Microsoft And Nokia Hooking Up - Office On Smartphones

Microsoft and Nokia are rumored to be announcing a deal today that will bring Microsoft Office to Nokia handsets. The move is a preemptive strike at the emerging competitive threat from free Web-based word processing, spreadsheet and other office related software, from Google primarily. Both companies are feeling the heat in their perspective market places, Nokia is losing smartphone market share to Apple's iPhone line, Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices and Google Android powered devices. Microsoft on the other hand is fighting to keep it's cash cow Office line relevant.

Source: New York Times

Nokia and Skype Strike Deal

Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is about to get a big boost into the world of cellphones. Starting with the release of the N97 in June, Nokia is going to embed Skype into it's devices allowing users to make VoIP calls either on a 3G network or while connected to WiFi. According to Cnet's Marguerite Reardon "Adding Skype to smartphones is a great benefit for consumers, especially people who travel internationally or have friends and family overseas. While pricing on domestic voice services has been dropping like a brick from a third-story window, international rates have remained high."

Nokia Creates Mobile Home Control Centre

Nokia is working on a linux based mobile home automation system that could allow you to control your homes temperature, preheat your oven, or draw a bath from your mobile phone. The Home Control Center is expected to go on sale at the end of 2009. Nokia acknowledges that many of the pieces already exist in one form or another however "Nokia’s aim is to integrate state-of-the-art solutions from each area to the framework so that the systems can be controlled via mobile device. This provides the systems with remote access via the same user interface regardless if you use a mobile phone, web browser or an internet tablet, also enabling the different home systems to talk to each other."

The Telegraph.co.uk

Jobs Says Adobe Flash Is Not For The iPhone

Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that Flash is not up to Apple standards when it comes to playing video and where the iPhone is concerned. Jobs reportedly told shareholders that the mobile version of the media player is "is not capable of being used with the web," according to reports from Dow Jones and C-Net. This on the same day that Microsoft announced a deal with cell phone maker Nokia to make the Silverlight media player available on phones using Nokia software. The question is what will Jobs and Apple adopt as it's iPhone player? Does Jobs have something in the works? CBC article here.

And You Thought The iPhone Was Cool!

Just look at what the folks at Nokia have conceived! The "Morph" is a concept phone that, once built, would use Nanotechnology to allow the device to be folded and bent, resist dirt, have chameleon like properties, and of course function as a telephone! The brainchild of Nokia and the University of Cambridge in England, Morph is still but a concept with "bits and pieces" having been developed to date. The promotional video is pretty impressive just the same.

Women believe they are better multitaskers according to online survey

A recent multitasking survey conducted online by Illuminas, for Nokia, suggests that women think they are much better multitaskers than men. The study conducted in the United Kingdom, Spain, Finland, Italy, China, Brazil, Germany, Denmark, France, USA, Sweden and Norway had 60 percent of respondents, both men and women, saying that women where the better multitaskers but interestingly only six percent of women believe that men are better at doing more than one thing at a time... there are about a hundred smart remarks coming to mind right now but in the interest of peace between the sexes I'll refrain from further comment ;-)

The Nokia press release is here.

Nokia Battery Issue

Nokia, the worlds number one cellphone maker has issued a notice regarding 46 million batteries that could overheat. The company is offering to replace the "BL-5C" batteries made by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (manufacturer of such brands as Panasonic, National, and Technics) between December 2005 and November 2006. Nokia said in a statement "Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the affected batteries could potentially experience over heating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge."

footnote: not a recall as previously reported. post edited.

iPhone battery praise

In a move to either promote the upcoming iPhone release, just ten days away, or to quell any questions about the highly anticipated device's battery life, Apple has released a statement on it's web site that boasts the longevity of the iPhone's battery charge. Apple's device, according to the manufacturer, outlasts it's competitors by 2 times. A chart on the site compares the iPhone to the Nokia N95, Samsung Blackjack, Blackberry Curve 8300, and Palm Treo 750. Besides battery life they compare screen size, display surface and Wi-Fi support. Some reports have stated that Apple has already received a million inquiries for the device and apparently one desperate consumer has offered $10,000 on Craigslist for the device. The iPhone hits the street in the U.S. on June 29th, no release date available for Canada yet.