For a music player, the Sony Walkman Z1050 packed some solid specifications:

• Nvidia Tegra 2 1GHz (Dual Core)
• 512MB RAM
• 4.3″, TFT color display with white LED-backlight, WQVGA(800 x 480 Pixels)
• Built-in FM Tuner
• 16GB Storage Capacity
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, WiFi IEEE 802.11b/g/n
• GPS/Accelerometer/Magnetometer
• HDMI Micro/3.5mm Audio Jack/Proprietary Connector (WM-Port)
• Android Version 2.3 (Gingerbread) Operating System
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 70.9 x 134.4 x 11.1 (mm)
• Weight: 156g
• Battery Life (Music): 20 Hours
• Battery Life (Video): 5 Hours

It can be considered an Android Phone without the phone and camera functionality. Yeap, you read it right, there is no camera in the Sony Walkman Z1050 which is perfect for National Service (NS) people as well as military related organisations.

Despite it comes with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), it will be upgradable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) later this year.

The main selling point of the Sony Walkman Z1050 is of course the audio quality. First up is the new S-Master MX digital amplifier which is a unique technology by Sony that reduces noise levels and distortion to enhance your music. There are another 3 audio technologies (Clear Bass, Clear Stereo and Digital Sound Enchantment Engine (DSEE)) that improves the audio quality. With the Sony Walkman Z1050, you also get a pair of EX headphones (Engadget’s comment mentioned it might be the EX300).

The xLOUD speaker system within the device produces pretty clear and loud sound when playing audio files, but when it comes to video, the audio from the video playback was very soft.

The Sony Walkman Z1050 supports Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), you can simply stream your music, videos and photos to any DLNA-compatible TVs, PCs or home audio system.

There are 2 downsides of the Sony Walkman Z1050. The first is the price, it will be retailing for SGD$429 which is incredibly steep. Apple iPod Touch (32GB) (current generation) is only retailing for SGD$428.

I seriously have no idea how Sony is going to market this. The only selling point to justify the steep price is the sound quality. I am not an audiophile person, but my fellow tech bloggers told me that the audio quality is pretty good, definitely better than Apple iPod Touch.

The second downside is the use of proprietary connector for syncing and charging? Seriously? The proprietary port is also known as the Walkman Port (WM-Port). It is a USB 2.0 compliant 22-pin connector which is used for syncing and charging the device. The package does include a USB to WM-Port cable (duh), but I just don’t understand why can’t they use Micro USB.

Sony Walkman Z1050

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Micro HDMI, Dedicated Music Button, Volume Buttons

Sony Walkman Z1050 – 3.5mm Audio Jack, Proprietary Connector (WM-Port)

Sony Walkman Z1050 – xLOUD

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Cover Art

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Visualizer

Sony Walkman Z1050 – Equalizer

There are 2 products being launched yesterday, one is the Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 (which is the main highlight) retailing for SGD$2,699 and the other is the Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 retailing for SGD$1,499.

Lenovo describes the IdeaCentre A720 as the industry’s slimmest 27-inch AIO with a frameless display from just 24.5mm, thinner than a typical club sandwich while the IdeaPad Y480 is a high-performance laptop capable of handling intensive multimedia applications. Personally, I would describe the IdeaPad Y480 as the laptop version of IdeaCentre A720 because the specifications are very similar (same processor, RAM, HDD and graphics card).

Lenovo IdeaCentre A720

Lenovo IdeaPad Y480

IdeaCentre A720
The Lenovo IdeaCentre A720 will be available from the first week of June 2012 and will be retailing for SGD$2,699.

Specifications

• 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM processor (2.3GHz up to 3.3GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• 27″ Full HD (1920×1080) frameless multi-touch display, 16:9 widescreen
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M 2GB graphics
• 8GB DDR3 memory – 1600MHz [SODIMM slots (2x4GB)]
• 2.5″ (SATA III) 750GB HDD storage
• Integrated Blu-ray ROM with Super Multiburner Drive (DVD-RW)
• Integrated Bluetooth & 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 2x USB2.0, 2x USB3.0, 6in1 (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, MS, MS-Pro)
• Integrated 720p HD webcam
• HDMI in/out for connecting to other high-definition devices
• Integrated stereo speakers supporting Dolby Home Theatre V4 audio enhancement
• Integrated TV tuner
• Weight: 11.6kg (25.52lb)
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 650 x 480 x 220 mm (25.5 x 18.8 x 8.6 inch)
• Responsive
  • 10-point multi-touch technology for greater accuracy
  • Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3 for Windows 7 with RapidBoot lets you start 40% faster than a typical Windows 7 computer (available on certified models with Intel CoreTM i3, i5 or i7 processors)
  • Lenovo Camera Fun Zone – see yourself on screen and move your applications such as a synthesiser and games like Angry Birds
  • Lenovo IdeaTouch – a range of touch-optimised multimedia
• Comfortable
  • Widely adjustable screen angle (from -5 to 90o) so you can use the touch-screen function in perfect comfort
  • Lenovo Dynamic Brightness System – protects your eyes by automatically adjusting screen brightness based on ambient light conditions
  • Lenovo Eye Distance System – alerts if you are too close to the screen hands to interact with these fun games

One of my favourite feature of the IdeaCentre A720 is able to make it lie flat like the photo I took below, this allows you to make it into a cheaper Microsoft Surface (BTW, MS Surface 2.0 is selling for SGD$30,000+ in Singapore). The IdeaCentre A720 is capable of 10-point multi-touch which is great for games like Fruit Ninja. Unfortunately Windows 7 still suck with touch UI, so the multi-touch is pretty useless outside of the applications.

I did ask whether users who bought the IdeaCentre A720 will get to upgrade to Windows 8 for free, but the answer given was no plans have been made yet, so I am guessing most likely not.

IdeaCentre A720 – Lie Flat

IdeaCentre A720 – Back View

IdeaCentre A720 – Back View Ports

Note that the Blue USB Port supports USB3 while the Black USB Port is USB2.

IdeaCentre A720 – Left View Ports

An interesting feature of the IdeaCentre A720 is that it supports HDMI In, this means that it can be used as a display for other media players. Other features include a TV Tuner and a Blu-ray ROM.

IdeaCentre A720 – Right View Ports

IdeaCentre A720 – Bluetooth Wireless Keyboard

IdeaCentre A710 – Hinge

The material used are all plastic (including the keyboard) except for the hinge which is made of aluminum. Does anyone notice that the design of the bundled keyboard is similar to Apple Wireless keyboard?

Both the IdeaCentre A720 and the IdeaPad Y480 comes with Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3 (EE3) for Windows 7.

EE3 certified products feature supreme Windows start-up performance and other optimization features. These products, with their traditional spinning disk hard drive (HDD), can start on average 40 percent faster than typical Windows 7 PC users, thanks to Lenovo’s RapidBoot technology. RapidBoot uses optimized processes and hardware settings to allow Lenovo PCs to boot up faster.

EE3 certified Lenovo PCs boot up in 24 seconds on average, while the typical Windows 7 PC trails with an average time of 41 seconds.

IdeaCentre A720 – 1 Minute To Boot

Personally I am a bit skeptical when it comes to boot time, no way can a Windows with pre-installed software boot faster than a native Windows. Whenever I get a computer from manufacturers for review, the first thing I do is to uninstall all those crap that came with it.

I did a test on the IdeaCentre A720 (Prototype) and it took 1 minute to boot right after we press the power on button. I want to see how the final product will be able to boot in 24 seconds. Even on my MacBook Air with SSD, it took 30 seconds to boot.

IdeaPad Y480
The Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 will be available from the first week of May 2012 and it will be retailing for SGD$1,499. I did not played much with the IdeaPad Y480 and hence I can’t comment anything on it but I took some pictures of it.

Specifications

• 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM processor (2.3GHz up to 3.3GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0)
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
• 14″ HD display (1366×768), 16:9 widescreen
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M 2GB graphics
• 8GB DDR3 memory – 1600MHz [SODIMM slots (2x4GB)]
• 2.5″ (SATA III) 750GB HDD storage
• Integrated DVD reader/writer
• Integrated Bluetooth & 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
• 2x USB2.0, 2x USB3.0, 6in1 (SD, SDHC, SDXC, MMC, MS, MS-Pro)
• 1MP (720p HD) webcam with night view
• JBL speakers (2x 1.5W) with Dolby Home Theater V4
• Batter Life: Up to 5 hours
• Weight: 2.3kg (5.07lb)
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 345 x 239 x 32.8 mm (13.5 x 9.4 x 1.3 inch)
• Simplified
  • Energy Management protects the long-term durability of the battery and uses advanced energy-saving technology to increase time spent between charges
  • Intelligent Touchpad – large touchpad with easy scroll, zoom and rotate functions
  • OneKey Rescue System makes data backup and recovery simple
  • Enjoy your notebook content on a big screen wirelessly with Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) Technology
  • Long battery life (up to 5hrs) for extended use on the move
• Comfortable
  • Metal cool-touch cover and palmrest
  • Backlit AccuType keyboard with individual rounded keys for more comfortable and accurate typing

IdeaPad Y480 – Front View

IdeaPad Y480 – Left View

IdeaPad Y480 – Right View

IdeaPad Y480 – Keyboard

IdeaPad Y480 – This Is A Prototype

Official Site: Lenovo IdeaCentre A720
Official Site: Lenovo IdeaPad Y480

ESET NOD32 Antivirus & ESET Smart Security will still be there and are targetted at consumers. For the business/enterprise version, it will now be known as ESET Endpoint Antivirus and ESET Endpoint Security respectively.

Of course being deployed in an enterprise environment, deployment of software solutions to many computers are the norm and this is where ESET Remote Administrator comes into play.

ESET Endpoint Solutions

ESET Endpoint Solutions will be launched globally in late May 2012. Right now it is in release candidate and you can give it a try for free.

Features of ESET Endpoint Antivirus

Features of ESET Antivirus

• Antivirus (Antimalware)
• Antispyware
• Antirootkit
• Cloud-based Whitelisting
• Device Control
• Host-based Intrusion Prevention System
• Low System Demands
• ESET SysRescue
• ESET SysInspector
• Centralized Management
• Microsoft Network Access Protection (NAP) Support

ESET Endpoint Security

Features of ESET Endpoint Security

• All Features of ESET Endpoint Antivirus
• Bi-directional Firewall
• Client Antispam
• Web Control
• URL Blacklisting
• Trusted Network Detection
• Component-based Installation

Features of ESET Remote Administrator

• Real-time Web Dashboard
• Role-based Management
• Randomized Task Execution
• Improved Reporting
• Optimized Database Performance
• IPv6 Support
• Improved Configuration of Clients
• Rollback of Updates on Clients
• Support for new ESET business products

Price Plans (In SGD$, Inclusive of 7% GST, Per user)

Theme For CS 6 Is: Create Now

What’s New In CS6?

If I have to pick my favourite thing in CS6, it got to be the Mercury Engine. It speeds everything up so much faster. Whenever you press “Save”, it does a background save, allowing you to continuing working on your PSD file.

For Mac, Adobe has dropped 32bit support for lots of product. Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Dreamweaver, Adobe Premiere Pro and SpeedGrade are now available only on 64bit for Mac. For Windows, because most government agencies has a 5-8 years timeframe before they change their computers, Adobe still has support for 32bit version of their products on the Windows platform.

4 Suites, 14 Products

2 new products to the CS6 suite and they are SpeedGrade and Prelude. Technically SpeedGrade is not a new product, it was used to be sold separately for USD$30,000, but now it is being bundled as part of CS6.

Adobe SpeedGrade CS6 color grading software brings the Lumetri Deep Color Engine to your production workflow. Open the full dynamic range of your footage through a sleek new interface. A new component of Adobe Creative Suite software, SpeedGrade gives you the power to push your stories further.

Adobe Prelude CS6 software streamlines your production tasks. Ingest nearly any file-based format and begin logging immediately, creating searchable markers and other temporal metadata that flow through post-production, so you can work faster and stay organized.

4 Main Pillars Of CS6

Prices (Excluding Taxes)

• CS6 Master Collection: SGD$3,924
  • Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Illustrator CS6
  • InDesign CS6
  • Acrobat X Pro
  • Flash Professional CS6
  • Flash Builder 4.6 Premium Edition
  • Dreamweaver CS6
  • Fireworks CS6
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
  • After Effects CS6
  • Adobe Audition CS6
  • SpeedGrade CS6
  • Prelude CS6
  • Encore CS6
  • Bridge CS6
  • Story CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
• CS6 Design & Web Premium: SGD$2,868
  • Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Illustrator CS6
  • InDesign CS6
  • Dreamweaver CS6
  • Flash Professional CS6
  • Fireworks CS6
  • Acrobat X Pro
  • Bridge CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
• CS6 Design Standard: SGD$1,962
  • Photoshop CS6
  • Illustrator CS6
  • InDesign CS6
  • Acrobat X Pro
  • Bridge CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
• CS6 Production Premium: SGD$2,868
  • Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
  • After Effects CS6
  • Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Adobe Audition CS6
  • SpeedGrade CS6
  • Prelude CS6
  • Illustrator CS6
  • Encore CS6
  • Flash Professional CS6
  • Media Encoder CS6
  • Story CS6
  • Bridge CS6

If you are confused with all the text and products in each suite, check out the more visually pleasant, Buying guide – Product comparison from Adobe.

As you might heard in the US and some other parts of the world, CS6 was launched with Adobe Creative Cloud, but unfortunately, Adobe Creative Cloud will not be available in Singapore yet as Adobe is still trying to figure out the business model.

Adobe Creative Cloud is the digital hub that lets you download and install every Adobe Creative Suite 6 application; access online services for file sharing, collaboration, and publishing; and benefit from new apps and features as soon as they’re released – giving you the freedom to create anything you can imagine.

Press Release

Major CS Upgrades and All-New Muse Anchor Landmark Launch for Designers
The performance and workflow enhancements in Adobe Photoshop CS6, InDesign CS6 and Illustrator CS6 will result in significant time savings for print, web and mobile projects.

• In Photoshop CS6, designers will experience incredible performance, powered by the Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine, enabling near instant results from essential editing tools, including Liquify, Puppet Warp, Transform and Lighting Effects.
• Adobe has built on Photoshop’s breakthrough Content-Aware capabilities with advanced new Content-Aware Patch and Content-Aware Move features.
• Illustrator CS6 debuts a revamped modern interface and features include a new Image Tracing Engine, Pattern Creation and Gradient Strokes. The Mercury performance system delivers speed and stability, including 64-bit support for Mac OS and Windows.
• InDesign CS6 continues to blaze a trail in publishing, streamlining the creation of multiple layouts from a single set of content with new Adaptive Design Tools – Alternate Layout, Liquid Layout, Content Collector Tools and Linked Content.
• A brand new application, Adobe Muse, a radical new tool that enables designers to create and publish HTML5 web sites without writing code, was also announced today.

Adobe Doubles-Down on HTML5 Tooling for Web Professionals
Innovative new workflows and capabilities across Adobe tools simplify the creative process for today’s web designers, developers and interactive professionals.

• Web pros can conveniently integrate HTML5 animations, created with Adobe Edge Preview, into their Dreamweaver projects, driving home Adobe’s leadership in tooling for the HTML5 web standard.
• Dreamweaver CS6 addresses the challenge of responsive web designs with the ability to build fluid grid layouts replacing the tedious manual process of creating and configuring separate CSS-based interfaces for phone, tablet and desktop.
• Through direct integration with Adobe’s recently announced PhoneGap Build service, Dreamweaver CS6 helps round out a Web professional’s skillset and enables them to produce native mobile applications for multiple platforms.
• Flash Professional CS6 users can easily translate and transition their skills to HTML5 using the Flash Professional Toolkit for CreateJS. Flash Professional CS6 also helps designers to create exciting and impactful gaming experiences and advancements include the ability to generate sprite sheets that improve workflows and performance.
• Pre-built native extensions and new packaging options, leveraging the latest Adobe Flash Player and AIR runtimes, help expand and ease app delivery to Android and iOS devices.

Production Premium CS6 Pushes Boundaries of Video Creativity
Redesigned by and for video editors, with major performance enhancements, the tools included in Adobe Creative Suite 6 Production Premium set a new standard in professional video.

• With dozens of new features, Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 is the hub of any professional video workflow, featuring a sleek new editing environment. The powerful Adobe Mercury Playback Engine now supports OpenCL on MacBook Pros.
• The most significant After Effects release in a decade, After Effects CS6 is faster and more responsive than ever. With Global Performance Cache, previews are saved and ready to go— cutting the time spent bouncing between projects.
• New to Production Premium are Adobe Prelude CS6, which streamlines logging and ingest workflows in post-production, and Adobe SpeedGrade, which contains powerful finishing tools for film finishing and colour grading.
• Adobe Audition CS6 accelerates audio post-production: real-time clip stretching makes it simple to stretch clips to fit an edit; and Automatic Speech Alignment introduces a powerful new engine for automated dialogue analysis.
• A new 3rd party API for hardware integration – Adobe Mercury Transmit – allows broadcast video monitoring to connect directly into the Mercury Playback Engine via third-party cards from AJA, Blackmagic Design, and Matrox.

Official Site: Adobe Creative Suite 6
Adobe Online Shop: South East Asia

• Pip Andersen free running Barcelona with the Nokia Lumia 900
• Jed Cullen skates Barcelona with the Nokia Lumia 900
• James Ivett BMX in Barcelona with the Nokia Lumia 900

Summary

• Blog Links
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Pre Event
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 01
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 02
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 03
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 04
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Asha 202/203/302
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Lumia 610
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Lumia 900
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia 808 PureView
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Summary (This Post)
• Flickr Gallery Links
  • Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 00
  • Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 01
  • Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 02
  • Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 03
  • Mobile World Congress 2012 – Day 04
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Asha 202/203/302
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Lumia 610
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Lumia 900
  • Nokia At Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia 808 PureView
  • Photos Taken By Nokia 808 PureView
• Nokia Products Data Sheets
  • Nokia Asha 202
  • Nokia Asha 203
  • Nokia Asha 302
  • Nokia Lumia 610
  • Nokia Lumia 900
  • Nokia 808 PureView
  • Nokia BH-221 Headset
  • Nokia DC-16 Universal Portable USB Charger
• Nokia Products Pricing & Availability
  • Nokia Asha 202 – €60 (SGD$99) – 2nd Quarter 2012
  • Nokia Asha 203 – €60 (SGD$99) – 2nd Quarter 2012
  • Nokia Asha 302 – €95 (SGD$156.60) – Now
  • Nokia Lumia 610 – €189 (SGD$311.60) – 2nd Quarter 2012
  • Nokia Lumia 900 – €480 (SGD$791.30) – 2nd Quarter 2012
  • Nokia 808 PureView – €450 (SGD$742.30) – 2nd Quarter 2012
  • Nokia BH-221 Headset – €59 (SGD$97.30) – 2nd Quarter 2012
  • Nokia DC-16 Universal Portable USB Charger – €25 (SGD$41.20) – 2nd Quarter 2012

Nokia 808 PureView – Photo Taken (Click To Enlarge)

How about one more?

Nokia 808 PureView – Photo Taken (Click To Enlarge)

Here are more photos taken using Nokia 808 PureView:

The photos are not edited in any way, they are taken straight from the Nokia 808 PureView and uploaded to Flickr and of course the photos embedded in this post has been re-sized to 640px by Flickr.

Now, lets start.

The Nokia 808 PureView was Nokia’s flagship phone announced during Mobile World Congress 2012. It won the Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at the Global Mobile Awards 2012.

Nokia 808 PureView – Front View

Nokia 808 PureView – Back View

Nokia 808 PureView – Right View

Nokia 808 PureView – Top View

The Nokia 808 PureView has a 41MP (yes 41 megapixels) camera. The sensor size itself is capable of taking pictures up to 7728×5368 (41MP) and it can take photos up to 7152×5368 (4:3 38MP) or 7728×4354 (16:9 34MP). For video recording, it is capable of capturing full HD video (1920×1080) at 30fps and of course HD (1280×720) at 30fps.

Specifications

• Operating: Symbian Belle (with Feature Pack 1)
• Processor: 1.3 GHz ARM11
• Networks: WCDMA 850/900/1700/-21001900/2100, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• 4″ ClearBlack Display AMOLED screen (640 x 360 pixels, 16.7 million colours) (Corning Gorilla Glass)
• 512MB RAM
• 16 GB internal user memory with support for up to 48 GB with an external microSD memory card
• Primary (Rear-facing): 41 megapixel camera sensor with Nokia PureView imaging technology and Carl Zeiss optics
• Photo Resolution: 7152×5368 (4:3 38MP) or 7728×4354 (16:9 34MP)
• Video Resolution: 1920×1080 @ 30fps or 1280×720 @ 30fps
• Secondary (Front-facing): 0.3 MP megapixel camera sensor (480p @ 30fps)
• Xenon flash with operating range up to 3.5m
• Bluetooth 3.0, HDMI, DLNA, Secure NFC, WLAN, A-GPS, FM transmitter
• BV-4D 1400 mAh high voltage Li-ion battery
• Volume: 95.5cc
• Weight: 169 g
• Dimensions: 123.9 x 60.2 x 13.9 mm

Availability: Q2 2012
Retail Price: €450
Nokia 808 Pure View Colors: White, Black, Red

Nokia 808 PureView – 3 Colors Available

Nokia 808 PureView – 41MP

Despite being a phone with 41MP camera, lots of people are wondering why Nokia is still using Symbian Belle (with Feature Pack 1) instead of Windows Phone 7.5. I did raise this question to the product manager. The official answer I get is that this phone has been in the works for 5 years and it is only recently that Nokia begin changing their strategy towards Windows Phone, so porting over to Windows Phone platform within such a short time frame is not possible (assuming that it has to be announced at MWC 2012).

I am also guessing that there is other factors such as source code access. Nokia does not have full source code access to Windows Phone so they have to rely on Microsoft to tweak their OS, whereas if Nokia were to go with Symbian Belle, they have full access to the source code and hence it is possible to make full use of the PureView technology in the shortest possible time.

I would say, think of it as you are buying/using a digital camera with a mobile phone capability rather than buying a mobile phone with a digital camera ability and the Symbian OS will not be a deal breaker.

PureView is not the name of the phone, but rather an imaging technology and we will definitely see it on Windows Phone when the time is ripe (if you are into rumors, there is a leaked shot of Windows Phone with PureView technology).

Nokia 808 PureView – Uses MicroSIM

Nokia 808 PureView – Full Resolution or PureView

How does Nokia PureView Zoom Works?
There is no concept of zoom in the Nokia 808 PureView. When you zoom, you are just selecting the relevant area of the sensor. So with no zoom, the full area of the sensor corresponding to the aspect ration is used. The limit of zoom is reached when the selected output resolution becomes the same as the input resolution. For example, with the default settings of 5MP (3072×1728), once the area of the sensor reaches that, you hit the zoom limit. This means the zoom is always true to the image you want.

One of the benefits that the zoom can give you is pixel oversampling. Pixel oversampling combines many pixels to create a single (super) pixel. When this happens, you keep virtually all the details but filter away visual noises from the image.

The level of pixel oversampling is the highest when you are not using the zoom, it gradually decreases until you hit the maximum zoom, where there is no oversampling.

Since there is no moving optics when it comes to zooming, the zoom function is completely silent which is good for video recording.

Nokia 808 PureView uses a new zoom concept called Slide Zoom (which I kinda like). All you have to do is slide your finger up or down on the screen. As you move your finger, a frame will appear and moves in sync with your fingers. This allows you to preview the framing before committing which is again useful for video recording.

If you are interested in more details how Nokia PureView works, check out the PureView Imaging technology White Paper.

It seems that for the upload part, we are still stick with HSUPA instead of HSUPA+ Dual Carrier (DC-HSUPA) as it has not been completed.

Specification wise, it is exactly the same as the LTE variant right down to the dimensions and weight. Interestingly, when Nokia announced the Nokia Lumia 900 in CES 2012, the white color was not mentioned.

Nokia Lumia 900 (White) – Front View

Nokia Lumia 900 (White) – Back View

Nokia SIM Door Key

Just want to highlight one of the more prominent change as compared to the Nokia Lumia 800 is that Nokia Lumia 900′s SIM tray design has been redesigned. Now it requires a SIM Door Key (as what Nokia calls it, similar to iPhone’s SIM Tray Eject Pin) to open the SIM tray. Because of this, the micro USB port is now easily accessible without opening any flip.

Specifications

• Operating: Windows Phone Release 7.5 – Mango Commercial Release 2 (Mango + LTE)
• Processor: 1.4GHz Snapdragon APQ8055 + MDM9200
• Networks: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• Speed: HSDPA+ Dual Carrier cat 24 (42 Mbps), HSUPA cat 6: 5.8 Mbps
• 4.3″ ClearBlack AMOLED display with WVGA 800×480 resolution
• 512MB RAM
• 16 GB internal memory (14.5GB user memory)
• Primary (Rear-facing): 8MP with f2.2/28mm Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED flash, Auto Focus, 720p, 30fps video capture
• Secondary (Front-facing): 1MP with f2.4, 30fps video capture (VGA video call resolution)
• A-GPS, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), USB 2.0 high-speed, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 3.5mm headset connector
• 1830mAh battery
• Accelerometer, Proximity, Magnetometer, light sensor, Gyroscope
• Volume: 90cc
• Weight: 160 g (5.6 ounces)
• Dimensions (max): 127.8 x 68.5 x 11.5 mm (5 x 2.7 x .45 inches)

Availability: Q2 2012
Retail Price: €480
Nokia Lumia 900 Colors: White, Cyan, Black

Nokia Lumia 900 (White) – Top View

Nokia Lumia 900 (White) – Bottom View

Nokia Lumia 900 (White) – Right View

Comparision With Nokia Lumia 800

Comparison With Nokia Lumia 800

Nokia Lumia 900 (Cyan)

Windows Phone OS now supports a lower cost processor, the Qualcomm 7x27a “system on a chip” running at 600MHz with reduced memory of at least 256MB and hence making it more affordable to emerging markets.

Nokia Lumia 610 is the first Windows Phone to take advantage of this new scheme and ZTE will follow suit with the ZTE Orbit in Q2 2012. For the Nokia Lumia 610, the processor being used is Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 running on 800MHz which is better than the minimum specs while the RAM remains at the minimum at 256MB.

As with all Nokia Lumia devices, the Nokia Lumia 610 (being the fourth Lumia device) will also comes with Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport, Nokia Music and Nokia Reading.

Nokia Lumia 610 (White & Black) – Front View

Nokia Lumia 610 (White & Black) – Back View

Nokia Lumia 610 (Cyan) – Side View

The design of the Lumia 610 is slightly different from its family as it comes with beveled metallic edge (which is similar to the Nokia Asha family) to give users a feel that it is a premium product. It is using micro SIM and comes with 8GB of built-in storage. There is no expandable storage simply because (I am guessing) Windows Phone 7 does not support it. If it does support, I am willing to bet that Nokia will include it in.

Specifications

• Networks: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• Speed: HSDPA cat 7: 7.2Mbps
• Display: 3.7″ WVGA (800×480) TFT capacitive touch LCD display with pinch zoom
• OS: Windows Phone 7.5
• Memory: 256MB RAM
• Storage: 8GB storage
• Camera: 5Mpix auto-focus, LED flash, Video capturing MPEG-4 VGA @ 30 fps
• Size/Weight: 119.24mm x 62.18mm x 11.95mm (LxWxT) / 77.6cc / 131.5g (with battery)
• Connectivity: WLAN 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, A-GPS, micro-USB connector and charging, 3.5mm AHJ connector
• Processor: 800 MHz Single Core / Qualcomm Snapdragon S1
• Audio: MP3 player, Audio jack: 3.5mm, Supported codecs incl.: mp3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, wma
• Battery: 1300 mAh
• Talk time: GSM: 10.5h, WCDMA: 9.5h
• Standby time: GSM: 670h, WCDMA:720h
• Music playback: up to 35 hours

Availability: Q2 2012
Retail Price: €189
Nokia Lumia 610 Colors: White, Cyan, Magenta, Black

Nokia Lumia 610 (Cyan) – Front View

Nokia Lumia 610 (Cyan) – Back View

Nokia Lumia 610 (Magenta) – Front View

Nokia Lumia 610 (Magenta) – Back View

Nokia Lumia 610 – Battery Cover Off

Nokia Lumia 610 – Battery Off

Nokia Lumia 610 – Back Covers

Links

• Official Windows Phone Developer Blog: Get Ready for 60% More Potential Customers
• Nokia Lumia 610

All Nokia Asha phones are powered by Series 40 (S40) OS. If you notice the Nokia Asha 202, 203 & 302 comes with a metallic bevel to give users a feel that this is a premium product as users from emerging markets associate metal with premium. The Nokia Asha 302 also comes with a metallic back cover.

Nokia Asha 202/203
Nokia Asha 202 and 203 are identical phones expect that Nokia Asha 202 supports dual SIM Cards (1 of them being hot swappable). Both comes with a traditional keypad with a 2.4″ touch screen, a 2-megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, Nokia Browser, and Bluetooth connectivity, and can handle memory cards up to 32GB. Estimated retail price for each is about EUR 60, excluding taxes and subsidies, and both are expected to start shipping in the second quarter of 2012.

Also, the Nokia Asha 202 and 203 will be the first Series 40 devices to offer EA games. As a 60-day promotion at Nokia Store, user can download the EA 40-game pack worth €75 and these games includes popular titles such as Tetris, Need for Speed, The Run and Bejeweled.

Nokia Asha 202 – Front

Nokia Asha 202 – Back

Only Difference Between The Nokia Asha 202 and 203

Colors Available For The Nokia Asha 202/203

Specifications

• System: GSM 900/1800
• 2 MP camera
• Loud and clear inbuilt speaker
• User Interface: Series 40 , Touch & Type
• Display: 2.4″ QVGA, resistive touch
• Memory: Up to 10MB free user memory
• Memory card: Support up to 32 GB microSD
• Connectivity: GPRS/EDGE, 2.0 mm Charger Connector, Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR, micro USB 2.0 connector, 3.5 mm AV connector
• Standby time: Up to 16.5 days
• Talk time: Up to 5 hours
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 114.8 mm x 49.8 mm x 13.85 mm
• Weight: 90g (including battery)
• Nokia Life (in selected markets)
• Nokia Maps (in selected markets)
• Exclusive Games Gift from EA – 40 games to download from Nokia Store
• Easy Swap Dual SIM with dedicated SIM manager to personalize your phone and save up to 5 SIM contacts with unique information (Nokia 202 Only)

Availability: Q2 2012
Retail Price: €60
Nokia Asha 202 Colors: Black, Silver White, Dark Red, Dark Grey, Golden White
Nokia Asha 203 Colors: Silver White, Dark Red, Dark Grey

Nokia Asha 302
The Nokia Asha 302 is Nokia’s first Series 40 phone to support Mail for Exchange, giving people access to their emails, contacts and calendar on an exchange server. That and a stylish QWERTY keyboard make it ideal for young entrepreneurs and professionals seeking a beautifully designed phone. Additionally, the Nokia Asha connects to popular social networks and enables chatting through Whatsapp and other IM services. The Nokia Asha 302 is powered by a 1-GHz processor and supports 3.5G data speeds.

Nokia Asha 302 – Front

Nokia Asha 302 – Back

All The 5 Colors Of Nokia Asha 302

Rubber Case For Nokia Asha 302

Specifications

• System: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
• 1 GHz processor
• Display: 2.4″ QVGA (320×240), up to 262k colors
• Memory: Up to 140 MB internal memory, support for up to 32 GB microSD memory card Data Services & Connectivity
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• 3.5G, HSPA data access
• 3.2 megapixel camera with 4 x digital zoom
• High performing loudspeakers
• User Interface: Series 40
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 115.2 mm x 58.9 mm x 13.5 mm
• Weight: 106g (including battery)
• Standby time: Up to 29 days (GSM); up to 34 days (WCDMA)
• Talk time: Up to 9 hours (GSM); 5.9 hours (WCDMA)
• Nokia Browser and Webapps for rich and easy internet experience
• Music player, enhanced stereo FM radio
• Nokia Life in selected markets

Availability: Now
Retail Price: €95
Colors: Dark Grey, White, Plum Red, Mid Blue, Golden Light

Links

• Nokia Asha 202
• Nokia Asha 203
• Nokia Asha 302

Woke up at about 9am and went down for breakfast and went back up to my hotel room after that to get my stuff packed. I have requested for my transport to come at 2pm despite my flight is at 6.30pm as I wanted to claim tax refund (18%) and shop at Barcelona Airport!

Beef Burger

Had a simple lunch down at our hotel’s cafe with Katie from 1000heads before bidding her goodbye!

When my transport came to pick me up, I realized that it is the same driver who picked me up from the airport when I arrived in Barcelona!

I reached Barcelona Airport at about 2.45pm and took me 10 minutes to find the stupid tax refund counter. It is hidden all the way to the left side of the airport. I think they purposely isolate it so that you will have problems finding it. You can get a tax refund of 18% and to my surprise there is no queue at all to get your tax refunded. However the attitude of the officer at the counter is really horrible.

Tax Refund Isolated Corner

Take a look at the picture above, there is no indication saying that you can refund tax there except the small “TAX FREE” icon which is so small and located right at the bottom of the sign.

I opted for credit card refund instead of cash refund because I do not want to queue twice (1 at the tax refund and 1 at the bank).

When you purchase stuff from any store (I bought a Loewe bag for my mom) and asked for credit card tax refund, they will give you 2 envelops with 2 tax invoices (1 in each envelop). You are supposed to get both the invoices stamped but only mail back one for the custom to process.

Mailbox

Here are my flight details back to Singapore just for archiving purposes:

• Flight No.: LH1133
• Flight Hours: 2 hours 20 minutes
• Departure: 18:35 on Thursday, 1st March 2012 (Terminal 1, Barcelona Airport, Barcelona)
• Arrival: 20:55 on Thursday, 1st March 2012 (Terminal 1, Frankfurt Airport, Germany)
• Layover Hours: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Flight No.: LH778
• Flight Hours: 11 hours 50 minutes
• Departure: 22:05 on Thursday, 1st March 2012 (Terminal 1, Frankfurt Airport, Germany)
• Arrival: 16:55 on Friday, 2nd March 2012 (Terminal 2, Changi Airport, Singapore)

As this is the last day of my trip, I would like to thank Nokia, Nokia Connects and the girls/guys at 1000heads for the invite to my first Mobile World Congress and the awesome hospitality that you have provided us for the whole trip. It was an awesome one and I really enjoyed myself!

Hope to see you guys at Nokia World 2012 at Helsinki, Finland!

This concludes my coverage of MWC, look out for 4 more blog posts of the newly launched Nokia phones at Mobile World Congress 2012 – Nokia Asha Family, Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 900 and Nokia 808 PureView.

Pino Bonetti (Left), Mark Thomas (Right)

Nokia Maps update will be out soon for Nokia Lumia devices which gives you greater zoomed-in details as well as the ability to create and share your favorite places via social networking sites.

Nokia Maps is there to help you, whether you’re in a car, or on foot.

When you’re in hurry it can be confusing to see every eating choice, or art gallery – you only want to know where you’re going.

That’s why Nokia Maps has also been updated for Windows Phone to make the experience simpler, with fewer intrusive objects and signs to get in the way of where you want to go – and a reduced colour palette to allow the brain to process information more easily.

Now you can zoom in to get all the detail you need, and pull back for larger context about what route you need to take – with pedestrians and drivers seeing different maps to reflect their different experiences.

With the updated Nokia Maps you can now also create and collect your favourite places, and access places you’ve recently visited.

Then, if you’re travelling with friends or colleagues, you can share your route with SMS email or social networks.

Nokia Maps now covers over 190 countries – and uses the latest technology to make sure that images are viewable from any browser, device and operating system.

Nokia Drive 2.0 will be out soon which will get full offline. In the pipeline is Nokia Drive 3.0, which is a bigger update that allows you to pin your trip to the live tiles of your home screen. It will also learn your daily commute routes and automatically adjust your routes depending on the day’s traffic.

Nokia Drive has been one of the most popular services on the Lumia, offering free turn-by-turn voice guided navigation in over 100 countries, with multiple views, larger icons for in-car arms length use, one easy search box, and fast route calculation and preview.

Now Nokia Drive on Lumia gets full offline support, with offline search and routing from calculating a route, to navigation and re-routing. A newly designed dashboard now shows speed limit alerts, as well as the speed you’re travelling at, as well as estimated time or arrival, time to destination and distance to destination. You can also access a list of recently saved destinations through a single tap, and then start turn-by-turn navigation.

Nokia Public Transport is a new app that will be rolled out to existing Nokia Lumia devices. Nokia Transport will give you an real-time arrival timing of public transportation such as train and buses. If you city does not have any these data available, the timing will be estimated. For Singapore/Malaysia case, it will be estimated instead of real-time. I really hope Nokia can work with LTA to get the real-time information which is already available out there.

Nokia Public Transport is a natural complement to Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive as part of navigating your life – and is now available as an app on the Nokia Lumia.

Nokia Public Transport is a unique service that allows you to plan fast inner-city routes from point to point, and work out your time of arrival.

Using Nokia Public Transport you can see when the nearest train, bus, tram or metro leaves, find out how to get to the station, discover if you need to change trains or lines along the way, and then use walk routing to reach your final destination.

Check out My Nokia Blog: Mega Q&A session: Lumia/WP Production/Design, Maps, Entertainment & More for more details of the morning Q&A.

There is no lunch Q&A and hence we got the whole afternoon free to ourselves. I went back to MWC to Nokia booth as I got tip that Nokia is giving away free stuff and that includes a Nokia Lumia 800!

There are 2 giveaways on that day, one at about 2pm and the other is about 6pm. Each giveaway will have 20 items which consists of items like the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-221, Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster, Nokia Purity Stereo Headset by Monster and even Nokia Lumia 800.

Giveaway #1

Giveaway #2

The Lollipop

For each giveaway, they will give out 100 lollipops to the guests around the booth but only 20 of them will have a slip of paper in it to indicate what item you won. If your lollipops contain a piece of paper, you won something, if not try again at the next giveaway!

I did not win in the first giveaway, but I won the Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster in the second giveaway (stayed tuned for that blog post).

After the first giveaway, I went to take a look at the Android Booth because I missed it the previous days. They are giving out free smoothies and Ice Cream Sandwich (not the phone) at the booth!

Free Smoothie

Ice Cream Sandwich

After the visit to the Android booth, I went out of MWC, took a subway to Diagonal station which is their shopping district to help my mom get her Loewe bag. There is a protest going on there as well and I believe they marched all the way to MWC (which is about 6 stations away).

Protest

It is a peaceful protest but I heard things got bad when they reached the MWC. I think the protest is about Capitalism. When I got back to MWC, the main entrance was closed and we have to enter via the side entrance (which is quite a far walk).

Main Entrance Closed

Took a look at these booths after I got back:

• Eset
• W3C
• LG
• Intel
• Mozilla Firefox
• Krusell

Nokia Wins

Did I mention that Nokia also won a couple of awards?

• Global Mobile Awards: Best Feature Phone or Entry Level Phone

  Nokia – Nokia C3-00

  The Nokia C3 was designed to put better social networking tools in the hands of more people around the world, at affordable prices. The C3 features a QWERTY keyboard and access to social networks directly from the homescreen. The Nokia C3 also comes with Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat, meaning first time users can set up email and chat accounts straight from the device. Other notable features are Wi-Fi connectivity, a two megapixel camera, rich color 2.4 inch screen and support for up to an 8GB memory card. The C3 demonstrates Nokia’s dedication to enabling the next billion to connect to the internet.

  Judges’comments

  “The numbers speak for themselves – a blockbusting chart topper with universal appeal.”

  The judges would also like to recognise the companies who are working to solve the needs of the ageing global population. Devices that deliver accessibility above all else are becoming increasingly important.”

• Global Mobile Awards: Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at Mobile World Congress 2012

  Nokia – Nokia 808 Pure View

• Laptop Magazine: Best Budget Smartphone

  Nokia – Nokia Lumia 610

  Though the Lumia 610 will be marketed at budget-conscious consumers, Nokia didn’t skimp on this Windows Phone’s style or software. Available with a stunning metallic-edged black, cyan, red or white bezel, this handset (189 Euros unsubsidized) looks sexier than, any high-end superphones. Even with just 256MB of RAM and a lower-end 800-MHz processor, the Lumia 610 provides smooth performance when navigating through Windows Phone 7.5 and using Nokia’s suite of innovative applications. It’s also the first phone to come bundled with Nokia Transport, a new app that helps you plan a route using public transportation rather than a car.

• ComputerActive: Best Windows Phone at MWC 2012

  Nokia – Nokia Lumia 610

• tom’s hardware: Best of MWC 2012

  Nokia – Nokia Lumia 610

Dinner was at Ca La Nuri together with Nokia Asha 202 and 203 product managers (Loek van der Helm & Vivian Chan). It is a small world that Vivian is also a Singaporean who once worked for Nokia Singapore but now is based in Beijing (still working for Nokia).

Top (L-R): Me, Vivian Chan | Bottom (L-R): Loek, Trent

We also ended the day quite early as some of the guys have an early flight back home the next day.

Read: New Nokia Services at Mobile World Congress

Dean Patrick From Nokia Entertainment

Dean showcase the new Nokia Reading which of course as the name sounds, allow you to read and buy e-books/audio books on your Lumia devices. It will come to existing Lumia devices in April 2012.

Reading provides a single, integrated hub experience, leveraging a panorama design to make it easier and faster to enjoy news, ebooks and audio books, including the ability to access content offline and pin dynamic content to the start screen as a Live Tile. With an emphasis on local language materials wherever it becomes available, Nokia Reading delivers a highly personalized and locally relevant service. Future updates will include the ability to build dynamic magazines from feeds for a single integrated view of favourite online content. With no sign-in or subscriptions, Nokia Reading will be available from April.

He also passed around the Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-221 for us to play with. It is NFC enabled which is used to aid the Bluetooth pairing process.

Dean also showcase Nokia Mix Radio which is announced back in Nokia World 20122 which allows you to listen to million of tracks for free (without subscription or logging-in) from 100+ preset radio station of different generes. Mix Radio is already available in Singapore. If you do not like the song that you are listening, you can always skip it, but do note that you can skip 6 times per hour due to licensing agreements.

Nokia Bluetooth Stereo Headset BH-221

After breakfast and the Q&A session, we also received a gift from Red Bull.

Gift From Red Bull

You must be wondering what does Red Bull has to do with Nokia. Well, Red Bull has partnered Nokia to deliver access to amazing experiences, best sporting and culture content to Nokia Lumia devices! You can expect stuff like location and outdoor adventure, augmented reality, and sharing experiences with your friends!

Lunch was at the same hotel yesterday at Hotel AB Viladomat. Before lunch, we have a Q&A with the product managers of Nokia Lumia 610 (Sumi Mikami, Sharat Kungar – Not In The Picture Below & Tanja Rauniaho-Mitchell) and Lumia 900 (Jason Gregory)!

Jason Gregory (2nd From the Left)

Pino Bonetti – Nokia Maps (Left), Tanja Rauniaho-Mitchell (Right)

Sumi Mikami (Front)

One of the most requested feature for the Lumia is the Internet Sharing which is already built-in into Windows Phone 7.5, however it is not enabled in Nokia Lumia devices. Jason Gregory mentioned that it will be available for Lumia devices in the next update.

The White Lumia 800 is now available in stores and the price remain the same as the rest of the colors.

Check out My Nokia Blog: Mega Q&A session: Lumia/WP Production/Design, Maps, Entertainment & More for more details of both the morning & lunch Q&A.

After lunch we head off to Park Güell as one of our sight seeing attraction!

Park Güell

Park Güell – View From The Top

One Of The Longest Benches In The World

Top (L-R): Jason, James | Bottom (L-R): Me, Ali, Katie, Trent

After Park Güell, we headed back to MWC and continue looking at other booths

• Windows Phone
• HTC
• Adobe
• Opera
• Nvidia
• MediaTek
• Dolby
• Singapore
• Futjisu

There is a networking party at the venue itself that happen at 7pm and there are free drinks and pretzels and of course performance by some acrobats!

Performance

We left MWC at about 8pm to head for dinner at La Clara together with the Nokia Asha 302 product managers!

The 5 Colors Of Nokia Asha 302

Dinner ended about 10.30pm and the bus picked us up back to our hotel!

Read: New Nokia Services at Mobile World Congress

The Nokia booth is located in Hall 7 which is about 8 minutes walk from the main entrance. The press conference begins at 8.30am. We reached the MWC venue at 8am but the main press conference hall is already full! So they placed us in an “overflowing” hall which is just beside it. This also means we can’t see the press conference live and everything is projected out for us to see in the hall.

Nokia Banner Outside Hall 7

Overflowing Hall

Steven Elop Being Projected

Nokia announced 6 phones during the press conference:

• Nokia Asha 202
• Nokia Asha 203
• Nokia Asha 302
• Nokia Lumia 610
• Nokia Lumia 900 (Non LTE)
• Nokia 808 PureView

Nokia Asha 202

Nokia Asha 203

Nokia Asha 302

Nokia Lumia 610

Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia 808 PureView

I will cover these phones in separate blog posts once I have completed the coverage of MWC.

The Booth Where All The Phones Are

Nokia Developer Booth

Nickname “The Treehouse”

Nokia Booth

I spotted the upcoming Nokia DC-16 Portable Charger which is available in 4 different colors, Black, White, Cyan & Fuchsia (Pink) and will be retailing for €25 (SGD$41). It has a battery capacity of 2,200mAh and it comes with matching Micro USB cable as well!

Nokia DC-16 Portable Charger

We headed out at about 11.30am to Hotel AB Viladomat for a Q&A Session with the product managers of Nokia 808 PureView (Damian Dinning & Vesa Jutila) followed by lunch at the hotel.

Check out My Nokia Blog: Q&A with Damien Dinning on the Nokia 808 PureView (+Photos) for more information regarding the Q&A.

I will talk more about the Nokia 808 PureView in its own blog post =D

Sensor Sizes (5MP, 8MP, 41MP)

After lunch, went back to the Nokia Booth at MWC and they have ice cream stall in it! Yay!

Ice Cream Stall In Nokia Booth

Caught up with an old friend, Dinesh (now based in Nokia HQ) who was the first person in Nokia to contact me to attend Nokia’s media event, Nokia: Go Play, back in 2007!

Me, Dinesh (Nokia), Jason (smashpop)

As we have some time left before dinner, we went around MWC taking a look at other booths

• Ubuntu
• Velti
• PayPal
• BlackBerry
• Gree
• Symantec
• Samsung
• Motorola
• Sandisk
• Qualcomm
• Duracell
• Sony

El Molino

Dinner was a Nokia/Microsoft party happening at El Molino. The party was great and of course there are free phones to be given away. Just beat the top score of Fruit Ninja and you walk away with a Nokia Lumia 800!

5 Floors Of Party

I manage to grab 2 free Windows Phone t-shirts, 1 t-shirt from Level 6 – VIP Lounge (I checked-in using 4square into the venue) and 1 from Level 4 – Ninja Dojo (they are giving it out).

Skype Cushion, Windows Phone Seats

Love the Skype cushion and Windows Phone seats in the VIP Lounge!

The bus came to pick us up to the hotel at 11pm, it was a little early for a party to end so early but we are kinda tired as it has been a long day!

Took Lufthansa flight for the first time. There is no direct flight to Barcelona for Lufthansa and hence I took a flight (LH779) to Frankfurt, Germany and another flight (LH1124) from Frankfurt to Barcelona, Spain.

It is about 13 hours flight to Frankfurt and with a layover time of about an hour and another 2 hours flight to Barcelona.

While I was entering the gate, they told me that my seat has been changed, I was like WTF? I asked them is it still an aisle seat, and the told me no, they upgraded me to business class! I was so happy as it was my first time seating in a business class and the flight is 13 hours long!

Here are my flight details just for archiving purposes:

• Flight No.: LH779
• Flight Hours: 13 hours
• Departure: 23:55 on Saturday, 25th February 2012 (Terminal 2, Changi Airport, Singapore)
• Arrival: 05:55 on Sunday, 26th February 2012 (Terminal 1, Frankfurt Airport, Germany)
• Layover Hours: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Flight No.: LH1124
• Flight Hours: 2 hours
• Departure: 07:15 on Sunday, 26th February 2012 (Terminal 1, Frankfurt Airport, Germany)
• Arrival: 09:15 on Sunday, 26th February 2012 (Terminal 1, Barcelona Airport, Barcelona)

I reached Barcelona at about 9am on Sunday, 26th February 2012. Barcelona is 7 hours behind Singapore (GMT+1). This time round, I don’t have any jetlag compared to my first trip to Europe which is to London for Nokia World 2011.

Friendly Driver

After I touched down in Barcelona and leaving the arrival hall, the driver is already there waiting for me holding a paper with my name on it.

My MWC 2012 Pass

Since I was early and we are still waiting for another guy (James Ivett), I proceed on to collect my MWC pass at the airport.

My Ride

Didn’t expect the ride to my hotel will be in a Mercedes! The ride from the airport is about 45 minutes. We stayed at La Mola which is very nice but a little isolated as most of the hotel in the city is fully booked 3 months before MWC.

La Mola Lobby

There are 2 buildings in the hotel, 1 building has only 3 floors while the other has 5 floors. I stayed on the building that has 3 floors.

When I entered the room (Room 116), I was like WOW, the view is awesome and thanks to the cool weather in Barcelona (13°), it makes it even more awesome.

My Room

Greens

When you open the door on the left and pull up the blinds, the above picture is what you will see! This will not work in Singapore because it is so humid and full of mosquitoes!

After I settled down and put down all my bags, I met up with the guys from Nokia Connect as well as bloggers to go to the city!

Prepaid SIM

The hospitality of Nokia Connects is awesome, the first thing that they gave us is a pre-paid SIM with data plan of course. That is so thoughtful! Before the trip, I was wondering how can I get a pre-paid SIM with data plan as all the telco website is in Spanish! Google translate don’t work here because the important information are all in images.

I can imagine how much time is needed to get so many pre-paid SIM because when you buy any SIM card, they require you to produce a verification either passport or an identity card. I think for each SIM card, the process will take at least 10-15 minutes. Two thumbs up for that!

As some of the guys came in the day before, they could not collect their pass at the airport because the MWC pass collection at the airport is available only on Sunday onwards and hence the first stop we made in the city is to Fira de Barcelona which is the location that MWC will be held.

Fira

Meg (1000heads), Me, Jason (Blogger), Tom (Nokia), Trent (Blogger), Elina (Nokia)

Barcelona, like most cities in Europe, the shops there basically don’t open on Sunday! The whole shopping center is like a ghost town, but at least restaurants are open.

Had my first Tapas in Spain at a cafe outside the shopping center, Arena de Barcelona, which is located just opposite Fira.

Arena

After the late lunch, we took a long walk all the way to the famous Sagrada Família. Which is still under construction since 1882.

Sagrada Família

After Sagrada Família, our time is up and needed to go back to our hotel, so we took the subway back to Fira and got a cab from there.

Subway In Barcelona

I am pretty impressed with the subway in Barcelona, it is efficient, clean and the arrival timing is precise to the second!

Arrival Timing

Dinner was buffet at our hotel’s cafe because it is more convenient for all of us. It takes about 40mins and €60 for the cab ride to and fro from our hotel.

As I gotten quite a few emails regarding IT Show 2012 promotions, thought I would just like to share it in this blog post. It will not be as comprehensive as websites like IT Fair (Singapore) or Hardware Zone: Tech Show Portal.

Going forward, I might do this for every IT fair in Singapore. There are 4 major IT Fair in Singapore every year. IT Show (March), PC Show (June), Comex (September), Sitex (November).

All prices stated are in Singapore Dollars (SGD$).

Canon

Dell
Hall 401, Level 4, Booth 8251

Dell

Dell

Dell

Epson
Hall 403, Level 4, Booth 8115

HP
Halls 401 – 403, Level 4, Booth 8150, 8245, 8428

HP

HP

>
HP

HP

HP

HP

HP

Logitech
Logitech is giving a Logitech N120 cooling pad worth S$29 for any Logitech product purchases of S$50 and above at selected booths:

• Yun long – booth 6111
• Bell system – booth 6647
• e-one innovations (million tech) – booth 6828
• Direction – booth 6611
• Corbell (direction) – booth 6641
• Epicentre – Level 3 Foyer

Sony Mobile
Hall 603, Level 6, Booth 6201

Motorola RAZR

I have a chance to played with the Motorola RAZR at the media event last week. My first impression on it was it is indeed thin (69mm wide x 131mm long x 7.1mm thin) and light (127g). The materials used to make it is interesting, Kevlar fibre coating for the body and Corning Gorilla Glass screen for the touchscreen.

The build of the phone is so good that the product manager challenge me to drop my iPhone 4S without casing from the same height together with the Motorola RAZR. Obviously, I dare not take up the challenge, point taken that the Motorola RAZR is indeed tough.

Even the advertisement (below) uses the phone to pry open the lift doors! Now, if only Motorola did an advertisement of the Kevlar material used being bullet proof. It might just go viral!

The phone packs a 4.3″ Super AMOLED display of qHD resolution (960×540), 1GB of RAM and a dual-core 1.2GHz processor running on Android 2.3.5. It has 16GB of storage on board and supports up to an additional 32GB via microSD card. The camera is pretty impressive too, the rear camera is a 8MP Camera with LED flash capable of recording 1080p videos and the front-facing camera is a 1.3MP HD Web Cam capable of recording 720p videos.

Technical Specifications

• Form Factor: Full Touch Screen
• Dimensions:69mm wide x 131mm long x 7.1mm thin
• Weight: 127g
• Battery: 1,750/1,780mAh (non-removable)
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM / 16GB on board (16GB eMMC NAND Flash), supports up to 32GB microSD
• OS: Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread
• Display: 4.3″ qHD (960×540) Super AMOLED Advanced
• Bands/Modes: WCDMA 2100/850/900/1900, GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 14.4 Mbps (Cat.10), HSUPA 5.76 Mbps (Cat.6), GPRS Class12
• Messaging/Web/Apps: MMS, SMS, Email (Corporate Sync, Gmail, POP3/IMAP embedded, Push Email)
• Camera: (rear) 8MP Camera w/ LED flash, (front) 1.3MP HD Web Cam
• Processor: Dual Core 1.2GHz Processor
• Connectivity: 3.5mm, micro USB 2.0 HS, Corporate Sync, BOTA, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz & 5GHz 802.11a/b/g/n, Stereo Bluetooth Class 2, Version 4.0 LE + EDR , DLNA, HDMI port
• Sensor: 3-axis accelerometer, proximity sensor, Ambient Light sensor
• Browser: Android Web Kit with Adobe Flash Player
• Video:
  Playback
  • MPEG4 ASP/SP up to 20Mbps, 1080p at 30fps
  • H.263 BP up to 4Mbps, 4CIF at 30fps
  • H.264 BP/MP/HP up to 20Mbps, 1080p at 30fps
  • VC-1 Advanced MP up to 20Mbps, 1080p at 30fps
  • Xvid MPEG-4 ASP up to 4Mbps D1 at 30fps
  • VP8/WebM

  Capture

  • Video H.264 up to 16Mbps, 1080p @30fps
  • Audio AAC up to 64kbps, 44.1kHz, Stereo

  Streaming

  • VGA in MPEG4, H.264, H.263 @30 fps
  • MPEG4, H.263, H.264
• Audio: AAC, AAC+, AAC+ Enhanced, AMR NB, AMR WB, MIDI, MP3, WAV, WMA v10, WMA v9
• Location Service: Tmapor OllehNavi, eCompass, aGPS with Google Maps, Google Latitude

MotoCast
At the event, they also showcased MotoCast. It is something like Dropbox, except that instead of uploading files to the cloud, you are actually accessing files in your computer.

In another words, MotoCast streams documents, videos and music to your Motorola Razr phone from anywhere in the world via 3G or Wi-Fi. The only thing you need to do is to leave your computer switched on and install the MotoCast software on your computer (works on PC & Mac).

You have the option to download the file if you do not want to stream it. But you can’t actually upload files from your phone to your PC. I wish they have this feature sometime in the future. You also can access your files in your PC on your desktop browser via MyMotoCast.com if you do not have your Motorola phone with you.

I kinda like this service because afterall, storage on your local PC’s HDD is still cheaper than any cloud storage out there.

Official Site: Motorola RAZR
Official Site: MotoCast
Official Site: Mototola Singapore

The first stop was London Eye, but instead of seeing it from the outside, this time we really went into it. The queue was still insanely long, but luckily the guys at 1000heads managed to get the fast track tickets!

London Eye

London Eye Capsule

Awesome View From London Eye

We did some filming inside the London Eye’s Capsule, I was giving a basic introduction of Nokia Mix Radio. Nokia Mix Radio gives you locally relevant music for free that can be downloaded or streamed to your Windows Phone 7. You can download up to 4 playlist to your phone and each playlist is about 3 hours long.

It takes about 25 minutes to complete a circle on the London Eye, which is 10 minutes lesser than the Singapore Flyer, the world’s largest observation wheel.

After the London Eye, we went for a river cruise along River Thames passing by the London Bridge, Tower Bridge and the HMS Belfast (C35) which is a decommissioned Destroyer permanently moored in River Thames.

London Bridge

Tower Bridge

HMS Belfast (C35)

We alighted at Tower Millenium Pier and headed back to 1000heads office to collect our luggage.

1000heads Sign Board

1000heads Certification

I left the office at 4pm and I reached Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 at about 6pm. Traffic was pretty bad. I did some shopping at the terminal as my flight is at 8.30pm. The Longchamp bag there is cheap selling for €60 (SGD$120) for the long handle medium size. It is at least selling for SGD$200+ in Singapore!

Resources

• Blog Links
  • Nokia World 2011 – Pre Event
  • Nokia World 2011 – Day 01
  • Nokia World 2011 – Day 02
  • Nokia World 2011 – Post Event (This Post)
• Flickr Gallery Links
  • Nokia World 2011 – Pre Event
  • Nokia World 2011 – Day 01
  • Nokia World 2011 – Day 02
  • Nokia World 2011 – Post Event
• Youtube Video Links
  • Nokia World 2011 Opening Video
  • Nokia Lumia 800 Advertisement #1 @ Nokia World 2011
  • Nokia Lumia 800 Advertisement #2 @ Nokia World 2011
  • Nokia Kinetic Device Demo #1 @ Nokia World 2011
  • Nokia Kinetic Device Demo #2 @ Nokia World 2011
  • Nokia Nano Magic @ Nokia World 2011
• Nokia World 2011 Products Data Sheets
  • Nokia Asha 200
  • Nokia Asha 201
  • Nokia Asha 300
  • Nokia Asha 303
  • Nokia Lumia 710
  • Nokia Lumia 800
  • Nokia Purity Stereo Headset (In-Ear)
  • Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset (Over-Ear)
• Nokia World 2011 Products Pricing & Availability
  • Nokia Asha 300 – €85 (SGD$148.60) – 4th Quarter 2011
  • Nokia Asha 200 – €60 (SGD$104.90) – 4th Quarter 2011
  • Nokia Asha 201 – €60 (SGD$104.90) – 1st Quarter 2012
  • Nokia Asha 303 – €115 (SGD$201) – 4th Quarter 2011
  • Nokia Lumia 800 – €420 (SGD$734.20) – * See Below
  • Nokia Lumia 710 – €270 (SGD$472) – * See Below
  • Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset – €99 (SGD$173) – * See Below
  • Nokia Purity Stereo Headset – €199 (SGD$347.90) – * See Below
  • * Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset and Nokia Purity Stereo Headset will be available in November 2011 for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, December 2011 for Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan and early 2012 for the remaining countries.
• 20 Bloggers From Nokia Connect
  1. Lain – doitdifferent.wordpress.com – @the_accidental
  2. Jon – pocketgamer.co.uk – @pgbiz
  3. Lester – lesterchan.net – @gamerz
  4. Edward – nokiamobileblog.com – @mobile_ed
  5. Sursur – wmpoweruser.com – @wmpoweruser
  6. Jay – mynokiablog.com – @jaymontano
  7. Dani – dani2xll.com – @dani2xll
  8. Joao – nokia-news.com – @joaoluisc
  9. Stefanos – pestaola.gr – @titanas
  10. Michael – thoughtsfromhell.net – @michaelxhell
  11. Varun – fonearena.com – @varunkrish
  12. Arun – nokiasaga.com – @arun8gb
  13. Aditya – worldofphones.net – @adityasinghvi
  14. Vaibhav – thehandheldblog.com – @v4ibhav
  15. Vinu – myportableworld.com – @vinuthomas
  16. Clinton Jeff – zomgitscj.com – @clintonjeff
  17. Siraj – lovemynokia.com – @sirajsoft
  18. Dominique – nokiablog.ch – @nokiablogch
  19. James – tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs – @jpr7373
  20. Sara – getpalmd.com – @getpalmd
• Useful Links
  • Nokia
  • Nokia Connects
  • Nokia World

I would like to thank Mala (Nokia), Katie (Nokia Connect), Meg (Nokia Connect) and the rest of the 1000heads team for the awesome, super awesome hospitality! Thanks for making my first visit to London an enjoyable and memorable one! THANK YOU GIRLS!

Colin Giles

Since this is the second and last day of Nokia World 2011 and nothing new will be announced, the crowd was a little lesser and we are able to take more pictures of the product and hence this post has more pictures than words!

The first booth I went to is to see the Nokia N9 in White, the phone is beautiful! It is finished in glossy white instead of the normal Nokia N9 which has a matte finishing.

Nokia N9 White (Front)

Nokia N9 White (Back)

The Nokia N9 White will be priced the same as the regular Nokia N9 and it will be available in both 16GB and 64GB variant and it should be released sometime in December 2011.

Headed up to the 2nd level to take a tour of the revamped physical Nokia Store for the promotion of the Nokia Lumia 800.

This will be the glass display you will be seeing in official Nokia Stores all over the world.

Glass Display

It’s literally bring your focus from the window all the way to the phone.

Focusing On Nokia Lumia 800

Just beside it, is the Nokia’s Future Lounge, where Nokia showcase some cool prototypes like flexible display screens, 3D positioning, nano water repellent technology, NFC gates, etc.

Nokia’s Future Lounge

The flexible display screen is known as Nokia Kinetic Device. You twist the side of the screen backward to scroll up, twist it forward to scroll down, bend it backward to go back and bend it forward to make a selection. Take a look at 2 of the videos I have taken as a demo.

Nokia Kinetic Device

Nokia Nano Magic is a coating that you can apply to your mobile phones to make it water repellent. When in contact with water, the water droplet will not spread instead the coating makes the water droplet stay together and hence it can just flow off the surface. Take a look at the demo video below which I have took.

Nokia Nano Magic

Went back down to take more photos of the announced phones and it’s accessories. Below are some highlights from the gallery!

Nokia Asha 200 & Nokia Asha 303 Display

Nokia Asha 201 Display

Nokia Asha 300 Display

Nokia Asha 200

Nokia Asha 201

Casing For Nokia Asha 200/201

Nokia Asha 303

Casing For Nokia Asha 303

Angry Birds Pouch To Go With Nokia Asha 303

Nokia Asha 300

Casing For Nokia Asha 300

Feminine Pouch For Nokia Asha 300

And of course the highlight of the whole show is the 2 new Nokia Windows Phone 7 handsets.

Nokia Lumia 800 Display

Nokia Lumia 710 Display

I Like The Blue Nokia Lumia 800!

Back Plate For Nokia Lumia 800

Casing For Nokia Lumia 800

The White Nokia Lumia 710 Looks Good As Well

Interchangeable Back Cover For Nokia Lumia 710

3 Additional Covers To Choose From (Excluding White & Black)

Rubber Cover For Nokia Lumia 710

They Even Have Angry Birds Cover For The Nokia Lumia 710

Nokia Lumia 800 Floor Art

I had took quite a lot of photos of the products, too many to put them inline in this post, so check out the embedded gallery below or visit this Flickr Gallery link!

Data Sheets
I have uploaded the official data sheets for all the products announced during Nokia World 2011. They are in PDF format.

• Nokia Asha 200
• Nokia Asha 201
• Nokia Asha 300
• Nokia Asha 303
• Nokia Lumia 710
• Nokia Lumia 800
• Nokia Purity Stereo Headset (In-Ear)
• Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset (Over-Ear)

I left the place at about 4pm and headed back to the hotel for rest before joining the rest of the bloggers back at 6pm for a open-top bus tour around London!

Open Top Bus Tour Around London

Dinner was at Altitude 360 which has a gorgeous view of London at night and it is a 3-course dinner!

View Of London From Altitude 360

Starter: Cured Beef Fillet

Main: Roast Chicken

Dessert: Rich Chocolate Tart

Stay tuned for my last blog post for Nokia World 2011 which is the post event where we took the London Eye and went for a river cruise along River Thames!

Western Breakfast

@malathy From Nokia Giving A Briefing

ExCeL London

We reached there just in time for the keynote and boy it is crowded!

The Crowd

We were told to take our seats and shortly after the Nokia World 2011 opening video is played.

The screen projection is just fantastic, it is huge and spectacular, wonder how much money is spent just on the screen alone.

We all had problems connecting to the wireless network which I heard from the bloggers, the same thing happened at the previous Nokia World, and this time round, Nokia spent even more money to ensure that the wireless network works, but apparently it still does not work. The poor access point just got hammered like nobody business. I guess professional bloggers like Engadget relies on 3G instead, but the 3G signal inside the hall wasn’t that great either as I guess the base station is overloaded as well.

Colin Giles, Executive Vice President of Sales was up on stage first to give the welcome speech followed by Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia.

Blanca Juti, Vice President of Mobile Phones Marketing took the stage after and that is where the real deal starts. She introduces 4 new phones to the new Asha family.

The name Asha is derived from Hindi – meaning ‘hope’ and Asha signifies Nokia’s focus on positive user experiences and connecting millions of people to new opportunities that help them reach their aspirations.

Nokia Asha 300 – Touch Screen & Keypad

Nokia Asha 300 Press Release Snippet

The beautifully designed Nokia Asha 300 is a touch device which also offers the convenience of a keypad. The Nokia Asha 300 has a powerful 1GHz processor and 3G to deliver a faster Internet and social networking experience. The Nokia Browser allows for fast, affordable and localized Internet access by compressing web pages by up to 90%.

Users have fast access to messaging, email and instant messaging from the home screen and can swipe to access apps, music or games from the Nokia Store. The Nokia Asha 300 also arrives preloaded with the popular Angry Birds Lite game.

The Nokia Asha 300 comes with a 5 megapixel camera, a music player, FM radio, Bluetooth connectivity and can handle memory cards up to 32GB. The price will vary by market and operator. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Asha 300 will be approximately 85 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies. It is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Nokia Asha 200 – Dual SIM & QWERTY Keyboard

Nokia Asha 200 Press Release Snippet

The Nokia Asha 200 is Nokia’s latest dual SIM phone with Easy Swap functionality, allowing consumers to easily change their second SIM without switching the device off.

It is a fun and colorful QWERTY phone designed to meet the needs of young, urban consumers who want to constantly stay in touch. The Nokia Asha 200 features integrated social networking, email and IM, adding RenRen, Orkut and Flickr support. Nokia Asha 200 makes it possible to carry thousands of songs with support for 32 GB memory cards and providing a battery for an amazing 52-hour playback time. The price will vary by market and operator. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Asha 200 will be approximately 60 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies. It is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Nokia Asha 201 – Live Status Updates & QWERTY Keyboard

Nokia Asha 201 Press Release Snippet

The single SIM version of the Nokia Asha 200, the Nokia Asha 201 is ideal for young consumers who wish to stay socially connected, are price conscious and like listening to music. The Nokia Asha 201 has great music features including a high performing loudspeaker, enhanced stereo FM radio and ringtone tuning. With the Nokia Browser you get even faster, even better and more affordable access to the Internet. It supports up to 32 GB memory cards and provides a battery for 52 hours of music playback time. The Nokia Asha 201 also supports push email as well as the popular Whatsapp messaging app. The price will vary by market and operator. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Asha 201 will be approximately 60 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies. It is expected to start shipping in the first quarter of 2012.

Nokia Asha 303 – QWERTY Keyboard & 2.6″ Touch Screen

Nokia Asha 303 Press Release Snippet

The Nokia Asha 303 is a stunning phone designed with sophisticated materials and metallic finishes. It combines a large 2.6” capacitive touch screen with a high quality QWERTY keypad. The Nokia Asha 303 is built with Internet and social networks ease in mind.

The device harnesses a powerful 1Ghz engine, 3G and WLAN to deliver a fast Internet experience. Social networks, email and IM are at the center of the experience, easily accessible from the homescreen. The Nokia Asha 303 is powered by the cloud-based Nokia Browser, which by compressing the web by up to 90%, provides higher speeds and a more affordable access to the Internet.

Entertainment and applications are also a core part of the Nokia Asha 303 offering. Angry Birds Lite, the popular mobile game, comes preinstalled, together with support for other globally relevant applications such as Facebook Chat, Whatsapp messaging and the latest release of Nokia Maps for Series 40 (in selected markets). The price will vary from market to market and operator to operator. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Asha 303 will be approximately 115 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies. It is expected to start shipping in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Stephen Elop was back on stage and pictures of the Nokia Lumia 800 was at the background and everyone was taking out their cameras/phones to take pictures and the race is on to be the first one to tweet about it.

Nokia Lumia 800 Teaser

Stephen Elop introduces Kevin Shields, Senior Vice President of Program & Product Management for the Smart Device up on stage.

Kevin Shields With A Long Title

And the Nokia Lumia 800 was announced!

Nokia Lumia 800

Nokia Lumia 800 Press Release Snippet

The stunningly social Nokia Lumia 800 features head-turning design, vivid colors (cyan, magenta and black) and the best social and Internet performance, with one-touch social network access, easy grouping of contacts, integrated communication threads and Internet Explorer 9. It features a 3.7 inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display blending seamlessly into the reduced body design, and a 1.4 GHz processor with hardware acceleration and a graphics processor. The Nokia Lumia 800 contains an instant-share camera experience based on leading Carl Zeiss optics, HD video playback, 16GB of internal user memory and 25GB of free SkyDrive storage for storing images and music. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Lumia 800 will be approximately 420 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies.

They are not done with just 1 Windows Phone device, Nokia Lumia 710 is announced next!

Nokia Lumia 710

Nokia Lumia 710 Press Release Snippet

The purposely built, no-nonsense Nokia Lumia 710 can be personalized with exchangeable back covers and thousands of apps to bring the Lumia experience to more people around the world. The Nokia Lumia 710 is designed for instant social & image sharing, and the best browsing experience with IE9. It is available in black and white with black, white, cyan, fuchsia and yellow back covers. With the same 1.4 GHz processor, hardware acceleration and graphics processor as the Nokia Lumia 800, the Nokia Lumia 710 delivers high performance at an affordable price. The estimated retail price for the Nokia Lumia 710 will be approximately 270 EUR, excluding taxes and subsidies.

Nokia differentiate itself with the rest of the Windows Phone 7 makers by having exclusive apps like the Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps, Nokia Music and ESPN. I love the Nokia Drive app, it is a free voice-guided turn-by-turn GPS navigation app and it allows you to preload any supported countries map into it as well.

I am not a big fan of sports, but I guess if you are, the ESPN app is suitable for you. It supports Windows Phone 7.5 Mango deep pining feature that allows you to keep track of your favorite teams in various sports right in your home screen via Live Tiles.

Nokia Drive

ESPN App

Nokia Exclusive Apps Press Release Snippet

Both smartphones include signature Nokia experiences optimized for Windows Phone, including Nokia Drive, which delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car-user-interface; and Nokia Music introducing MixRadio, a free, global, mobile music-streaming application that delivers hundreds of channels of locally-relevant music. In an update delivered later this year, Nokia Lumia users will also gain the ability to create personalized channels from a global catalogue of millions of tracks. Also integrated in Nokia Music is Gigfinder, providing the ability to search for live local music for a complete end-to-end music experience, as well as the ability to share discoveries on social networks and buy concert tickets also coming in the Nokia Music software update delivered later this year.

World Premiere Of The Nokia Lumia 800 Advertisement

Nokia announced their partnership with Monster to produce Nokia line of headsets, the on-ear Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset and the in-ear Nokia Purity Stereo Headset.

Nokia & Monster Partnership

Nokia Headset Made By Monster Release Snippet

Completing the ultimate mobile audio offering, Nokia also introduced the on-ear Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster and the in-ear Nokia Purity Stereo Headset by Monster, co-designed and co-developed by Monster, a recognized leader in high performance audio. Both products provide a fresh listening experience and are the first output of the exclusive long-term partnership between Nokia and Monster, intended to introduce a range of premium audio accessories to reflect the outstanding quality and bold style of the Lumia range.

Once nice touch by Nokia is when they announced the shipping date of the Nokia Lumia 800, they showed a live feed to one of the factory packing and getting ready the Nokia Lumia 800 for shipment! I thought that was pretty cool. And that means that Nokia Lumia 800 will be available before year’s end!

Live Feed

Stephen Elop Is Back On Stage To Wrap Things Up

Nokia World 2011: New Now

And that is the end of the opening keynote! After that we are being invited to the Experience Area which is just opposite to play with the devices.

Experience Area

It Is So Crowded

The experience area was crowded, can’t really take proper pictures without people behind you pressurizing you to hurry up (in a silent manner). The food catered was pretty good, it is unlike Singaporean style buffet where you help yourself with the food. For this, you take an empty plate and walk past the food and the server will put the food on your plate and that is exactly what they do in army cookhouse! Surprising the queue was not long despite a huge crowd and only 2 dinning areas. I guess people are more interested in the products than lunch, which is a good thing!

They have cans of Pepsi, Fanta, and some other soft drinks for you to take from the fridge. They also have an area for proper coffee like americano, espresso, latte, and even smoothie! The Optimsim Smoothie is awesome!

Smoothie Menu

After lunch, we gathered in a room where they loan us the Nokia Lumia 800 for the remaining 2-3 days to play with and they even got us a prepaid MicroSIM card so we can use it on the go! Thumbs up for that!

Nokia Lumia 800 Box

O2 Prepaid MicroSIM

Something not many people are aware, Nokia also announces Nokia Pulse, I think of it as a mash up between Yammer and Google Plus. Yammer for the closed network and Google Plus for the sharing of content with this close network.

Here is the official statement of it:

Nokia Pulse brings your everyday conversations to life by automatically tagging photos and updates with your location.

Every conversation, from pickups and drop-offs to meet-ups, is as instant, private, and simple as sending a text, but far more useful and engaging. Nokia Pulse is integrated with Maps, so finding people nearby, discovering new places, and getting directions is a snap.

Nokia Pulse App will be available on Windows Phone 7, Symbian and Series 40. It is also available on mobile web as well on the web, check out pulse.nokia.com.

We left the conference about 6pm and headed back to the hotel for some rest before going back to ExCeL London again for the Nokia Party at 7pm!

Pricing & Availability Of The Announced Products

• Nokia Asha 300 – €85 (SGD$148.60) – 4th Quarter 2011
• Nokia Asha 200 – €60 (SGD$104.90) – 4th Quarter 2011
• Nokia Asha 201 – €60 (SGD$104.90) – 1st Quarter 2012
• Nokia Asha 303 – €115 (SGD$201) – 4th Quarter 2011
• Nokia Lumia 800 – €420 (SGD$734.20) – See Below
• Nokia Lumia 710 – €270 (SGD$472) – See Below
• Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset – €99 (SGD$173) – See Below
• Nokia Purity Stereo Headset – €199 (SGD$347.90) – See Below

Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset and Nokia Purity Stereo Headset will be available in November 2011 for France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, December 2011 for Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan and early 2012 for the remaining countries.

Stay tuned for the next blog post for Nokia World 2011 – Day 02, where I will cover the ground of the Experience area!

I flew by British Airways (BA012). It is the longest flight I ever taken (13 hours) and I will get to experience jet lag due to the 7 hours time difference in London. My flight departs Singapore at 10.50pm and I arrived at London at 5.05am. I was lucky that the flight I am on was pretty empty so I manage to occupy 4 seats, lifted the armrest and sleep horizontally!

It took me about 90 minutes to get to my hotel, Premier Inn at London Docklands (Excel), from Heathrow Airport despite it being 5am in the morning as there are already some traffic!

Upon entering my room after checking-in, there are 4 little surprises already in my room! That was very thoughtful!

Tibits Basket

Blue Rubber Duckie

Sketch Of Me

Nokia Bag

The pre-event dinner will start at 5pm and I got almost 8 hours to explore the shopping/sightseeing area in London. Without wasting any time, I took a shower and left immediately. I did not have the hotel’s breakfast because I figured I am going to have the same breakfast for the next 3 days. My hotel is about 5 mins walk away from the Prince Regent DLR station.

The first time I saw the tube map of London, I was like WTF! Which station I am in now. I was so overwhelmed by it, but eventually I managed to digest the information.

London’s Tube Map

I headed for Oxford Circus station as I heard it is like the Orchard Road in Singapore. Surprising at almost 9am, most of the shops are already open for business.

Saw many adverts of the new breakfast (Breakfast Wrap) from McDonald’s all over London and decided to give it a try. It tastes pretty good and it looks exactly the same as advertised!

McDonald’s Breakfast Wrap

After breakfast, I walked around the area, I love the buildings in London, they just look gorgeous and most of them are preserved and transformed into shops. The weather is also fantastic, at 10°C – 12°C, it is perfect weather to do shopping!

I came across a public toilet and it seems interesting so I went in and it cost me SGD$1, it’s got to be the most expensive toilet I have ever been to! And it is totally not worth it! The toilet bowl is choked and the water tap is spoiled! I was like WTF!

Public Toilet

I walked all the way to London Eye from Oxford Circus, passing by some very nice buildings/shops.

Nike Town

Apple Store At Regent Street

M&M’s World

The National Gallery

Crumpler EU

After about an hour walk or so, I finally reached the London Eye! There are quite a few people busking on the walkway leading to the London Eye. The London Eye looks smaller than what it looks on the pictures and the queue is insanely long!

Queue At London Eye

It also seems that the Aquarium located just beside the London Eye is insanely popular as well judging from the queue.

Aquarium

Close by to the London Eye was the iconic Palace of Westminster and beside it was the Clock Tower which the world knows it by it’s bell name, Big Ben.

Palace of Westminster

Big Ben

My leg is aching from all those walk, and I decided to head back to hotel for a rest before dinner with the rest of bloggers and Nokia Connect people at Waterloo Bar & Grill. Food there was awesome!

Starter: Hot Smoked Salmon with Pea Puree & Potato Bread

Main: 6oz Bavette Steak with Rosti Potato & Creamed Spinach

Dessert: Apple Crumple with Vanilla Ice Cream

After a sumptuous dinner, we went to watch Transformers 3: Revenge of the Fallen in 3D at IMAX! This is the first true IMAX cinema that I have been too and it was huge, freaking huge. Transformers 3 is no longer showing, but since Nokia booked the whole cinema, I guess they can choose what film to screen. I also think the reason they chose Transformers 3 is because of the Nokia X7 being used in the movie!

BFI IMAX

Stay tuned for the next blog post for Nokia World 2011 – Day 01!