Ready for your daily dose of evening tech news? In today’s US Update we’ve whipped up a full serving of smartphone news, covering everything from Apple’s latest patent to the Windows Phone-version of the Nokia N9 smartphone code named ‘Sea Ray’.
A patent filed in 2007 by Apple has just given the Cupertino camp a possible capacitive multi-touch monopoly. According to several sources familiar with intellectual property law, the patent could make it difficult to build a competitive smartphone.
Nokia has just released an availability checker for its upcoming MeeGo-powered N9 smartphone. Unfortunately the UK, US and India are not listed in the group of 23 countries on the pulldown. While this alone does not rule out launches in these countries, it may suggest a phased roll out with smaller markets leading the launch.
A Nokia smartphone launch without the UK is quite a shock. India has been sidelined before with Nokia device launches. Looking back at the Maemo-powered N900, it took ages for the device to launch. The US has also suffered similar setbacks since carrier support it limited and Nokia phones are sold almost exclusively SIM-free.
It appears our intuition served us well in yesterday’s headline when we called the N9 “the MeeGo phone with Windows Phone looks.” In a “super confidential” presentation this morning, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop asked a crowd of attendees to put their cameras away before unveiling a Windows Phone-powered device with overwhelming resemblance to the N9, codenamed ‘Sea Ray’.
Other than a slightly different LED placement on the back of ‘Sea Ray’, the device is almost a mirror image of the N9 — it even uses the same 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens. There is however, a hardware button, presumably for shutter release, along the side.
Nokia Connect is in full swing and first on the agenda is redefining the company’s mobile strategy. The Nokia C2-02, C2-03, C2-06 and N9 are just the tip of the iceberg for the Finnish giant.
Nokia’s new strategy begins with its commitment to Series 40 through the trio of C2 launches. In July, Symbian Anna will debut as Nokia N8s, E7s, C7s and C6-01s will ship pre-loaded with the latest build. By the end of August existing owners will be able to download the update.
As predicted, Nokia has finally pulled the covers of the Nokia N9 during the Nokia Connection event in Singapore. While the Nokia N9 is the company’s first MeeGo phone it shares more than a little bit of a resemblance with the Windows Phone 7 concepts the Finns have flaunted in photos. Certainly the same range of wild colours is on the cards.
If you’ve been eagerly waiting to see what Nokia would do with Linux-based MeeGo OS, you can find the full specs and a handy video guide after the jump. The big question is: will you go for MeeGo or wait for Nokia’s love-in with Windows Phone 7 to make its debut later this year?
The roller coaster of emotion for die-hard Nokia fans could hit an all-time high next week as Nokia plans to unveil a ‘new market disrupting device’ on June 21. The announcement will be followed by a live broadcast from Singapore where the company’s head honcho, Stephen Elop, will deliver the keynote at Nokia Connection 2011.
There’s no telling what this ‘market disrupting device’ might be, but as TheNokiaBlog points out, Mr. Elop previously described MeeGo as the company’s “future disruption in mobile ecosystem”. Based on that reference alone we may be looking at a Nokia MeeGo announcement.
Been away this week? Catch up on all the news you missed here, in our weekly bitesize roundup. Among the items this week: we tell you how to get a job at Apple, the opening of the Android Market Web Store, the latest on iPad 2, iPhone 5 and the Nokia N9.
As the week nears its end, we’re back at it again with your daily dose of tech news. In today’s US Update we take a look at T-mobile UK’s Smoky Violet BlackBerry Curve 3G, uncover the latest specs for the Nokia N9 MeeGo handset, track down the LG Optimus Black and more.
