Nokia announces Nokia N79 today, it will be available in the 1st quarter next year. It will be the first Nseries touch device and the 2nd Nokia touch device after Nokia XpressMusic 5800.

Press Pictures

Nokia N97

Nokia N97

Nokia N97

Technical Profile

• System: WCDMA 900/1900/2100 (HSDPA),EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
• User Interface: S60 5th Edition
• Dimensions: 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm*mm (L x W x H) *18.25 mm at camera area
• Weight: Approx. 150 g
• Display: 3.5 inch TFT with up to 16 million colors, nHD16:9 widescreen (640×360 pixels)
• Battery: Nokia Battery BP-4L, 1500 mAh
• Media
  • Memory: Up to 48GB (32 GB on-board memory, plus 16GB expansion via microSD memory card slot)
  • Video playback: MPEG-4 / SP and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264,up to 30 fps, up to VGA resolution RealVideo up to QCIF @ 30 fps Windows Media (WMV9) up to CIF @ 30 fps
  • Flash Lite 3.0 / Flash Video in internet browser
• Music playback: MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA
• Main Camera
  • Lens: Carl ZeissTessar
  • Image capture: Up to 5 megapixels (2584 x 1938) JPEG/EXIF (16.7 million/24-bit color)
  • Video capture: MPEG-4 VGA (640 x 480) at up to 30 fps
  • Aperture: F2.8
  • Focal length:5.4 mm
  • Flash: Dual LED camera flash and video light

Press Release

Desktop. Laptop. Pocket: The era of the personal Internet dawns with the Nokia N97
December 02, 2008

Tilting touch display, QWERTY keyboard and personalized home screen - a true mobile computer

Barcelona, Spain - Nokia today unveiled the Nokia N97, the world’s most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5″ touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an ‘always open’ window to favorite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia’s flagship Nseries device introduces leading technology - including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds - for people to create a personal Internet and share their ’social location.’

Press Release: Desktop. Laptop. Pocket: The era of the personal Internet dawns with the Nokia N97
Specifications: Nokia N97 Datasheet
Detailed Specifications: Nokia N97 Device Details

It is now 1am Singapore Timing and my NDA has ended. Now it is time for me to talk about Nokia XpressMusic 5800 aka “The Tube”. I was invited by Text 100 (Thank You Supriya!) to the pre-media briefing of the Nokia Remix 2008 at Marina Mandarin. The media pre-briefing is held simultaneously with the Nokia Remix 2008 event in London and hence the weird timing of having it at 9pm last night.

The press release conference will happen later on at 9am and followed by a party at night at 7pm where I will be going with Li Xiang.

There will be 3 parts to this post, I will post the brief details about the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 which is in the PowerPoint presentation (full specifications will be out later), followed by my 1st impressions after playing it and lastly the pictures I taken at the pre-media briefing using my Canon iXUS 860IS.

Nokia XpressMusic 5800 “Tube” Press Shot

Brief Details on Nokia XpressMusic 5800

• Incredible Big Sound experience: High performance built-in stereo surround speakers
• Superb 30fps VGA quality video recording and playback on 3.2″ 16:9 nHD widescreen display (640×360, 16 million colors)
• Great music experience: 8GB MicroSD included, 35 hours playback, FM RDS Radio, OTA Podcasts
• Freedom of choice: 3.5mm audio jack, support for the leading digital music formats (MP3, eAAC+, WMA, M4A)
• Easy to side-load (USB) and download (OTA) using the new Nokia Music PC Client or the new Nokia Music Store user interface
• Key device for “Comes With Music” Service
• Direct Access: One-click media bar for quick and easy access to all your media
• TV-Out
• GPS with A-GPS
• Multiple input methods:
  • Stylus, plectrum, finger
  • Handwriting recognition
  • One-handed portrait usage (ITU-T)
  • Two-handed landscape usage (full QWERTY)
  • Tactile Feedback (vibra)
  • Copy/Paste functionality
• Automatic screen rotation using Accelerometer
• Running on Symbian OS 9.4 S60 5.0 aka S60 5th Edition
• RRP: €279 = SGD$558.20 (before subsidiaries and taxes)
• 3G version to be available in 4th Quarter 2008, GSM850/2G version to be available in 1st Quarter 2009
• Sales Package:
  • Nokia XpressMusic 5800
  • Extra Stylus
  • Stylus Plectrum in Wrist Strip
  • Protective Carrying Case
  • Portable Stand
  • MicroUSB Cable
  • TV-Out Cable
  • Charger
  • 8GB MicroSD Card
  • Battery
  • Stereo Headset with Remote Control
• For the full specifications, check it out here, http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/5800_XpressMusic

1st Impressions

• THICK! Due to the built-in high quality speakers.
• No Multi-Touch. Due to different technology being used.
• Tactile feedback is something innovative and I kinda like it. Beats touching on a normal screen.
• VERY RESPONSIVE. Even though it is just a prototype that I am playing with, it is more responsive than the Apple iPhone and definitely much more than the Samsung Omnia.
• Love the “One-click Media Bar” that can be accessed by pressing the button on top of the screen (NOT phone)
• The main screen will allow you to add 4 favorite contacts where you can see your history calls, SMSes, etc to him. Think of it as Facebook friend feeds.
• I love the multiple inputs that this device can handle ranging from T9 keypad to full QWERTY.
• 3 buttons at the bottom, Call, Menu and End Call respectively.
• I love the sales package, lots of stuffs inside there especially the cool “Stylus Plectrum in Wrist Strip” and the nice looking “Carrying Case”
• The buttons are generally big and easy to press on, accidental press on other buttons have not happen to me yet.
• I would love to see how Nokia can evolve their touch technology next year. Perhaps a new Tseries?
• Symbian S60 5th Edition is used, 4th edition is skipped because Chinese believed that 4 is an unlucky number. S40 OS and S60 3rd Edition will still be maintained.
• Applications and games built for S60 3rd Edition is backward compatible on the S60 OS 5.0 although it may not be optimal because of the screen size.

Exclusive Pictures/Videos

Here is a video of the video playback on the XpressMusic 5800:

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 User Interface:

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 Internet Surfing/Browsing:

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 Gaming:

PS: The video recording is a little blur due to my digital camera focusing. I apologized for that.

Here is a tutorial on how to configure your iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch or iPod Touch (2nd Gen) to connect to NUS Wireless network. We will be using NUS WLAN SSID “NUS” instead of “NUSOPEN”, as “NUS” is protected by PEAP and it is much faster.

Read More (182 More Words, 8 More Images)

T-Mobile announced the world’s first Android-powered phone which is known as the T-Mobile G1 either wise known as HTC Dream.

Here are some brief features from Wikipedia and Gizmodo:

• Qualcomm MSM7201A processor at 528MHz
• 128MB RAM / 256MB ROM
• 1GB MicroSD card preinstalled. Supports up to 8GB MicroSD
• Built-in GPS
• 3.1MP camera (no flash), 2048 × 1536 resolution
• No video recording
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz
• 1150mAh battery (Talktime: 5 hours, Standby Time: 130 hours)
• Touchscreen size is 3.17 inches (81 mm) with HVGA (480 × 320) (65K color)
• 115 mm × 55 mm (4.53 in × 2.17 in), 16 mm (0.63 in) thick
• Internet navigation button controls
• Full QWERTY 5-row keypad that slides away when not in use
• Available in white, black and brown

The T-Mobile G1 will be retailing in the US for USGD$179 and it is tied to T-Mobile similar to how the iPhone is tied to AT&T. By the way, there is no 3.5mm headphone jack in the G1 as it is using the proprietary ExtUSB connector by HTC.

Press Release: The first Android-powered phone
View: T-Mobile G1

Apple has just refreshed its entire iPod lineup during the Apple Event “Let’s Rock” which ended a few minutes ago. The last refresh was on 6th September 2008.

iPod Touch

iPod Touch (2nd Generation)

This is the 2nd generation of iPod Touch which features a stainless steel design, volume control on the side and built-in speakers. It comes preloaded with iPod Touch Firmware 2.1.

• 8GB = USD$229.00 / SGD$388
• 16GB = USD$299.00 / SGD$498
• 32GB = USD$399.00 / SGD$648
• View iPod Touch
• View iPod Touch Specification

iPod Nano

iPod Nano (4th Generation)

This is the 4th generation iPod Nano which goes back to the good old days of the tall iPod Nano. The 3rd generation iPod Nano is fat but now the 4th generation iPod Nano has lost some weight and grew taller. Now it has 9 colors for you to choose from. Not forgetting that now it comes packed with the built-in accelerometer and note the new curved aluminum and glass design.

• 8GB = USD$149.00 / SGD$248
• 16GB = USD$199.00 / SGD$328
• View iPod Nano
• View iPod Nano Specification

iPod Classic

iPod Classic (6th Generation)

The iPod Classic has not much changes, the 80GB (thinner one) has been bumped up to 120GB and the 160GB (thicker one) has been phrased out. The color option still remain the same, silver and black.

• 120GB = USD$249 / SGD$398
• View iPod Classic
• View iPod Classic Specification

iPod Shuffle

iPod Shuffle (2nd Generation)

Nothing much have changed except for the colors. The colors are now brighter as compared to its previous color.

• 1GB = USD$49.00 / SGD$78
• 2GB = USD$69.00 / SGD$108
• View iPod Shuffle
• View iPod Shuffle Specification

I think this Apple Event has the most accurate leaked news ever.

Nokia today held a media event at House @ 8D Dempsey Road at 2pm to officially announced the launch of Nokia N79, N85 and N96. Unfortunately I have to attend my first tutorial, if not I will definitely attend the event.

Basically Nokia N79 is the successor or Nokia N78 and Nokia N85 is the successor of Nokia N81 as well as Nokia N81 8GB. You can also say that the Nokia N96 is the successor of Nokia N95 8GB, but personally I think it is own rather than successor of anything.

Read More (727 More Words, 7 More Images)

3 New Voice + Data Plans

• iFlexi Value - SGD$56
  • 1 GB Data *
  • 200 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: SGD$348
  • iPhone 16GB Price: SGD$508
• iFlexi Plus - SGD$95
  • 2 GB Data *
  • 500 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: SGD$49
  • iPhone 16GB Price: SGD$208
• iFlexi Premium - SGD$205
  • 3 GB Data *
  • 1500 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 1500 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: Free
  • iPhone 16GB Price: Free

Note

• * Only for customers who connect/recontract to an iFlexi plan before 5th Sep 2008.
• These plans also come with 5 value added services free (Caller ID, AutoRoam, VoiceMail, SMS Plus and Overseas Missed Call Alert).
• Taken from: Singtel iFlexi Price Plans.
• Prices stated are including 7% GST.

Voice Only Plans

• iOne Plus - SGD$25.68
  • No Data *
  • 100 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: SGD$698
  • iPhone 16GB Price: SGD$848
• iTwo Value - SGD$48.15
  • No Data *
  • 300 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: SGD$348
  • iPhone 16GB Price: SGD$508
• iTwo Plus - SGD$82.93
  • No Data *
  • 700 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 500 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: SGD$49
  • iPhone 16GB Price: SGD$208
• iThree Plus - SGD$192.60
  • No Data *
  • 2000 Mins Outgoing Voice
  • 2000 SMS
  • iPhone 8GB Price: Free
  • iPhone 16GB Price: Free

Data Only Plans

• Broadband on Mobile Lite - SGD$3.21
  • Download Speed: 3.6Mbps
  • Upload Speed: 384kbps
  • Free Local Bundled Usage: 2 MB
• Broadband on Mobile Value - SGD$10.70
  • Download Speed: 3.6Mbps
  • Upload Speed: 384kbps
  • Free Local Bundled Usage: 10 MB
• Broadband on Mobile Plus - SGD$19.90 (New)
  • Download Speed: 3.6Mbps
  • Upload Speed: 384kbps
  • Free Local Bundled Usage: 500 MB
• Broadband on Mobile 1000 - SGD$22.42
  • Download Speed: 1Mbps
  • Upload Speed: 384kbps
  • Free Local Bundled Usage: 50 GB
• Broadband on Mobile 2000 - SGD$34.85
  • Download Speed: 2Mbps
  • Upload Speed: 384kbps
  • Free Local Bundled Usage: 50 GB
• Broadband on Mobile 3600 - SGD$62.37
  • Download Speed: 3.6Mbps
  • Upload Speed: 384kbps
  • Free Local Bundled Usage: 50 GB

Note

• * It is recommended to have Broadband on Mobile data plan to go along with the Voice Only plan.
• These plans also come with 4 value added services free (Caller ID, AutoRoam, VoiceMail and Overseas Missed Call Alert).
• Taken from: Singtel Existing Voice Only Price Plans.
• Prices stated are including 7% GST.

Links

• View Singtel Broadband on Mobile price plans
• View Singtel Postpaid Mobile price plans
• View Singtel iPhone price plans
• Credit to leinad of HWZ
• Discussion at Hardware Zone Forums

*UPDATE* Singtel officially announced the price in http://home.singtel.com/singtel/index.html. I have updated this blog post to reflect it.

*UPDATE 2* Personally, I am going for the iTwo Value (SGD$48.15) + Broadband on Mobile 1000 (SGD$22.42) = SGD$70.57. My current M1 monthly bill is also about SGD$60+.

SINGAPORE Telecommunications will start selling Apple third-generation iPhone in Singapore on Aug 22, the company said on Tuesday.

SingTel’s CEO for Singapore, Mr Allen Lew said that ‘there are ‘tens of thousands’ on its reservation lists’, and those who registered online will get priority for the iPhones.

Online reservation is open until Aug 17. Mr Lew said SingTel will release the price of the iPhone later.

SingTel on Monday said its regional mobile user base was up 45 per cent to almost US$198 million (S$280 million). in the second quarter against a year earlier.

India led the way as SingTel’s mobile associate Bharti added a record 7.4 million new users to bring its total mobile base to 69.38 million at the end of June, the Singapore telecom carrier said in a statement.

Bharti, the largest GSM operator in India, makes up 35 per cent of SingTel’s mobile base in the Asia-Pacific.

SingTel, the largest telecom firm in South-east Asia, holds a 30.44 per cent stake in Bharti as well as stakes in other mobile firms in the region.

For SingTel’s other associates, mobile users at Indonesia’s Telkomsel rose by 1.11 million during the June quarter to 52.44 million and Thailand’s AIS subscribers increased by over 877,000 to 25.96 million.

SingTel’s wholly owned Australian unit Optus added 101,000 users during the quarter to 7.24 million while in Singapore, its mobile subscribers grew 182,000 to 2.75 million.

Source: Straits Times: iPhone on sale from Aug 22

Singtel Email: It’s coming on 22 August 2008!

Singtel Email: iPhone 3G NEWS from SingTel

It is Friday, 11th July 2008 in Singapore (GMT+8). The iPhone 3G has been released in New Zealand as well as Australia and more countries are coming up next due to different time zone.

While in Singapore, there are rumors that the iPhone 3G will be released later instead of in September 2008. I highly doubt this rumor is true. If you read the whole thread, there is also another rumor saying that iPhone 3G will be released on 11th August 2008, exactly 1 month after the iPhone 3G is released in the US.

There is now an iTunes store in Singapore but there are only apps for you to purchase, no music or videos are seen in the store. You can choose Singapore under “My Country” which is located right at the bottom of the iTunes Store page. I have just created my iTunes Singapore account, you need a credit card and a Singapore address.

Now I am waiting for the iPod Touch Firmware 2.0 which I have to pay USD$9.90 for it. Apple seriously always screws early adopters and a perfect example of it is those iPod Touch users who paid USD$19.90 for the January 2008 App Pack and now they will have to pay USD$9.90 for the 2.0 firmware. And to make matter worst, the January 2008 App Pack is included in the firmware 2.0.

This article is dated 4 days ago and posted on Nokia Conversations.

Here is an excerpt of it:

ESPOO, Finland - There is no doubt, now that the product has been launched officially, that the Nokia E71 takes the crown as the most leaked product I have ever known at Nokia. And, with such distinction in mind, now is a good time to discuss product leaks, their impact, and hopefully get a discussion going that benefits all of us.

I don’t want to turn this article into a whining-fest, nor point blame at someone. The whole history of some product leaks in the past few months is a mixture of dumb moves, broken NDAs, maybe some thievery, and possibly someone with best wishes.

I’ve written about this on my internal company site, and it generated lots of comments. It was interesting to see that the comments I got pretty much reflected my own feelings about the subject. Indeed, I give Nokia the benefit of the doubt and stick to the company line: we do not discuss products that are not officially launched publicly.

Read the full article: Product leaks just lead to trouble & headaches for all