HMD, plans to release smartphones under its own brand by mid-2024

HMD Global, the company behind Nokia phones, announced plans to launch its own line of smartphones by mid-2024 as part of its new brand strategy. Jean-Francois Baril, HMD's Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO, expressed ambitions for broader innovation, embracing a multi-brand approach by introducing HMD original devices alongside Nokia phones and global partnerships.

The new strategy will see HMD focusing solely on smartphones under its own brand, prioritizing sustainability and repairability. With India as a key market, where HMD holds a modest one percent market share, the company aims to unveil its branded smartphones there first, emphasizing a strong 5G portfolio. The Nokia brand, retained by HMD until 2026, will be reserved for feature phones, with a new model slated for release by May. Additionally, HMD has partnered with Mattel to launch a Barbie flip phone globally by July.

Moreover, HMD announced the HMD Fusion, a smartphone-like device with an Android OS and an unlocked bootloader, enabling users to customize hardware accessories. This innovative device will feature a built-in screen, battery, and pogo pins for attaching accessories. Presently, HMD manufactures most of its smartphones and feature phones in India through partnerships with Foxconn, Dixon Technologies, and Lava International. Since August last year, it has been exporting the Nokia 105 feature phone, priced below Rs 1,000, to select African markets.

Nokia 110 4G and Nokia 106 4G now offer compatibility with YouTube Shorts and additional cloud applications

Nokia 110 4G and Nokia 106 4G, which made their debut in India earlier this year, are receiving an update. Launched in July and May, respectively, the Nokia 110 and Nokia 106 initially featured inbuilt UPI 123PAY support for instant and contactless payments. Now, HMD, the parent company of Nokia, has announced the introduction of support for YouTube Shorts and several other cloud applications for these 4G-enabled phones. Priced at Rs. 2,399 and Rs. 2,199 in India, the Nokia 110 4G and Nokia 106 4G users can access the new features by tapping the Cloud icon and signing in using their Google IDs. This update brings YouTube Shorts and seven other apps, including BBC Hindi, Sokoban, 2048 Game, and Tetris, to the devices.

Nokia Xpress Browser

As a part of its strategy to connect the next billion consumers to information and the internet, Nokia India today launched with Bharti Airtel a customized version of the Nokia Xpress Browser for Airtel consumers on compatible Nokia mobile phones. Nokia Xpress Browser enables up to 85% more efficient mobile browsing compared to conventional browsers, making it faster and cheaper for consumers to access the internet and use popular services like search, rich web apps and social networking. The Nokia Xpress Browser optimizes web sites, enabling them to load faster on Nokia Series 40 devices, including Nokia Asha Smartphones. It will be rolled out over the coming week and Nokia-Airtel consumers will be automatically upgraded to the new version.

In 2012, the number of Nokia Xpress Browser users on Airtel’s network quadrupled and average data consumption per user tripled during the same period. “More and more people are experiencing the Internet for the first time and we believe this initiative will further accelerate that. This is a first of its kind partnership for Nokia in India and we are sure that the customized Nokia Xpress Browser for Airtel consumers will provide them with a richer and more immersive mobile browsing experience,” said Viral Oza, Director Marketing, Nokia India. “We are witnessing tremendous growth in mobile internet usage in India and are glad to be partnering with Nokia to offer our users a customized and enhanced browsing experience including one-click access to our premium content and services. We believe the superior browsing experience offered by Nokia Xpress Browser will accelerate mobile internet adoption and engagement,” said N Rajaram, Chief Marketing Officer, Bharti Airtel.

About Nokia Xpress Browser:

The cloud-accelerated Nokia Xpress Browser delivers a smarter internet experience on Nokia mobile devices, making it easier, faster, and more affordable for consumers to access the internet and use popular services like search, web apps and social networking.  The Nokia Xpress platform, including the Nokia Xpress Web App Builder, is a foundation for future innovation and new internet experiences. 

Consumers are able to easily discover top Indian content via the browser's inviting and intuitive start page. Downloading, saving and sharing content is fast and simple. It also makes it easy to find, install and use relevant global and local web apps that offer an even richer experience. Nokia Xpress Browser is the first of its kind to support web apps, and now boasts a catalogue of more than 10,000 web apps.

The Nokia Xpress Browser works with Nokia Series 40 devices and supports all form factors: full-touch, including the Nokia Asha smartphone family; QWERTY; and non-touch, such as the popular Nokia C3-00, Nokia C2-03 and Nokia X3-02. The Nokia Xpress Browser is and will be pre-loaded on all current and future Nokia Series 40 devices, while users of existing compatible devices can download it from the Nokia Store. The browser is available in 87 languages in over 200 countries and territories.

Nokia Lumia 920 Review..

Specs : 

*4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ ClearBlack LCD touchscreen (768x1280 pixels)

*1.5GHz dual-core processor with Adreno 225 GPU

*1GB RAM, 32GB internal memory

*8 megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, 1080P video recording, 1.3 MP front cam with 720P video recording

*3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microUSB

*2000mAH battery that lasts around 13 to 14 hours of average usage

*Windows Phone 8

Nokia has launched Lumia 920, its flagship smartphone, in India today. Much rides on this handset. Nokia believes the device will help the company come back in the smartphone game and match competitors like Samsung and Apple. Nokia fans — and there are many in India — are hoping that finally they will have a device that can compare favourably to the likes of iPhone and Galaxy S III. 

So, does Lumia 920 meet the expectations? Is it worth picking this device over the high-end Androids if you are looking to buy a smartphone today?

Answer: No. Hardware is fantastic, but the software lets the phone down.

Positive Points : 

1. The 4.5-inch screen on Lumia 920 is excellent. It has very good touch sensitivity and shows punchy colours. It is bright enough to be usable in direct sunlight! With a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels, the Lumia 920 screen is broader than the screens with 720 resolution, making it better for consuming multimedia content or web browsing. The high-pixel density means text is rendered crisply. Screen is flawless for all practical purposes.

2. Lumia 920 has a design similar to that of Lumia 800. With squared off top and bottom sides, it has a distinct personality. The phone uses a unibody polycarbonate shell with buttons made of tough ceramic. It's a classy design. But pay attention to the colour. Models with black and cyan colour have a matte finish while red, yellow and white have glossy finish. Glossy finish looks better but matte finish is more resistant to scratches and greasy fingerprints.

3. Lumia 920 has a camera with optical image stabilization. In our use we found the camera to be fantastic. It shoots pictures that have lots of details and accurate colours. Due to optical image stabilization, it is possible to shoot very good quality FullHD videos with Lumia 920. Another area where it excels — and trumps all other smartphones — is low-light photography. You can shoot in complete darkness and still get images that show something. Evenings and indoor shots are no problem for this phone. We would have termed Lumia 920 the point-and-shoot camera killer but it has one flaw. Lumia 920 uses a slower shutter speed by default to get better images in low-light. This means a user has to keep hands very steady for seconds after hitting the camera button. If you don't hold the hands steady, photos do not come out as sharp as they ought to be.

4. We have talked about Windows Phone 8 earlier. But just to recap, let us say it again: The Metro interface in Windows Phone operating software is unique and beautiful. It is colourful, which goes well with yellow, blue and red Lumia phones. It is also well optimized and has slick animations. There is no lag. Apps respond to touch quickly and web browsing is hassle free.

5. Lumia 920 comes with Nokia Drive and Nokia Music. Both are excellent services. Drive has detailed maps and is mostly accurate in showing directions. Nokia's Music app, which has access to lakhs of songs, allows users to stream (or download) songs for free for one year.

Negative Points : 

1. The biggest problem with Lumia 920 is Windows Phone operating system. Microsoft has improved it a lot with the recent version but it is not enough. Multitasking, for example, remains an issue. Except a handful of apps like music player, the others are paused as soon as they are in the background. Once you switch to these apps again, they are resumed. This is fine for apps like video players but not for apps like Twitter or IM+, which have to pull in data in real time. Microsoft has made the process of 'resuming' faster in Windows Phone 8 but users still have to wait before apps open and they get information. Similarly, there is a notification system in WP8 but it is not terribly useful.

2. Windows Phone continues to lag behind iOS and Android as far as apps are concerned. Good and powerful apps are hard to find in Windows Phone store and that limits the usability of Lumia 920. The situation is particularly bad if you are used to Google services like Youtube, Gmail and Google Talk.

3. Lumia 920 is a good looking phone. But it is also thick and bulky. In fact, at over 180 grams, it is one of the heaviest smartphones in the market currently.

Nokia Announces The Launch Of 808 PureView..

The 808 PureView from Nokia is a successor to N8 and is a magnificent imaging flagship phone. It’s finally been unveiled at MWC.  It releases in the 2nd quarter this year and hits the European markets first. The phone has a significant feature -The Camera. 

Before going into the details of the camera here are the specs of the phone :

Symbian Belle OS, 512 MB RAM,16 GB on board storage which can be further expanded via micro SD card. It sports a 1.3 GHz single- core processor and has the “NOKIA” resolution of 360X640 (nHD). It features a pentaband modem, enhancing the chance to connect even more while travelling around the globe.It also has HSPA 14.4 Mbps. Coming to the much hyped camera: has a 41 MP sensor while shooting still photographs and a 34 MP 16:9 images. As expected 808 PureView comes with Carl Zeiss lens camera and has the ability to auto-focus while taking 1080p videos. Nokia is expected to price this phone at 450 Euro. All in all we believe it will provide us a great experience while photographing.

Nokia 701 RM-744 images spotted..

What you see could be the real deal or a fake, we still cannot confirm it just yet. Still, they’re rumored to be the upcoming Nokia 701, also known by its model number RM-744 if you prefer to take that route. According to the person who leaked this image, this particular model hails from ANATEL (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações), where the mole claims that this agency is similar to the FCC that will see all new phones that are meant to arrive at the market go through Anatel’s inspection and authorization process.

Nokia Sea Ray Windows Phone handset "leaked"..

It’s only been a couple of days since the launch of the MeeGo-based Nokia N9, but although Nokia’s new baby has been receiving favourable reviews, the company has just let slip its first Windows Phone handset – codenamed Sea Ray.

In a bizarre presentation, Stephen Elop asked those present to turn off their recording devices, but almost inviting them to do the opposite as he pointed out that he’d be showing them something “super confidential” and something “that we do not want to see out in the blogosphere”.

Oddly enough, Elop didn’t seem to notice that people continued recording his presentation – with some devices evidently held aloft to capture the presentation in full.

Elop then went on to show off the new so called ‘Sea Ray’ phone – a handset that looks incredibly similar to the Nokia N9, albeit with a new extra button on the side, but running the Windows Phone OS.

To leak Sea Ray so soon after the Nokia N9’s launch definitely seems to kill off Nokia’s newly launched handset, and seems like a bit of a bizarre PR stunt.

Either way, we think that the official launch of the first Nokia Windows Phone handset can’t come soon enough

Rumour : Nokia N9 will not be coming to India..

Though the news is still unconfirmed, there is a possibility that the MeeGo - based Nokia N9 will not be arriving in India at all. Many consider the fate of the N9 already sealed, and the general consensus is that it will be the first and last MeeGo device from Espoo’s stables. Unfortunate yes, but we hope for the sake of the developers, as well as for consumer choice, the platform will find adoption amongst other manufacturers. Things look a bit bleak however.

Keeping all this in mind, it is hardly surprising that the industry expects Nokia to limit the sale of the N9 to select countries. Other reports, by the usually well-informed Eldar Murtazin, predict that Nokia will be making comparatively few units of the N9, less than 100,000.

But, while India is not on the list of 23 territories, we are unreasonably hopeful that Nokia will make some more, and bring a limited quantity here, if the device sees some healthy demand in other countries.