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A couple of weeks ago, Nokia announced that it is planning on releasing an Android smart phone. The concept just sits there, and Nokia’s fans seem to be thinking of a move in a different direction than the mobile phone manufacturer.

In a recent community event in the Nokia Conversations Blog site, the Finnish mobile phone maker announced that it will be launching a new smart phone and that the initial decisions will be determined by the public. The specifications have already been voted upon and now, there are three concept designs that people can choose from for the upcoming mobile phone.

There is no doubt that all of the three designs from Nokia are far from just concept sketches, these three carry most of the major hallmarks of a standard Nokia handset. While this is not surprising, it would have been interesting to see a semblance of variety when it comes to mobile phone design. At this point, regardless of which of the handset designs get chosen, the look will still have that ever familiar Nokia atmosphere.

Looking at the preliminary hardware specifications, there is plenty of emphasis on the need for an open source mobile platform that packs unlimited multitasking capabilities. It may seem like a big stretch, but that actually sounds a lot like the Android operating system. Despite the fact that both the Symbian and the Moblin operating systems are open source mobile platforms, the fact that the public seems to be leaning heavily towards Android phones should be a major red flag for Nokia.

Anyway, while it is very unlikely that Nokia will be producing an Android device, we can expect the company to keep pressing the Symbian^3 and the Moblin operating systems further and beyond what people would expect from most of the OS available today.

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It has been quite a week for Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia as sales results have been released, the upcoming Nokia N8 gets delayed once more and the folks at Espoo react to Apple’s statements last week regarding antenna issues with mobile phones.

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.

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Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is a pretty well established company in the industry, and this week, they are certainly changing the way people are seeing their company.

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.

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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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