Nokia has announced their latest high end flagship phone  at CES 2012- the Lumia 900. Continuing the beautiful minimalist design of the Lumia 800, the Lumia 900 is a new super sized version with some much improved internals. Still sporting a polycarbonate design, it is apparently a lot more resilient than most new smartphones.

The camera is also taking center stage on this model – it features a 8MP sensor behind a Carl Zeiss wide angle lens with a nice f2.2 aperture at 28mm, and a 1 MP front camera. No mention is made if it is a backlit sensor like the iPhone 4S, but at least at that aperture you should expect some better low light camera performance. The camera can also capture 720p video at 30fps. On the inside there is a 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor (single core though) and 512MB RAM with 16GB of storage. The phone will run Windows Phone Mango 7.5, and also ships with an LTE capable radio (at least in the US). The screen size has been increased to 4.3 inches, but still only packs 800 by 480 pixels. Not that it is anything to sneeze at. That big screen might make you worry about battery power, but its broader design means the Lumia 900 can handle a 1840mAH battery which is good for 7 hours talk time or a claimed 300hrs standby.

As part of Nokia’s adoption of Windows Phone 7, they have enhanced a few things in the software stack – Nokia Drive is a fully featured GPS navigation system which is free with the phone. And no, it is not just a subscription. Social networking is also catered for with Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter integration into the contacts.

Nokia has in recent years fallen behind other smartphone manufacturers in terms of operating system innovation and phone design – but the latest Lumia 800 and 900 really makes us think that Nokia still has some life in it yet. Right now the Lumia 900 is US only, but we will keep you posted when it ships internationally.

The first leaked images of these phones have been doing the rounds, but now Nokia has finally given us the official specs. Two new Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 will be released, both sporting the latest Windows Phone Mango update, but also sporting very impressive design and specs. Windows Phone 7 has been begging for some decent hardware design to go with it, and Nokia really brought their best.

The Lumia 800 is the one most people will be keeping an eye on – this will afterall be Nokia’s new flagship device. Until now Nokia flagships did not always have greatest specs, but this time they seemed to beef their phone up quite a bit. The Lumia 800 will be running on a 1.4GHz processor with 512MB RAM, and it is encased in a polycarbonate body which is great to look at and hold. It continues the N9′s minimalistic design, but it does gain three touch sensitive buttons upfront, unlike the N9. The Lumia 800 will also have Navigation built into the phone, which no other WP device has had yet so far. The camera has a f2.2 aperture, so expect some pretty great snaps. Expect pricing of around $585.

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To be honest, we have been rooting for the whole Nokia / Microsoft Phone partnership ever since it was announced.. We loved Windows Phone 7 (and the new Mango update makes it even better), but we have really been waiting to see it combined with Nokia’s hardware designs.

The wait is over – and images have leaked out of the latest Nokia phones which are supposed to have been unveiled at Nokia World. Initial images seem to suggest only two new devices will be released, simply called the “Lumia 710″ and “Lumia 800″ (Lumia means “art from light” apparently). The Lumia 710 looks pretty simple, in fact a little chubby, but previously leaked images seem to suggest multiple colours could be made available.

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We are all very quick to write off Nokia with recent developments in the smartphone wars. Sure, its Symbian operating system is getting very old (yet Nokia still keeps rolling them out), and we are still to see the first Windows Phone 7 Nokia phone, despite the deal being announced quite a while back now.

But take a look at this infographic which puts things in context. Despite Apple now being the worlds most profitable phone manufacturer, there is still some growth going on for Nokia – look at click through rate for ads from the devices. It might persuade a few developers to build decent freemium apps…

Now Nokia, if only you can get a move on with that Mango handset. Your hardware sure is good enough.

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At some point or another, most have us have owned a Nokia phone, and loved it. Those Finnish guys really know how to put together phones, but these days they are having a hard time because of poor software decisions. Their insistance to stick to Symbian all this time has been detrimental to the company’s sales and profits, especially at the high end of the market. But recently they let the world know that they will be adopting Windows Phone 7 as its flagship operating system going forward. Good on them.

But when Nokia announces a new handset, the world still sits up and takes notice. Yesterday Nokia showed off their new N9 handset, which is a stunning slab of hardware design. (more…)

Microsoft yesterday evening previewed the next major release of Windows Phone, code name “Mango,” through a series of media events around the world, including Cape Town with its “Dev Days” event. “Mango” will deliver more than 500 new features to the Microsoft smartphone experience around communications, apps and the Internet. Nokia’s recent adoption of Windows Phone also means that their upcoming devices will ship with Mango out of the box, called Windows Phone 7.1.

The Mango release will be available for free to Windows Phone 7 customers and is scheduled to ship on new phones later this year.  Windows Phone 7.1 will also add support for additional languages; expand access to apps by launching Marketplace in South Africa, and partner with new OEMs to enable this expansion. This means that SA Windows Phone developers will not need to use portals like Yalla Apps, and have more control over their app submission process.

“Seven months ago we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more,” said Nazeer Suliman, Consumer and Online Lead at Microsoft. “With Mango, Windows Phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the Internet, giving you better results with less effort.”

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There is a lot of talk that Nokia being past its prime, and that their days are numbered. This has primarily to do with Symbian, its age old smartphone operating system which many of us have dealt with at some point during our smartphone-carrying lives. Luckily Nokia did announce that it will be using Windows Phone 7 in its future devices, but they are still rolling out Symbian devices until then. During Symbian’s history it has gone through many iterations, starting off as a rather complicated mess, and then finally moving towards a touch based, more elegant experience as we see today in the Nokia N8 and E7. The thing is – Nokia probably would not have made these changes if the iPhone and Android did not force its hand. But lets not spill the beans on the E7 just yet. (more…)

20Fourlabs (together with Blueworld Communities) walked away with the top honours last night in the Nokia Africa Calling All Innovators app competition. Their entry, Afridoctor, won the $85 000 first prize beating 125 other entries from developers all over Africa.

Afridoctor has enjoyed huge success since its official launch into the Nokia OVI app store – after 3 weeks of being available in the app store Afridoctor has been downloaded over 5500 times from users around the world.

The application fills a void that currently exists in many African countries where there is a huge demand for basic health related information yet this information is not very reliable or easily accessible.

“Thanks to all those within 20fourlabs/BWCOM for your help in designing and building the product. Thanks also go to Danie Pauw and the Health24 team for partnering with us on this project and supplying key content. It is a great honor for us to win the Nokia application competition and that is testament to our ability to innovate and rapidly execute brilliant ideas in limited time frames.” says Bradley Voges, Business Development Manager for BWCOM.

There are already serious discussions underway to expand Afridoctor and ensure the application reaches those who need it most – development has already begun to port Afridoctor to all capable Nokia handsets to ensure mass adoption.

What is Afridoctor?

Afridoctor is Africa’s first personal mobile health clinic, turning your device into a powerful first aid information kit, a doctor-location service, and an emergency distress notifier. Its revolutionary “SnapDiagnosis” system allows users to submit photos of their ailments and remotely receive advice from a panel of professionals. Afridoctor’s mapping feature enables users to find doctors, clinics and all health industry related services within their proximity. (more…)