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In what is probably a tech industry faux-pass, Nokia has indirectly placed the Symbian^3 OS on the side and is putting more focus on the upcoming MeeGo OS as well as the possibility of the eventual launch of the Symbian^4.

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.

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With all of the details being released about the N9, the most interesting fact that is being left out is the device’s actual name and designation. Aside from that, we can all tell at this point that this is going to be one Symbian^3 smart phone to look out for.

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.

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The Symbian^3 is getting several Nokia handsets as leaks of a new smart phone from the Finnish phone maker reveal what might be the very first confirmed images of the new Nokia C7-00 smart phone. The handset is a pretty simple looking touch screen device and in terms of overall features, it still fits with the standards for a straightforward high end smart phone.

The CPU for this handset has not been revealed, but it would not be surprising to find a 1GHz CPU running in the core of the handset and also many are hoping that the Symbian^4 OS comes out soon –which would be a great fit for the C7-00.

The 8 mega pixel camera provides autofocus and dual LED flash which many camera enthusiasts would certainly love. Thanks to the support for micro SD cards, the data storage for this handset will not be much of an issue.

The 3.5 inch TFT touch screen display would have been pretty okay, but the fact that it uses a resistive touch screen is a definite turn off for many who are hoping for a more modern touch screen experience. While the stylus controls are more accurate, they require the use of an accessory that can be easily lost, and this also means that gestures such as pinching would not be supported in the function –making it a less desirable feature on the handset.

Aside from the usual tech specs, little else is known about the C7-00 –especially what sets it apart from the other devices available already in the market. It has been confirmed that the handset does support Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, GPRS/EDGE and of course 3G networks. The device will also work great handling media content such as videos and music as well as Office document files (such as Word and Excel).

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It may seem like a gimmicky device, but the X5-01 is as impressive as it is quirky. Sure, the square form factor takes a little while to get used to, and the loud colors obviously target the more hip and happening crowd –as opposed to the more somber, serious tones of other smart phones. But in terms of features and specs, the X5-01 is a great phone to have.

Made for the fun loving crowd that still wants quality handsets, the X5-01 brings together reliable smart phone commodities with new intuitive gesture controls to help make the music listening experience a whole lot better –spin the device around and it will skip to a random track on your playlist. There is both fun and functionality in this device, which makes it one device that you should not fail to check out.

So, speaking of the handset’s features, this new Nokia music phone comes in a variety of colors: azure, purple, yellow green, pink, graphite black are among the confirmed selections, but we would not be surprised if Nokia adds more choices to the list. The slide out QWERTY keyboard makes the thickness worth it as typing on the buttons feels quite natural and almost on the same level of efficiency as a BlackBerry device.

Nokia’s Symbian^3 operating system brings plenty of functions, features and of course, app support from the Ovi store. Sadly, the device lacks GPS support so it cannot make use of the free Ovi maps features (nor will it allow you to log into foursquare –which is a very important feature for this device’s target market).

As a music phone, the X5-01 delivers. The 2.3 inch TFT display provides users with a clear view of current track and the playlist, and the controls are easy to fiddle around with. The audio quality of the loudspeaker is quite clear and the device’s 3.5mm audio jack lets users have their own choice of headsets.

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It seems that the leaks have skipped a phone. Recent images of the Nokia C7 smart phone have made it to the internet –completely skipping the C5.

As you might have heard, Nokia’s early C series devices starting from the C1 all the way to the C3 have already been officially announced. The impressive handsets range from standard candy bar mobile phones to a sleek portrait keyboard bearing handset. Now, a fully dedicated smart phone has been introduced to the C series, the Nokia C7.

At first glance, you might mistake this device for an earlier Motorola Android handset (it looks a lot like the old XT 800). Sadly, the device is packing only the Symbian S60 5th instead of the Symbian^3, so if you are picky about what operating system to have, you might want to pass this up (unless you are a Symbian/Ovi fan that is).

Overall, it is a pretty impressive little handset for its size and tech range. As stated, it looks a lot like the XT 800 which means that you get that same super-flat phone face and the extra shiny screen border. The ends of the devices curve out giving it a very rounded look while the dark gray body gives if a sense of weight.

Nokia has yet to detail the specific features of this handset, but we do expect the device to come complete with support for standard WAP and HTML websites (hopefully the Opera Mini browser which has been making its way as a staple for many Symbian handsets), decent media playback capabilities (support for the usual files, MP3, AAC, WAV, MP4, WMV and maybe even H.264 video).

With most of the other Nokia C series handsets coming out this year, we can probably expect the C7 to start showing up sometime during the third quarter of 2010.

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There is always room for green engineering and no one in the mobile phone industry knows this better than Nokia. They have been heralded as the greenest electronics company in the world and it shows; their processing facilities and products all follow strict rules regarding the use of eco-friendly products and better designs to help conserve energy and fuel.

Now, it seems that the Finnish phone manufacturer has finally managed to create a mobile phone charger that is fully green –thanks to pedal power. Bike enthusiasts will certainly enjoy knowing that Nokia has finally perfected their bike charging device and is starting to ship it to various countries all over the world.

Sadly, the UK is not on the initial list as Nokia is reportedly targeting counties where the use of a bike is considered to be a primary form of transportation. While this will certainly disappoint some folks, one can easily order the device online and have it shipped (for a reasonable cost).

The whole setup is easy to work with. Users will simply have to connect a dynamo to a bicycle’s wheel. This dynamo charges the energy from the wheel’s movement and uses it to create electricity. The result is an impressive charging ability that will provide users with about 23 minutes of talk time just from 10 minutes of biking (at a speed of 6 MPH).

Even if you do not use a bike to travel around, this technology will certainly do wonders even with a stationary bicycle at home –though one would have to do some pretty ingenious modifications to the dynamo as exercise bikes have no wheels to latch on to.

The price is estimated to be somewhere just above a dozen Quid –which makes the whole setup so much more enticing to have. Expect to see this gadget and variations of it to see more practical applications in the later weeks.

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For mobile phone users who need a quick secondary handset for basic calling and texting functions, Nokia has just released a second version of the 5233 handset that comes without the 3G and GPS functions. Of course, for a primary handset, this device will only be useful for people who have little use of a mobile phone, otherwise, it really only serves as a reliable but fancy backup handset.

Virgin Mobile has confirmed that they are offering the Nokia 5230 Nuron touch screen handset for a bargain cost of only 20 Pounds per month. The 18 month contract will give users about 200 minutes for talk time and unlimited text messages. Overall, it’s a pretty nice deal, and even if you do not get it from an operator, this touch screen device still makes for a pretty nice phone to have around.

The biggest advantage of this touch screen handset is that it actually uses the Symbian OS 9.4 (S60) and this means that users will be able to access most of the features that one would expect from a Symbian smart phone –with the exception of GPS maps and 3G access obviously.

Nokia’s 5230 might fool some people into thinking that it is a smart phone that comes with 3G, GPS and all the trimmings; the device’s 3.2 inch touch screen display gives it an appearance of a mid range smart phone –and it does come quite close, though the use of a stylus on a resistive display might turn off some users who are used to capacitive touch screen technology.

The Nuron also comes with a 2 mega pixel camera (with video recording at 30FPS), a basic ARM CPU clocked at 434 MHz, 70 MB of internal memory (but it supports 16GB SD cards), GPRS, Bluetooth and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

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The new Nokia N8 will be Nokia’s first handset to run on the new Symbian 3 platform. It promises a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash. This means that you will be able to record HD footage on this rather sexy piece of mobile phone. It also comes with an HDMI output meaning you can hook it up to any HD ready TV and watch your footage in high def quality. The N8 comes with 16GB of online storage, but this is expandable via a micro SD slot. If you want to read a more in depth Nokia N8 review, then check out Best Mobile Contracts for more info on this handset that is due to be released later this year. We think it is great, but whether it can overturn the likes of the Desire and the iPhone remains to be seen.

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A facelift was given to Nokia’s Ovi Store and it brought along a few minor changes. Both the desktop and mobile clients got a makeover.

The Store desktop enhancements include a list view for search results and a fail-safe to confirm which device you are looking up content for in order to ensure that you are buying the right apps for the device.

How this works is that if the user is not logged in prior to viewing the content, the page is redirected to a Nokia Mobile Device Selector. This is simpler and more straightforward compared to the carousel-design interface previously implemented. The device option may be changed at any time simply by clicking on the mobile selection link found at the upper right corner of the store.

The mobile update focused on giving more organized app details while browsing the online merchandise. The browser for content and scrolling through sample screens is now streamlined to offer faster browsing

The rating system was increased to five stars instead of three as well. This decision was based on the user experience panels, wherein the result was that the preferred rating system was five stars instead of the existing three. This release also ensures more accurate reviews by giving only those who have already downloaded the app the ability to comment and rate on it. Details such as the time of the post as well as the device used by the reviewer will be included to help users decide better.

There are three goals for the update, according to the official Ovi blog. First, it is to make the store easier to browse and make searching for content simpler. Second, to give more accurate reviews by raising the number of the stars in the rating system and lastly, to provide a more detailed product description to assist their customers on which to buy.

See screens of the update at OnlyGizmos.

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There is a new Nokia smart phone in town and rumor has it that this Symbian^3 handset will be showing off how far the mobile platform has come since its shift to open source.

So far, the biggest piece of news that we have heard regarding the N8-00 is that it will be using a 12 mega pixel camera and that it will be DivX capable. The DivX feature sounds quite the practical addition; with Samsung’s Galaxy S and Wave smart phones already being the first to bring portable HD DivX to users, it makes perfect sense that Nokia’s own video-centric device should also have the same feature.

Anyway, back to the 12 mega pixel snapper, it is said that it will have a Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash (no word about video LED lights) so users can expect to be able to grab some high quality images on this smart phone. For video, it is said that it will be able to record in 720p and the playback can deliver up to 1080p. It has also been reported that the phone has an HDMI port for displaying videos and images on an HDTV or a compatible monitor.

As for the rest of the specs, everyone is still guessing what else Nokia will place in this smart phone. Many are already stating that it will be running on an ARM CPU –some believe that it may also be a new version of the A4 processor.

The Symbian^3 operating system has yet to prove itself, though it seems like Nokia is placing a lot on this smart phone. It was originally said that all the new N-series devices would be using Maemo. For Nokia to move back to Symbian for this phone, it may have plenty of amazing surprises for us to see.

Get to know more about the upcoming Nokia N8-00 at GSM Arena.

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