Wireless Tech Chat

from gizmodo: TheStreet says that Nokia “has sealed its plans” to get into netbooks, which will be made for them by Foxconn (so it’s cheaper, easier and faster for them to start). But here’s the real question: What OS is it gonna run?

Ewen Spence, over on All About Symbian has this to say:

The rumours of a Nokia Netbook have lit up the internet. Even though it would have been hard to deny, the opportunities for Nokia’s software services would surely outweigh the cost of building a commodity consumer electronics device. Ewan explains why.

“We are looking very actively also at this opportunity,” Nokia’s Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said to a Finnish Broadcaster. Well he would, wouldn’t he? The rise of the netbooks in the last 12 months has been nothing short of a sea-change in attitudes in the laptop market. The old order of high profit margins for companies like Apple, Dell and HP has been upturned. Some are adapting (witness the Dell Inspiron Mini 10 just launched in the UK), while others are leaving a conspicuous gap in their product line up (Apple).

So when you as a CEO, are asked if you’re looking at a brand new consumer electronics sector, then the answer is yes, we are looking at it; then don’t commit yourself to actually doing anything about it, because you’re focused on moving the company from hardware-led to being software and services-led. But then the Internet picks it up and becomes “Nokia looking to release a netbook”.

Now the romantic in me (and Steve) will be thinking that as the robust Symbian OS grew out of the OS that powered the award winning Psion machines (including their, cough, “netbook”, in 1999, shown behind, in the photo below) then the machine would be the bestest cutest lil machine in the world. If they ask the Symbian Foundation nicely, then the EIKON interface can be dusted back down for public use and all will be right in the world.

They’ll just need the applications to run on the device and they’ll be set.

The Nokia E75 smartphone slider style phone hides a full QWERTY keyboard below the standard 12 button main display. Also featured is a 3.2MP camera, WiFi, GPS, Java, and Symbian operating system.

The Nokia E55 has a candy-bar design and comes in white or black. Nokia says it will be the world’s thinnest smartphone, but we know the E55 has lots of competition in that race. In any case, Nokia kept the size down by skipping a full QWERTY keyboard in favor of what it calls a “hybrid keyboard.” Basically, that’s a just like a SureType keybaord on a BlackBerry device, where two letters share the same button. The 2.4-inch display supports 16 million colors and it works in both landscape and portrait modes. And thanks to a massive battery, Nokia promises that the E55 will deliver a month of standby battery life.

Quick Glance Specs
Data3G,GPRS,HSDPA,HSCSD
Keyboard/ButtonsStandard 12 button,Full QWERTY
Phone DesignBar w slide Keyboard
SmartphoneYes
Talk Time5.4 hours (324 minutes)
Touch Screen-
Featuresautofocus, video capture,
BluetoothYes, v2.0 with A2DP
Operating SystemSymbian S60
Wi-FiYes
Network
TechnologyGSM
Frequencies/Bands850, 900, 1800, 1900
Data3G,GPRS,HSDPA,HSCSD

Battery
Standby Time264 hours (11 days)
Talk Time5.4 hours (324 minutes)
Type1100 mAh
Display
2nd Display-
Colors16M
Resolution240 x 320 pixels 2.4 inches
Touch Screen-
TypeTFT,TFD,LCD (Color)
Camera and Video
Featuresautofocus, video capture,
FlashXenon
Live TV-
Megapixels3.2
Streaming Video-
Video SharingYes
Data Messaging
Instant MessagingYes
Predictive Text EntryYes
Text Message Templates-
Text MessagingMMS,SMS

Music and Multimedia
FM RadioYes
GPS NavigationYes
Music PlayerYes,MP3,WMA,MP4,eAAC+
Speaker PhoneYes
Connectivity
BluetoothYes, v2.0 with A2DP
Data/Fax Capability-
E-Mail ClientYes
Infrared (IR) Port-
Java ApplicationsYes
Memory Card SlotTransFlash,MicroSD
Operating SystemSymbian S60
PC Sync-
Pop Port-
USB PortYes
Web BrowserYes
Wi-FiYes