It’s might sad to see a once great tech giant falter and begin to fail. As they travel along their downward spiral of a decent, you start remembering all of the fond memories of years past. Such a reminiscing period will soon fall upon New York and Chicago residents who currently flock to Nokia flagship stores on a regular basis. The blood letting (read: extreme profit losses) that is killing Nokia within claimed it’s first store a couple of days ago. Tonight we learn of two more stores going the way of the dodo and returning to their roots — empty buildings with “For Sale” signs hung in the windows. The fine residents of the Big Apple and Windy City will have to find a new place to get their Nokia fix as Nokia released an official statement tonight highlighting that the company is in dire straights and this close, this close to puking red ink that the company while not the most financially sound at the moment is committed to simply keeping the lights on and the customers happy. In order to do that, the two flagship stores mentioned above will have to shut their doors for good.
It’s really sad for me because every time I set foot in Chicago I make sure to go to the Nokia store and give all of the window models a thorough training session. Though anytime I was in a Nokia store there was never more than 5 people inside. In all reality, you’d have to be blind and partially handicapped not to realize the writing was on the wall months ago. Denial is a secret killer I guess.
So what have you: A bad night getting worse as your European love fest/affair is moving away into the far away land of digital island? Or are you questioning as to why people still even buy things in brick and mortar stores to begin with? Share with us you dashingly handsome (or beautiful) reader…
[Image Source]
IntoMobile
Don’t let the image above fool you, BlackBerries aren’t the only thing coming to town. Simply looking at what we have currently seen of upcoming handsets, Verizon already has quite the holiday season forming with the Moto Droid and Eris. Android isn’t everyone’s favorite mobile OS however (a travesty indeed). For those individuals, a leaked roadmap from VZW highlights everything else that is primed and ready to flaunt retail stores this holiday season.
Since we already know about the Droid and Eris, we can skip over them and devout more attention to a little surprise for BlackBerry users. Remember the first BlackBerry to be released with that next gen optical trackpad instead of the trackball? If you guessed the 8520 on T-Mobile you’re correct! The lower end Berry isn’t staying with the magenta warriors for too long as VZW has their own variant coming. This new low end Berry will go by the name “Curve2″.
Even BlackBerries aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Moving on…again, we come to the Windows Mobile camp. WinMo fans have plenty to be excited about as well with the HTC Imagio and Ozone tag teaming your senses and wallets this holiday season. Even though WinMo isn’t my particular favorite, the Imagio and Ozone don’t look half bad.
Heck, even with explosive market growth, smartphones aren’t everyone’s first device of choice either. For those looking for a more practical and easy going handset, VZW’s holiday line up is packed with a slew of feature phones that will give you plenty to contemplate as gifting time nears. With so much to choose from, what are you going to choose?
BGR
With all of the tech loving world continually lusting after highend and most of the time expensive phones, it makes sense to take a step back and look at some less than top end models for the broader range of what people can actually afford. Today’s phone ’0 bargin comes by of LG in the form of the LG GM200. While it doesn’t have any whizbang features that launch to the head of the class, it does have a respectable set that will get you though the day no less. Those more frugal features include a 2MP camera, Bluetooth 2.1 A2DP, and microSD card support. Two noteable features include an FM Tuner for when you get tired of listening to your own tunes and Dolby audio. The mention of Dolby audio perks my ears up a tad as I consider myself border line audiophile. Normally, audiophiles don’t like things that “color” music. However, in the case of mobiles, the sound sucks to begin with so a little color couldn’t hurt. If this at all excites you prepare to either swim or fly as it is only launching in Ukraine for the time being. *sigh*
Source: Into Mobile, Unwired, Mobile-Review
AT&T users have reason to crack open a cold one and celebrate this afternoon as news of near up and coming handsets has been revealed. What handsets you ask?
- June 9th…Sony Ericsson C905
- May 9th…”Mystery Samsung “BJ 2″…Blackjack variant?
- May 9th…LG Neon
- April 9th…LG Xenon
- March 26th…Samsung Impression: a slider based phone featuring a 3 megapixel camera
- March 24th…Nokia Piranha: Being called a “thin smartphone with a touchscreen”. However it is believed that this “Piranha” is actually the Nokia E71 which is still a pretty impressive little beast from our friends over seas.
- March 19th…Samsung Propel Pro
As you can see a pretty well rounded set leading up to the warmmer summer months. So is anyone going to jump on these latest and mostly greatest devices from the almighty death star?
Source: Boy Genius
Smartphones are where it’s currently at. Even in the ever sinking economy, people are snapping up smartphones like nobodies business. The mobile internet age is finally dawning. ”Feature” phones and “dumb” phones still have some fight in them though as not everyone needs the world at their finger tips. For those, the Samsung A877 looks mighty cool. For starters, it doesn’t look half bad, coupled with a rather impressive feature set containing: 3.2″ AMOLED WQVGA display, 3 megapixel camera, HSDPA, GPS w/ geo-tagging, and a full slide-out qwerty keyboard. Rumor has it that this mini beast could be hitting AT&T as soon as March 29th. Texters/non-techie people…are you excited?
Source: Engadget, Phone Dog
- February 17, 2009 2:16 pm
Sidekick loyalists have reason to celebrate today as well as a small fix for those shaking hands and leaky mouths of yours. The Sidekick Blade (a.k.a. Sidekick 2009) has been spied. The good folks over at HipTop3 have been kind enough to share said image to the world. One big update to the latest and greatest from Danger is the addition of 3G. Now the Sidekick has a legitimate stance in the feature phone arena! Well that’t it for now. Stay tuned for more info soon.
Source: Boy Genius, HipTop3
- February 16, 2009 10:30 pm
I know in the economic hardships, gadgets and electronics aren’t on the top of many peoples’ priority lists. The LG Globus is a prime example of frugality at its finest. While not the feature beast set to decimate the feature phone world, at least it does bring some features to the table. A 1.3 megapixel camera, GPS, and stereo bluetooth round out a rather dull feature set. However, one saving grace is the price, a rather bottom end price of $19.99 means even Mr. Frugal McFrugster will eye this fine yet uninspiring piece of currently Canadian bound tech. In order to get that ultra cool price you must agree to give your soul to the devil for 3 long years. If Rogers is your carrier and basic is all that you need and makes you happy, the TU330 is worth a look. So far Rogers is the soul carrier however expect the budget minded phone to spread elsewhere.
Source: Into Mobile, Mobile Syrup
