July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

OK, we get it, Nokia. Your Lumia cameras are pretty darned great for low-light shooting.

Nokia has just released a video showing just how well the camera on its new Lumia 928 Windows Phone performs at night compared to the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III (I guess even Nokia is waiting in line for a Galaxy S4).

Not surprisingly, the Lumia 928′s 8.7 megapixel PureView shooter smokes the competition with sharper images, better colors, and less blur (the Lumia’s optical stabilization is a big help with that). It’s based on technology from Nokia’s 808 PureView phone, which was notable for its astounding 41 MP camera. Unfortunately, we still don’t know how much different the 928′s camera is from the Lumia 920, which had an 8MP PureView camera.

Nokia seems to have learned its lesson from its controversial faked Lumia 920 promotional video, which ended up overshadowing much of that phone’s great camera tech. It looks like the company shot this latest video right on the Lumia 928 at the Adventureland theme park in New York.

Nokia will officially unveil the Lumia 928 next week in London. Judging from a premature print ad, it’ll eventually land on Verizon Wireless in the U.S.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

When it comes to smartphones, Nokia is nothing if not very, very prolific.

The company is teasing its newest device, the long-rumored Lumia 928, in the latest issue of Vanity Fair. While there aren’t too many details to share, Nokia’s stressing the device’s PureView camera, which it says thrives in low-light situations. (The device will also come with a Carl Zeiss lens.)

The other notable detail here is the massive Verizon logo slapped onto the phone in the print advert, which confirms that the Lumia 928 will indeed be Verizon’s first high-end Windows phone. Fortunately, that logo is gone in the online version of the print ad, which hopefully means it won’t appear on the final version of the phone itself.

Nokia is expected to officially announce the phone at a press event in London next week.

The Lumia 928′s launch comes as things are starting to look up for Nokia, which sold 5.6 million Lumias last quarter. That’s a 27 percent increase from the same time last year and poof that maybe, just maybe, people are buying these Lumia things after all.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

After missing out on Nokia’s Lumia Windows Phones for the past few years, Verizon could finally be getting one soon, according to the latest rumor.

Nokia’s next big smartphone, the Lumia 928, will reportedly land at Verizon Wireless next month, Bloomberg reports. If true, it would be the first Lumia Windows Phone to arrive on Verizon — so far Nokia has focused on AT&T and T-Mobile for the Lumia line.

Judging from the current batch of rumors, the Lumia 928 will likely sport most of the Lumia 920′s specs — a 4.5-inch screen, 1GB of RAM, and a 1.5 gigahertz dual-core processor. I’m hoping there’s some sort of internal upgrade, as those specs feel slightly outdated compared to current quad-core Android phones.

The big upgrade for the Lumia 928 will likely be its case. Bloomberg notes (and past rumors also support) that it could have an aluminum case. Meanwhile, the Verge reports that it could just have a thinner polycarbonate case like the current Lumia 920.

Whatever it’s actually made of, I’m hoping Nokia has figured out a way to make the Lumia 928 thinner and lighter than its predecessor. (Seriously, the Lumia 920 feels heavy enough to be used as a weapon.)

For the most part, the Lumia 928 seems like it mainly exists to tempt Verizon customers to Windows Phone 8. The company certainly could use all the help it can get to drive up its U.S. sales. Nokia is likely working on more dramatic Lumia upgrades for the end of the year.

Photo: Lumia 920 by Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia’s brief flirtation with profit last quarter (following six quarters of losses) was bound to end — we just didn’t think it would be this soon.

The Finnish company posted an operating loss of €150 million (PDF), or around $196 million, today on around $7.65 billion in revenue. But aside from that brief setback, things are actually looking pretty good for Nokia, with record-high sales of its flagship Lumia smartphone line (5.6 million) and a rise in cash and liquid assets (up to $5.85 billion from $5.69 billion).

Sales of Nokia’s Lumia phone, which is also Microsoft’s flagship Windows Phone, rose 27 percent from the last quarter to reach a new record high. It’s a good sign for growth from last quarter’s 4.4 million Lumia sales. Outside of the Lumia, Nokia’s mobile phone sales fell 31 percent from last quarter, while “Smart Devices” sales fell 32 percent (that includes the company’s other smartphones, which nobody wants).

In North America, Nokia shipped 400,000 devices, compared to 700,000 devices last quarter. That’s even after Nokia spent considerable effort building up its presence in the U.S. over the past few years. Carriers are clearly more aware of Nokia’s devices (before they didn’t even offer them on contract), but the real target for Nokia is the elusive American consumer.

During the company’s earnings call today, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (above), hinted the company would be launching a new Lumia device later quarter on a U.S. carrier. Judging from the rumors we’ve heard so far, he’s likely referring to the Lumia “Catwalk,” which is expected to have a metal case and serve as Verizon’s flagship Windows Phone.

Photo:  Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia is being attacked at both ends. Its Lumia phones are key to taking on the iPhone and high-end Android smartphones, but it’s also losing out on the low-end market it used to dominate from Chinese phone makers Huawei and ZTE.

After spending the past two years focused on its Lumia devices, Nokia could be gearing up to debut a new range of cheaper devices at Mobile World Congress next week, Reuters reports. The company is said to be working on extremely cheap smartphones to take on Chinese manufacturers, as well as new low-cost Lumia models.

Naturally, Nokia isn’t commenting on the news, but it makes sense for it to announce new cheap phones next week. Last year at MWC Nokia announced a new range of Asha feature phones, as well as its cheapest Windows Phone devices at the time, the Lumia 610 (pictured above). Given its European setting, Mobile World Congress is a good platform for Nokia to reveal devices that will appeal more to international consumers.

After several quarters of significant losses, Nokia finally reported a profit in the fourth quarter, mostly due to reducing costs and improved Lumia sales. Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia Windows Phones during the quarter, and overall it sold 6.6 million smartphones. It sold 9.3 million units of its low-end Asha phones.

We don’t know much else about Nokia’s new low-end devices, but given the consistently lower costs for mobile hardware, I expect them to be far more capable than last year’s models. While many smartphones makers are focused on cramming the fastest processor and biggest screen into their high-end devices, there’s still a significant market out there for low-end and mid-range devices.

And for Nokia, which has lost the mantle as the biggest mobile manufacturer in the world, it can’t afford to let major markets slip away.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

For the first time in a long while, Nokia is no longer reporting a massive operating loss in its quarterly earnings. The former phone giant reported fourth quarter revenues of $10.7 billion with a $585 million operating profit — mostly due to slightly stronger Windows Phone sales, as well as a variety of layoffs and cost-cutting measures.

It’s not much, but it’s a significant step beyond Nokia’s last quarterly operating loss of $754 million. The company reported earnings per share of 8 cents, slightly beating analyst expectations of 6 cents.

Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia Windows Phones, a notable bump from last quarter’s 2.9 million Lumias. Overall, Nokia sold 6.6 million smartphones, down 66 percent from last year’s 19.6 million smartphones. Smartphones sales look a bit better if you include the company’s low-end Asha devices, which sold 9.3 million units during the quarter. The Lumia is definitely at the core of Nokia’s future, but Asha will remain a significant component as well.

The company also confirmed today that the 808 PureView, its crazy 42-megapixel camera phone, will be the last official Symbian device. Nokia only sold 2.2 million Symbian smartphones during the quarter. The PureView’s revolutionary camera technology is rumored to make its way to Lumia phones this year, after first debuting at Mobile World Congress a year ago.

Nokia has also aggressively cut costs over the past year, including laying off 10,000 workers, selling off (and leasing back) its headquarters, and dumping its ridiculous Vertu luxury phone brand.

Today’s Nokia looks far different from the titan that ruled the cellphone market for years — a good example of how quickly fates can change in the technology world. Nokia must certainly be humbled from being so royally beaten by iPhone and Android, but as we’re seeing from continued Lumia advancements and intriguing technology like the PureView camera, it’s not going down quietly.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

If you’re like a lot of people, you probably hated Nokia for creating the 808 PureView.

While legitimately cool, the 808′s 41-megapixel camera technology was wasted on the dated Symbian OS it was stuck with. It really should have been running Windows Phone.

But Nokia’s about to make that up to you. Sources tell the The Verge that the company is working on a PureView Windows Phone — dubbed the “EOS” —  which it plans to release later this year.

While welcome, the news is no big surprise. As Nokia noted over and over last year, the 808 PureView was a test run for the Windows Phone version that would arrive soon after.

Nokia also plans to make some cosmetic changes to the EOS, which will be built with aluminum instead of the polycarbonate found in the current Lumias, The Verge’s sources say.

The big question for the EOS, however, concerns its price tag. Hopefully, all of that camera tech won’t make the device too expensive. I’d actually like to be able to afford this one.

To get a better idea of just how cool the PureView technology is, check out the video below.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

If Nokia wants to save its skin, it’s going to need Verizon’s help.

To that end, Nokia announced the Lumia 822 today, a $99 device that aims to capture the low-end of Verizon’s smartphone portfolio.

The Lumia 822 comes with a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 screen, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, and an 8-megapixel camera (roughly the same features as AT&T’s Lumia 820). Other features include support for wireless charging, and, naturally, compatibility with Verizon’s 4G LTE network.

Surprisingly,  Nokia decided to eschew the colorful palette of colors that the Lumia line has been known for so far. Offering the device in black, white, and grey, Verizon is clearly betting that its customers are looking for more conservative hues.

The Lumia 822 is, as you might expect, a big deal for Nokia. With a 4G LTE network that covers over 250 million people, Verizon is going to play a key role in Nokia’s efforts to get back on its feet — assuming that Verizon’s consumers respond well to Nokia’s devices.

Nokia’s next big move on Verizon will likely be a carrier-specific variant of Nokia’s flagship Lumia 920, which will be exclusive to Verizon starting in November.

With its prospects dimming, Nokia is exploring all possible avenues to raise money — even if those efforts don’t involve selling phones.

The company’s latest plan? Issue investors bonds that can be converted into more lucrative shares down the line, as Reuters reports.

While the particulars of the move mean little to those outside the investment world, the key takeaway is this: The plan could enable Nokia to raise up to a 750 million euros ($980 million), which is quite a bit of money for a company that had roughly 3.6 billion euros at the end of September.

The news comes weeks after Nokia began looking into selling its Espoo, Finland headquarters in a similar effort to replenish its dwindling reserves. The pricetag for the sale: up to$388 million.

So, no — it’s probably not a understatement to say Nokia is strapped for cash. The company’s bottom line has been decimated, its smartphone marketshare is nonexistent, and its future is very much in doubt.

Of course, that future is increasingly tied on the company’s latest set of  Windows 8 Lumia devices, which go on sale next month. While raising $1 billion won’t help the company much if those Lumia plans go belly up, Nokia has to raise some short-term cash somehow.

Photo: Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

The hurt just keeps on coming for Nokia. This morning the phone maker reported a whopping $754 million loss for the third quarter and some truly disheartening phone sales figures.

Sales of its Lumia Windows Phones fell from 4 million last quarter to 2.9 million, a 27.5 percent drop. Overall smartphone sales fell 63 percent from last year to 6.3 million. But, hey, at least Nokia’s Asha entry-level phones are doing well, with 6.5 million units sold. Overall Nokia shipped 76.6 million feature phones during the quarter.

Nokia’s Lumia troubles can be blamed on Microsoft’s difficult move towards Windows Phone 8, which left devices running Windows Phone 7 out in the cold. Consumers are either holding off for Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 models, the Lumia 920 and 820, or they’re giving up and going for the iPhone 5 or some shiny new Android phone.

Either way, it looks like things won’t pick up for Nokia for some time.

Photo by Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

You have to hand it to Microsoft — the company knows how to persevere.

Yesterday we heard that Microsoft was potentially working on a Surface smartphone that would be the phone equivalent to its much-anticipated Surface tablet. While a cool idea in theory, a Microsoft-built phone would be a significant blow to Nokia, which has bet its future on Windows Phone. And Microsoft’s other hardware partners certainly wouldn’t be pleased either.

Now we have a few more details about the Surface phone: It likely won’t appear until 2013, and its release may also be dependent on how well Windows Phone 8 does with consumers, Tom Warren reports at The Verge. That makes a certain amount of sense — Microsoft wouldn’t want to squash any momentum from Windows Phone 8, but if the platform continues to languish into next year, it could roll out the Surface phone to spark some buzz.

Consider just how much the tech world has been drooling for Microsoft’s Surface tablets since they debuted in June, which helped spur on excitement for Windows 8 tablets in general. Microsoft didn’t have a release schedule for Surface at the time (we’ve since learned it’s launching on October 26, the same time as Windows 8), and we still don’t have any solid pricing info, but that didn’t stop people from getting excited about the Surface.

Indeed, Microsoft would be foolish not to explore a Windows Phone unit of its own. The company’s first stab at its own smartphones, the woefully misguided Kin phones, failed spectacularly. But that doesn’t mean a Surface phone would suffer the same fate, especially since it’ll be backed by a far more robust OS and app ecosystem. Microsoft may also long for the sort of freedom Google has with its Nexus line, which the search giant can push updates to without waiting for wireless carriers.

But can Microsoft really afford to screw over its partners again? That’s the biggest question the software giant faces after blindsiding its PC partners with the Surface and making significant last-minute changes to Windows Phone 8′s kernel (which left Windows Phone 7 devices without an upgrade path to WP8).

Microsoft will clearly try and try again until it makes some sort of dent in the mobile market. I’ve argued before that Microsoft is in this for the long haul, but it sure would be nice to see the company settle on a single strategy at some point.

Above: Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore shows off new Windows Phone 8 features on Nokia’s Lumia 920, by Devindra Hardawar/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Update: A Nokia spokesperson tells The Verge that it doesn’t plan to move but could end up leasing back its headquarters: ”Nokia is reevaluating all noncore operations, including its real estate. As with most companies whose core business is not in owning real estate, it makes common business sense not to tie assets in real estate property but rather invest and focus in its core operations.”

Original story: Is Nokia in such bad shape that it’s looking to sell is own headquarters?

That’s the story according to Reuters, which reports that Nokia could sell off its Espoo, Finland location in an effort to cut costs.

Nokia confirmed the report to us but noted that selling its building doesn’t mean its going anywhere. ”Yes, we are considering selling our headquarters and leasing it back. We have no plan to move out of our HQ,” a company spokesperson said.

Nokia’s attempts to save money have so far focused on laying off employees and relocating its supply lines.  Selling its headquarters may be a symbolically damaging, but it’s a smart move for a company that’s trying to turn fortune in its favor.

Estimates on the property’s value range from $259 million to $388 million, which is roughly a quarter of what Nokia lost during its second quarter this year. So the sale would help, but probably not by much.

The bigger problem, of course, is product execution, an area in which Nokia has been floundering for quite a while. Its Lumia smartphones efforts haven’t exactly panned out, though it isn’t giving up on Windows Phone just yet. Nokia isn’t likely to make any big moves until after its sure that its latest Lumia’s aren’t selling.

Photo: Nokia

Their offspring is “Entrance by AOL”, a Lumia-only entertainment hub that combines content from AOL properties like Moviefone, Huffington Post Entertainment, and AOL Music.

Built with discovery in mind, the app’s linked interface allows users to explore connections between content without the need to launch another app. (That’s the “hub” part.)

More interesting, however, is the app’s augmented reality feature (pictured above), which overlays movie theater locations and screening times onto a user’s surroundings. (Sadly, we haven’t yet been able to try out the feature, but we’re hoping it’s as interesting as it sounds.)

As for Nokia’s strategy with the move, Entrance by AOL is meant as an added incentive for users to pick up the next crop of Lumia devices. For AOL, the app is an “entrance” into AOL’s stable of content, which is sure to get a lot of screen time among new Lumia owners.

We’ll have more in-depth impressions of the app in our coverage of this morning’s Nokia event in New York City.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

NEW YORK CITY — It’s been almost a year and a half since Microsoft and Nokia announced their controversial partnership, and while the union hasn’t been completely successful, it has inarguably led to the most interesting Windows Phone devices in Nokia’s Lumia line.

Today, Nokia is launching the Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia 920 and 820. They’re bigger, more powerful, and more refined than Nokia’s last Lumia phones, according to last week’s leaked information. But as impressive as they seem at first glance, they leave a couple of key questions unanswered. Can Nokia and Microsoft make up for their mistakes with the Lumia 900, which left early adopters stuck on Windows Phone 7 (albeit, a slightly upgraded version)? And most importantly, can Nokia pry consumer attention away from the endlessly hyped iPhone 5 and the plethora of geek-friendly Android competitors?

One thing is abundantly clear to me today: Nokia can’t just impress us, it has to convince us.

Even though Samsung stole Nokia’s thunder last week by announcing its Windows Phone 8 device first, the unfortunately named Ativa S, Nokia is still carrying much of the burden the new platform. Windows Phone 8 sports a completely redesigned start screen, support for multicore processor phones, and it’s also running Windows 8′s kernel (which makes it easier to port apps from desktop to mobile).

On stage today, Nokia’s president and CEO Stephen Elop (above) reiterated the mantra that the Lumia 800 was the “first real Windows Phone.” He boasted of the awards Nokia’s Windows Phones have won and how the company helped lower phone prices and bring the platform to China (which is growing to be the largest Windows Phone market), India, and other countries.

“Across all of our strategy, we said Nokia would differentiate, we said we would create a very distnctive Nokia experience,” Elop said.

Jo Harlow, executive vice president at Nokia, finally showed us what we were all waiting for: the new 4.5-inch Lumia 920 (in yellow, of all colors). A loud presentation gave the phone a dramatic entrance, though a failure with a sound system took away from some of the impact.

She talked up the phone’s PureView camera technology, which first appeared on the PureView 808. Don’t hold your breath for the 808′s 41 megapixel shooter, but other aspects of PureView technology will allow the 920′s camera to perform better in low light.

The Lumia 920′s camera captures five to ten-times as much light as other smartphone cameras, Harlow said. That’s because it sports floating lens technology, which she says works better than optical image stabilization in most DSLRs.

“The technology reacts to minute movements in your hands to balance the lens, so the shutter can stay open longer,” Harlow said.

She moved on to chat about the Lumia 920′s location features. The phone sports true offline maps, not just offline caching. A new Nokia City Lens feature gives you augmented reality capabilities: Simply hold the Lumia 920 up to any street, and you’ll see the names of restaurants, shops, and the like on your screen.

The Lumia 920 features Nokia’s best display yet, the PureMotion HD+. Harlow boasts that it has “better than HD resolution,” and a fast refresh rate to keep things moving smoothly on the screen. The display is so bright, you can even view it in the desert, Harlow said.

Nokia’s latest flagship is powered by a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, which Harlow notes is faster and more energy efficient than some quad-core processors. (We’ve seen the Snapdragon on some of the best Android phones released this year.) As expected, the Lumia 920 also features wireless charging capabilities. Harlow showed off a Fatboy wireless charger.

Microsoft corporate vice president Joe Belfiore hit the stage next to remind us of the improvements in Windows Phone 8. He showed us just how personalized you can make the new start screen by including instant updates from your closest friends and family and using an extra-large CNN tile to keep up with news.

Belfiore briefly showed off a new Windows Phone 8 feature: screenshots. Now you can easily snap a screenshot from anywhere in the OS and share it with your friends.

We also got to see the revamped Windows Phone 8 camera, which now supports zooming through pinching, as well as a variety of new photo apps from third-parties (like CNN iReport and Bing Vision). Intriguingly, Microsoft has included a filter for its panoramic picture technology, Photosynth.

“Third-party software developers can write unbelievable apps that create amazing experiences and high-quality photos,” Belfiore said.

Kevin Shields, senior vice president at Nokia, gave us more details on what makes the Lumia 920 tick. Its “construction is even sturdier, the glass is even stronger [than past Lumias],” Shields said. “No squeeks, no cracks, certainly not a phone falling apart in your hand.” (That sounds like a dig against many Android phones, which don’t typically handle wear and tear well.)

He showed off some of the intriguing capabilities of the Lumia 920′s PureView camera. The 920 can capture incredibly stable video, and take night shots that are practically impossible for other smartphones, all thanks to its floating lens.

An hour after the launch event started, Shields finally showed off the Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch smartphone that serves as a more streamlined alternative to the 920. The phone doesn’t feature the same unibody design as the Lumia 920, but you can replace the colors of the rear covers to your liking. One set of the Lumia 820′s covers includes wireless charging capabilities.

Bringing up the tail-end of the event, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hit the stage to talk up the future ecosystem made possible by upcoming Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices.

“Perhaps more importantly than anything else, we bring a developer platform and a store that’s common to both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8,” Ballmer said. He noted that Microsoft has worked hard to standardize its platform, as well as help developers build and monetize their apps.

“In one year from now we should see close to 400 million new devices running those operating systems,” Ballmer said, referring to devices running both its new mobile and desktop OS. “That means Lumia … that means Surface … devices introduced in Berlin last week … those devices I’m quite sure represents the largest single opportunity for developers today.”

Sadly, Nokia didn’t have any release details to share about its new devices yet. In a Q&A session after the event, Elop said that more details will be revealed in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Nokia, this leaves a huge opening for potential fans to opt for the iPhone 5 instead.

As for making Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets, Elop didn’t have much to say, but he noted that “it’s a real opportunity, though.”

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia is expected to be the first company to show off Windows Phone 8 devices, and now it looks like that could happen as soon as September 5, sources tell Bloomberg.

That’s when Nokia’s annual Nokia World conference begins in Helsinki, Finland, and it’s also a week before the expected iPhone 5 unveiling on September 12.

If the news is true, Nokia is likely trying to preempt the media storm around the next iPhone. But given the general media insanity leading up to a new iPhone announcement, Nokia likely needs more than a week of lead time to truly make consumers excited about its new devices. And given Nokia’s history with the Lumia line, it’s new phones probably wouldn’t be available for several weeks after its unveiling — long after the iPhone 5′s expected September 21st release.

Microsoft announced at its Windows Phone developer summit last month that existing Windows Phone devices won’t be upgraded to Windows Phone 8, including Nokia’s flagship Lumia 900. Microsoft will instead be offering a “Windows Phone 7.8″ upgrade that will bring many of the visual refinements in WP8 to older devices. Given that the Lumia 900 only hit U.S. stores in April, the decision not to upgrade it could have affected its sales over the summer.

Nokia shipped 4 million Lumia phones in the second quarter, but we don’t yet know how the platform has fared in recent months. Bloomberg points to lack of consumer awareness as one reason for the Lumia’s slow sales in America. Even though AT&T said that it would be promoting the Lumia 900 heavily when it launched, one potential buyer noted that the phone wasn’t on display at one AT&T store, and the sales associate never mentioned the phone as an option.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Like a broken record, Nokia posted weak earnings for the second quarter this morning, reporting a $1 billion operating loss on net sales of $9.21 billion. That falls in line with what Nokia warned, and it’s slightly better than the company’s $1.6 billion loss in Q1.

Despite the whopping loss, Nokia managed to double its Lumia shipments over the previous quarter to 4 million units. The Q2 numbers brings Nokia’s total Lumia shipments to around 7 million; it kicked off with 1 million shipments in the last quarter of 2011. While its Lumia shipments aren’t stellar, their steady growth shows that Nokia’s plan is at least paying off somewhat.

Overall, Nokia shipped 10.2 million smartphones in Q2 (a 14 percent drop from last year), and 73 million feature phones. The company stumbled in North America, though, reporting just 600,000 phone shipments compared to 1.5 million last year.

More than ever, Nokia’s future lies in the success of its Microsoft partnership. The company recently dropped the price of its flagship Lumia 900 to $50, but we don’t have much faith in sales picking up. Microsoft recently announced that existing Windows Phones won’t get upgraded to Windows Phone 8, due to massive changes in the core OS. (The Lumia phones will at least get a slightly upgraded version of Windows Phone, version 7.8, which has many of the new OS’s interface changes.)

In a statement this morning, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said:

“While Q2 was a difficult quarter, Nokia employees are demonstrating their determination to strengthen our competitiveness, improve our operating model and carefully manage our financial resources. We are executing with urgency on our restructuring program. We are disposing of non-core assets like Vertu. We are taking the necessary steps to restructure the operations of the company.”

Looking towards Q3, Nokia is expecting similar financials. That’s not stopping investors from seeing a glimmer of hope, though — the company’s stock jumped up 15 percent this morning after the earnings were announced.

Photo: Sean Ludwig/VentureBeat

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia shareholders are gearing up for a massive suit against the struggling mobile company, primarily over the company’s big bet on Windows’ mobile operating system.

In documents filed yesterday (which we’ve embedded below, you’re welcome), certain shareholders are claiming Nokia “told investors that Nokia’s conversion to a Windows platform would halt its deteriorating position in the smartphone market. It did not. This became apparent on April 11, 2012, when Nokia disclosed that its first quarter performance would be worse than expected.”

That might actually be a bit of an understatement. Nokia actually reported a huge $1.7 billion loss for the quarter — a figure so abysmal the company’s head of sales was forced to resign in disgrace. Ouch.

Then, there was the matter of the $100 rebate for Lumia 900 units due to a glitch in the software. The rebate essentially made the phones free to consumers who had purchased it.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told shareholders much of the loss for Q1 was due to one-time restructuring costs, but apparently, shareholders aren’t having it. The lawsuit states Nokia executives who were making wildly positive assertions about the company’s switch to Microsoft’s mobile OS “had actual knowledge of the misleading nature of the statements they made or acted in reckless disregard of the true information known to them at the time… This artificially inflated the price of Nokia’s securities and operated as a fraud or deceit.”

The alleged fraud led to massive losses for shareholders who bought Nokia stock at the time. Here’s a chart we made showing Nokia stock performance from the launch of the company’s first two Windows Phone handsets to today:

Double ouch.

While neither the above chart nor the lawsuit cast a particularly rosy glow on Nokia, Microsoft is also tarnished by the poor performance of the Lumia line. After all, much was made by both companies of Nokia’s “we’re putting all our eggs in one basket” bet on Windows Phone, and a lot of marketing money was sunk into the phones, the platform, and the partnership. As the flagship devices for Microsoft’s mobile revamp, the Lumia line’s apparent tanking of Nokia stock sends a huge red flag about the future of Windows Phone altogether.

The suit is brought by Robert Chmielinski, a Boston-area attorney who is also a Nokia shareholder. In a brief response, Nokia states, “Nokia is reviewing the allegations contained in the complaint and believes that they are without merit. Nokia will defend itself against the complaint.”

Here’s the full filing:

Top image courtesy of 2jenn, Shutterstock

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia warned investors this morning that its first quarter performance was lower than expected, ahead of its earnings report next Thursday. The company also doesn’t expect things to shape up for the second quarter, which means this will be a difficult year for the company overall.

But on the bright side, Nokia revealed it sold 2 million Lumia devices in the quarter at an average price of 220 euros. The company says it has seen sequential growth in Lumia activations since the devices launched in November, making it clear the new smartphone line is off to a strong start.

Nokia said that the operating margin for its Devices and Services division was negative 3 percent for the quarter, when it previously expected to break even. For the second quarter, the company expects performance to be “similar or below” what it saw this quarter.

Not surprisingly, Nokia cited “competitive sales dynamics” that hurt its feature phone and smartphone business. The company said that competition was especially tough in India, the Middle East, and China

“Our disappointing Devices & Services first quarter 2012 financial results and outlook for the second quarter 2012 illustrates that our Devices & Services business continues to be in the midst of transition,” Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia, said in a statement today. “Within our Smart Devices business unit, we have established early momentum with Lumia, and we are increasing our investments in Lumia to achieve market success. Our operator and distributor partners are providing solid support for Windows Phone as a third ecosystem, as evidenced most recently by the launch of the Lumia 900 by AT&T in the United States.”

The company estimates that net sales in its Devices and Services division were 4.2 billion euros for the quarter. Feature phone sales were estimated at 2.3 billion euros (or 71 million units sold), while smartphone sales were 1.7 billion euros (or 12 million units sold). Nokia expects its Devices and Services gross margin to be around 25 percent. The company says it will have around 4.9 billion euros in net cash and other liquid assets by the end of the quarter.

On a call with investors this morning, Elop said the rate of low-end Android devices entering the market, along with their dirt cheap prices, were a big problem for Nokia. He also said competitors had “particular products at particular price points” where Nokia isn’t even a competitor, like high-end touchscreen feature phones.

Via The Verge

For reasons known only to AT&T executives, the Nokia Lumia 900 launches in the U.S. today, Easter Sunday.

If you can find an AT&T store that’s open today, you can pick up the Lumia 900 for just $99 plus a two-year data contract (or $450 off contract). Or bop over to the  AT&T Wireless site to order one, if you prefer. The minimum contract is $40 (for 450 minutes) plus $20 for a paltry 300MB monthly data plan or $30 for a more reasonable 3GB. In other words, you’ll be committing to at least $60 per month for the next 24 months. (The early termination fee, should you want out of your contract before then, is $325 minus $10 for each full month that you’ve been on the contract.)

Is this your next phone? There are a lot of reasons to like what Nokia is putting down with this Windows Phone 7-based handset: A big, 4.3-inch screen, an 8 megapixel rear camera and VGA front-facing camera, 4G LTE data capability, and the $99 price. In fact, it may be the cheapest way to get an LTE smartphone right now.

On the other hand, it’s running Windows Phone 7, an operating system that still lacks some of the niceties of more established mobile operating systems. Multitasking is extremely limited compared to iOS and Android, the browser has some limitations, and there are only 70,000 apps or so in the Windows Marketplace, a little more than a tenth that of the Android Market and iPhone App Store.

To help you make up your mind, we’ve rounded up a collection of the internet’s top reviews of the Lumia 900. Of course, you won’t want to miss VentureBeat’s review of the Nokia Lumia 900 on AT&T, by our own Devindra Hardawar.

And, check out the Lumia 900 specs in detail on our smartphone comparison subsite, which will also let you compare it to other smartphones. And now, on to the review roundup.

New York Times:

“The Lumia 900 is fast, beautiful and powerful, inside and out,” David Pogue writes. However, he points out that while Windows Phone 7 has many of the most popular apps, many others are missing:

Many of the essentials are there: movie apps like Netflix, IMDB and Flixster; restaurant apps like Yelp and OpenTable; check-in apps from Delta and American Airlines; popular apps like Groupon, Foursquare, Kindle, Spotify, Twitter and Facebook. A few of my other favorites also made it: RunPee (tells you when during a movie it’s safe to leave the theater without missing anything important), Speedtest (measures Internet speed) and FlightTrack (tells you everything about your flight).

And, of course, Angry Birds.

Unfortunately, there’s an even longer list of important apps that aren’t yet available for WP7 phones: Yahoo Messenger, Dropbox, Pandora, Mint, Bump, Draw Something, StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Urbanspoon, Hipstamatic, Instagram, Barnes & Noble Reader, Cut the Rope, Scrabble, Words With Friends, Google Voice, AOL Radio. Bank of America has an app, but Citibank, Chase, HSBC, Capital One, American Express and other big banks don’t.

Plenty of my less famous favorites are also unavailable: Line2, Hipmunk, Nest, Word Lens, iStopMotion, Glee, Ocarina, Songify This.

Wall Street Journal:

Writing for the WSJ and AllThingsD, Walt Mossberg says that he like the phone, but concludes that ultimately it doesn’t have enough to recommend it over the iPhone 4 (also $99) or iPhone 4S, or the Android-based Galaxy II Nexus:

If you’re looking for a $100, high-end smartphone, or are a Windows Phone fan who has been waiting for better hardware, the Lumia 900 is worth considering. But the phone had just too many drawbacks in my tests to best its chief competitors.

The Verge:

In all, it’s a fantastic piece of technology. It just looks and feels like nothing else on the market. It hits all the right notes for me. A little bit retro, a little bit futuristic, with just a touch of quirky humanity in its otherwise very machined design. This is the Nokia I grew up with, and it’s clear the company hasn’t lost its ability to enchant through hardware.

Engadget:

While we wouldn’t color this AT&T debut as a failure, we wouldn’t call it a crowning achievement either. Apart from a stated preference and dedication to Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS, savvy geeks on the cusp of the next best thing won’t necessarily want what the 900 has to offer … Does the Lumia 900 fail to find its place amongst other smartphone hulks? Well, yes. But again, it’s playing in a league of Windows Phone’s single-core own. With the careful cultivation of a cultish, fashion-conscious consumer following, however, this could very well be Nokia’s greatest hit.

CNET

The LTE speeds, high-end features, and crazy-reasonable $99 price tag make the Lumia 900 a sure choice for Windows Phone fans looking for a statement piece to help them stand out. It’s also great for people on the fence with Android or iOS who are interested in trying a new operating system, and for people transitioning to their very first smartphone.

TechCrunch:

Jordan Crook compares the Lumia 900 to the iPhone 4S and concludes with an appeal to consider it, for the sake of a more competitive phone market:

Please just consider Windows Phone. You don’t have to buy it — hell, you don’t even have to like it — but giving it a chance in your mind will allow for the emergence of a third mobile ecosystem. And as competition grows, our phones will only get better and better.

VentureBeat:

The Lumia 900 is the best Windows Phone yet, and it’s the first phone I’ve seen to truly unleash the potential of the platform. If you’ve been at all interested in adopting Windows Phone, it’s the only option worth considering at this point.

But while it’s nice to finally see a true flagship Windows Phone, the platform still needs plenty of marketing and carrier support to stand a chance. … Perhaps because there’s so much at stake for all the companies involved, it feels as if the Lumia 900 is the first true Windows Phone. And I think for many consumers, that’ll likely be the case.

VentureBeat is pleased to announce the winner of the first-ever Top Mobile Mover award: Terry Myerson, corporate vice president at Microsoft in charge of the company’s Windows Phone efforts.

We’re making the announcement today at the Mobile Summit, our invitation-only get-together for 180 mobile execs, entrepreneurs, and investors, in Sausalito, Calif.

Myerson has been overseeing the strategy and development of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform since 2011 and has been a key player in the business since its inception in 2008, when he became the engineering lead for Microsoft’s mobile group. Noted for his no-nonsense approach, Myerson helped lead the charge for Microsoft’s momentous “reset,” when the company essentially threw out everything it had been doing with Windows Mobile and reinvented its mobile operating system from the ground up.

The gamble was a big one, and it’s still too soon to tell whether it will pay off. Microsoft is coming from far behind both iOS and Android in the smartphone market and has far to go before it can even catch the flailing BlackBerry. Make no mistake: Windows Phone is a long shot. But if anything has the potential to be a spoiler in the mobile platform wars, it’s Windows Phone. Microsoft’s partnership with heavyweight phone maker Nokia gives it even more clout, and combined with its desktop OS-based strategy on the tablet front, Microsoft might just drive a strategic wedge between iOS and Android.

Myerson is now charged with leading the Windows Phone business, improving Windows Phone’s marketing efforts, managing relationships with wireless carriers, implementing new software features in recent Windows Phone updates, and most notably, navigating Microsoft’s strategic partnership with Nokia. That partnership has already produced one impressive product: the Nokia Lumia line of smartphones, coming this month to the U.S. in the form of the Lumia 900 on AT&T Wireless.

Windows Phone is early in its lifecycle, but it’s an attractive, responsive operating system that’s getting a lot of notice. You can count on it to make big waves in the mobile market this year. That’s why we’ve named Myerson our Top Mobile Mover for 2012.

For the runners-up, see our list of the top 10 Mobile Movers finalists. And check out the popular votes there, too: Ehud Shabtai of Waze led the popular vote, with 2,523 votes as of this writing. Dr. Paul E. Jacobs of Qualcomm took second place in the popular voting, with 1,473 votes, and Nokia’s Mary T. McDowell took third, with 952 votes.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia’s Lumia 900 Windows Phone, one of the most promising products we saw at CES 2012, may be available through AT&T on March 19 for just $99, according to a report from BGR.

Two weeks ago, we heard from Windows guru Paul Thurrott that the Nokia Lumia 900 could arrive March 18. A first quarter launch for the Nokia Lumia 900 would be a great move for Nokia and Microsoft as they begin converting customers to the Windows Phone 7 operating system. Nokia phones could determine the success or failure of Windows Phone 7, and analysts have estimated Nokia’s other Lumia phones have sold at least one million units since their November 2011 debut.

The most eye-popping part of the report is that the Lumia 900 will be available for just $99 on a 2-year contract. Currently, almost every top-notch smartphone retails between $199 and $299 on a 2-year contract. Apple’s iPhone 4S, for example, starts at $199 and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Android phone also retails for $199 on contract.

From my hands on time with the phone, I think the Nokia Lumia 900 may be the single best phone Nokia has produced in years. It features a beautiful 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black display that makes Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system pop. For specs, it has a single-core 1.4-GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash, and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. While it’s disappointing that the processor is only single-core, Windows Phone’s lightweight OS makes it very responsive.

VentureBeat is holding its second annual Mobile Summit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Even though Nokia has remained tight-lipped about the success of its Lumia Windows Phone lineup, analysts have estimated that the phones have sold at least one million units since their November 2011 debut.

In a survey of 22 analysts, the average Lumia sales estimate was 1.3 million units, with only one predicting a figure below a million, Bloomberg reports.

To be clear, the estimates only include shipments of the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 phones to retailers, not sales directly to consumers. Nokia’s Lumia 900, which was one of the most praised products at the Consumer Electronics Show this month, is expected to go on sale in the U.S. some time in March.

Microsoft has been careful not to reveal much about its Windows Phone sales, but there’s no doubt that things have been slow since the platform’s debut in fall 2010. Gartner, for example, found that Microsoft shipped only 1.7 million devices for the second quarter of last year (it was even beat out by Samsung’s entry-level Bada platform).

It also appears as if the Lumia line isn’t selling as quickly as Nokia’s last flagship Symbian phone, the N8. According to Mobile-Review’s Eldar Murtazin, who is well-known for his insider mobile sources, Lumia 800 sales in Russia have been just 65 percent of the N8′s sales for the same time period. But honestly, the disparity is to be expected, since European markets are still coming to grips with Nokia’s move to Microsoft’s platform.

While Nokia’s Lumia sales can’t compare to the likes of the iPhone, the figures are certainly respectable compared to past Windows Phones sales. It’s easy to be negative about Nokia’s performance so far, but for its first stab at creating flagship devices on Microsoft’s new mobile platform, it seems to me that this is just the beginning of something big.

Now that we’ve returned from Vegas, pounded enough Emergen-C cocktails to get us back into a semblance of health, and compared notes, we’ve settled on this list of the show’s top products.

Read on to see the most promising hardware that will be hitting store shelves in the coming months.

10. Samsung Galaxy Note

Samsung Galaxy Note

Less a technological breakthrough than a form-factor experiment, the Galaxy Note is notable primarily because, well, it actually works.

Up to now, phone and tablet manufacturers have been careful to separate their lines: Phones have 4-inch screens or smaller, while tablets have 7-inch screens or larger. The embarrassing failure of Dell’s 5-inch Streak confirmed the wisdom of that approach.

But in truth, there’s little difference between a tablet and a smartphone, other than size, and for those of us who habitually use 3×5 cards or similar-sized pocket notebooks, a 5-inch diagonal screen is actually just about perfect for holding in one hand while jotting notes with the other. By adding a stylus and some note-taking and handwriting recognition software to the Android OS, that’s exactly the use that Samsung has in mind for the Galaxy Note.

And yes, it’s too big for a pants pocket. It might be more attractive to female customers, who can stash it in a purse, or to more stylishly dressed men, who could put it in a jacket pocket. We spent some time with the Note on the CES show floor and came away favorably impressed.

One downside: It’s running a sadly outdated version of Android (2.3, aka Gingerbread).

It will be coming to AT&T Wireless later this year, and should be a strong contender of AT&T and Samsung give it a decent price and find the right audience for their marketing message, which is basically that writing and drawing are still fun. –Dylan Tweney

9. Gear4 Sleep Clock

Gear4 Sleep Clock

If you sometimes wake up feeling drained, the Gear4 Sleep Clock may help you. The clock uses an iPhone app, a dock and Doppler radar to sense your sleep pattern and wake you up at the lightest point in your sleep cycle.

The radar senses your movements and determines exactly when you fall asleep. It also senses if you wake up during the night and detects your breathing so that it can figure out if you are in a deep sleep or not. When you wake up the next day, you can see the results on your iPhone app. It will tell you exactly how many hours and minutes you slept. And it will say how long it took to fall asleep and how many times you woke up. After you use it for a while, it will come up with averages and recommendations so you can get better sleep. You don’t have to wear anything on your wrist, as you do with rival solutions from Basis Science or Jawbone. The Gear4 device will go on sale soon for $199. –Dean Takahashi

8. HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook

HP Envy 14

The distinctive feature of this Ultrabook is its cover. It is made out of black Gorilla Glass, a damage-resistant glass from Corning that is normally used for screens. It certainly makes this laptop design stand out amid a sea of Ultrabooks at CES. The machine carries the Envy brand established by Voodoo PC, which HP acquired. It has a high-definition HP Radiance display (1600 x 900) with 300 Nits of brightness. It has nine hours of battery life and a row of connection slots. It also has an HD webcam and HP’s Beats Audio technology. The Spectre also has an analogy roller control for changing the sound volume and it has a mute button on the side for when you have to stop the music fast. It comes with 128 gigabytes of flash memory and Intel’s Rapid Start technology. The height is 20 millimeters and it weighs 3.79 pounds. It will cost $1,399 and will start selling on Feb. 8. –Dean Takahashi

7. OLPC XO 3.0 tablet

OLPC XO 3.0

This tablet has been in the works for a long time and its true cost remains to be seen. But One Laptop per Child has done a good job of researching what children in developing countries need and then tailoring it for them. It’s not just an iPad with a different label slapped on it. It has a dust and waterproof cover. It has its own Linux operating system (and it can also run Android) and its Sugar user interface has been adapted for touchscreen use. You can charge it with a wall outlet, a solar panel, or a hand crank. And the screws for the cover line up as power pins when you are getting power from the solar panel. And it has an eight-inch display that works inside or outside in bright sunlight. That’s a lot of innovation in a small tablet whose target cost is around the $100 mark. Overall, the OLPC XO 3.0 has an appealing design that promises to reach a wider market than previous OLPC XO laptops. –Dean Takahashi

Click here to see products 6 through 4.

Pages: 1 2 3

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Nokia announced the anticipated Lumia 900 smartphone earlier this week at the Consumer Electronics Show, and we decided to spend some well-needed hands-on time with the device.

Simply put, the Nokia Lumia 900 may be the single best phone Nokia has produced in years. It features a beautiful 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black display that makes Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system pop. For specs, it has a single-core 1.4-GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. (Read more about the Lumia 900′s specs in our product database.) While it’s disappointing that the processor is only single-core, Windows Phone’s lightweight OS makes it very responsive.

While I was a fan of some early smartphones from Nokia, the Symbian OS looked clunky and way outdated compared to iOS and Android of recent years. The Finnish company certainly knows how to make sexy hardware — it was just software that it struggled with. The Windows Phone operating system, while not exactly popular, is a staggering improvement, and that counts for all three officially-announced Nokia phones with the Windows Phone OS.

The Lumia 900, if you’ve been paying attention, is like the big brother to the previously announced Lumia 800. The 900 has a larger screen than the 800′s 3.7-inch display, and adds a front-facing camera. It also blows away the less-expensive budget model, the Lumia 710, which has only a 5-megapixel camera.

I really like the feel of the Nokia 900, more so than the 800 and the cheaper 710 model, mostly because of the screen size. The 4.3-inch screen makes a lot of sense with Windows Phone’s Mango OS. Flicks between screens are fast, fluid and responsive. I also like the first two color choices for the 900, black and cyan.

While the phone has no official price or release date, a Nokia representative said the device would be out in the “spring” on AT&T exclusively. If we had to take an educated guess, the Lumia 900 will likely run $199 with a 2-year contract.

Check out more photos of the Nokia Lumia 900 here:

And don’t miss this short video by VentureBeat writer Dean Takahashi:

Anyone can pick most interesting phones of 2011, but it takes real foolhardiness to predict the most revolutionary products of the coming year.

Call me a fool. I’m placing bets on these five products that will revolutionize technology in 2012.

I made these predictions recently in a TV segment on Bloomberg West with host John Erlichman. Click the picture above if you want to watch the video. And now, on to my predictions.

5. Lytro Camera

Announced in late 2011, but not actually shipping until early next year, the Lytro Camera uses a revolutionary “light field” capture technology that records not just the intensity and color of light rays but also their direction. That means it can reconstruct an entire visual field without having to focus. The practical upshot is that you can focus the image after you’ve shot it — or, in principle, create images that have infinite depth of field.

Until recently, the technology was only available in the lab and required supercomputer-like processing to work. Lytro has made an ambitious attempt to turn this into a working product.

At $400, it’s an expensive gimmick right now, and it doesn’t actually produce particularly good images yet. But if the Lytro camera doesn’t change the game, other cameras using similar technology may do so — with potentially revolutionary effects on photography.

4. Kindle Fire 2

Amazon’s Kindle Fire has apparently sold very well, although Amazon hasn’t disclosed exactly how many of its new tablet device it’s shipped. And it got many things right, from the price to the integration with Amazon’s music, video, and apps content. But the Fire is full of boneheaded flaws, including its lack of volume controls, an often laggy and imprecise touch interface, the lack of parental controls and more.

Still, Amazon has shown that it knows how to learn from its mistakes and make the second version of a product far better. Its first Kindle was pretty good, but the second version really blew away any remaining competition. Look for the company to pull the same trick with the second act of the Kindle Fire, whatever they decide to call it. (My suggestion: Kindle Bonfire.)

Because Amazon is one of the few companies (other than Apple) to pull off the complete integration of content, apps and software with its tablet hardware, I think an improved Kindle Fire could be an incredibly powerful competitor in the tablet market.

3. Tesla Model S

With a 300-mile range and a zero-60 time of just 5.6 seconds, the Tesla Model S will blow away all other electric cars in terms of performance. The closest competitor, the Nissan Leaf, only gets 80-120 miles on a charge, depending on how you drive it. So while the Model S’s $50,000+ sticker price is pretty steep, a lot of people will be willing to pay that premium.

If the company can ship the Model S in 2012, it ought to do quite well. And if it does well, it will be a vindication of Tesla’s market strategy. Unlike most electric car makers to date, which have started at the bottom of the market and then worked their way up, Tesla started with its fast, powerful, sexy and expensive Roadster. Once it demonstrated the technology with a high-end car, it started work on a midrange sedan. In essence, it used its luxury model to subsidize development further down the market. That approach has paid off with the Model S’s promised range and speed, and could potentially give Tesla a huge advantage for years to come.

2. Nokia Lumia

2012 is the make-or-break year for the Microsoft-Nokia partnership, as Devindra Hardawar recently argued. If the companies can pull it off, though, the partnership will be a serious threat to Android, which is increasingly fragmented. Windows Phone is a slick, well-designed operating system that just feels better put-together than Android. If the two companies can work with carriers to get their phones in the hands of consumers, they stand to peel off a significant piece of Android’s market share.

The Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 are the two first fruits of the partnership, and they’ll be coming to American shores in early 2012. The Lumia 800 is competitive with other high-end smartphones, but I’m especially interested in the potential of the 710: It’s a cheaper ($100 with contract) smartphone that could really shake things up on the low end of the smartphone market. Up to now, those who want cheap smartphones have to put up with crummy, out-of-date Android models. A cheap phone that doesn’t suck would be a welcome alternative for many of us.

1. Apple’s iTV

Some sort of Apple television has been a staple of Silicon Valley’s rumor mill for years, but there are good reasons to think it really will materialize in 2012. Rumors coming out of Asian component manufacturers, analyst reports and even a line in Steve Jobs’ biography all suggest that an Apple television is just around the corner.

It will likely be based on the company’s existing Apple TV, but integrated into an actual television set, so we’ll call it iTV to distinguish it from the current set-top box. To make this work, Apple will have to find a way to bridge the navigation of Internet- and locally-stored video content (which the Apple TV already does) with the ability to watch real-time TV from cable, satellite or over-the-air sources.

I expect that the iTV won’t initially be aimed at replacing the big-screen home theater TV that many people have: Instead, it’ll be intended for use as a second (or third) screen, in a kitchen or a bedroom, where you might also want to get access to games, recipes, weather, stock reports or other apps. In short, it’ll be a TV but it will also play to the strengths of Apple’s iOS.

NOTE: Subscribe to my newsletter and you can read these columns a whole day before they appear on our website.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Even before Microsoft officially adds support for LTE 4G in its Windows Phone platform, Nokia already has LTE-equipped versions of its flagship Lumia 800 smartphones in major US carriers’ hands.

Both AT&T and Verizon Wireless are testing out 4G Lumia 800′s in their labs, reports CNet’s Roger Cheng. Carriers are usually among the first to get their hands on new phone hardware, since extensive testing is required to make sure phones operate properly within their networks.

If true, Nokia is getting a major head start on the Lumia 800′s approval process. Microsoft has been vague about when Windows Phone would support LTE technology, but it’s something carriers desperately want with new hardware since 4G is all the rage. Nokia, too, hasn’t said specifically when the Lumia 800 would be available in the U.S., even though it’s already available in Europe. (Nokia’s lower-end Lumia 710 is expected to land on T-Mobile this week.)

As I’ve recently argued, the Lumia 800 is an incredibly important device for both Microsoft and Nokia, so it behooves them to make sure America’s biggest carriers are interested in supporting the phone. AT&T half-heartedly promoted a Nokia Symbian device two years ago, but that didn’t help sales much. And Verizon hasn’t worked together with Nokia since the Finnish phone maker gave up on making devices that support its 3G CDMA network.

According to CNet’s sources, AT&T is, at the moment, the most interested in working together with Nokia. That falls in line with a report from The Verge last month, which said that AT&T is considering an LTE version of the Lumia 800.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Hello Nokia, we’ve missed you.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announced the company’s flagship Windows Phone device, the Lumia 800, during his Nokia World keynote earlier this morning. The Finnish phone maker also announced a lower-end option, the Lumia 710 as well as several low-end phones running its aging Series 40 software. Unfortunately, neither of the Windows Phone devices will hit the US this year.

Details about the Lumia phones leaked yesterday, which sort of put a damper on Nokia’s big reveal. Still, it’s nice to see Nokia actually deliver new devices after rocking the mobile world in February with the news that it would be moving to Windows Phone, thereby abandoning the company’s creaky Symbian software and more ambitious MeeGo plans. (Nokia later announced the N9 MeeGo phone, which seems to have been released as a sort of curiosity.)

As a Nokia fan who has been disappointed by the company’s trajectory over the last few years, the Lumia 800 seems like a breath of fresh air. It exudes the company’s hardware expertise (it actually looks about the same as the N9, which can’t be faulted for its style), while also finally pairing a Nokia smartphone with powerful and modern touchscreen software. The Lumia 800 is stylish enough to make Nokia a hip brand once again, and it just may help to push Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform beyond its current also-ran status.

The Lumia 800′s official specs differ from those that were leaked yesterday. It sports a 1.4 gigahertz single-core CPU (dual-core Windows Phones are expected next year, Microsoft says), 3.7-inch AMOLED display, 16 gigabytes of storage, and an 8-megapixel camera capable of shooting 720p high-definition video. The phone weighs just five ounces and is 12.1 millimeters thick, and Nokia rates its 3G talk time at 9.5 hours. And of course, it’ll run Windows Phone Mango, also known as Windows Phone 7.5.

The Lumia 710

Not content to offer just one new Windows Phone device, Nokia also unveiled the Lumia 710, a cheaper alternative to the flagship Lumia 800. It also features a 3.7-inch display and 1.4 gigahertz CPU, but it packs in less storage (8 gigabytes), a lower-quality 5 megapixel camera, and slightly less battery life (6.9 hours of 3G talk time).

Nokia is aiming for lots of color with both of its new Lumia phones. The 800 will be available in black, cyan, and magenta, while the 710 will feature those colors along with yellow and white. The 710′s rear covers will also be swappable, allowing you to mix and match your color scheme.

“I’m left with many questions after the announcements,” said Jack Gold, founder and principal analyst at J. Gold Associates. “How do the new devices fit into a diverse environment in an enterprise setting? Where are the enterprise tools to deploy, activate, secure and manage them? What is the Nokia Value Add on top of plain Windows Phone? What did they do to enhance the Windows Phone platform beyond what Microsoft offers? Nokia seemed to show once again that they understand how to make appealing hardware, but fell short in service offerings that could differentiate them in the market, especially with the important business user.”

In addition to its Windows Phone lineup, Nokia showed off four new inexpensive Asha phones, running its Series 40 feature phone software. While none of those phones will ever be mistaken for a high-end smartphone, it’s still nice to see Nokia innovating at the low-end, a market that it needs to win back from cheaper Asian handsets.

The Lumia 800 will retail for  €420 (around $580), and you can pre-order it now for a November shipment in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The  €270 (around $375) Lumia 710 will hit Asia before Europe, and will be available in India, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore, and Taiwan by the end of the year.

The company hasn’t mentioned a US release for the devices specifically, but it did say that it’s planning a “portfolio of products” in the US in early 2012, reports This is my next. Nokia also promises to support LTE and CDMA technology with its US phones (the company has stubbornly refused to make CDMA phones for year, which hurt its US prospects).