Nokia Conversations has been fortunate enough to have a prototype N9 in its office, with which the team have been busy taking screen shots of just about every aspect of the Nokia N9's user interface and its core applications. It's a two part series going into great detail about all the well known and not so well known aspects of the Nokia N9's software. Read on for previews and links.
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Mobile Fun, an online UK mobile phone and accessory retailer has announced that it is accepting pre-orders of the Nokia N9. The retailer does not yet have a release date for the device, but it has confirmed a retail price of £519.95 (UK Pounds). Pre-orders have also been announced at Expansys, but the price has yet be confirmed. This comes amid speculation around which international markets in which the Nokia N9 will be available. It also highlights the point that a lack of operator support does not equal a complete retail black-out.
In another contribution from Asri Al Baker of i-symbian fame, we have a special un-boxing report of the Nokia N950, the Harmattan developer device. The N950 runs MeeGo Harmattan with SwipeUI like the N9, but has an angled slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It is offered only to developers and is not for sale to the public. In this report, Asri gives us his first impressions of the device, along with photos and video footage of the device in action.
Nokia Malaysia organised a special Nokia N9 preview for bloggers. Some Malaysian bloggers were invited to the event which was held for two hours from 7pm to 9pm Friday the 4th of August, to experience the first MeeGo Harmattan device. This is a special report for All About MeeGo, by our friend Asri Al Baker from i-symbian.com. Read on for Asri's first impressions of the N9, along with several video demonstrations of the N9 in action.
Nokia has released its Q2 2011 results, reporting an operating loss of -€487 million, with net sales of €9.275 billion (down 7% YoY). Nokia's Devices and Services division's losses were -€247 million. Margins in devices and services were -4.5% (down 14% YoY and down 14.2% QoQ). However, non-IFRS operating profit was €391 million (down 41% YoY and down 44% QoQ), with Devices and Services non-IFRS profit at €369 million, and margins at 6.7%. Total smartphone device sales were 16.7 million, compared with 24 million units in Q2 2010 (down 34% YoY) and 25.2 million units in Q1 2011 (down 31%, QoQ).
In episode 10 of the All About MeeGo Insight podcast, we take a critical look at the N9's future. We tackle the elephant in the room, how much will the N9 suffer for its lack of ecosystem? What is Nokia's position with longterm support for the N9? Will this be Nokia's only MeeGo device? Is the N9 more of a phone device, than an app device? Then we finish with a discussion about whether Nokia should have gone with MeeGo, rather than Windows Phone? Could Nokia have gone it alone?
In July and August Intel will be holding a series of Intel AppUp Application Lab events, aimed at developers, in a number of cities around the world (Munich, London, Pune, Delhi, New York, Berlin, and Cologne). Topics covered include the benefits of the Intel AppUp developer program and an introduction to developing for MeeGo. The events are free to attend, but you will need to register to guarantee a place as the number of available seats is limited.
In this episode of the All About MeeGo Insight Podcast we talk exclusively about the Nokia N9. We talk about the reactions posted on the Internet, along with our own thoughts and Rafe's first impressions after getting hands-on with the device. We get into detail on the hardware, from the N9's unibodied polycarbonate construction, to its "2.5D" glass screen. We then get into a discussion about the N9's Swipe UI, describing how to use the device. We then get into discussion comparing the design patterns of the competition to the N9's unique UI. Finally, we address questions sent in via Twitter from our listeners.
In this gallery we offer you an exclusive hands-on visual tour of the Nokia N9, Nokia's first MeeGo Harmattan smartphone for consumers. It's one of the most beautiful handsets we've ever seen, with the combination of the single piece polycarbonate shell and gorilla glass creating a contoured shape that fits in the hand and is warm to the touch. We've also included a few shots showing some of the key MeeGo Harmattan functionality and applications.
Nokia has the announced the dates for its big annual conference. Nokia World will take place on October 26th and 27th, at the ICC Excel venue in the East of London. The event will include keynotes, an experience (demo) lounge and developer focused activities. The timing of Nokia World makes it a likely candidate for the announcement of the first Nokia Windows Phone device, but we also expect to see other device and service launches.
The Qt Labs Developer Blog has just announced an update to the Qt SDK. In a case of good timing, the Qt team have released Qt Creator 2.2.1, which is mainly a bug fix release, at the same time as integrating support for MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan. Support for MeeGo Harmattan comes on the day that the N9 was announced at the Nokia Connection event in Singapore. Read on for more details.
Alongside the high profile release of the Nokia N9, limited details have emerged about another MeeGo Harmattan device. The N950, which was not talked about at the Nokia Connection event, has been created for developers who will target the N9 and general MeeGo handset UI applications. The Nokia Developer website published a list detailing the hardware differences between both devices. Read on to find out about the N950's software stack and how to obtain one.