How does it work? Well, the Finnish company uploads three different designs or attributes and lets community members cast a vote on which particular element they would like to see on a Nokia mobile phone unit. Sounds simple, right? It is. And it does seem to get a lot of consumers buzzing about whatever popular part gets voted in.

This is a way to get consumer feedback on which designs are appealing as compared to others. In recent years, Nokia has not been able to garner bas much attention and support as the Cupertino based Apple and devices carrying the open source operating system, the little green Google Android. Fortunately for them, they have survived by tapping into the smart dumb phone market, releasing nice budget phones that will not make the headlines but will surely give the masses a practical option.

Of course, this does not mean that the Finnish company, which was once at the top of the game, is already happy with their success. According to July’s YouGov Poll, the interest in their brand of handsets has taken a nose dive. To be specific, the interest has gone down a whopping 12 percent.

The concept phone project will hopefully lift this number in the following months. Started in March, the number of design submissions has reached the 72,000 mark already, with winning designs sporting an 8 megapixel snapper (4x optical zoom), unlimited multitasking and a 4-inch capacitive display. The final sketch will be made into a 3D rendered model and will be showcased for all to see in Nokia’s Conversations blog.

The financial reports for Nokia show that sales are actually up compared to last year. Nokia’s devices are still very much in demand, however, prices for mobile phones are going down and the report also showed that despite selling more devices, Nokia actually made less in terms of profits. Since Nokia manufactures large volumes of mid to low end devices, it is not surprising that they are making less money now. Of course, Nokia will eventually be shifting most of its production capabilities to smart phones.

Smart phones such as the Symbian^3 N8 handset which was supposed to come out last April; the device has been delayed and while Nokia says it will be out ‘soon’, no one has yet to give out specific details. Earlier reports hinted at a possible launch next week -though judging from the fact that network operators are only offering pre-registrations for the handset instead of pre-orders, it is possible that the device might not be released until next month.

In the meanwhile, Nokia is ignoring Apple’s recently uploaded video of the N97 Mini which showed symptoms similar to the antenna issue that the iPhone 4 is suffering from. Nokia has already given a public statement regarding Apple’s emergency conference last week and stated that their mobile phones’ antenna technology is both stable and reliable.

Considering that the N97 Mini has already been out for a while and it has not had any complaints about dropped calls, then there is no need for Nokia to make a further statement regarding the issue.

Most recently, a new Nokia concept phone design has been unveiled, the Kinetic. This interesting new smart phone may look a little odd with the slightly bulky lower body (though the rest of the handset is relatively slim). This mass below the device is actually what gives it a special feature: when the handset is laid flat on a table, it will stand upright to inform users of an incoming call, message, alert or any other important phone function.

Designed by Jeremy Innes-Hopkins, the Kinetic is a pretty impressive handset in the way that it makes use of electromagnetic technology to change the way weight is distributed below the handset –which allows the device to turn upright. There is also one other feature to the handset as well: users can give the device a slight nudge, and the phone will gently flop back on the table –this will cancel any alerts or dismiss any incoming calls.

Nokia has also responded to Steve Jobs’ comment that the antenna issue is a challenge to the entire mobile phone industry and that “all phones are equal”. Nokia has stated that their mobile devices do not suffer from the same antenna issues as the iPhone 4. Nokia is not the only mobile phone company to express a similar viewpoint: Motorola has also released a similar statement. Naturally, RIM, Samsung and HTC –whom Apple individually pointed out, have also reacted similarly to the issue.

Lastly, the Nokia N8 is expected to hit UK stores in a matter of days. Vodafone UK announced that the device will be available in the span of a week while T-Mobile UK’s official website is already offering pre-registrations for the Symbian^3 smart phone.

That is what makes the creation of Jeremy Innes-Hopkins so special. It revolutionizes the way we are notified of an incoming call or text message by using an electro magnet which uses the digital signal received with a call or message, causing the mobile device to stand up. What happens is that the unit changes the distribution of its weight and allocates it to its base, allowing the mobile phone to stand on its own.

If the caller is not someone you would want to talk to at that time, you can simply tap the mobile phone down to its initial position and it will automatically cancel the call.

It is not clear how the creative British designer got the idea but at the very least this will allow more discreet message or call notifications. It will also be quite an improvement from the vibrate function’s noisy reverb when placed on top of a desk.

The number of possible uses and advantages outweigh the negatives. For deaf consumers, it must be a dream come true. For those who hate hearing cheesy ring tones or are constantly in meetings, the discreet nature of the alert function will definitely be an advantage.
The only negative is the phone’s bulky shape. Since the actual electro magnet is housed at the bottom of the Nokia Kinetic, it may be too bulky to keep in the pant pocket. But as it is with any novelty concept, this gadget will have a niche market that will surely appreciate its unique features.

If the details are to be followed, it seems that there is little that is different from the older C6 handset and this newer version. The main difference between the two phones is with the camera, but aside from that, it appears that the rest of the hardware configurations and the features are pretty much the same.

The newer Nokia C6-01 has an 8 mega pixel camera and dual LED flash. The older phone uses a lower 5 mega pixel snapper and basic LED flash –the update does seem favorable to any user who is quite picky about their built in digital cameras, but for regular smart phone users, the camera upgrade is not as important.

For those who have already bought a Nokia C6, there is no need to sell the old model and get the C6-01. But anyone who is considering the older Nokia C6 handset might want to check this phone out; and expect the price to be slightly higher too.

The device also comes with a 3.2 inch TFT resistive touch screen display. The 360 x 640 resolution provides users with a decent view of websites and videos, though it is not as responsive as a capacitive touch screen would be. Another nice feature in the device is that it comes with a slide out QWERTY keyboard which is perfect for any user who is not too fond of the virtual onscreen keyboard.

According to an independent study by YouGov, the number of people interested in getting a Nokia handset has gone down by at least 12%. Only 34% of phone buyers are considering getting a Nokia.

While the drop is mostly attributed to Apple’s new iPhone launch, but many also believe that Nokia has failed to keep public interest in their devices by failing to come up with truly innovative handsets in the past few months. With most of Nokia’s mobile phones still concentrating on the low end users, many high end smart phone users pass up Nokia devices in favor of phones from LG, Samsung, HTC and other big name phone manufacturers.

The Espoo based company needs to ramp up its game. Not only is Nokia currently the largest phone manufacturer in the world, they are also the most eco-friendly (with Sony Ericsson ranking in second place) as reported by Greenpeace.

Nokia has previously led the industry by setting new standards for mobile phone makers. Also, the close ties between the Finnish phone maker and the Symbian foundation has led to the creation of several iconic devices as well. Unless they are able to come up with a phone that is truly able to compete with the Android, iOS and Windows Phone 7, Nokia stands to lose plenty of ground in the next generation of smart phones.

This means that the upcoming Nokia N8 which uses the new launched Symbian^3 OS and the Nokia N9 which uses MeeGo which was developed by both Intel and Nokia are going to determine what happens to the company in the next few months.

In the meanwhile, Nokia X6 owners might want to look at the following changes that the update will also bring. The Ovi Store is getting some component specific updates. This includes the Ovi Store itself which will be getting Ovi Music, Ovi Store 1.5.6, Ovi Contacts 1.50.8, and Ovi Sync 2.0. These are mostly optimization updates so users should not expect to see any drastic changes to the user interface.

New apps have also been added into the system as well. A 30 day trial for Shazam has been added along with the Rihanna service launcher. The appshell itself has been improved with better kinetic scrolling (which probably takes out the occasional skipping during the scroll). The Flash player on the X6 is also getting a quick update with Flash Lite 3.1.7x.

The phone’s user interface is getting a slight adjustment with the enabled Slide Lock Key function that will be used in the swipe UI. In the meanwhile, users of Exchange might be happy to know that Mail for Exchange is getting updated to version 2.9.210

The browser is getting a nice improvement with version 7.2. This update not only makes the browser load pages faster, but it also enables gestures like pinch zooming –though some users who have downloaded the patch are claiming that pinch is not enabled.

Eldar Murtazin, journalist from Mobile-Review.com, has written a poor review of the upcoming mobile phone. With his write up along with the photos posted on the review site he writes for, has given the impression that he has in his possession (or has had) one of the Nokia N8 handsets.

Nokia has contacted the journalist but Murtazin has apparently failed to return the prototype unit to the Finnish mobile phone maker. This angered Nokia considerably, since the N8 was meant to be their next flagship device in the NSeries. Now, they have decided to take legal action against the blogger in order to get back what is rightfully theirs.

“We have asked Murtazin for the return of all Nokia property in his possession. As he has declined to reply, we asked the Russian authorities to assist us.”

In response to this, Murtazin criticized the mobile manufacturer phone. He said that Nokia was only trying to get back their device due to the nature of his article. He also denied having sold any information to competitor companies and claims, calling the suggestion “puerile slander”.

The journalist has also clarified that the prototype is not currently in his possession. He was only able to gain access to the prototype due to one of his sources who is neither a Nokia nor mobile phone company employee. Did he mean perhaps that he was able to view the prototype from a production facility insider? If there is anyone who can solve the mystery, it is the authorities.

With that said, Nokia has already confirmed that the N8 smart phone will be the only Symbian^3 handset to be used in their N-series lineup. In the meanwhile, their new MeeGo OS will be the main focus of their high end N-series lineup. With two strong operating systems already available (the Symbian Foundation’s S-series and the Intel-Nokia MeeGo) Nokia is not looking at other operating systems.

This means that die-hard Nokia users will not be seeing any Android smart phones from the Finnish phone manufacturer any time soon –or even in the distant future. Nokia’s support for the Symbian Foundation is a pre-established given in the industry, and even with the development of a proprietary Nokia OS, the Symbian still remains as a primary OS for Nokia’s other phone lineups (such as the X, C and E series of handsets).

As for the Symbian^4 operating system, there is still no news as to when the OS will finally be made. With the Symbian^3 still not yet out, it is unlikely that version 4 will be released this year, though it is rumored that development on the new OS is already underway.

The Symbian OS has been suffering from performance issues –particularly with the major bugs that plagued the Nokia N97. Even established Symbian supporters such as the Guru have acknowledged the situation and are starting to slowly withdraw their support from the OS. The Symbian^3 OS needs to bring back the confidence and trust of users in the platform, and according to Anssi Vanjoki there is plenty to look forward to with the upcoming N8 –for Symbian’s sake, he better be right.

It has already been confirmed pretty early on that the new Nokia handset will be using a well equipped camera for those who love taking high resolution images and videos. The 8 mega pixel snapper will certainly be a welcome feature for amateur photographers while the ability to record videos in 720p will give users plenty of reasons to make use of the HDMI output port on the handset.

The phone has been popping up in a series of rumors and media content online showing off what the handset look likes and the Symbian OS. Recently, the N9 was compared side by side with the HTC EVO 4G and the Apple iPhone 3G. This allowed people to get a quick estimate of the screen size on the Nokia N9 –a nice big 4 inch TFT capacitive touch screen display. It has not been confirmed if the handset will be using other display technology such as AMOLED screen though some sources have hinted that Samsung’s new display technology, the super AMOLED screen might be used in the N9.

In the meanwhile, Nokia is set in the development of the development of the MeeGo operating system which they and Intel have been working on together. The new OS is a combination of the Moblin and Maemo operating systems. Currently, the developer version of MeeGo is already being made available in order to provide the Os with plenty of app support when it launches this coming October.

According to Nokia, the N8 smart phone will be the last Symbian OS based device for the N-series, leaving the N9 with a possible upcoming name change in the future.