via Ubergizmo

Chuong has produced one of the most extensive video reviews of the Lumia 710 that has yet to be featured on these pages. He completes a full unboxing and hardware tour, including comparisons to the Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Astound (we all know it has a Gorilla Glass screen, he was just testing to see if we’re paying attention when he talks of the plastic screen. With a ‘modern and robust’ feel, he then walks us through the software and apps on the phone. I’m saying too much, so let me hand over to Chuong…

The opening paragraph of the Nokia Lumia 710 review in the Seattle Times sums up very succinctly what we all knew:

‘It’s a modest device and easy-to-use. And one of the stronger points of the Lumia 710 is the Windows Phone 7 software. Compared with Android, Windows Phone 7 is generally a much more visually appealing and intuitive operating system’

Troy Wolverton reckons the Lumia 710 is ‘an easy-to-use, quick and light smartphone’ not an iPhone killer, but ‘a fast and responsive [phone that] seemed to launch and switch between apps more quickly than many of the dual-core Android devices’. Strong stuff, and it’s clear Troy is a fan. He does highlight the ‘app gap’ and some HTML5 issues, but his overall feelings are very positive. As it’s Monday, this makes me smile.

Finally for today, a quick video sample of the HD quality of the Nokia Lumia 710′s 5MP camera from a slightly overcast and recently rained on Netherlands.

So what do you think of the Nokia Lumia 710? Would you choose it over the Nokia Lumia 800? Or a competitor? Concentrate your thoughts into 140 characters and send them to us @Nokia_Connects. Or if you have something more to say, leave us a comment.

When Bluetooth headsets first launched at the start of the noughties they were a huge success. 40 million sold in the first four years. Then, despite ever improving features, they got a reputation for being techie toys. Fortunately, that perception is now beginning to change. To see why we asked Olli-Pekka Ahokas, Nokia’s Bluetooth headset guru, to show us how headsets have evolved in the last decade or so. In Part 1, he presented headsets from 2002 to 2006. Now he continues the journey to the present day.

2006 – Nokia BH-900

This was the first Nokia headset to improve voice quality by using digital signal processing (DSP). It was made for professional users who needed to be heard in even the most challenging environments. It also included a sliding microphone boom, which meant you could put the mic close to your mouth and was also handy for answering and ending calls. What’s more, this headset supported push to talk (PTT), which enabled a walkie-talkie type of feature among user groups.

2007 – Nokia BH-101

This was the second of the 100-series headsets, with many more to follow using the same concept. It started the trend of making Bluetooth headsets affordable for a larger audience.  It’s also a good example of what many people imagine when they think of a headset. The 100-series went on to be very successful.

2009 – BH 904

This was the first Nokia headset to support 2-mic DSP. 2-mic DSP is more advanced signal processing, which uses information from two microphones to “clean” the unwanted noise out from the speaker’s voice. This innovation significantly improved the call quality of BT headsets and is now the norm for most advanced headsets.

2010 – BH905i

The improved version of the BH-905, this headset is an audio masterpiece and top of our range. It has outstanding music and Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) performance, 2-mic DSP and works as a wired headset. On top of that, it has a battery life of 25 hours for Bluetooth use.  Probably not surprising then that it, and the BH-905, won all the tests they’ve been included in that I’ve seen.

2011 – Nokia J

The Nokia J takes its heritage from the BH-800 and several other premium headsets. Its most significant feature is the Always Ready function, which makes it easier to use and hugely increases its battery life. Its stainless steel design has prompted Engadget to call it the “most beautiful headset ever made”.  It’s also the first Nokia headset to include voice prompts to help users easily understand the headset status and guide them through the pairing process. A gold plated Nokia J is also available, in box, with the Nokia Oro smartphone.

It’s clear from Olli Pekka’s history that there’s been a massive change in both the way Bluetooth headsets look and the way they work. But is it enough to make you try one out? As ever, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

via techdude2121

Bangladesh

Top of our spotlight list for Bangladesh is techdude2121 from MobileGeekBangladesh. He put together a superb Nokia N9 review mid-way through last month and it really caught my eye. Thorough isn’t even the word…

He highlighted some of the awards that the N9 received in 2011, which included; ‘Best Design’, ‘Best Camera’ and ‘Best Mobile of the Year 2011′ at the Swedish Mobile Awards 2011.

He tended to agree with the accolades and took a liking to the phones polycarbonate body:

‘The polycarbonate uni-body design of the N9 gives it godlike beauty and sexiness, which has captured eyes all around the world. The polycarbonate body is not painted, it is the color of the material itself so you don’t have to worry about loss of paint as the years pass by. Very sensible material to choose for a device that is likely to wear its beauty for years to come.’

via MobileGeekBangladesh

He moved on to talk about Nokia Drive and the Music Player on the N9, here is one of the first reviews we’ve ever seen shot in the dark, works surprisingly well. Also, whilst checking out his YouTube page I noticed some footage of street life in Bangladesh, shot on the N9. Would love to try some of that street food!

via techdude2121

Thanks for a comprehensive N9 review techdude2121, according to your Twitter page you are ‘trying to live the dream in the real world’. Keep living the dream buddy!

Pakistan

I am jumping over to Pakistan now. I wanted to draw your attention to SenseApplied. The blog that is managed by Farhan, a good friend of Nokia Connects. He recently travelled to Thailand on holiday with his family and took his N8 with him. At the start of the holiday he started using his DSLR camera but then decided that the N8 was a better option:

‘At the beginning of my holiday I had my DSLR on my neck , playing all touristy but by the end of 2nd day I had enough of it as I was taking more pics from my N8 and the video it was making was amazing . Besides, people get a little uneasy when you point a DSLR towards them, point a phone cam and they don’t mind at all.’

I have to admit these are some of the best holiday photos I think I’ve seen on Nokia Connects. His children even bumped into Nicolas Cage whilst they were away, he looks a bit lifeless though

via Fantaz 

via Fantaz 

Elsewhere on SenseApplied, Farhan picked up on the polycarbonate form of our recent handsets, just like techdude2121 at the top; but this time he cited the design of the Lumia 800 in his ‘Nokia Lumia 800 – Walk Around and First Impressions‘.

He also picked up on the fact that we have now sold over 1.5 Billion S40 devices, the 15,000,000,000th was bought by Mayara Rodrigues in Sao Paulo.

Over to TechProlonged now. At the end of January KA picked up on Snake 97 for Windows Phone, the new game that brings the old classic back to life, in its original form. The game is available to try or buy from Marketplace.

via TechProlonged

As soon as we announced the Nokia Belle update, he picked it up. This was posted yesterday, talk about quick reactions! He has some useful tips for the software update but here is a nice easy viewing video just in-case you missed the announcement.

We’ve touched on both Pakistan and Bangladesh this week but are you aware that we may have already travelled to your country? Well our other regional spotlights include Canada, India, the USA, Germany, Levant, the UK, Finland, Lebanon/Jordan and the Philippines. Take a look at the above and let me know if you want us to head over to your country, squeeze your thoughts into 140 characters @Nokia_Connects or inform me below.

Have a great day.

via Which Mobile

domasas12 has unboxed the X2-05 to a rocking soundtrack (so there’s no real explanation or reaction to what comes in the box).

It comes to quite an abrupt end, but it’s great to see that box contents don’t really change the world over

Now an unboxing where everything ends up all laid out neatly on a clean background is my type of unboxing (even though I have had an X7 in my hands), I watched this for its clinical methodology. TelemoveisCom clearly has similar ideas to me about neat-and-tidiness (although you wouldn’t know that from looking at my desk right now)

Have you got an unboxing you’d like to share? Done it in a different way than the standard? I’d love to see them, anything out of the ordinary, so drop me a line @Nokia_Connects and you might see it on these pages soon.

via earlmigrino

In the final theme-week I asked you to send in your ‘You Are Amazing‘ photos and video. Like every other week in this competition we received some inspirational entries by the bucket load and we’ve really appreciated all the effort you’ve gone to. But sorry to sound like a broken record every week – there can only be one winner – so let’s move on.

This week’s winner is: Craig Walsh 

Craig managed to illustrate that he was pretty amazing using his Nokia Lumia 800. Goodness gracious great sticks of fire….

via @craigmwalsh

Craig managed to leave the competition smoking in his trails this week. We hope you didn’t burn yourself buddy. Which colour Nokia Purity In-Ear Headset you would like, let us know below or @Nokia_Connects.

The Grand Finale

Time to cast your VOTES. We will have crowned an overall winner for the entire Amazing Everyday Challenge next week. By ‘we’ I actually mean YOU. This will be the first time in this competition that we are placing the final decision into your very capable hands. You may only enter your vote once and you must clearly state who you are voting for.

To help you out I have drawn up your list of options below, complete with Hashtags, but remember you can’t vote underneath this post AND on Twitter, you must do one or the other. Time to recruit some community friends that owe you a favour guys!

Amazing Everyday Challenge Week #1 Winner (VOTE #NokiaJamie)

This entry was by Jamie Haggett. Head here for this winning week and the full story behind this photo….

Amazing Everyday Challenge Week #2 Winner (VOTE #NokiaFayiz)

This entry was by Fayiz Musthafa. Head here for this winning week….

Amazing Everyday Challenge Week #3 Winner (VOTE #NokiaRaghav)

This entry was by Raghav. Head here for this winning week….

Amazing Everyday Challenge Week #4 Winner (VOTE #NokiaCraig)

The second feature of this photo today…why not! This entry was by Craig Walsh. Head RIGHT HERE for this winning week….

You have until midnight on Monday 13th February (London time) to enter your VOTE for the final week of the Amazing Everyday Challenge. Head to Nokia Connects on Tuesday 14th February when I will announce the winner.

Once the competition is complete each winner above will receive a Nokia Purity In-Ear Headset regardless, but the overall winner come next Tuesday will have their photo featured on the global Nokia Facebook page to 7 million plus Nokia fans. Just like we promised in the original post for this competition.

So get voting everyone and thanks for participating up until now!

**Bonus** some of you may have noticed the image at the top entitled ‘Surfin Cowboys’, well we wanted to honour one of the first entries in this competition. We really liked this photo by earlmigrino but unfortunately it didn’t win in the first week. Sorry you didn’t win earlmigrino but we still think you took a really cool photo

via conversations

This widely anticipated update for Symbian brings a load of new features. Instead of three home screens, you now will have six. This will let you personalise even more and keep all of your favourite things a press away.

The improved Nokia Belle interface also adds HD video recording capabilities at 30 frames per second, a new notification bar which lets you see if you have any missed calls, messages emails or reminders etc, as well as the ability to turn on and off processes like Bluetooth and WiFi.

See the video…

No laser gun :<

You'll be able to receive the update in most regions, including India, Turkey, Poland, Germany, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Vietnam, Russia and Italy. If you're not sure you can always check the availability in your country.

As Nokia Belle is a major update, you’ll need to connect your phone to a PC to perform the update. To start, make sure you have the latest version of Nokia Suite (3.3 or later) running on your computer, and then connect your phone to the computer with a USB cable. For a step-by-step download tutorial, there’s a video available that tells you everything you need to know.

Once upgraded and installed, tell us what you like about it in the comments section and shout at us on Twitter!

Valentine’s Day in Finland, although a popular day to get married or engaged on, is actually referred to as ‘Ystävänpäivä’, which means ‘Friend’s Day’. This is a day where people write cards and share gifts with their closest friends.

As you may know, we love doing things differently here on Nokia Connects too, especially if it involves Finland! That’s why we want to invite you to not only take part in Finnish Valentine’s day, but to take one day out of your busy blogging schedule and share some words about a friend, family member or fellow Nokia community member that you really appreciate.

We’re always writing, posting, tweeting and talking about mobile and technology, so we rarely stop to take stock of all the wonderful people around us and thank them for their help, support and in my girlfriend’s case patience! Having just said that, Ystävänpäivä is not about my girlfriend, so we can forget that

Between now and the 14th, write a post on your blog or in the comments section below, about one of the best, most inspirational or caring friends in your life. Share your stories with us on Twitter with #NokiaValentine and we’ll feature our favourites next week. If you don’t have a blog feel free to email me as well!

via SlashGear

It seems everyone loves a white phone (it’s a matter of personal opinion, though, I prefer black) and today things are lighting up as the white Nokia Lumia 800 has been launched. The post by our friends at Nokia Conversations highlights the fact that white is a great choice as

‘the smoothly-crafted polycarbonate unibody case perfectly offsets the uniquely curved ClearBlack touch screen’

Over at Endgadget (which also has an awesome hands on gallery) Mat Smith reckons that the white Nokia Lumia 800 has ‘an almost-enamel feel’ while still being made from the polycarbonate material that we’re all familiar with from the black, cyan and magenta versions.

via Engadget

Fudzilla say that the timing (with the cold snap currently happening in Europe) is quite handy and that even after ‘a few hours of shoveling snow, the white Lumia 800 still looks great.’

Over at My Nokia Blog, Aliqudsi has brought the news of the new white Nokia Lumia 800, but the more interesting part of this post comes in the comments, where the phone has been met with universal acclaim

‘What a beauty’ – RiderX10

‘GORGEOUS’ – lordstar

‘LOOKS SOO GOOD ON A CLEAR BLACK DISPLAY. STUNNING!’ – coldmisshy27

But what do you think? Do you like the white? What about the glossy look? As ever, @Nokia_Connects is the place to share your thoughts, but we like comments too, so let us know below.

via the Uniblog

As ever, we start with Star Wars news. Not that I wanted this to become a running theme, but sometimes the cards just fall how they fall (it’s going to be a running theme). So, thanks to Ahards, how about a solid chocolate Han Solo? I think my tastebuds just exploded! In a similar (but less edible) vein, how do you feel about sharing your shower with a miniature made-of-soap Astromech? These are definitely the droids you are looking for. This week, Star Wars-related moulded goods have made me smile.

Bonus Star Wars item – lightsaber sneakers. I am SO getting a pair (UPDATE – they are for kids. I am SO getting all my nephews and nieces pairs).

*****

This site has been doing the rounds this week and it definitely made me smile, so here it is if you haven’t managed to see it yet. A simple blog called Food On My Dog, viral superstardom is almost upon Tiger (the dog).

Don’t worry about feeling sorry for the dog – she gets a treat for sitting still and being good.

For more dog-food-related funnies, this video is very clever (and features bacon). After all, almost 92 million viewers can’t be wrong!!

*****

Picture the scene. You’ve just spent the last goodness-knows-how-long schlepping up the highest mountain on the African continent, all 19,341 feet of Mount Kilimanjaro. You reach Uhuru Peak (nice Star Trek tie in there) no doubt gasping for air in the rarefied atmosphere where oxygen is in short supply. You take in the undoubtedly awesome view. You think to yourself ‘I am the further into the atmosphere than *anyone* in Africa right now’. What’s the next thing you do? Unveil your Nokia logo and pose for a snap, of course Ladies and Gentlemen, please remove your hats, be upstanding and give Marko Tomic your best ovation (our latest Nokia Connects ambassador >>)

THIS made me smile.

*****

Quite why anyone would do this, but it made me smile. Attaching a washing machine to a wooden base so it can’t escape, setting the cycle, then lobbing in a chunk of metal isn’t exactly my idea of a fun way to spend Saturday afternoon, but each to his own. Watching the slow and determined way it disintegrates is fascinating, and the final gyrations remind me of a fat guy on a weight loss vibration machine.

via Gizmodo

I guess this falls into the ‘Will it…?’ category. It most certainly did.

*****

And in a new section (which may or may not reappear, depending on how much stuff I can find or you send) – here are a few ‘Quick Grins’

Cute pic of a ‘peering owl’

- might just be my desktop wallpaper soon.

‘Proof’ of what we’ve known all along – durability.

Buskers, we see them everywhere. On the subway, on the street, in the bin. Wait. What? (thanks to Joe for that one)

A truly worthy attempt to do something with his spare time – to draw every building in New York City. Makes my watching sport and reading look a little lame.

So what has made you smile this week? Leave me a comment (or let me know @Nokia_Connects using the #MakeMeSmileMonday hashtag) and let me know, and who knows, it may well appear in next week’s post (note – Star Wars links will definitely appear in next week’s post). I’m also planning a section with no links, so whether it’s your son making birthday pancakes, or completing a to-do list ahead of time, let me know what little victories you’ve had in your day-to-day life. Make me smile.

And with this next installment we say thank you to Steve, who’s participation previously has sparked our next topic of discussion/argument!

Single or multiple home screens?

While the debate was raging in the comments section, with many points of view for both swipe and pressing ‘home’ on the Nokia Lumia phones, the debate was in full swing on Twitter too, where Steve stated his preference for a single home screen instead of the swiping N9′s three. In fact, as you can see he said it’s no less than ‘for the win!’

I’m in two minds about this because while I think using one screen can be a real breeze, especially for a vast majority of people, I still can’t get over how much I like to play around with and customise my own home screens (particularly on my N8). Also, with the likes of the N9 in the mix, I can’t see myself living without an easy-to-access multitasking screen at my disposal. I think I could live with two comfortably, three is probably too much for my real needs but fun to mess around with none the less.

Then again the Lumia’s approach is just so easy. Everything’s there all laid out in front of you, with big bright live tiles for you to press and poke around. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but the whole experience just seems so inviting! I think if I’d never ever had the joy of messing around with and customising my N8′s home screens, I might not miss them so much. Maybe I’m just stuck in my old ways…

I guess the bottom line for me personally, is that it doesn’t matter how many home screens my Nokia has, as long as I can get to what I need quickly and efficiently. The Lumia has just the one and it works perfectly for my needs and the N9 has 3, of which I think two are absolutely paramount when using it.

What are your thoughts on all this though; do you agree with Steve or have your own personal preference? I’d like to know what our resident E6 users have to say on the matter, as you guys have six of them to mess around with. Could you cope with just the one? Get started with telling us your feelings on the matter in the comments section and feel free to spill over onto Twitter as well.