All is not well in Nokia land. It seems that two serious problems are affecting Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic which reportedly has sold more than 1 Million units. Now it seems that all 5800’s sold before February may have a defective speaker, which would basically mean all of them!  Although not Nokia’s fault, but the supplier of these speaker, having sold so many of these, this issues could have come at worse time! Nokia is said to have replaced not only the speakers but also their supplier, which means that the new speakers are being used at the manufacturing plants, as well as in the service centers.

The second problem seems to be related to the newly released NAM version of 5800 XpressMusic which according to new users. The guy at Engadget who have gotten their hands on the new NAM flavor of the 5800 said that: “we can confirm that 3G appears to be a complete no-go — GSM works fine, but apart from a very brief 3.5G blip, we’re getting nothing in terms of UMTS or HSDPA.”

So far my 5800 is playing along as loud as ever, but if these reports are to be believed it won’t be playing for much longer. More info as it comes in, I do expect an official word from Nokia very soon.

More information: BGR and Engadget.

Image:  Courtesy Mobile-review

The 5800 XpressMusic has been available for some time now and even the NAM version is set to be available this week. The 5800 with its fresh-out-of-the-oven S60 5th edition is arguably Nokia’s way of paving the way for the N97 set to be released this June.

While there is a steady stream of third party apps supporting the 5800 and S60 5th edition, Nokia itself has been lacking with it’s own software support. But why leave out something so important as Ovi Sync? For many of us, our contacts are invaluable and having them stored up the clouds to a service like Nokia’s Ovi is like a second or third backup in the case of an unfortunate incident. So where is the support for the 5800 XpressMusic?  After months of being released, the 5800 has yet to appear on the list of supported devices. What’s stranger is the fact that there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work. I’ve been using it on my 5800 for a few weeks now, without any problems. I did have to choose another device for it to work, but once synced everything worked fine, as it even added contact images to the phone book that I uploaded to OVI. Worth mentioning though is that OVI recognizes 5800 as  the “N95.”

Nokia, when is the support for the 5800 XpressMusic coming?

Update: Support for the 5800 XpressMusic has been added!

If you’re like me, you’ve subscribed to several podcasts and probably you own several devices. Entering the Feed URL of several Podcasts on device is a time consuming process, now imagine doing the same thing for several devices. Here’s a handy trick to keep your Podcasts subscriptions up in the clouds, so they’ll be available from just about anywhere.

Step 1: The best way to do this, is by using Google Reader. If you don’t have an account yet, what are you waiting for, it’s free!

Step 2: Once in Google Reader make sure you have a Feed URL. In our example we’ll use the Buzz Out Loud feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/cnet/buzzoutloud?format=xml

Go to “Add Subscription” at the top left part of the screen and paste the Feed and when you’re down click “Add”

Step 3: Click on the Feed you’ve just added, in our example “Buzz out Loud” and go to “Feed Settings” Now choose “New Folder” and call it anything you like Podcasts.

Step 4: Using the procedure described above you can add as many Podcasts as you like. But the key is to have them all in one folder, in our example the “Podcasts” folder. To do this go to “Manage Feeds” at the lower left corner of the screen. Once there you can add each individual feed to the Folder you like, in our example again the Podcasts Folder.

Step 5: When you entered all the feeds you want and when you’ve added ALL of them to the same folder, go to Import/Export and go to “Export Your subscriptions.” This will create an OPML that you put on your device and open up with the Podcasting app.

Best of all is the fact that if you loose your device, your subscriptions will be safe online. This is also handy if you have multiple devices and you would like all of them to have the same subscribed to the same Podcasts.

Helmut Heier, Sales & Marketing Director at Carl Zeiss talks about Carl Zeiss innovation heritage and the history of the Nokia/Carl Zeiss partnership.

Many Nokia devices, everything from the N97 to 6500 series uses the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. Interestingly, the N93 and N93i were the only devices from Nokia to use the Vario-Tessar zoom lens.

The launch of the N86 8MP in black, but also in white seems to support my thoughts that white is becoming an important color for Nokia devices. Last year I got my first white device: The E71. I’m really happy about my decision as the E71 looks really classy in white and I guess because it’s in white, it gets a lot of attention and I really mean a lot! I’ve had many people walk up to me to ask what device this was , also commenting that that the device’s white color made it look unique.

I’ve been so happy with my white E71, that I’m considering not getting the black N97, but the white version. But here is something worth thinking about when buying your next white device. The white E71 includes a matching white slip case. Even after taking really good care of the device (and case), in just two weeks the case got really dirty. I tried cleaning it daily, but as you might expect after a while it gets so dirty that cleaning just won’t help. What’s even worse is that these original Nokia slip cases are really hard to find. If that wasn’t enough, the E71’s USB and memory card’s rubber cover began to turn pink-ish red. I was puzzled as to why this was happening, but after some closer inspection I found the cause. It turned out that the red interior of the slip case began to come of on the rubber cover of the E71, giving it a pink-ish color.

This hasn’t affected the device itself, but the dirty white case and the red/pink rubber USB/memory cover is not something I like. On a black or even grey device this shouldn’t be a problem, but Nokia should consider making these white devices more real world-proof. How about using materials that less likely to get dirty?

Currently we have no release date for the N86 8MP, well except for the pretty vague Q2 09. But if Expansys is to be believed, we could be looking at a release date of around July, specifically the 22nd, which is pretty much indicates that we have a long way to go. Those looking into getting the N86 8MP should keep a close eye on the Nokia support pages, as new devices appearing those pages usually means that the device has shipped and should be getting into store in about 1-2 weeks. Better check in around July though.

Via: Engadget 

Remember Panoman? The photo stitching program firstly introduced with the N82? Nokia recently acquired the company behind Panoman, bit-side GmbH. Current Nseries owners can always buy the latest version of Panoman version 3 here. But it looks like the acquisition of bit-side GmbH will soon have its first effects, as it seem like the Nokia’s latest 8 Megapixel shooter, the N86 8MP will be the first Nokia to have the built-in photo-stitching function. Instead of having a separate program, this feature should now be built right in the camera software. The N86 8MP sure is starting to look like capable shooter, not only for the wide-angle 28mm lens, but now the built-in photo-stitching software.

Take a look at the video. What do you think, will all of these photographic features make up for the lack of Xenon Flash?

After teasing us with two sample images, found here and here, of a mysterious 8 megapixel Nseries device, Nokia has finally revealed the shooter behind the images: the N86 MP. Notice that it’s called N86 8MP and not just N86. It’s the first time that Nokia actually uses the Megapixel count in the device’s name. Previous Nseries handsets used the storage capacity (N95 8GB, N91 8GB) or edition (N73 Music Edition) in their name, but this name time Nokia has made sure that everybody notices that the device sports an 8 Megapixel camera.

Judging by the specs, it seems Nokia got the specs just right, except for the flash.

Via: The Symbian blog

Nokia has finally made the E75 official, a device that was leaked a long time ago and even before launching had more shots taken of it than a Victoria’s Secret super model. Keeping true to Nokia’s current trend of QWERTY and Half-QWERTY devices, the E75, just like the N97, sports a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Once closed, it bears a strong resemblance to the E55, Nokia’s other announcement of the day. In fact the E75 can be best described as a short E51/E55 with a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the side. The E55, is Nokia’s thinnest Smartphone and the successor to the E50.

Both devices will be the first to ship with the company’s new email user interface and will also come standard with Nokia Messaging. The enhanced email UI includes folder and HTML email support, expandable views and sorting capability by date, sender and size, as well as the most commonly used email. On top of email, the devices also offer improved calendar capability, as well as contacts and task management. It is expected that this functionality (especially the HTML email support) will be offered as an updated version to Nokia Messaging for older Eseries devices.

The E75

“With the Nokia E75 we took a lot of inspiration from the Nokia 9300, which was our first mini communicator,” adds Kai Oistamo, Executive Vice President at Nokia. Kind of funny that Nokia mentions the 9300 as inspiration, as the E75 with it’s rather small screen looks more like an evolution of the E70, than the 9300 or even the E90. A quick look at the specs reveals the following:

· 112mm by 50mm by 15mm, 139g

· Available in Red, Silver/black and Copper/Yellow

· N-Gage compatible

· Comes with Nokia Messaging Service

· 3.2 megapixel camera/VGA video capture, GPS, Wi-Fi

· 3.5mm audio jack with TV out

· Standby time: Up to 11 days (GSM), 11 days (WCDMA) Talk time: Up to 5.4hours (GSM), 4.2 hours (WCDMA)

· BL-4U, 1000 mAh, Li-Po battery (- disappointing)

· microUSB port with charging

The E75 again continues the trend started by E63 by adding a 3.5mm jack and even goes a step further by including TV-out functions. This further pushes the Eseries into Nseries territory. It still remains to be seen how long Nokia will be able to separate the multimedia from the enterprise range. The E75 is expected to ship in March at an estimated retail price of 375 EUR, before taxes and subsidies

The E55

Despite its relatively low price, the device sports an unusually long talk and stand-by for a device this thin. All this juice is thanks to the 1500mAh used. The E55 is the successor to the E51 and just like the E75, it has taken the E71/E51’s design language and updated with a new look, including brushed aluminum on the front and flat instead of the raise d keys like the ones on the E71. The E55 that now sports what Nokia calls a “compact QWERTY keyboard” which basically is two letters on one key, instead of the traditional 1 letter per key.

· System: WCDMA 850/1900/2100 or GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900

· User Interface: S60 platform, version 3, feature pack 2.

· Dimensions: 116 mm x 49 mm x 9.9 mm

· Volume: 54 cc

· Weight: 98 g

· Standby time: Up to 28 days (GSM), up to 19 days (WCDMA)

· Talk time: Up to 8 hours (GSM), up to 6 hours (WCDMA)

· Main display: 2.4” QVGA (320×240), up to 16 million colors

· Battery: BP-4L, 1500 mAh, Li-Po

· Memory: Up to 60 MB internal memory, 2GB microSD in sales box, support for up to 16GB microSD memory card

The Nokia E55 is expected to ship in the second quarter at an estimated retail price will be 265 EUR, before taxes and subsidies

Via: AllAboutsymbian

Remember the Mobile device chargers from Proporta? Probably the the best piece of accessory goodness here at The Nokia Guide, in both large and micro flavors. Proporta has replaced the Mobile Device Charger Micro with an all-new charger: the Universal Emergency Charger Travel Kit. Sporting an all-new metallic look and larger 2500mAh storage, when compared to the 1700mAh on the now discontinued Mobile Device Charger Micro. Also new is the 5v, 800mA output, even more than the original (and larger)Mobile Device Charger or the Ted Baker Mobile Charger’s 5v, 700mA output. With its 2500mAh of power, the new charger slots in nicely between the original mobile charger and the micro. It wouldn’t surprise us if Proporta soon releases a larger unit (with similar design) to replace both the Ted Baker and original mobile chargers. When it comes to value though, there’s no beating the Ted Baker Six Pack, which can hold more power and still sells for a lower £ 29.95, while the new Universal Emergency Charger Travel comes in at £ 39.95. The accessories included are similar to the Ted Baker Six, which is a good thing and simply means that it’s filled with goodies. While it’s clear that new unit sports an improved LED power indicator, we have yet to get more details on this.