Nokia’s Remix London event has been shrouded in secrecy since the invites first landed in our inbox. Now we’re here, hooked up to the web, and ready to bring you second by second updates of everything the Finnish phone masters unveil.
The event will kick off at 5pm. This page is where you’ll find second by second updates. Wondering what to expect? There’s a slew of new products Nokia could unveil, from handsets to fancy software and services. Get clued up here.
18:12: That’s it. All over!
18:12: A daft question right at the end… “is there a limit on the number of songs you can download”… No. It’s a completely unlimited service.
18:11: Comes With Music will launch in the USA in 2009.
18:10: Questions include: How do you get Comes With Music if you already have a Nokia? The answer is you can’t. Comes with Music is tied to a specific device, and it’s only available on new phones. It’s also being sold through Carphone Warehouse. Nokia’s effectively side-stepping the networks by doing it that way. It’s not exclusive to any network.
18:04: Will.I.Am is off stage now. We’re having a quick Q&A session.
18:03: Yes We Can has had 18 million views on the Viral Video Chart. “You’re supposed to make change with music. You’re supposed to put it up, they pick it up, and pass it around. Discovery and invention.”
18:00: He has another version of the song, with graphics made up from the faces of people who contributed pictures. “Just pressing play and hearing the song from zero to four minutes is yesterday. When I write a song, I have the potential to write a lyric, like “where is the love” that pops up a visual. Your imagination can go as far as you want.”
17:58: Will.I.Am is showing us a song he made for Barrack Obama called “Yes we can”. It’s got four million views, and was “made for the internet. It was made for people to engage and comment on it.”
17:55: “The reason albums are 11 or 12 tracks is it’s defined by old technology” says Will.I.Am… sounds like he sees the Internet as the future of music, with limitless possibilities. “What is an album nowadays? Can we really get creative and redefine what an album is”… “We’re here in London recording a new album, and redefining what an album is. Is a song four minutes any more? It was four minutes in the past because that’s the limit they could fit on vinyl, or fit commercials between on the radio. Now we all think a song is 4 minutes. On the internet, we can make a song that responds to you, so when you press Z or 4, you change it.”
17:53: Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas is here. He’s talking about how Nokia is “saving the music industry as we know it.” There are “literally no stores to buy music physically”…
17:50: It’s simple to set up… we’ve just been shown a quick demo. Once you’re signed up “the prices disappear… the candy store is open!”
17:49: Comes With Music will be available with 12 or 18 month contracts.
17:48: The 5310, with Comes With Music, will cost 129.95 at the Carphone Warehouse on October 16. The N95 8GB will also be available with Comes With Music, as well as the 5800 Xpressmusic, when it comes to the UK in the 1st Quarter.
17:46: There’ll be 100% chart coverage when Comes With Music goes live. “Whether you like old charts, or new charts, we have it all” The 5310 XpressMusic will be the first device to go live, sold through The Carphone Warehouse.
17:44: There are loads of indie labels on board too. The Orchard, Beggars Group, Ioda, Ministry of Sound and PIAS are all in.
17:43: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner Music and EMI are now all on board. That’s the big four – Nokia sounds ready to go!
17:42: “It’s the perfect holiday gift for this season…” That must mean it’s launching before Christmas. EMI have signed up too.
17:40: On to Comes With Music. We’re being talked through the concept: You get to download as much as you like for a year, and keep it afterwards.
17:39: “11 countries is not enough.” United Arab Emirates are getting the first Nokia Music Store in the Middle East.
17:37: The Nokia Music Store is now live in 11 countries. A third of downloads are being made over the air, and Nokia’s keen to push “local content” for each country. They want so support local tastes. “We think about how people consume music in those countries, and when we notice something we will change the offering. In Sweden, people really like streaming, so we increased the streaming offering there…”
17:36: Now we’re being walked through the Nokia music store… and its accompanying PC software. Nothing new… yet.
17:34: The tube announcement is over. Some more pics still to come. Keep refreshing, and you’ll see them. Nokia aren’t finished yet though… there’s more to come.
17:32: It’ll cost €279. That’s £219. It’ll begin shipping “shortly.” That makes it roughly half the price of “similar touch phones” says Nokia. Apple, we think they mean you.
17:29: The 5800 will work with a finger, the built-in stylus (which supports handwriting recognition for 60 languages), on-screen QWERTY that’ll work in “two handed mode” as well as a mini keypad. Neat little feature: there’s a “plectrum” on the phone’s wrist strap. Used to tap the screen… and to highlight that it’s a music phone.
17:28: The home screen has a cool “contacts bar” for four of your favourite friends. You use their photos to put them on the home screen. Nokia says it’ll make using the phone super fast.
17:27: There’s a 3.2 meg camera with a Carl Zeiss lens.
17:24: There’s GPS inside too.
17:24: “Some people think Flash isn’t important on a mobile device” says Jo. But the 5800 supports it, to show web pages properly.
17:23: One-touch uploading to video sharing sites.
17:22: There’s 8GB of memory inside. Expandable to 16GB. Its speakers are the loudest Nokia’s ever made. It’s a proper 16:9 widescreen, so it’ll show movies without black borders. Nokia says it’s the best colour screen in the industry. It’s “vibrant”… we’ll wait and see. It’ll record VGA video too.
17:18:5800 XpressMusic. Now a video. Pics coming shortly.
17:17: Jo says Nokia’s customers want more memory, better speaker quality, music, easy sync with PC, fresh design, a music phone that works as a phone, web browsing without sacrifices. It also has to be affordable. Sounds like a checklist for the Tube.
17:16: In two weeks, Comes With Music will be available for the first time… in the UK.
17:16: …. but they won’t show it to us yet. Instead, we’re being walked through Nokia’s history of music phones…. stick with us. It’s coming…
17:15: Jo says: “It’s time to announce to the world the device “formerly known” as the Tube”…. It’s real, and it’s being launched today.
17:12: “We don’t just play music, we pay with music” says Tero. Nokia wants to change the way we treat music.
17:11: They’re asking the audience how many of us buy CDs…… not many. Who’s using their phone to listen to music? A few… “The rest of you, we’ll get you there by the end of the evening” says Tero.
17:09: “What does Nokia have to do with music?” Asks Jo…. we’re finding out in a few minutes, hopefully. Nokia’s Remix slogan is on screen. “We Remix People” says Nokia.
17:08: Jo Harlow, responsible for Nokia’s Music Device Portfolio, and Tero Ojanpera, in charge of Communities, are on stage. They’re talking about cassettes, and swapping mix tapes. “Today I don’t even have a cassette player” says Jo. “Today I spend more of my time listening to playlists, because playlists let you tell stories… it lets you express your sense of humour.”
17:04: We’re being shown a fancy video. It’s all choppy and distorted (on purpose). Showing off slogans representing remixing. “We Chop” “We Change” “We Rearrange”…
17:03: Short delay… More people are being shoehorned in.
16:57: The seats are nearly full. We’re sandwiched between some larger than life gentlemen. Nice. A few more minutes, and we’ll be off.
16:49: The venue’s filling up nicely. Just 10 minutes to go, before Nokia whips the dust sheets off it’s mystery new products.
16:44: The music while we’re waiting is… eclectic to say the least. DJ Sammy, followed by a nice bit of jazz-infused trip hop. Hmmm… maybe we should’ve taken those ear-plugs.
16:42: Nokia has been handing out ear-plugs to people in the audience. Now that’s a press conference first for us! We’ve declined. Hope we don’t regret it.
16:30: See that carpet Nokia’s laid down outside? It’s the same colour and patern as the screen of their first official Comes With Music image. Guess that means we’ll be seeing a Comes With Music announcement then. What else will we see? Errr… we’ve honestly no idea. Obviously, we’re hoping for new phones. But which ones?
16:24: We’ve arrived at Nokia’s event. Things will kick off in half an hour or so. Until then, have a look at these pictures of the outside of Camden’s Koko.
Whatever Nokia’s cooking up, it’s big. Big enough to install huge letters spelling out Nokia Remix on the roof!
The mobile firm’s taken over the entire interior of one of London’s largest clubs. It’s starting to fill up. Keep it here for updates, second-by-second.
