Archive for December 7th, 2011

New smartphones: Nokia Lumia 800 and 710

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

The first Nokia smartphones based on Windows Phone debut in Singapore. Lumia 800 (S$775 excl GST) will be available in Singapore this Saturday on 10 Decmeber 2011. Lumia 710 (S$505 excl GST) will arrive shortly.

Nokia Lumia 800, Windows Phone 7, S$775 before GST

Nokia Lumia 800, Windows Phone 7, S$775 before GST

Nokia Lumia 710, Windows Phone 7, S$505 before GST

Nokia Lumia 710, Windows Phone 7, S$505 before GST

Nokia kicks off Christmas vigil with a new beginning – the Nokia Lumia 800 promises consumers the best integrated social experience and fast Internet browsing, bringing content to life for the consumer.
Nokia Lumia 800 comes in vivid colours

Nokia Lumia 800 comes in vivid colours

Judging from my hands-on with the sleek looking gadget so far, it has every chance of fulfilling that promise.

From the few Windows Phone 7 smartphones available thus far, the Lumia 800 seems to deliver the best Windows Phone experience on the market.

The Lumia 800 comes with in vivid colours and is housed in a sleek, polycarbonate body with a 3.7 inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display.

Containing Carl Zeiss optics, it offers users  an instant-share camera experience and HD video playback, and the best social and Internet performance, with one-touch access to social networks.

Here are the main tech specs for the Nokia Lumia 800.

Nokia Lumia 710 comes with interchangeable covers

Nokia Lumia 710 comes with interchangeable covers

For those looking for a more fun and personal device, the Lumia 710 comes with colorful changeable covers and is more affordable.

Here are the main tech specs for the Nokia Lumia 710.

Both models include signature Nokia experiences optimised for Windows Phone, including Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music.

Nokia has also introduced the on-ear Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset and the in-ear Nokia Purity Stereo Headset by Monster, intended to shoe-in a range of premium audio accessories to complement the Nokia Lumia range of smartphones.

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Posted in Accessories, App, Audio, Events, Gadgets, Internet Explorer, Launch, Lumia, Nokia, Operating Systems, Party, Phones, Prices, Software, Specifications, Windows Phone 7 | 6 Comments »

BlackBerry DevCon Asia: Day 1

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

The conference kicked off with a general session to update developers on the latest developments around the BlackBerry platforms, followed by multi-tracked technical, practical and insight sessions that zero into the details.

BlackBerry DevCon Asia in Singapore Suntec from 7-8 December, 2011.

BlackBerry DevCon Asia in Singapore Suntec from 7-8 December, 2011.

The break-out sessions were helmed by specialists from Research In Motion (RIM) and its partners and delved into wide ranging topics from technical issues to commercial and monetizing approaches.

Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director, East Asia, RIM

Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director, East Asia, RIM

Delivering the keynote address was Gregory Wade, Regional Managing Director, East Asia, RIM.

He revealed there were more than 1,000 registrants for the DevCon Asia event in Singapore.

Wade quoted a GfK report that for the first half of 2011, BlackBerry was the number one smartphone in multiple countries in Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

He said that more than 3 million BlackBerry fans were engaged on social media channels in Asia.

Alec Saunders then updated developers of BlackBerry Jam – RIM’s initiative to provide a one-stop-shop for all BlackBerry developers to assess a wide array of developer resources.

Alec Saunders, VP, Developer Relations & Ecosystems Development, RIM

Alec Saunders, VP, Developer Relations & Ecosystems Development, RIM

Saunders is the VP, Developer Relations & Ecosystems Development at RIM.

The initiative was announced at the BlackBerry DevCon Americas in October. Since then, a BlackBerry Jam communities have sprung up all over the world linking experts, partners and developers for all to be more successful on the BlackBerry platform.

George Staikos then delved into the new BlackBerry platform – previously named BBX but now renamed to BB10. Staikos is the VP, Web Technologies at RIM.

BlackBerry Jam Communities around the world

BlackBerry Jam Communities around the world

He also described the two choices of runtime environments available for developers. The Native runtime environment was for “spectacular” performance whereas HTML5 will enable the dream of “write once deploy everywhere”.

RIM will return DevCon Asia to Thailand in the future.

RIM will return DevCon Asia to Thailand in the future.

Whilst the native environment will serve as the bridge between POSIX based systems and BlackBerry 10 and allow rapid porting of native applications, HTML5 is the mass application platform for the future.

The cross-platform, cross-device HTML5 can serve as the bridge between BlackBerry 6, BlackBerry 7 and BlackBerry 10 and is the obvious choice for modern application development.

BlackBerry is therefore fully committed to HTML5.

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Posted in BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Events, Figures, Operating Systems, Phones, PlayBook, RIM, Seminars, Tablets | 3 Comments »

BBX is now BB10 – or BlackBerry 10

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011

RIM has rebranded the  next generation platform for its smartphones and PlayBook tablet to BlackBerry 10.

RIM's new platform for BlackBerry smartphones, tablets and embedded systems.

RIM's new platform for BlackBerry smartphones, tablets and embedded systems.

Research In Motion (RIM) has been barred from using BBX as the name of its new mobile platform during DevCon Asia in Singapore from 7-8 December, 2011.

RIM has rebranded BBX as BB10

RIM has rebranded BBX as BB10

A US District Judge ruled in favour of software company Basis International Ltd who filed for a temporary restraining order. It holds the “BBx”  trademark for its own software.

District Judge William P. Johnson wrote in his ruling that consumers are “likely to be confused by RIM’s use of BBX in connection with RIM’s goods and services”. – Albuquerque, New Mexico.

George Staikos, VP, Web Technologies at RIM announced the rebranding during DevCon Asia.

George Staikos, VP, Web Technologies at RIM announced the rebranding during DevCon Asia.

Basis of Albuquerque had threatened legal action in October after RIM initially unveiled BBX as its new platform for smartphones, tablets and embedded systems.

According to itworldcanada.com, RIM had said at that time that it did not believe the marks are confusing since the two companies were in different lines of businesses.

Let’s just hope that CBS television network does not take issue with RIM over any confusion between the mobile platform and its own version of BB10 – the tenth season of the American reality television series Big Brother 10, which ran in the summer of 2008.

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Posted in BlackBerry, BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry Tablet OS, Phones, PlayBook, RIM, Seminars, Software, Tablets, Tech news | 3 Comments »