Nokia can’t compete with Apple, Android, say European carriers

Nokia’s Lumia phones are already facing an uphill battle trying to gain attention and sales in a market dominated by Apple and Android.

Four of the major telecom carriers in Europe told Reuters that the Lumia smartphones were not good enough to compete with the iPhone or Samsung’s Galaxy phones. As a result, carriers seem to feel little incentive to push the phones over the competition.

At one French telecom store cited by Reuters, Lumia models were not displayed prominently, and one salesperson steered a potential customer toward an iPhone and a variety of Android phones over Nokia’s devices

Lack of customer awareness is also hurting Nokia.

“No one comes into the store and asks for a Windows phone,” one executive an a European carrier told Reuters.

Nokia has tried to get the word out with a marketing blitz. Ads mocking its rivals and touting the Lumia phone as unique and different have already hit the market.

But the appeal of the iPhone and Android, both among consumers and retailers, shows that Nokia faces a huge challenge not just promoting its phones but changing public perception.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Latest Image Leak Seems A Lot Real; It Confirms New Specs And Suggests Release Date Too – What Else?

Yet another week has passed by and Samsung Galaxy S3 rumors are still high at the moment. Well, this time again, the major cause is the purported leaked image, which seems to be sprawling all over the media world, indicating this is what the Korean giant’s next flagship will look like.

The image, claimed to have been received by a Polish blog, oPDA.pl, from an anonymous source, who said that he was testing the device has revealed that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will sport a home button finally. Further the leaked image also proved that the phone will feature 5 row UI, following the Galaxy Note approach.

Many industry analysts are still suspicious about the recent image leak and are considering it as fake. However, if taken a closer look, especially at home button, it looks a lot similar to the style Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 4.2.

There was one more image leak (two weeks ago) which got floated around by Reddit reports via Samsung fan site in Germany. This indicated that the Galaxy S3 would boast a look similar to Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 4.2 and it also pointed towards the home button in S3.

Further, that image seemed to be an internal document of the popular PR agency Weber Shandwick and was assumed to be a part of the marketing campaign for the London Olympics, as it read that the phone is to be launched May 22.

Hence, logically the latest image leak seems a lot real if compared to this Weber Shandwick’s May 22 rumor campaign sighting. It also hints the rado-style, ceramic slim body of Samsung Galaxy S3 that could be expected and potentially will be debut during that time. And this new image leaks even shows the front-facing camera that is located on the top right corner, similar to the Weber Shandwick’s S3 image poster.

Moreover, coming on to the latest rife image, even the display of the phone is quite big, comfortably housing five rows of icons on the menu screen just as the display on the Galaxy Note does.

The device’s display takes up a large portion of the phone’s face, reaching nearly to the left and right edges of the handset. However, what the analysts are not able to accept is the proximity of Samsung’s branding to the top of the display and the alignment of the thin blue line above the blurred icons.

However, the picture may impel some to think that there is some mystery with the back of the handset. If looked carefully, the image seems to give a feeling that either the back is curved or has some lifted body design from the middle of the handset backside as the upper and the bottom edges of the device are subtly popping out in the image and are appearing a little above from the surface, especially creating a dense shadow at the bottom edge of the phone.

Whatever, its mystery is still to be broken by Samsung itself. As unfortunately, tech enthusiasts still do not have any other confirmed info on the S3 specs sheet or release date from the company’s end. However, the latest image leak has added a lot of spice to the rumor mill.

Let us know about your thoughts and observation about the latest image leak of Samsung Galaxy S3. In the meantime, here is a latest updated round-up of all the specs and features which the next best super smartphone plans to come with.

User Interface

Anyone can guess it that the Galaxy S3 will run Android OS 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz UI 5.0. However, rumors have it that the device will have an option of dual booting. That could be because the home-made TouchWiz launcher has always been center of criticism. Hence, Samsung could give dual booting option of TouchWiz UI or ICS Vanilla UI.

Quad-core Exynos processor

It is already in rumors that iPhone 5 is expected to come with A6 processor and Samsung has no plans to sit behind. The new handset is expected to come backed by quad-core 1.8 GHz Exynos processor with around 2GB RAM to outgun the Apple’s next best. However, BGR exclusively reported this past February that the Galaxy S III will feature a 1.5GHz quad-core Exynos processor.

Upgraded Screen

Earlier BGR reported that Galaxy S3 will sport 4.8-inch Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen with a resolution of 1280 X 720 pixels. Recent rumors have mentioned that Samsung Galaxy S3 would come with a 4.6-inch Super AMOLED HD panel and Non-PenTile Display. Furthermore, according to Softpedia, OLED Association released an article on Samsung Mobile Display and suggested that Samsung Galaxy S3 would be released in May around the same time frame as Apple’s iPhone 5 and would feature 4.6-inch Super AMOLED HD Plus with the 319 ppi.

According to industry reports, the resolution and a higher pixel density of the S3 will also leave behind the great Retina display of the iPhone 4S (326 pixels per inch). Further, the smartphone has been confirmed not to feature any 3D technology. However, rumor has it that the S3 would sport a strong Gorilla Glass feature.

12 MP Camera

The camera upgrade is rumored to be a big one with 12 megapixels with a 1080p video at 60 frames per second and video chatting with a front-facing 2 megapixel camera.

4G LTE and NFC

Rumors are intense that the successor of S2, Samsung Galaxy S3, will be backed by the 4G LTE capability and also the latest, Near Field Communication (NFC) feature.

Battery Upgrade

Rumor also has it that the S3 will be loaded with a 2250 mAh battery. Also, it would measure 131 x 64 x 8 mm and weigh around 125 grams.

Wireless Charging

Galaxy S3 is expected to feature the revolutionary wireless charging technology. Charging the device wirelessly will be possible at a distance of 1-2 meters from the charger.

Additional Features

S3 is expected to come with a waterproof body feature and would measure around 131 x 64 x 8 mm, with a weight of around 125grams. Further, it would feature a 16 GB of internal memory and with an expandable memory option up to 32 GB.

Nokia Lumia 900 data connectivity fix available now, three days early

  Good news came late today for all those Lumia 900 owners out there. It appears that Nokia has officially released the software update to resolve the handset’s data connectivity issues — a full three days early, in fact. Users may download the software through either Zune on the PC or Windows Phone 7 Connector on the Mac. For those who’d prefer to swap out their handset at an AT&T store, you have between now and April 21st to complete the exchange. Naturally, the limited-time offer remains in place for all those who purchase a Lumia 900 before April 21st to receive a $100 credit to their AT&T phone bill, courtesy of Nokia. Quite the graceful recovery, indeed.

Samsung delays Galaxy Tab 2 launch until end of April

Samsung’s low-cost tablets, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) and Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), have been delayed, and will now start shipping in the U.K at the end of April, the company said Tuesday.
When Samsung announced the two products in February, it said they would arrive in U.K. stores in March, and then be rolled out globally. But the end of March came and went, and the tablets didn’t go on sale.
The reason for the delay is that Samsung and Google need some more time to work on the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android mobile operating system, according to a spokesman at Samsung, who didn’t want to elaborate on the details.
Both tablets will run the latest version of the Android OS. When it was launched, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) was expected to be the first Samsung tablet to get the latest version of Android.
This is the second official setback for Samsung as it rolls out new devices based on Android 4.0 and upgrades existing products. Last month, the company said the upgrade for the original Galaxy Note would arrive during the second quarter, later than its original plan to begin the upgrade process during the first three months of 2012.
However, Samsung has started upgrading the Galaxy S II phone.
Other phones and tablets that will at some point be upgraded include the Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9, 8.9 LTE and 10.1, according to Samsung.
When they eventually ship, the Galaxy Tab 2 models will be available in 3G and Wi-Fi versions. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a 7-inch screen with a 1024-by-600 pixel resolution and weighs 345 grams, while the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) has a 10.1-inch screen with a 1280-by-800 pixel resolution and weighs 588 grams.
Apart from their screen size and weight, the two tablets have a very similar hardware specification, including a 1GHz dual-core processor, two cameras, internal storage of up to 32GB and a MicroSD card slot for added capacity.

Samsung delays Galaxy Tab 2 launch until end of April

Samsung’s low-cost tablets, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) and Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1), have been delayed, and will now start shipping in the U.K at the end of April, the company said Tuesday.

When Samsung announced the two products in February, it said they would arrive in U.K. stores in March, and then be rolled out globally. But the end of March came and went, and the tablets didn’t go on sale.

The reason for the delay is that Samsung and Google need some more time to work on the Ice Cream Sandwich version of the Android mobile operating system, according to a spokesman at Samsung, who didn’t want to elaborate on the details.

Both tablets will run the latest version of the Android OS. When it was launched, the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) was expected to be the first Samsung tablet to get the latest version of Android.

This is the second official setback for Samsung as it rolls out new devices based on Android 4.0 and upgrades existing products. Last month, the company said the upgrade for the original Galaxy Note would arrive during the second quarter, later than its original plan to begin the upgrade process during the first three months of 2012.

However, Samsung has started upgrading the Galaxy S II phone.

Other phones and tablets that will at some point be upgraded include the Galaxy S II LTE, Galaxy R, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9, 8.9 LTE and 10.1, according to Samsung.

When they eventually ship, the Galaxy Tab 2 models will be available in 3G and Wi-Fi versions. The Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) has a 7-inch screen with a 1024-by-600 pixel resolution and weighs 345 grams, while the Galaxy Tab 2 (10.1) has a 10.1-inch screen with a 1280-by-800 pixel resolution and weighs 588 grams.

Apart from their screen size and weight, the two tablets have a very similar hardware specification, including a 1GHz dual-core processor, two cameras, internal storage of up to 32GB and a MicroSD card slot for added capacity.