According to a post found at NokiaPort (via All About Phones), the Indonesian equivalent of the FCC has approved the Nokia X2, confirming its existence.

There are few details about the X2, but it’s said that the phone has quad-band GSM connectivity and Bluetooth. Nokia’s new naming convention suggests that the X2 is a low-end handset – it will probably be cheap and thus successful.

No word yet on when Nokia plans to announce the X2.

Until then, however, we’ve stumbled upon a Nokia X9 concept (via Pestaola):

The Nokia X9 is based on the X6 and should come with an AMOLED touchscreen display, 12MP camera with HD video recording, HDMI port, and dedicated Facebook and Twitter keys.

The concept looks nice, so let’s hope there will be a real Nokia X9 similar to it (maybe running Symbian^4).

• Nokia N87 (Vasco) specs show up again, include AMOLED display
• Nokia Xseries debuts with the X6 (Alvin) and X3 music phones
• New Nokia concept phone by designer Ulisses Gardim
• Nokia N8 12MP phone rumored; Nokia may finally launch new naming scheme
• Nokia also registers the Xseries brand name

The idea behind Design by Community is that anyone can choose how a future Nokia smartphone could look like. You can choose the screen size, the OS (Symbian or MeeGo), materials, connectivity, camera features, and the handset’s overall size and shape.

You can start by visiting this page.

I think the options that Nokia offers for this smartphone concept are somewhat limited. Not to mention funny things like: if you choose a 4 inch resistive display, QWERTY keyboard, hot key only, and a 16:9 screen ratio, you get a “perfect mix”, but if you change the display to capacitive and keep the other specs, you’re “too way out there” – and thus you can not submit the design idea.

Based on collective design choices, the Nokia Design team will make a 3D render of the final smartphone in May. Nokia says that this will only be a concept device, but, who knows, depending on how things go, it might transform it into a real device.

Via Nokia Conversations

• RIM files for hybrid capacitive/ resistive Blackberry touchscreen patent
• Triple slider idea from Nokia
• Skinny phone concept could make for a nice T-Mobile G1 2.0
• Concept Nokia Touchscreen offers liquid-powered tactile feedback
• Next Nokia touch smartphone to come with capacitive touchscreen and multi-touch?

Said rendering shows a touchscreen phone with a sliding QWERTY keyboard – some sort of a mix between the Nokia N97 and Nokia 5230.

The C6 was approved by the FCC at the end of February, and this new image does match the sketch the FCC provided, so it seems to be the real deal.

There aren’t too many details about the features of Nokia C6, but it’s said that it only has 256MB of internal memory. The C6 should be available in Europe starting this spring.

In semi-related news, Nokia has apparently canceled the release of its Booklet 3G in France because it was too expensive (€749 – about $1,030).

Via Tom’s Guide, Mobile Bulgaria

• Nokia C5 leaked; still not clear what the Cseries is all about
• New Nokia Cseries mobile computers coming soon?
• Nokia N8 12MP phone rumored; Nokia may finally launch new naming scheme
• Nokia also registers the Xseries brand name
• Nokia C6 confirmed and approved by FCC

It’s not yet clear what the E72i brings, but it looks like it’s destined for China and it might feature WAPI (China’s own Wi-Fi technology).

Other than that, the Nokia E72i seems to be identical with the E72, so it should feature HSDPA, A-GPS, Nokia Maps, accelerometer, 3.5mm headset jack, 250MB of internal memory and, of course, a QVGA display and a full QWERTY keyboard.

There’s no word yet on when the Nokia E72i will be available for purchase, and neither for what price.

Via Mobile-review

• LG GW300 QWERTY phone announced in the UK
• Nokia N86, 2730, 6750 and 6350 coming to Canada for the Holidays
• Nokia E72, 5530 XpressMusic and 3710 fold officially announced
• Nokia’s smartphone roadmap unveils: a 8MP camera handset, three high-end touchscreen devices and more
• Nokia E72 available now

Skype for Symbian is free and allows Nokia phone users to use it via Wi-Fi, as well as via a mobile data connection (3G is recommended; GPRS and EDGE should also work, although some Skype features work best on 3G only).

Like the other mobile versions of the app, Skype for Symbian features free Skype-to-Skype calling, cheap calls and texts to phone abroad, instant messaging, file transfers and so on.

If you don’t find Skype for Symbian in the Ovi Store, you ca get it here.

The list of Skype-compatible Nokia phones is quite long and currently includes more than 20 devices (Symbian ^1 is required):

• Nokia 5530
• Nokia 5320
• Nokia 5800
• Nokia 6210 Navigator
• Nokia 6210
• Nokia 6220
• Nokia E51
• Nokia E63
• Nokia E66
• Nokia E71
• Nokia E72
• Nokia E90
• Nokia N78
• Nokia N79
• Nokia N81
• Nokia N81 8GB
• Nokia N82
• Nokia N85
• Nokia N95 8GB
• Nokia N96
• Nokia N97
• Nokia N97 mini
• Nokia X6

“Symbian enables us to bring smartphones to more and more people and ensures scale for our solutions and compelling services, such as Skype. We’re seeing around 1.5 million downloads a day on Ovi Store now and believe that the Skype client for Nokia smartphones will have wide appeal to Symbian users,” declared Jo Harlow, Senior Vice President for Smartphones, Nokia.

Skype for Symbian will also be available for phones made by other manufacturers than Nokia, including Sony Ericsson.

Via Press release

• Skype for Your Mobile in Beta
• Nokia will integrate Skype into its handsets
• Skype 3.0 for Windows Mobile now out of beta
• Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync now available on all Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices
• Skype will come to BlackBerry too

The smartphone even has maps of the US, Canada and Mexico preloaded, and it allows users to access other 180 maps.

Like the European version of the Nokia 5230, T-Mobile USA’s Nuron features 3G, a 3.2 inches touchscreen display with 360 x 640 pixels, full HTML browser, personal and work e-mail, 3.5mm headset jack, 3.2MP camera and MicroSD card support.

Nokia hasn’t announced the price of 5230 Nuron, but we’ve heard T-Mobile will offer it for as low as $69.99 on contract. The handset should be available “in the coming weeks”, when the HTC HD2 and the Motorola Cliq XT will probably also be launched by T-Mobile.

Via Press release

• Motorola Cliq XT available at T-Mobile USA, $129.99 on contract
• T-Mobile USA’s Nokia Nuron 5230 in official photos
• T-Mobile myTouch 3G Fender, T-Mobile Tap and Nokia 3711 announced
• HTC HD2 appears on T-Mobile USA’s website, might be released on March 23
• T-Mobile’s HTC HD2, Motorola Cliq XT and Nokia Nuron priced?

As the name implies, Qik Premium is not free – it’s currently available for a promotional price of $4.99 / year (the promotion ends March 31).

Qik Premium for Nokia phones features high quality transcoding and lets users record and share videos, as well as download MPEG-4 videos and burn them into DVDs. For high-quality video recording, Qik recommends the use of cell phones with 3MP cameras or better.

You can buy and download Qik Premium via Nokia’s Ovi Store. A future version of Qik Premium will come with the “ability to upload and share videos recorded with your mobile phone’s native camera application.”

Via Qik

• Native YouTube app for Symbian S60 3rd Edition
• Nokia Share Online updated to version 4.3
• Renesas to offer application engine for Cortex A8 CPUs with 1080p video recording
• Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 Beta announced, available for download
• Google Shopper Android app lets you shop smarter

Presented as a “smartphone optimized for social networking and sharing,” Nokia C5 lets you see Facebook status updates from the phonebook, and it also provides easy access to other social networking sites like MySpace.

The handset also features: S60 3rd Edition, 2.2 inch QVGA display, HSDPA, Ovi Maps 3.0 with free navigation, Nokia Messaging, 3.5mm headset jack, “stereo IHF speaker”, 3.2MP camera, and a 2GB card in the box. The Nokia C5 will come with “Ovi Music” – so, yeah, it looks like Nokia Music Store will indeed be rebranded to offer DRM-free music.

Nokia C5 will be available starting the second quarter of 2010. Its retail price: €135 ($183).

No word yet about the Nokia C3 and Nokia C6, but they’ll probably be introduced soon, too.

With the announcement of the C5, Nokia has also unveiled its new naming convention, which includes the Nseries, Eseries, Xseries and, of course, the Cseries (representing “the core of Nokia portfolio, focusing on social interaction between friends and family”).

According to Nokia Conversations, the new naming convention brings “a new range of numbers, from 1 to 9, each signifying the range of functionality on offer, and the approximate prices of the devices – 1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest”. So the Nokia C5 is somewhere on the middle in terms of functionality and price.

Via Nokia

• Nokia C5 leaked; still not clear what the Cseries is all about
• New Nokia Cseries mobile computers coming soon?
• Major handset naming scheme revamp coming at Nokia Wolrd 09′
• Nokia 5235 Comes With Music offers unlimited music downloads for only €145
• Nokia also registers the Xseries brand name

Vodafone’s Nokia X6 16GB is preloaded with the Vodafone 360 Homescreen, thus providing access to Vodafone My Web, the 360 Apps and Games Shop, and VIP contacts. The smartphone also lets you access Vodafone Music and download DRM-free songs from a catalogue of more than 5 million titles.

Moreover, the third series of the British comedy show Gavin & Stacey is preloaded on the X6 16GB from Vodafone. And, of course, the handset features a 3.2 inch touchscreen display, HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, Nokia Maps, and a 5MP autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss lens.

You can buy the X6 16GB online via Vodafone UK’s website.

Vodafone UK will soon launch two other nice smartphones, both based on Android 2.1: the Google Nexus One and the HTC Legend.

Via MobileNewsCWP

• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 coming to Vodafone UK in April
• LG GW620 launched in Italy as LG LinkMe
• Vodafone 845 to be cheap, come with Android 2.1
• #MWC10: HTC Desire (Bravo), Legend and HD mini officially announced
• Nokia 5230 Nuron for T-Mobile USA announced, comes with free navigation

The new Nokia Image Exchange application lets you set a screen name from your handset, add people to the People menu, and search through images in grid layout (works only on touchscreen phones).

You can download Nokia Image Exchange via Nokia’s official website – there’s a version for S40 handsets, too.

The folks over at the Beta Labs have also updated Nokia Ovi Maps for mobile, which reached version 3.04.

Ovi Maps for mobile version 3.04 comes with performance and positioning improvements, as well as several other (unnamed) tweaks. You can download it here.

Via the Nokia Beta Labs blog

• Nokia Image Exchange available for S60 touch phones
• Nokia Image Exchange for S60 updated, touch version may come soon
• Nokia Beta Labs mobile website now available
• Nokia Ovi Suite 2.1 Beta and Nokia Image Exchange updated
• Nokia Maps 3.0 beta available for download

If you expect something revolutionary, you’ll be disappointed.

Of course, you can see that Symbian^4 lets you freely place widgets on the customizable homescreen, but, really, the only noticeable thing is that Dali-like clock. But let’s wait and see what Symbian^3 will bring first, and then judge Symbian^4.

As previously mentioned, Nokia should launch Symbian^4 devices starting 2011.

Via Fierce Wireless

• Nokia reconfirms: Symbian^3 and Maemo 6 devices are coming this year
• Symbian Ltd now fully belongs to Nokia; Symbian Foundation gets closer to launch
• Nokia shows off Symbian^4 UI concept proposal
• #MWC10: Nokia, Symbian officially announce Symbian^3 (video)
• #MWC10: €100 Symbian smartphones promised for later this year

Even so, TmoNews has it that T-Mobile USA will launch the Nokia E73 sometime in June (several months after the Nokia Nuron). But this is, of course, only a rumor for now.

TmoNews also claims that the E73 is the Nokia Mystic leaked last month and pictured below – it could be, although the Mystic is probably not an Eseries device (and the real E73 will hopefully look better).

T-Mobile USA currently has only entry-level Nokia phones in its line-up, so an E73 launch would surely be of interest to many customers. We’ll bring new info as soon as more accurate details show up.

• Nokia Mystic – new E72-like smartphone leaked
• Nokia E71 gets first full review, looks like a phone for the ladies
• Nokia may show nothing new at MWC, but a Nokia C6 could be announced soon
• Nokia 6316 slide does CDMA, should hit China soon
• New LG Phones Come to Light – GD330 and GB125

Take the Nokia N97 mini Gold Edition for example, which has been unveiled today.

The N97 mini Gold Edition is dressed in 18-carat gold and comes with apps like “ELLE 360Fashion”, which should help fashion lovers follow the latest trends and news.

Other than that, the Nokia N97 mini Gold Edition has the same features the regular edition includes: 3.2 inch touchscreen display with 360 x 640 pixels, full QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi, HSPA, GPS, Nokia Maps, 3.5mm headset jack, 8GB of internal memory, and a 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash.

Nokia N97 mini Gold Edition will be available across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. We don’t know when, but we do know the phone’s price: about €625 or $850.

Via Nokia Poland, Komorkomania

• Nokia N97 Mini to be launched in India on November 16
• Samsung i8910 Omnia HD Gold Edition announced
• Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition and E72 officially launched in the US
• Nokia 8800 Gold Arte surfaces, dressed in leather and (of course) gold
• Nokia E72i – an E72 with WAPI for China?

The Vivaz (which will also be sold via T-Mobile UK) features a 3.2 inches touchscreen display, 8MP camera with HD video recording, GPS, Wi-Fi and an 8GB memory card in the box. Unlike the Vivaz Pro, the Vivaz doesn’t have a full QWERTY keyboard.

You can pre-order the Sony Ericsson Vivaz from Vodafone UK here.

Vodafone has also announced that it now provides access to Qik, the well-known live video streaming service for mobiles.

To download the Qik app from Vodafone you have to text “Qik” to 97886. Qik is compatible with lots of phones, including the iPhone, BlackBerry smartphones and Nokia handsets.

A video demo with Qik on a Vodafone phone can be watched below:

Via Mobile Burn

• Sony Ericsson Vivaz (Kurara U5) gets official earlier than planned
• #MWC10: Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro (video)
• T-Mobile UK to launch SE Vivaz, Xperia X10, Nokia X6 and more
• Sony Ericsson Vivaz U5a approved by FCC, AT&T 3G bands included
• Sony Ericsson Walkman W902, W595 and W302 video preview and live pictures

The X6 16GB costs $455 (plus some taxes) – less than the N97 or the N97 mini. Unlike the Nokia X6 32GB, the X6 16GB doesn’t include Nokia’s Comes With Music service and has more color versions (including all black, and yellow on white). The X6 16GB also features a 360 x 640 pixels capacitive touchscreen display, HSPA, Wi-Fi, Nokia Maps, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, and a 5MP Carl Zeiss camera.

You can also order the X6 16GB via Nokia USA’s online store for the same price ($455), but you won’t receive it until the end of the month.

Amazon has the X6 16GB priced at only $401.99 – however, the smartphone’s not yet available via the online retailer.

Via The Nokia Blog

• Nokia N85 NAM ships next week
• Nokia X6 coming to Orange UK on November 27
• Nokia N900 announced by Vodafone UK
• Nokia N900 coming to the US on September 27?
• Nokia N900 officially available in the US

Now, during MWC 2010, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs has provided more details. According to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, Nokia and Qualcomm will introduce a Symbian smartphone based on a Snapdragon processor this year.

With two new Snapdragon processors (1.3GHz and 1.5GHz) coming soon, things look quite promising for Nokia – which, as far as I know, has never had a smartphone with a CPU at more than 800Mhz.

Qualcomm’s CEO  said that this particular Symbian smartphone with Snapdragon is destined for North America (AT&T maybe?), so it’s unclear whether or not other markets (i.e. Europe, Asia) will get any Nokia-Snapdragon devices this year.

We’ll bring more details as soon as new valuable info comes to light.

Via IntoMobile

• Nokia and Qualcomm working on S60 smartphones for North America
• Nokia to launch Qualcomm-based Symbian smartphone for AT&T
• HTC to release Snapdragon based handsets in Q2 2009
• Qualcomm: 30 Snapdragon based devices coming in 2009
• 1.3GHz Snapdragon QSD8650A chipset announced by Qualcomm

Lee Williams didn’t provide more details, but since the €100 smartphones will almost certainly run Symbian^3, they should be released starting the second half of 2010 (and they’ll most probably be made by Nokia).

At the moment, the cheapest Nokia Symbian smartphones retail for around €130 (unsubsidized) – handsets like the Nokia 5230 pictured below.

Most (if not all) smartphone makers are expected to lower the prices of their devices throughout 2010, helped by chip makers like Qualcomm and Infineon, which should cut manufacturing costs.

Via Reuters

• Qualcomm and Fujitsu join the Symbian Foundation board
• Nokia reportedly launching Snapdragon based Symbian phone this year
• Nokia and Qualcomm working on S60 smartphones for North America
• Samsung ditches Qualcomm for Infineon chipsets
• Verizon’s iPhone to use a Qualcomm chip

Symbian^3 should be feature complete by the end of Q1 (March), and while it’s not a completely new OS (like Symbian^4 is expected to be), it will bring many novelties.

Some of the new features of Symbian^3 include: new 2D and 3D graphics architecture, multi-touch gesture support, new homescreen with “support for multiple pages of widgets”, HDMI support, music store integration, and usability enhancements.

“Symbian^3 is another huge milestone in the evolution of our platform. Now that it is fully open source, the door is open to individual contributors, device creators and third-party developer companies, as well as other organizations, to create more compelling products and services than ever before. We have enjoyed significant momentum since we completed S^2, with companies including Sun, Nokia, Ixonos, Comarch and Accenture, among others, contributing to S^3. We are now looking to build on this momentum and remain on course to complete S^4 later this year,” declared Lee M. Williams, Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation.

Screenshots and a video preview of Symbian^3 can be seen below:

The first Symbian^3 smartphones should be released by Nokia starting the second half of 2010. For more info on Symbian^3 (including how you can access the source code), visit the Symbian Foundation official website.

Via Press release

• Opera, KTF, and Sharp join Symbian Foundation
• Symbian OS is now free and completely open source
• Nokia selling Symbian Professional Services to Accenture
• Symbian Ltd now fully belongs to Nokia; Symbian Foundation gets closer to launch
• Nokia borrows €500 million from EIB for investing in software research, development

All three new handsets will be available starting the second quarter of 2010, for prices that should be announced later on.

As you’ve probably already guessed, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro is a Vivaz with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. It’s based on Symbian (Symbian^3, I assume) and has most of the features the original Vivaz has, including a 3.2 inch, 16:9 wide touchscreen, and HD video recording (although its camera seems to be a 5MP one, and not a 8.1MP one) . Here’s the Vivaz Pro:

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro video promo:

Next, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini (also known as SE Robyn) is, simply put, a smaller Xperia X10. It runs Android 1.6 and it’s reportedly “very powerful” – not sure if this means that it has a 1GHz CPU, like the big X10 (update: nope, it has a 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 CPU). The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini features a 2.55 inch QVGA touchscreen display, HSPA, A-GPS, Google Maps, 3.5mm headset jack, 5MP autofocus camera, and a 2GB MicroSD card in the box. It will be available in six colors: Black, Pearl White, Lime, Pink, Red and Silver.

The third new SE phone announced at MWC 2010 is the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro – it’s similar to the X10 Mini, but it adds a hardware QWERTY keyboard.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro video promo:

Via Press release and Press release

• Sony Ericsson Vivaz U5a approved by FCC, AT&T 3G bands included
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro to hit the UK on April 13
• Vodafone UK announces the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, Qik mobile video service
• Sony Ericsson Vivaz (Kurara U5) gets official earlier than planned
• AT&T “definitely” launching the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10?

The app includes a list of feelings that you can choose: Happy, Lucky, Lonely, Hungry, Energetic, Bored, Creative, Caring and so on. After you tell the application how you feel, it will suggest specific activities for each feeling.

For example, if you’re feeling creative, the app can suggest things like: write a story, “draw a nice picture”, or contribute to Wikipedia.

It’s not clear yet if Nokia Feel is compatible with all Symbian phones (probably not), but it should work with all the touch-enabled ones.

You can download Nokia Feel from the Beta Labs website – note that you need a Nokia Account to access the download link.

A video preview of the Nokia Feel application can be watched below:

Via Nokia Beta Labs Blog

• Nokia Custom Dictionary Symbian app launched
• Nokia’s Gig Finder Symbian touch app lets you find live music events
• Nokia Diagnostics – new Symbian troubleshooting app
• Nokia Image Exchange available for S60 touch phones
• Nokia Braille Reader to help visually impaired users read SMS

Apparently codenamed Nokia Vasco, the N87 may have a 3.7 inch AMOLED touchscreen display, and not a 3.2 inch one as previously believed.

Some leaked documents have appeared over at BeGeek, and while we can’t verify their authenticity, they seem to confirm the fact that the N87 has a 12MP camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash). Earlier today, we’ve heard that Nokia’s first 12MP phone would be the Nokia N8 – but, honestly, I think the N8 and N87 monikers are for the same device.

So here’s what the Nokia N87 should offer, apart from an AMOLED display and a 12MP camera:

• Wi-Fi
• GPS
• HD video
• FM radio and FM transmitter
• ARM Cortex 8 CPU at 600MHz
• Dedicated GPU (graphics processing unit)
• 256MB RAM
• 16GB / 32GB of internal memory

No word on when Nokia plans to announce the N87, but maybe it will do it at the same time with the Nokia N98.

• Nokia N86 8MP announced for the US – $558 unlocked
• Short rant about Nokia’s (non) appearance at MWC. And, btw, Nokia X10 gets leaked
• Nokia E66 hits FCC, passes
• #MWC09: Nokia N86 8MP preview video
• Nokia N900 coming to the US on September 27?

The WordPress for Nokia app will be based on the Qt framework, this allowing it to be used on both Symbian and Maemo devices.

A beta version of WordPress for Nokia may be released in the coming weeks. Until then, interested developers can check out the source code and an early alpha build on this blog.

WordPress apps are also available for BlackBerry and iPhone. Like these ones (and the app for Android), the WordPress app for Symbian and Maemo will be free.

Via WordPress

• Official WordPress Android app available for download
• Symbian OS is now free and completely open source
• Nokia reconfirms: Symbian^3 and Maemo 6 devices are coming this year
• New look for the Android 1.5 UI
• BlackBerry Developer’s Blog launched by RIM

Appeared over at BeGeek.fr, said photo lets us see a full QWERTY keyboard and a tilting touchscreen display, suggesting that the N98 will be somewhat similar to the Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini.

It’s said that the display of Nokia N98 measures 4 inches and the smartphone (which should, of course, run Symbian) has 32GB of internal memory.

Well, here it is, this is what the Nokia N98 may look like:

BeGeek says the N98 will be available sometime before Christmas 2010, for a retail price of €450 (about $615) – so I guess a MWC announcement is out of the question (although you can never know). The Finnish company will probably announce the Nokia N8 before the N98 – assuming that the N8 does indeed exist.

Via SlashGear

• Nokia E63 now official, available in the next few weeks for €199
• Nokia 5530 XpressMusic specs unveiled
• Nokia N87 (Vasco) specs show up again, include AMOLED display
• Nokia N96 to get Comes With Music in the UK?
• Nokia 6303i classic announced, costs €105

The Nuron has just appeared in some official photos, and it has T-Mobile’s logo on it.

In case you don’t know yet, the Nokia Nuron 5230 is a touchscreen phone with mid-end features, including: Symbian, a 3.2 inch display with 360 x 640 pixels, accelerometer, HSDPA, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, stereo FM radio with RDS, and a 2MP camera. The handset also supports Ovi Maps 3.0 with free navigation.

T-Mobile USA should offer the Nokia Nuron starting March 17. No word yet on the price, but since the phone costs about $200 in Europe (unlocked), T-Mobile could sell it for under $100 on contract.

Via CellPhoneSignal

• Nokia 2330 headed to T-Mobile USA
• Nokia 5230 Nuron for T-Mobile USA announced, comes with free navigation
• HTC HD2 appears on T-Mobile USA’s website, might be released on March 23
• Nokia smartphones to come with free GPS navigation – now official
• 1.4 million Nokia Ovi Maps downloads since the service went free

This is the first time ever when touchscreen smartphones account for more than half of the total smartphone sales in a quarter.

According to Canalys, more than 75 million touchscreen smartphones were sold throughout 2009, while total smartphones shipments reached 166 million units.

The top touchscreen smartphone vendors in 2009 were:

• Apple – 25.1 million units
• Nokia – 22.3 million units (4070% year-on-year growth)
• HTC – 7.7 million units
• Samsung – 4.8 million units
• Others – 15.8 million units

When it comes to Operating Systems, Symbian is still the leader in smartphone sales (including non-touch devices, of course), with 78.5 million units shipped in 2009. Next are RIM, Apple, Microsoft and Android.

And speaking of Android, 7.7 million smartphones with Google’s OS were shipped in 2009 – representing a 1073% year-on-year growth – more than predicted in May last year by Strategy Analytics.

Android is expected to become the world’s no. 2 smartphone platform by 2013, beating iPhone OS, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile, but still trailing Symbian.

• Gartner: cell phone sales declined 6% in Q2 2009, smartphone sales grew 27%
• Nokia reports Q4 2009 results: 126.9 million phones sold, 39% market share
• Worldwide phone sales declined 9.4% in Q1 2009, says Gartner
• Samsung to increase phone sales by 20% in 2010 (to 270 million units)
• Mobile phone market declined by almost 13% in Q4 2008

In an interview with ZDNet UK, Symbian Foundation chief executive Lee Williams says that “it’s very likely that, in the next year or two,” Symbian tablets or netbooks will be available on the market. This will probably happen after Symbian^4 or Symbian^5 are out.

Nokia already has a netbook – the Booklet 3G – but it’s based on Windows 7. Of course, the Symbian tablets and netbooks could come from any other company interested in making them, and not (just) from Nokia.

(this is just a mockup, obviously based on Apple’s iPad)

Tablet and netbook talk aside, Lee Williams has also unveiled interesting details about Symbian^3 and Symbian^4.

For example, Symbian^3 will resemble the Series 60 UI “in the way you navigate,” but there are visual enhancements, as well as a reduced number of menu options and inputs.

As for Symbian^4, this will have a “power UI”, introducing “a whole new graphical approach.”

Let’s remember that the first Symbian^3 phones will be available starting the second half of 2010, with Symbian^4 phones coming in the first half of 2011.

Via SlashGear

• Symbian OS is now free and completely open source
• #MWC10: €100 Symbian smartphones promised for later this year
• HP may choose Android over Windows for some of its Netbooks
• #MWC10: Nokia, Symbian officially announce Symbian^3 (video)
• 12 new NVIDIA Tegra devices announced at Computex

The new app was created to help Nokia users “diagnose, troubleshoot, and configure their devices with ease on their own.” More exactly, the application can perform network coverage tests, internet connectivity tests, battery charger tests, and loudspeaker & earpiece tests.

For the moment, Nokia Diagnostics works only with Symbian S60 touch phones (Nokia X6, Nokia N97, Nokia N97 Mini, Nokia 5800, Nokia 5230 and Nokia 5530). Support for Symbian S60 3rd Edition will be added soon.

You can download the application here.

Below you have a video preview of Nokia Diagnostic:

Via the Nokia Beta Labs blog

• Nokia Custom Dictionary Symbian app launched
• Nokia Feel Symbian app suggests activities based on what you feel
• Nokia Braille Reader to help visually impaired users read SMS
• Nokia Messaging adds Twitter support, enhanced Facebook features
• Nokia’s Gig Finder Symbian touch app lets you find live music events

The British carrier has recently unveiled its Q1 2010 line-up, including phones that it already sells (like the Nokia E72, Samsung Galaxy Portal, LG InTouch Max GW620 and LG GD510 Pop).

Some of T-Mobile UK’s new phones that aren’t available yet but will be offered on contract include: Nokia X6, BlackBerry Storm2 9520 (launched by Vodafone last year), Sony Ericsson Vivaz (pictured below), and Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (which will also be launched by Vodafone and O2).

There are new handsets coming on Pay As You Go, too: BlackBerry 8520, T-Mobile Variy Text, T-Mobile Vairy Touch 2, Nokia 2220, Nokia 1616 and T-Mobile Pulse (with Android).

A video preview of the T-Mobile Vairy Text can be watched below:

Via MobileNewsCWP

• Vodafone UK announces the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, Qik mobile video service
• #MWC10: Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro (video)
• Vodafone UK’s Christmas line-up announced, freebies abound
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 coming to Vodafone UK in April
• Sony Ericsson Vivaz (Kurara U5) gets official earlier than planned

The Symbian Foundation (largely owned by Nokia) has yet to officially announce this – but it should do it later today.

The Symbian OS source code will most probably be available via the Symbian Foundation’s official website.

What’s interesting is the declaration of Lee Williams, executive director of the Symbian Foundation, regarding Google’s Android (one of Symbian’s new competitors):

“About a third of the Android code base is open and nothing more. And what is open is a collection of middleware. Everything else is closed or proprietary.”

Unlike Android, says Lee Williams, Symbian will publish its planned features and platform roadmap up to 2011, and “anyone can influence that roadmap or contribute to new features.”

Update: the Symbian Foundation has announced the big news: Symbian is, as of today, open source and free. Anyone can “use and modify the Symbian code for any purpose, whether that be for a mobile device or for something else entirely.” There are 108 packages that contain the Symbian OS source code, and they can be downloaded via the Foundation’s official website.

The Symbian Developer Kit and the Product Development Kit are also available. They’re compatible with Symbian^3 – which will be “feature complete” before the end of the first quarter.

An video highlighting the key features of the open Symbian platform can be watched below:

The Symbian Foundation has published a Symbian roadmap, as well as the main features of Symbian^3 and Symbian^4:

As you can see, the first Symbian^3 phones will be released in the second half of 2010, while the first phones based on Symbian^4 should be out in early 2011.

• First handsets running Symbian Foundation’s open-source OS out in 2010
• #MWC10: Nokia, Symbian officially announce Symbian^3 (video)
• Symbian tablets and netbooks coming in the next few years?
• #MWC10: €100 Symbian smartphones promised for later this year
• Opera, KTF, and Sharp join Symbian Foundation

The C5 looks like a regular non-touch Symbian S60 candybar, which makes me wonder: what’s the deal with the new Cseries? Is Nokia launching a new series just for the sake of adding new names, or is there something that will differentiate the Cseries phones from the rest of Nokia’s non-touch Symbian handsets?

Regardless of the answer, the Nokia C5 features a 2.2 inch QVGA display, Symbian S60, HSPA connectivity, A-GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 3.2MP camera, FM radio, 50MB of internal memory, and MicroSD card support – so, yeah, it’s a mid to low-end phone that will probably have a low price.

The Nokia C5 could be officially unveiled soon, alongside the Nokia C3. Anyone excited about this?

Via DailyMobile

• Nokia N86, 2730, 6750 and 6350 coming to Canada for the Holidays
• Nokia 6303i classic announced, costs €105
• Cheap Nokia 1280, 1616, 1800, 2220 slide and 2690 announced
• Nokia 5630 XpressMusic announced: an S60 music-centric candybar
• Nokia E72, 5530 XpressMusic and 3710 fold officially announced

The Vivaz U5a has been approved to work on the UMTS II and V bands – that’s 1900MHz and 850MHz, so AT&T or Rogers can use the handset on their 3G networks.

Vivaz is Sony Ericsson’s second smartphone based on Symbian S60 5th Edition (Symbian^1), after the Satio.

Its features include a 3.2 inch touchscreen display with 360 x 640 pixels, HSPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, accelerometer, Google Maps, Facebook and Twitter integration, 3.5mm headset jack, 720 MHz processor, an 8GB memory card in the box, and an 8 MP autofocus camera with LED flash and HD (720p) video recording.

If the Sony Ericsson won’t be offered by AT&T, US customers will probably be able to buy it via the Sony Style shop.

Via FCC

• #MWC10: Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro (video)
• Sony Ericsson Vivaz (Kurara U5) gets official earlier than planned
• Unlocked Sony Ericsson W995a to hit the US for $600
• Sony Ericsson T715 announced – a “sophisticated slider”
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is official, comes with Android 1.6, new UX platform and more

The phones that you can buy for getting another handset at no extra cost are:

Nokia E72 (£359), Nokia N86 8MP (£375), Nokia N97 (£449), Nokia N97 Comes With Music (£549), Nokia N97 mini (£429), Nokia N97 mini Comes With Music (£529), Nokia X6 (£449), Nokia N900 (£499), Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte (£799) and Nokia 8800 Gold Arte (£1089).

As for the free phones, you can choose between Nokia 1661 and Nokia 1208 – two low-end devices, that’s true, but free stuff is always welcome.

You can take advantage of Nokia UK’s new offering here.

Via phonesreview.co.uk

• Nokia 8800 Gold Arte surfaces, dressed in leather and (of course) gold
• Nokia Music Store becoming Ovi Music, going DRM-free?
• Nokia N97 mini Gold Edition unveiled, costs $850
• 1.4 million Nokia Ovi Maps downloads since the service went free
• Nokia 5800 Comes With Music edition announced for Orange UK

Shortly after Symbian^3 handsets are released, Symbian^4 smartphones will be out, too – in late 2010 or early 2011. As we’ve reported earlier, Nokia is already working on Symbian^4, which will be based on Qt and feature multi-touch, free placement of homescreen widgets, redesigned Control Panel and so on.

Nokia’s first Maemo 6 device will also come in the second half of 2010. Since Maemo 6 and Symbian^4 are both based on Qt, developers will be able to create applications that simultaneously support the two platforms.

(Symbian^4 UI concept)

According to DigiTimes, Nokia’s 2011 phone portfolio should look like this: 55% of the devices will be based on Symbian; 35% of the handsets will be feature phones (S40?); 10% will be based on Maemo.

• Nokia shows off Symbian^4 UI concept proposal
• Nokia’s Maemo plans for 2010 to include only one device
• Nokia plans to sell more than 500 million phones in 2010
• Nokia launches Ovi SDK Beta, new Ovi APIs
• Nokia to halve its smartphone portfolio in 2010

As the name probably suggests, Nokia Custom Dictionary allows users to edit the list of words their phones use for text prediction. You can also scan text files to import words, import words from an xml file, and transfer dictionaries between phones.

Nokia Custom Dictionary is fully functional on the following handsets: Nokia E63, Nokia E71, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia X6. The application might have minor issues on Nokia E72, Nokia E75, Nokia E52, Nokia E55, Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini. On older phones (such as Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N79, Nokia N78 and Nokia N82), the application has limited functionality.

A video preview of Nokia Custom Dictionary can be watched below:

To download Nokia Custom Dictionary, visit the Beta Labs website – note that you must login with your Nokia Account to access the download link.

Via Nokia Beta Labs blog

• Nokia Diagnostics – new Symbian troubleshooting app
• Nokia Image Exchange available for S60 touch phones
• Nokia Feel Symbian app suggests activities based on what you feel
• Nokia Braille Reader to help visually impaired users read SMS
• Nokia’s Gig Finder Symbian touch app lets you find live music events

First of all, we have the Nokia Ovi Suite 2.1 Beta, which resolves many of the issues found in the previous version. For example, the updates version fixes: multiple crash errors, Thunderbird 3.0 support, sync reliability, video support, SIS application installation, and so on.

The new and improved Nokia Ovi Suite 2.1 Beta can be downloaded here.

Nokia Image Exchange has also been updated and now includes some User Interface enhancements, as well as some bug fixes.

You can download Nokia Image Exchange for touch devices (Nokia 5800 Xpress Music, Nokia 5530, Nokia N97 and Nokia X6) here. The application also has a version for Symbian S60 non-touch smartphones and S40 handsets, which can be downloaded through Ovi Store.

Via the Nokia Beta Labs blog

• Nokia Image Exchange available for S60 touch phones
• Nokia Image Exchange and Ovi Maps for mobile updated
• Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 Beta gets a major update
• Nokia Image Exchange for S60 updated, touch version may come soon
• Nokia Image Exchange Lite available for S40 phones

The Finnish company reports net sales of €12 billion for Q4 2009, and net sales of €40.9 billion for full 2009. The operating profit for Q4 was €1.14 billion, while the operating profit for full 2009 was of €1.19 billion (the Q4 2009 and full 2009 values are almost the same because Nokia actually lost money in the previous quarters).

Nokia sold 126.9 million phones in the fourth quarter of 2009 (17% more than in the third quarter of the year) and raised its market share to 39% (from 37.3% in the previous quarter).

20.8 million Nokia smartphones were shipped in Q4 2009, 4.6 million being Nseries, and 6.1 million being Eseries. Among the new smartphones introduced by Nokia last quarter we must mention Nokia E72, Nokia N97 mini and Nokia X6 (pictured below).

Overall, Nokia sold 431.8 million devices in 2009 (67.8 million of them were smartphones) – that’s a 7.8% decrease compared to the 468.4 million units sold in 2008.

Nokia estimates that the total number of mobile device shipped in 2009 (by all manufacturers) reached 1.14 billion units – a 6% decrease compared to 2008.

Via Press release

• Nokia’s market share shrank to 37% in Q4 2008
• Gartner: cell phone sales declined 6% in Q2 2009, smartphone sales grew 27%
• Most smartphones now have touchscreens; Android shipments grew 1074% YoY
• Worldwide phone sales declined 9.4% in Q1 2009, says Gartner
• Mobile phone market declined by almost 13% in Q4 2008

For example, IDC believes that smartphone sales will surpass 390 million units by 2013.

Symbian will still be the market leader, thanks to Nokia’s strength around the world (well, save for the US, where Nokia’s far from being a top brand).

IDC expects Android to become the no. 2 mobile OS by 2013, with about 68 million smartphones sold. iPhone OS, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile will obviously trail both Symbian and Android.

Linux mobile shipments “will trend down”, while Palm’s WebOS will “capture limited market share” (despite a steady growth), because of “limited deployment and availability of devices across multiple carriers.”

These forecasts seem reasonable enough, and I’m almost sure that Symbian and Google’s Android will indeed be market leaders in 2013, despite serious competition coming from Apple and BlackBerry.

Via Press release

• Most smartphones now have touchscreens; Android shipments grew 1074% YoY
• Nokia’s market share shrank to 37% in Q4 2008
• Nokia plans to sell more than 500 million phones in 2010
• Symbian to ship 200 million devices in the next 18 months and a bit about Nokia N900 awesomness
• Android shipments to grow 900% this year? No. I say it’s 1800%!

The Nokia X6 16GB doesn’t include Comes With Music, but its other features are similar to the ones of the 32GB edition (save for the internal memory, of course): Symbian^1 (the new name for Symbian S60 5th Edition), 3.2 inch touchscreen display with 360 x 640 pixels, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, Ovi Maps with free navigation, TV out, 5MP autofocus camera, and preloaded games (Spore, Asphalt4 and DJ Mix Tour).

Nokia X6 16GB will be available starting this quarter. The phone’s price wasn’t mentioned, but it should be around €350 (€100 cheaper than the X6 32GB).

Via Nokia Conversations

• Nokia X6 16GB to have a pink version, cost €350
• Nokia smartphones to come with free GPS navigation – now official
• Nokia E55 to come in red too
• Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition and E72 officially launched in the US
• Nokia X6 16GB available at Vodafone UK

First of all, the new handset has been renamed – it’s called Sony Ericsson Vivaz. However,  it’s got everything we’ve expected it to have since it was known as Kurara.

The Vivaz run Symbian touch and comes with a 640 x 360 pixels display, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, and an 8.1MP autofocus camera with LED flash and HD 720p video recording.

There will be no less than four color versions of the smartphone: Cosmic Black, Silver Moon, Venus Ruby and Galaxy Blue.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz should be available starting the next few months, for a price that will be announced later on.

Here’s a video presentation of the Vivaz, watch while it’s still online:

Via Phone Arena

• Sony Ericsson Vivaz U5a approved by FCC, AT&T 3G bands included
• Sony Ericsson Kanna U8i to be a QWERTY-equipped Kurara
• #MWC10: Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, Xperia X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro (video)
• Unannounced Sony Ericsson Kurara U5 gets previewed
• Vodafone UK announces the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, Qik mobile video service

Based on a Qt framework, Symbian^4 should simplify the S60 user experience by bringing renewed layouts, “free placement of Homescreen widgets”, “context menu support for list items”, four user-facing libraries (Contacts, Applications, Music and Photos), improved task switcher, redesigned Control Panel and so on.

Below you have some screenshots of the Symbian^4 UI concept proposal (the final version of the new OS may not look like this):

Symbian^4 should be functionally complete in by the end of 2010, although the first Nokia phones based on it will only be launched in 2011.

Via Symbian, SlashGear

• Release schedule for Symbian Foundation’s OS unveiled
• Nokia reconfirms: Symbian^3 and Maemo 6 devices are coming this year
• Symbian^4 UI video previews are not as fascinating as you’d think
• Symbian tablets and netbooks coming in the next few years?
• Nokia X2 coming soon; Nokia X9 concept shows up

Apart from letting you find events and providing directions, the new app also allows you to purchase tickets and quickly share the info you find via Facebook, email or SMS. Moreover, Gig Finder provides music recommendations (based on your searches) and includes links to download music via the Nokia Music Store.

The Gig Finder application is compatible only with Symbian S60 5th Edition (i.e. Nokia’s touchscreen devices: X6, N97, N97 Mini, 5800, 5530 and 5230). Also, note that, for the moment, the app includes info about events in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland only.

To download the Nokia Gig Finder app on your Symbian S60 5th edition smartphone, visit the Beta Labs website.

Via the Beta Labs Blog

• Nokia Image Exchange available for S60 touch phones
• Nokia Music PC out of Beta, bugs gone
• Nokia Diagnostics – new Symbian troubleshooting app
• Nokia Braille Reader to help visually impaired users read SMS
• Nokia Ovi Suite 2.1 Beta and Nokia Image Exchange updated

The source of the photos, iTech.vn, doesn’t have too many details about the Nokia Mystic, but we can easily see that the phone looks a lot like the Nokia E72 – although its QWERTY keyboard seems to belong to a Palm smartphone rather than to a Nokia one.

The Mystic has a 5MP camera on the back (Flash included) and it apparently runs Symbian S60 3rd Edition.

I’m not sure if there’s anything actually new in the Mystic when compared to the E72. Anyway, let’s wait for more official details to show up.

Via Engadget

• Nokia’s first Nseries touchscreen handset to come very soon. N97?
• Sony Ericsson Kurara shows up in new photos, promises HD video capabilities
• Rumor: Nokia E73 to be launched by T-Mobile USA
• Nokia E63 makes live appearance at Symbian Smartphone Show
• Facebook for Nokia E72 and E71 available now

To get Spotify on your Symbian handset (via 3’s Planet 3 portal), you’ll have to sign a contract for at least 6 months – and there’s a £10 monthly fee.

Spotify works with the following Symbian phones in 3’s line-up: N97, Nokia 5800, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia E63, Nokia E71, Nokia N86, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N96 and Sony Ericsson Satio.

3 UK offers Spotify on the HTC Hero too – you can see all the Spotify-related offerings here.

If you’re not a 3 customer, you should know that Spotify for Symbian is also available directly from Spotify’s website (a Premium account is needed).

Via Pocket-lint

• Spotify for Symbian available for download
• 3 UK-Spotify deal confirmed; HTC Hero to get Spotify before Christmas
• Spotify phones to come from Telia; the UK might get them too
• 3 / INQ owner invests in Spotify
• Former Yahoo exec promises Spotify for mobiles

The new Nokia Messaging also features enhanced Facebook support. For example, you can now search friends, view upcoming events and birthdays, or upload pictures and videos. Moreover, you can click-to-call and click-to-SMS without leaving the application.

Users can download the newest beta version of Nokia Messaging here. Note that, for the moment, it only works with Nokia N97, Nokia N97 Mini and Nokia 5800.

Below you have a video preview of Nokia Messaging with Twitter support:

Via the Nokia Beta Labs Blog

• Nokia Messaging IM Beta 2.0 adds support for E71, E63, Google Talk
• Nokia Diagnostics – new Symbian troubleshooting app
• Nokia Beta Labs mobile website now available
• Nokia Braille Reader to help visually impaired users read SMS
• Nokia Custom Dictionary Symbian app launched

Introduced in May 2009, Ovi Store is Nokia’s response to Apple’s hugely popular App Store, but it somehow not managed to reach its success.

Nokia recognizes that Ovi Store has problems: George Linardos, the company’s media group head of products, declared that their store “had been outpaced by Apple after complaints on stability and reliability.”

Nokia has already started to work on a next-generation Ovi platform, based on suggestions sent by users. The platform will reportedly have new stuff like a redesigned user interface and in-application payments. More localized content and “recommendations based on friends’ app purchases” are also planned to be included in a future version of Ovi Store.

It’s said that about 1 million apps are downloaded daily via Ovi Store, while the Ovi Suite (including Ovi Maps, Ovi Mail and other services) has 80 million active users.

Via Financial Times, Engadget

• Nokia Ovi Store now available for AT&T subscribers
• Nokia’s Ovi Store Enables Re-downloads
• Nokia’s app store will debut in May as Ovi Store
• Nokia to launch Chinese Ovi Store, TD-SCDMA smartphone by the end of 2009
• Nokia Friend View released so you can stay close to your friends

The 5800 Navigation Edition is available as of today, priced at $299 (unlocked), and you can get it online, or through various retail channels across the US. Customers who buy the 5800 Navigation Edition and activate an Ovi Store account until December 31 this year will receive a $50 Visa prepaid gift card.

Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition comes with a car kit and, more importantly, with lifetime voice-guided navigation for North America. Its other features include a 360 x 640 pixels resistive touchscreen display, GSM and HSDPA connectivity, Wi-Fi, built-in GPS, Ovi Maps, 3.5mm headset jack and a 3.2MP camera.

Nokia E72 costs a bit more than the 5800 NE – $469 – and it’s available online, as well as through Best Buy.

The E72 is the latest Eseries flagship smartphone, featuring a full QWERTY keypad, QVGA landscape display, multiple email accounts, Nokia Messaging, Wi-Fi, GPS, 3.5mm headset jack, 5MP autofocus camera, and 250MB of internal memory.

Via Press release and Press release

• Nokia E72 available now
• Nokia N900 officially available in the US
• Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition announced, costs only €110
• Nokia E63 now official, available in the next few weeks for €199
• Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition features lifetime navigation

The reason for this is the continuously increasing competition coming from RIM, Apple, HTC and, more recently, Samsung.

According to Reuters, Antti Vasara, Nokia’s head of smartphones R&D, declared that by releasing fewer smartphones the company will “cut down unnecessary differentiation” and “have a far more focused portfolio for next year.”

Nokia also plans to reduce the prices of its smartphones and probably hopes that the upcoming Symbian^3 platform will help it re-conquer its lost smartphone market share (which fell from 41% to 35% in the last quarter).

2010 is also the year when Nokia will launch its first Maemo 6 device.

• Nokia reconfirms: Symbian^3 and Maemo 6 devices are coming this year
• Nokia’s plans for 2010 include its first Maemo 6 device, re-engineered Symbian UI and more
• Nokia to refuse carrier customization for its Maemo smartphones?
• Nokia’s Maemo plans for 2010 to include only one device
• Nokia to launch Qualcomm-based Symbian smartphone for AT&T

There are many enhancements and new features in Opera Mobile 10 beta 2, for both WinMo and S60, including: a more finger-friendly UI for touchscreen phones, download manager, Opera Link, better memory management and so on.

Some new features are for Windows Mobile only: shortcut support, the possibility of making Opera as default browser when installing it, and a fix for crash at startup.

Since this is a beta version, there are also some issues, like no support for non-touch WM handsets, and no plug-in support (for both WM and S60).

To download Opera Mobile 10 beta 2 for Windows Mobile or Symbian S60, visit Opera’s website.

Via Opera

• Opera Mini 5 and Opera Mobile 10 now out of beta
• Opera Mobile 10 beta 2 updated with Arabic and Hebrew language support, more
• Opera Mobile 9.7 beta announced and available for download
• Opera Mobile 10 launched for Symbian S60 (touch and non-touch)
• Opera Mobile 10 for Windows Mobile available now

The new version brings the ability to sync the places you star on Google Maps for desktop with the ones you star on your phone, and vice-versa.

For example, let’s say you’re in London and star a hotel on your desktop PC. When you go out with your WM or Symbian smartphone, Google Maps will show that hotel on top of your list of Starred Items, as well as on the map.

Google said that syncing starred items will soon be added to Google Maps for other mobile platforms (Android, iPhone etc).

To download Google Maps 3.3 for Windows Mobile or Symbian, visit m.google.com/maps on your mobile browser.

Via Google Mobile Blog

• Google Maps 3.2 brings Layers to BlackBerry
• Google Maps for mobile now with NYC public transit directions for all platforms ‘cept iPhone
• Google Buzz for mobile announced, integrates with Gmail, Google Maps
• Street View and walking directions now available in Google Maps for Mobile,
• Google Maps with Street View now available on Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile phones

Symbian Foundation is pretty happy to tell everyone around, that right now they are just a small new star-up. And, despite the fact that they own the biggest smartphone OS on the planet, shipping in more then a 100 million devices a year, they seem to act like it.

If you  look at all other major mobile device platforms, and try to find out about their future plans, roadmaps or even when we can expect the updates, you get nothing.

Of course, the owners of the platforms probably talk to their partners and developers, and, inevitably, things tend to leak. So we know, that Windows Mobile 7 is coming sometime next year, that it will probably include multi-touch, support for capacitive touchscreen displays, high requirements for the hardware, and may have Zune services integrated in it. We know, that Android 2.0 is coming, maybe next month maybe in Q1 2010, it will be more “social”, and we’ve seen some screenshots of it. But that’s about all we know about the platform upgrade, that will be released in a few weeks. And we know the the next iPhone OS upgrade will have …, wait, sorry, we do not know crap about it.

And when I say “we know”, I mean that we’ve heard rumors, saw leaks and hints about possible features from company execs, and report on those we think  are true. But we actually do not know anything at all about the future of those mobile platforms.

Well, with Symbian we already know the approximate dates, and key features of major platform releases up to 2011, with tons of technical details available to those who care and understand them.  So we already know that there is huge compatibility break coming in Symbian^4, when they replace platform UI,  sometime in late 2010/early 2011.  And we even may  hear what’s coming in Symbian^5 (for 2012 devices) next week.

Another difference in a new Symbian, is how their employees talk to the press.

Reporting on this stuff for a few years, you get a feel of what you can and can not expect when talking with someone from the company on the record. Lower level employees are mostly allowed to only troll the official company PR line, basically the stuff you read in press releases, and not much more. Higher level company execs might be trusted to expand on that a bit, and hint at some cool things to come in the future. And you never ever talk much about competitors, if asked, you may acknowledge their products a bit, but then quickly move on to extolling the virtues of your own stuff.

Well, that is different at Symbian too, where, whenever I tried, quite a few people were ready to explain about the things I wanted to know. Heck, when they think that you don’t really get something you wrote about, they might proactively seek you out.

And then there was this short Lee Williams interview with Om Malik this weekend. I haven’t had this much fun watching company CEO interview in a long time:

Dissing Apple, openly taking Android to task… oh my. You can tell that even Om was shocked at the openness, asking Lee whether he knows that they are recording this. LOL

I can’t say that I agree with everything that was said in the interview, but it  certainly is refreshing when you are used to deciphering the usual big corporate speak and obfuscation.  I really like the approach Symbian is taking in communicating their own message.

Though, whether this translates into a business success, remains to be seen. I do not buy into the Symbian’s demise story, permeating most of the tech and business media these days. In fact, I am very optimistic as far as Symbian’s market share and device volumes go, in the next few years.

On the other hand, most of the Symbian’s success outside of Japan to date, has been achieved on the back of Nokia. Which might have been a blessing before, but soon might become a curse, hindering Symbian’s adoption by other vendors, if it continues to be seen as Nokia’s OS.

And so far, I’ve yet to see some clear signs, that Symbian is on the way of stepping out of the Nokia’s shadow.  While other vendors are flocking to Android and even lowly Windows Mobile, Symbian gets ignored. This year ,we already have something like 30 new WinMo devices announced, and about 20 Android handsets are coming. Aside from Nokia, Symbian has … two. Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung Omnia HD i8910.

Granted, Symbian is still in transition to open source. And they admitted earlier, that OS ^1 and ^2 versions are  not really meant for the new adopters, and, for now, is best to those who already has the experience of working with it. So it might be too early to hear about any significant adoption wins. There’s also that major touch interface revamp coming in Symbian ^4, so things should get much more interesting as we move into 2010.

I expect to start seeing some signs of that already next week, when Symbian hosts their main event of the year – SEE 09. I will be there, looking for those signs and report back.

Stay tuned.

• Motorola to ditch Symbian, bet on Android and outsource WinMo phone production
• HTC loves both Android and Windows Mobile, will focus on both
• Mozilla’s Mobile Firefox a.k.a. Fennec expected to launch on September
• LG president says Windows Mobile is “rather unqualified in mobile interfaces”
• Symbian tablets and netbooks coming in the next few years?