Items that still really fall under the ‘no major category’ heading where we can’t really write 1000+ words on the subject matter, but it’s still worth passing along.

The Ovi mail for series 40 handsets offers a free email address to all those handsets running that OS. This is also their first attempt at being an ISP of sorts, by offering email and hosting it.

What wasn’t clear from beforehand is that even if you no longer use a Nokia phone anymore it will still exist and can be used.

This has already been tried and tested for a while in the likes of the Philippines and Malaysia. Ideal suited for those 75% of the world that do not have access to email, this now brings it to them.

We’re assuming the emerging market phones we wrote about from them the other week will also be a target for this service.

We’ve just been told the E63 USA version has gone into production early.

It’ll hit the manufacturing process later on this year, nearly a month early.

This equates bring the in store date 5 weeks earlier than expected.

Expect to see this now in February rather than the March.

We’ll bring you more later ….

Cue the London Telegraph:

Martin Stone, 62, got lost after climbing a 3,615 ft peak alone during a holiday on the island of Majorca.

He sent an SOS text message to his wife back home in the Midlands, who called British emergency services.

Spanish rescue workers launched a massive search operation but Mr Stone was spotted the following morning only thanks to his bright red scarf.

I bet that 50p international text was worth it.

…and if you needed any more incentive than the ton of prizes we already have and that warm feeling of doing something nice, the fantastic people from Skype have also given us a 3 Skypephone S2 to add to the prize pot.  Awesome

As expected this is charged from a normal Nokia power adapter, which then in turn recharges the phone when needed.

Unfortunately, it’s only good for one charge of the handsets battery.

Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

Crossing both 2.5 and 3G networks its due out soon, with carries to be mentioned in due course.

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Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

Today we bring you a lighthearted James Body, Research Director at Truphone (Hello to James’ son, Sebastian, who is a regular viewer of the MIR Show).

Then we talk with Simon Davis of MobGeo.com. If you’re interested in mobile advertising, I’m sure Simon’s product demo will be very interesting indeed.

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Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

They’ve finally got the message, received the signal, opened the missive – you get where we’re going with this – with the inclusion of the most frequently used mailing and messaging solutions around.

Over are the dark days where two polystyrene cups and a length of string is the best way to keep in contact with Nokia handsets.

Now they’ve listened to their people, taken heed at the requests and have brought to them a more solid foundation for messaging.

This new Ovi update surrounds getting email and messaging on their handsets, under the title ‘Nokia Messaging’.

Where there’s now integration with said platform for Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Windows Live Hotmail and AOL mail to name but a few.

On top of that, as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also introduced the inclusion of their IM counterparts
too. With the expected suspects of Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger now all onboard.

There’s support too from what Nokia are quoting as thousands of ISPs around the world. We expect all of the above comes from the purchase of Oz communications a few months back. Who had a solid foundation in all of this and it just seems natural it’s now a part of Nokia

All this is accessible from their new online portal for Mail on Ovi with its now 1GB storage ceiling, offering up a single sign-in to accessing and creating Ovi email accounts.

Arriving globally this month in 12 languages, the beta is set to take on Series 40 devices first with others being around the corner. Although the web version sadly won’t be around until February 2009.

As for their Nokia Messaging platform, it’ll be launched first quarter of next year. With owners of N71 and N95 first having access to a trial of their push email services here from today.

This has been designed to support easy access and set up for mobile email, for better integration all their accounts. From how it was outlaid to us, it’s a simple process with no trauma at all.

In a reverse take on the new offering Ovi, this will be available for S60 devices with Series 40 coming along in the second half of 2009.

This does all seem to be gearing towards offering up Blackberry-esque services to all, without the premium on top.

At Nokia World in Barcelona the Finnish mobile phone makers unveiled their new take on their mapping solution for their handsets, with a raft of new additions.

On the grid for this release are new web services, online planning, plus the ability to view landmarks in 3D!

Folded up into this update is customisable mapping online from Ovi, allowing users to plan in advance their journey on a PC then export these details to their mobile.

There’s also some new additions to the overall suite, with the likes of 3D landmarks for 216 cities, high res satellite images and night driving to name but a few.

The latter of which is darn useful and is in Drive, the turn-by-turn sat nav tool and has been seen in others such as TomTom for a while now. We’re glad they’ve managed to work it in.

As for the aerial shots, it was about time they took on Google maps. We are unsure where all this data and imagery would have come from; we assume they’ve partnered with someone that’s also looking to take a chunk out of Google’s strangle hold. Although we’ve picked up that a company called NAVTEQ might have had an input there.

They’re planning to utilise Ovi for its social networking side over time, with planned journeys being able to be shared for the greater good. This all seems great and a welcome addition, but we’re also hoping for users to add changes to maps that may be incorporated in future updates. As not all maps are 100% accurate and could welcome the user specific input, just to cross the Is and dot the Ts where things have gone amiss.

Real time access to traffic information, speed camera and safety spots have also been included in this release for certain cities.

These new features are available now from Nokia Beta Labs website seen here.

With the online version being accessible from here.

All in all, it looks like a welcome upgrade and starts to make the software a lot more useful, along with taking on others out there en route *cough*

Now if you’ve ever read one of my rants before, you may be aware that I’m hung up on mainly two things.

The first being the lack of any originality in the Mobile sector (but I won’t go into that now), and secondly, price.

I’m a happy student; I live at home with my Mum, thanks to Ewan I have a job; but I also have quite a lot of expenditure. I fund all my school-books (and the price of them is astonishing), I pay for my own internet; I pay for all my socialising, my mobile, clothes and all the general stuff. Okay, I don’t have a mortgage to pay off; but even so, I’ve had to put off buying myself a car, and getting driving lessons because I simply cannot afford to be spending that much.

Well, I suppose that’s okay. At least I know I have my head screwed on, and I’m aware of my own financial limits. But even saying that, as I’ve mentioned before I really want a new phone – in fact I’ve been looking for something since the summer.

So it a two and half percent tax cut going to affect me buying myself a car, driving lessons, or even a mobile phone at the moment?

Simply, it’s a no.

Now, it’s not that I can’t afford it (because honestly, I can); the point being I know firstly I’m being cheated by mobile manufacturers. The clever plans to get you to think you’re buying into the latest technology to only find a month or so later the same company has released a better mobile, is just a joke.

Secondly, the amount of money I’m prepared to spend on a mobile is around £100, my absolute limit would have to be £120. Even so, two and half percent off of that is only a difference of £3! Now, even with my own self-admitted tightness when it comes to money, three pounds is hardly a noticeable difference now, is it?

Finally, I can happily predict that we’ll see lets say, some interesting sales in the near future. Well, this a blind guess, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t happen (and I don’t mean the normal January sales), I’m guessing there’ll be price reductions, sales, and attempts to move stock out of the back of the shop.

I’m saying this as a seventeen year old that has a job. Quite a few of my friends, also of the same age, in full time education in Sixth Form; who don’t have jobs. They rely on the menial amounts that their parents will spare them each week (which generally gets wasted on booze-ups at the weekend or something); and leaves them with nothing.

In fact, even just trying to get a new top from Top Shop takes a couple of weeks of saving, so think of how long it would take to get a mobile?

So do I think that Mr. Darling is going to spruce up the “young” people of England to be spending more? Certainly not, and I don’t see that this is going to affect the mobile market in any way whatsoever.

Then again, I may be wrong, and two and half a percent will make the world of difference; but if anyone was to work out their actual savings that they’re making by this VAT change, then I’m sure you may well find that it’s not a lot… A couple of pounds at the most!

Send any queries, e-mails or anything to Samantha@mobileindustryreview.com

Have you noticed we’ve got a new advertiser recently on Mobile Industry Review?

Wapple.

Smart chaps. Thank you for your support, Wapple — you’re helping us keep the lights on here at MIR.

If you haven’t taken a look at Wapple recently, please do.

Here are their headlines (from the landing page of the ad):

- Mobile websites that take millions of hits daily
- Sites that look and work perfectly on every mobile device
- The easiest way to get your content on mobile
- Mobile campaigns that respond uniquely to every visit
- The fastest way to get your brand on mobile

Here’s a nifty quote from Mr Mark Bamber of MTV Europe who’s impressed with their offering:

“Wapple have demonstrated the dynamic nature of their technology by meeting our specifications and instantly applying modifications on request. Bespoke developments have been speedy, allowing our mobile internet designs to be realised and in some cases exceeded”

And here are the key Wapple people.

If you’d like a personal intro, please let me know.

We run AdMob advertising code on the Mobile Industry Review ‘mobile’ version of the site.

If you wanted to see what it looks like when you get a payment from them, here we go:

Almost $33 dollars of pure joy for the month!

Apple’s App Store has finally given developers the ability to release up to 50 promotional codes for their applications, allowing them distribute their apps to press and friends free of charge directly through the App Store.

This is going to be really, REALLY useful for developers. We’re often asked to test out Apple iPhone apps (and we’re delighted to be asked). Our policy is that we will generally pay for the app ourselves anyway — but promo codes make it all a bit easier.

Jason points out that there are a few teething issues — most notably that developers don’t quite have launch dates for their apps yet.

Excellent evolution. More please.

I’ll take two please. £80 quid a go? Brilliant!

Well.

I can only actually USE one at a time. I’m slightly concerned about the possibility of adopting the INQ1 because I fear it could be hugely, hugely addictive! I really do like the concept of having my social address book from the likes of Facebook and Skype integrated in one place. With other people keeping their numbers up to date.

I shall most definitely get one. I think I will get one in-store when they become available. I noticed today as I strolled past a few 3UK shops that the INQ1 is marked as ‘available for pre-order’.

Are you getting one?

It’s great to see practical real life experiences of folk using mobile technology beyond calling and texting.

Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

These items really fall under the ‘no major category’ heading where we can’t really write 1000+ words on the subject matter, but it’s still worth passing along.

The first comes from why the Nokia 5800 hit those select countries we mentioned last week and hasn’t really hit the UK yet, or won’t for sometime.

Simply put, it’s over the stylus and the Asian market. The first run of the handsets have the stylus included and is very much needed for the on screen character recognition in Asia where it will be initially shipped. Just think of the subtle nuances in those character sets as compared with English letters. It’s here the stylus is needed and is onboard where elsewhere in the world it’s just in the shipping box.

Another interesting fact came up in a meeting today, one of which we thought we’d bring you. The battery on the previous N96 was a 950mAh, where they’ve managed to increase the yield on the N97’s battery by around 50%. Shipping with the new phone next year will be a stunning 1500mAh, increasing it s longevity by some margin you’ll agree.

There were some facts and figures that came to light in this mornings presentation that’s worth noting on Nokia, so we thought we’d bring them to you.

They passed on the sales stats todate on the N95. Over 15 million handsets have been sold. Now if that’s not a feat of par excellence we don’t know what is.

Nokia believe there will be over 4 billion mobile users by 2009, equaling by then over 60% of the world being connected via a phone.

Also 75% of the world’s population have never used email, with their first experience now bound to be on a mobile device.

There has been over 6 million Nokia maps downloaded, with now over 200 countries covered.

We’ll bring you more later ….

Nokia’s new QWERTY keyboard based mobile was announced today, completing their arsenal of N series handsets. This could easily be compared to other manufactures mobile keyboard arms, with the likes of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and HTC’s Touch Pro first popping into mind.

The N97 now fits nicely into the latest series line-up with a distinct feel of the N96, plus having a very close similarity to the 5800 in feel and shape.

This time around, the new handset comes with what Nokia are calling the ‘tilting touch display’. Where the screen retreats to an angle and a three-row keyboard is then exposed.

Its hinge is a mechanical one, which in our mind screams main point of failure. Although they’re confident the forged steel they’ve used was the toughest one around and will suffice. Also they’ve aired to us it has been over engineered to very much deliberately compensate, for this new venture of theirs.

One of the issues we had when we began to use the keyboard is that it looks and feels like it’s geared only for left handed people. We’re sure many others will feel the same way too. The d-pad is located for the left thumb to use only, which does feel odd. We asked why this was the case; the answer came back rather obviously and just shows who it’s aimed at.

After a great deal of research they discovered the left hand thumb was used more often in navigation when it came to consoles. Ahhh, the penny drops as to who they’re aiming this at now.

When you remember you do actually use that thumb in that way, the muscle memory sort of kicks in and you’re well away.

The other issue we had is that it does take some effort to open the keyboard up. It doesn’t move as easy as the arc slider on the X1 or as smoothly as the Touch Pro. After a while of use it becomes rather irksome, but this could be a good point – as it doesn’t accidentally open. This is a bother to most users, with the phrase ‘ass dialling’ becoming more and more common of late.

There’s also a new personalised touch screen, with its own widget set that’s fully customisable. These are live and can be updated in real time, with the likes of email being shown and social networking status too.

These are very much akin to the latest Samsung handset widgets, but are presented in a much more clearer way. Others could learn from this, take heed those of you out there and you know who you are.

Nokia are calling this handset a mobile computer, not a smart phone per se. Others have equated this phrase to laptops, netbooks or even a tablet pc.

They’ve gone down another route here. This is despite other handsets mentioned above being much closer to smartphones, although Nokia have been bold enough to call there’s something else.

The Nokia N97 comes along with 3.5-inch 16:9 touch display, that also works well in both landscape or portfolio even with the keyboard exposed. The internet is a clear factor in its initial design planning, which is obviously clear when you see websites on screen, as the display is really shown off here.

Although, as pointed out by a colleague last night it has a much inferior screen to the X1 or Touch Pro. As it only measures up to being 640 x 360 pixels, with the X1 having a smaller screen but better resolution at 800 x 480 pixels.

In terms of storage , the handset comes along with the 32GB onboard with the expandability potential of another 16GB. That’s right, you’ve read this correctly – 48GB in total, with the remainder being from a microSD card. Although in the morning keynote the speaker alluded to the phone could be 64GB at launch, meaning the 32GB card could be around sooner than expected.

With a 5MP camera and support for Nokia Music Store, with continuous playback time of 1.5 days it’s certainly a veritable phone. Couple that with quad-band GSM , 3G and WIFI it does show a lot of potential.

As a series 60 device we were suitably impressed with what we saw, with some minor reservation over its usability. If Nokia listened and took on board feedback from its critics, there could be a good chance they could steal market share from others.

There’s always worry that spec’s will change as the launch date hasn’t been set in stone and the preliminary time is so far far way.

We’ve been told that what we have seen and used might not have the same foibles as the finished retail model.

Me? Hmm… Well, you all know what I thought of the last Nseries I laid my hands on and so when it comes to the newly announced Nokia N97, I approached with a certain amount of trepidation…

And my initial impressions? – I’m maybe just a little bit excited…
(but maybe not for the reasons that you’d think)

At first glance the N97 looks like the lovechild of the E90 and the Nokia 5800 but from the outset the QWERTY keypad looks like it’s not too dissimilar from that of the Eseries sister device, with the only change being the directional pad shifting from the right to the left side of the keys…

it’s worth pointing out this far into the piece that I am yet to actually get my hands on this device, SpinVox commitments keeping me in Blighty for this year’s Nokia World, (more on what’s been keeping me so busy coming up soon), so my thoughts and words are totally and utterly my initial gut reactions/impressions from specs, reports and pictures that have been flying out of Barcelona since late last night…

Moving on…

The touch screen UI, S60 5th Edition for those that care, is perceived to be the same as that in the Nokia ‘Tube’ device that we saw launched earlier this year as part of the Xpress Music range with key DNA from both that and the E90 shining through so far so we’ve got one massive multi-combo mash-up of a device…

However, you could argue that there’s nothing new here.

You could argue that yet again Nokia have failed to innovate.

That Nokia have merely put two and two together and are hoping they hit four, not five - *cough* Like they did with the N96 *cough* - but again, and in complete polar opposite to the the N96, and as I mentioned at the outset - this device actually excites me.

Yes, the form factor is new and is certainly interesting; One of the G1 characteristics that I actually enjoyed the most was the ability to flick the screen up at any point you got bored/annoyed with the touch screen and do things properly as it were, so the addition of the full keyboard under the screen is a welcome feature here on the N97.

The camera is 5MP – standard fare for Nokia flagship devices although; interesting to note that they [Nokia] are not, as yet, leaping on the 8MP bandwagon that Sony, LG and Samsung seem so keen to pursue.

The music - With echoes of the Xpress range being in abundance, the Nokia N97 will of course support Comes With Music (fingers crossed anyway – yes Vodafone, I’m looking at YOU) when it arrives and, if the music quality is anything like the 5800, then Nokia will have that sewn up too. With a WHOPPING 48GB of storage space, (32GB onboard, 16GB expandable memory), I must admit that filling that bad boy up with content is going to be a struggle for even me…

Parking all of that to one side, is there still no real innovation? Is it ‘just’ evolution.
Not that this is a bad thing mind, the N95 8GB was a great ‘evolution handset’, the N97 it seems is another step forward from Nokia (not sideways, or even backwards - again, I refer to the N96).

One thing needs to be made clear right here and right now:

I firmly believe that the Nokia N97 is the replacement for my N95 8GB.

..and here’s why:

One of the great things I love about my N95 8GB is the way it keeps me constantly connected. Constantly. As Ewan Spence quite rightly pointed out,

“Staying in touch seems important to James in his choice of applications. Many of them are concerned with getting information off his device and onto the internet, either to small social groups, or to individuals. Within two or three button presses, Whatley is off communicating to pretty much anyone he chooses. The smartphone for him is all about getting the word out.”

The more data I can consume the better. Anyone who’s seen me at any conference anywhere in the world this year knows that I just don’t carry my laptop anywhere. My E71 and my N95 8GB give me all the connectivity, information and data sharing functionality that I need.

The N97, with its brand new ‘widget homescreen’, presents a real opportunity to get things right; One of my favourite features of Apple’s iPhone is the main menu and homescreen being one and the same.
The N97 looks like it could be going down that route… and then some; Pulling in information from RSS feeds, Share on OVI (although I’m hoping this can be swapped out for Flickr), Facbook, Email etc…

This is the active standby screen that dreams were made of.

Obviously, to keep things in perspective, as with any Nseries device – the proof is in the pudding. More often than not these devices arrive with shoddy firmware that is slow, buggy and prone to freezing/crashing. I’m still researching into the N97 and will no doubt have a follow up piece in the works very soon, but I’m crossing all my fingers and all my toes that at last Nokia may actually launch something with final (or at least half-decent) software.

For the time being at least, the queue for the N97 starts here.

Get behind me folks – we may be here a while.

Whatley out.

Well, not really.

I was, as I wrote last night, rather curious as to what merited the invitation to this Digital Pioneers event, hosted by Tom Watson (MP for West Bromwich East). Tom is also Government Minister responsible for Digital Engagement (and, I think — if memory serves, a newer brief with the Civil Service). My dilemma: Am I a blogger? Or am I a publisher of news and opinion for the mobile industry? Blogger, I reckon.

Tom is a regular blogger himself — and on issues that thoroughly interest me. I particularly liked his recent post on the possibility of having a Google Email List for every street in the UK, or a Twitterfeed for every street in the UK. That would be genius. Can you imagine the possibilities that would offer?

The event was held in Admiralty House, number 26 Whitehall. This is where your average First Lord of the Sea used to base himself when the British Navy was busy discovering the likes of Australia. Very smart indeed. No sitting on sofas, either. I arrived uber early on account of having an unusually pleasant and speedy experience on the underground from Liverpool Street and immediately bumped into Sam and his colleagues from Chinwag. As well as being the MIR media sales chaps, they’re also very nice people too.

I bumped into Paul Clarke, the chap who runs Direct.gov — the British Government’s online presence. I thought I’d try and be new-media and instead of swapping business cards, look him up on Facebook there-and-then. I whipped out the Blackberry Bold and … bish bash bosh, 2 minutes later, couldn’t find him.

I logged into m.facebook.com and did a search. That took a good 2 minutes of foot-tapping whilst the patient Paul watched on.

“Right, Paul Clarke, Civil Service!” I said, pointing at a profile at the top of my Bold screen, “That’s gotta be you?”

“No, I’m jumping on to a bean bag at Google’s HQ in my profile photo, that’s not me,” he tells me.

Arse. I flick to the next page.

“It’s ok Paul, I’ve got three more pages of results here,” I tell him.

My experiment at avoiding old-world physical business cards isn’t going well.

Eventually I give up. Can’t find him.

“I’m on LinkedIn though?” he says and I momentarily contemplate doing an m.linkedin.com search… before thinking better of it. Paul found me on Facebook this morning and added me. Thanks Paul. And, er, thanks for your patience.

Paul, incidentally, has one of the best email addresses I’ve ever seen. p then the @ sign, then the rest of his full name. Genius.

Radiating across the room was The Daily Networker — Mr Oli Barrett. If you haven’t met Oli, you will. It’s only a matter of time for he knows a LOT of people and, as well as dressing extremely sharply, has a phenomenal memory and recollection. I said hi to Oli - he’s now sporting a Blackberry. Speaking of which, there were a LOT of Blackberries around.

Indeed Robert Driver, Director of the High Technology Sectors for UK Trade & Investment showed me his secure Vodafone Blackberry.

“Ah, can you run Google Talk on that?” I asked.

“No. Only email. No other data at all,” he said, with a hint of disappointment. It’s all very well being secure. I get that. But it’s a bit of a shame he can’t do ‘data’ things like use the browser and chat away on Google Talk.

Sarbjit Sing Bakhshi, Head of the ICT Sector Group for UK Trade & Investment was having none of my covering excuses for bearing big business cards. Or, er, postcards.

“I made a mistake when I ordered them,” I said. I had the bright idea of ordering postcards as business cards. You can stick a lot more information on them and they’re big. Nice and big. But when people are pulling out Moo cards and handing them over, you feel a bit of a plonker bringing out a flippin’ great postcard and swapping it.

“Lies!” Sarbjit exclaimed, “The font [he says, gesturing to the back of the card] would be too small on a business card.”

As he said this, I caught sight of the ‘MA, Barrister’ title bit by his name on his card. Uh oh. My embarrasment compounded as I imagined being crucified across a courtroom.

“I put it to YOU Mr MacLeod…”

Anyway I asked Sarbjit to keep me updated on any mobile companies he finds that we should shine a light on.

I spent a good five or ten minutes berating Andrew Scott of Rummble for even being there in the room. Get THEE to San Francisco. That was my message. Raising money in the UK is like repeatedly putting your Johnson

To semi mis-quote Blackadder, “I’d no sooner place my daughter in the hands of a man who didn’t love her raise money in the UK as I’d place my john thomas in the hands of a lunatic with a pair of scissors.”

Rummble is doing extremely well - if you haven’t caught their iPhone application, get it from the App Store and have a play. I did spot Jemima Kiss of the Guardian quite a few times but never managed to actually say hi. So hello Jemima. Sorry!

Simon Grice, the founder of PersonalMail (Europe’s first web-based email service — I was a user!) was there and I am delighted to hear he has a new company coming soon. It’s all about local - which is the way ahead. No more details yet alas.

Ryan Carson of Carsonified was back to his old self (having been ill for his Future of Mobile conference) recently. I spotted him and his rather swish looking hat across the room and went over to say hi. Robert Loch, another chap I know from many moons ago was also there — his new service, Njoyed, does not appear to be live as yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s cooked up though.

Kudos to Tom from brilliant gadget retailer, Firebox, who complimented my hair. That has never happened to me ever before.

I was surprised and mildly gratified that the Secretary of State for Business — is that his title? — Peter Mandleson, popped by for a few minutes. Robert Loch was telling me that Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC asked him about Twitter. Perhaps predictably, Mr Mandleson was reportedly unaware of the service. At which point Rory took a picture and Twittered it. Here it is. Smart.

An excellent evening.

Although don’t hold your breath for it’s arrival, as it’s been scheduled for release at some point first half of 2009.

Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)

Posted by email from MIR Live (posterous)