the right) and GPS. It also shoots 720p video, has speedy Wireless-N Wi-Fi, comes with 16 GB internal memory and sports a microSD for expansion. To round out the package it has Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI output and gives up to 5.8 hours of 3G talk time.

It is a rather smart smart phone and it normally costs $549. Thanks to… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Nokia’s falling star is hurting more than just the company’s bottom line. It was once the pride of Finland, and a decent size chunk of the country’s GDP. So it’s been nasty all around to see Nokia get decimated by the iPhone and Android. Surprisingly, Finland has been more than a hotspot for iconic phones; I learned reading Businessweek today that there’s a big software startup movement there, including Rovio (makers of Angry Birds).

Yep, the game that seems to have singlehandedly slowed down worker productivity worldwide is helping to fill the gap left by Nokia. Not only that, but there’s a big movement among Finnish software developers and the government to push this momentum farther. According… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Uh oh…more bad news for Symbian (and Nokia). Boy Genius Report has posted that Samsung is getting out of Symbian entirely, to the point where they’re shutting down any developer support at the end of the year.

This move just makes Nokia’s strategy to spin Symbian into a separate foundation even weirder. If you hit up Symbian.org and search for phones running the latest Symbian software, the only results are Nokia phones. With Sony Ericsson and Samsung both dropping Symbian, is anyone else left at the party besides Nokia?

I’ve used Symbian before, and while it’s not a bad operating system, even the current version feels very dated. Nokia and the Symbian Foundation have… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Kicking Nokia while they’re way, way, down is practically a sport these days. Admittedly, Nokia has become the kid in school with a “Kick Me” sign on them. And like that poor kid, Nokia watches what all the cool kids are wearing, and then seems to show up rocking the cool jeans a year after they’re out of style. Businessweek has taken a look at how Nokia went from star quarterback to losers, and they have some interesting theories.

Geography

BW argues that Nokia was too isolated from their competitors due to being based in Finland. Apparently there are no airplanes to Nokia headquarters:

Building a technology giant in Finland was a great achievement. But

Here’s a double-shot of deals from our GearSponsor LogicBuy…

The first deal is on an unlocked Nokia E72 Smartphone. The E72 comes in black and comes bundled Nokia’s Navigation Accessory Kit. It is a great combination thanks to the ability of E72 owners to use Ovi maps and their free voice-guided navigation.

The combination usually costs $347.99 but our GearSponsor has found a coupon for $129 off. That brings the price down to just $219.99. It will even ship for free.

Nokia E72 Unlocked Black Smartphone with Car Kit via LogicBUY

When phones with sliding top halves first appeared, they presented unique challenges for accessory manufacturers. I can just imagine that some of them must have been scratching their heads — wondering how they were going to protect both halves of these devices, yet allow the keyboards to remain functional. After years of watching some of the more offbeat solutions come and go — like clear plastic covering the keyboard and odd straps holding the leather bits in place — many case-makers seem to have settled for offering pouches that will hold the phones when they aren’t being used, but many more seem to have chosen not to bother with them at all… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

Cellcrypt offers a very unique feature.   That feature is completely securing voice calls on GSM networks.  We’ve covered Cellcrypt  before, highlighting their mobile-to-mobile security.   Now there’s another reason to use Cellcrypt’s services:  secure Mobile-to-Office calling.

While this level of service (encrypting voice calls) could be considered, by some, to be a bit much — and targeting those inflicted with a touch of paranoia — Cellcrypt is catering to governments, law enforcement agencies and businesses that require the highest levels of security.  Cellular network hacking is very real.  The threat to your communications (voice and data) is expanding daily.

Afraid that corporate espionage… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...

After my relatively brief flirtation with using BlackBerry, it became clear to me that I am an iPhone guy through and through. That noted, my friends who have used an N900 swear by it. Judie has been using one for a long-term use review,  and she too loves it. (And as you know she has used a whole lot of different phones. It takes a lot to impress her, and the N900 has.)

A device like the N900 doesn’t come cheap. It has an MSRP of $599. Ouch. Then again, considering what you get for that amount it is far from unreasonable. Better still, however is the deal our Gear… Continue reading on Gear Diary ...