New Nokia Lumia 2520 Tablet Release Date

The release of Nokia first tablet in the Lumia series is near. This tablet with code name Nokia Sirius would officially be called Lumia 2520 according to @eavleak.

What we do know is that the tablet is rumoured to have a full 10.1 inch HD resolution of 1920 x 1080, powered by a Snapdragon 800 SoC processor clocked at 2.15GHz.

Furthermore, a RAM of 2GB and internal memory of 32GB is expected for this device.

As you all know, camera is a must for all tablets and the Lumia 2520 will be bagging a 6.7mp rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics. 

Also, connectivity is achieved by the help of USB port, micro HDMI port, WiFi and a detachable keyboard.

The tablet will run Windows RT and may be available come 22nd October for $499.

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How To Swap Your Old Nokia Phone For A Nokia Lumia 520 Smartphone

Christmas just came early this year for my Nigerian peeps, thanks to the partnership between Nokia and Airtel.

Nokia and Airtel partnership have given birth to a wonderful program that bring good news to interested people. The news is that you can swap any of your old functioning Nokia phone for a new Nokia Lumia 520 smartphone which is currently selling for N28,000.

For example, bring a good functioning Nokia 3310 and collect a new Nokia Lumia 520 smartphone. 

How does it work? Well, the process if pretty simple.

1.  All you have to do is take your good functioning old Nokia phone of any kind to any Airtel outlet nationwide, 

2. Drop N23,990 

3. Collect a brand new Nokia Lumia 520 smartphone. 

More Goodies

What is even more sweet about this offer is that you can swap as many old Nokia phones for equal amount of Nokia Lumia 520 smartphones.

Icing on The Cake

Like icing on a cake to give more flavour, so also Airtel have decided to throw in more goodies to those that would swap their old phone for the Nokia Lumia 520 as detailed below.

After swapping, you are entitled to N10,000 worth of gift. This gift is broken down to 3 parts.

First, a N4000 discount on the Lumia 520 smartphone itself. 

Secondly, N3000 worth of calling credit will be credited to your line so that you can make enough voice calls with your new Nokia Lumia 520 for the next 6 months. 

Finally, N3000 worth of Internet data would be given to you so that you can surf the Internet non-stop for 6 months. 

According to the Chief Sales Officer for Airtel Nigeria, Inusa Bello, this "initiative is another first by any Telecoms operator in Nigeria".

Boxing Day After Christmas

After successfully receiving your new Nokia Lumia 520, you are to send some messages to Airtel to activate your free data and credit. This is detailed below.

1. Text SMART to 141 to activate the free 500mb for 6 months. A Recharge of N1000 minimum is needed to activate the package. 

2. Text UPGRADE to 141 to activate the free N3000 worth of airtime for 6 months

3.  The Nokia Lumia 520 smartphone MUST be activated with an Airtel SIM card. 

In summary, if you had been wishing to get rid of that old Nokia phone for a new Nokia Lumia smartphone, now is your time using this Airtel - Nokia phone swap program. 

Old BlackBerry to New BlackBerry 10 swap coming soon to Nigeria. 

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Microsoft Buys Nokia

Nokia have sold it's handset unit to the Software giant Microsoft for $7.2 billion 

This occurrence is of course inevitable seeing how software companies are increasingly moving into the hardware market so as to have total control on the hardware to uses its software, something Apple did long time ago and paying off.

Google and Microsoft who just in recent times totally picked up on the school of thought of Apple have seen that controlling both the hardware that runs its software is the way to go now.

Well,  Microsoft have totally demonstrated that school of though again by acquiring Nokia's handset division for $7.2 billion. 

Also,  Nokia would license some of its patents to Microsoft to allow for freely usage of these technologies.

Nokia directors and shareholders had these to say in a statement made by Risto Siilastmaa, chairman, Nokia board of directors .

"We believe this transaction is the best way forward for Nokia and its shareholders"

What matters most to the consumer is how this acquisition will benefit the consumer in terms of phone design and overall user experience. 

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The Place of Aggressive Advertising In Mobile Industry

In this age, the role of advertising cannot be over emphasized. While in the past, it may be somewhat of a minimal value, however now it is a very important activity that can set a company above others especially when combined with innovative ideas, new breathtaking technology and services.

Advertising which is the act of publicly promoting a service of product has evolved prodigiously. 

It is no more confined to TVs, Billboards, Newspapers and Radios. It has also encroached to the Internet, on mobile devices and even by mails.

Brands are evolving daily and competition becomes far acute than it used to be. Monopoly of a particular brand is constantly being broken due to this stiff competition. Consequently, to remain in business, one has to keep up not only appearances but innovation and competitiveness; the customer is the final target.

There is no room to sit still, get comfortable with the loyal customers one have acquired over time, there's always someone who needs more customers and would be voracious and aggressive to get it.

Few years back, some mobile companies were the market leaders. Examples are Nokia, BlackBerry, Motorola, and even Ericsson to name a few. However, now, they are struggling brands, not only because they weren't aggressive with marketing and advertising but because they failed to innovate and bring something new to the table. This you would notice when you take some time to go to electronic stores and observe the amount of crowd looking at certain devices and totally ignoring other devices.

Humans by nature don't like to be too familiar with something for so long; that's why change is the only constant thing on earth. 

Failure for the aforementioned phone companies to provide something new, create innovative designs and get aggressive in advertising have landed them in the rear of the mobile  phone market.

worldwide mobile device sales in 2012/2013

From the chart above, you would notice how Samsung is leading the market. This is in part a result of the chart titled "Advertising Expenses", where Samsung is seriously investing in advertising and outspending brands like Coca - Cola.

In contrast, companies like Apple, Samsung HTC, have become very relevant, successful, and in the forefront of mobile phone market.

The reason for this is in no small thanks to innovative designs, aggressive advertising, and competitiveness.

Talking about innovative designs, Apple is leading that area. Since the entry of Apple into the mobile scene, there had been a rapid change in smartphone industry, serious prodigious demand for their devices have been seen. 

Although, Apple, which started from a man's garage has become a very successful company. 

Samsung, a Korean company, which was not really a force in the mobile scene 5 years ago is now ranked No 1 in the mobile market industry.

Samsung have been able to follow trends, making variety of products to meet all sorts of customers. 

These two companies, Apple and Samsung, didn't rely on their ability to create something new, innovate alone. They engaged in serious marketing and advertising strategies.

In fact, Samsung Electronics Advertising in 2012 exceeded the likes of Apple, Coca-Cola, HP, Dell etc as seen in the chart.

Samsung is making so much investment into advertising to make sure that its always in the news, create constant awareness coupled with it innovative electronic designs. 

Motorola allegedly spent $500 million on the Moto X phone alone. The impact of this outlay is also felt and have resulted in considerable good market sales of the product.

All these huge advertising outlay might look outrageous to some companies but it is what is keeping others in the fore front of the game.

It would be a disaster to believe that advertising alone will propel an industry to start making money or to increase its odds of leading the market. As earlier said, advertising is just to creat awareness.

Look at Microsoft for example which spent a lot of cash in advertising it's product, the Microsoft Surface tablet, yet it's still struggling with sales. The iPad on the other hand isn't spending so much on advertising but taking in monies by the second.

Nokia had been in the phone business i n Africa long before new players like Samsung, Apple, HTC etc emerged, yet you would notice from the graph below that they are fast catching up.

This lagging by Nokia is not attributed to advertising problems but inability innovate and create fresh perspective in their devices. Getting comfortable too long in business has serious consequences.

The fact that Apple have pioneered, made dedicated research and possess innovative technologies in their devices followed by first hand advertising gives them an edge over other brands. 

While a company may research daily and innovate and come out with lovely powerful products, the place of strong and aggressive advertising shouldn't be jettisoned 

Nokia's Latest Nokia Lumia 625

Nokia is doing everything possible in their power to make sure that they keep smartphone consumers satisfied and also covering all angles.

Nokia have released high end and low end devices that are doing well.

Today Nokia has launched yet another budget Lumia smartphone, the 625. The big surprise it’s the 4.7 inch screen, OF WVGA(640×800) resolution. Pixel density is not exactly premium class at 201ppi, but it’s decent. Another surprise is the super sensitive screen that has only been available so far for the high end of the Lumia range, but found it’s way into the 625. 

The smartphone features a 2000 mAh battery which should keep you talking for about 15 hours.

Definitely, it's a medium end smartphone with some high end device features embedded.

To be candid, it's a smartphone that would be easily cherished and appeal to  a lot of consumers.

The phone is covered with repleaceable shells created using the same technology(two colored layers) as in the smaller brother, the 620.

The device is LTE enabled, and powered by a 1.2GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, a first for Lumias. The 625 features 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built in storage, and an expansion slot that can take micro-SD cards of up to 64GB.

Camera is a 5MP module powered by a single LED flash, and can record video in 1080p at 30fps. The 625 comes with the latest Lumia Amber update installed featuring all the goodies like Nokia Smart Cam, glance screen and so on.

It will be launched in orange, yellow, bright green, white and black color flavours and should be available in the third quarter 2013, priced at about 220 Euros without local taxes or subsidies.

Nokia 625 should see sales in a market like Asia,  Africa and some parts of Europe where medium end devices thrive more than high end and low end devices.

Why Apple and Samsung Are Kicking Ass In The Smartphone Market

Striving for success and gaining success is one thing, however keeping and holding on to that success is another thing; one that often requires huge amount of energy even sometimes exceeding the energy used to get to that vantage point.

The term "Energy" is defined as money invested, Research & Development, innovation and dedication to true customer satisfaction.

While Apple and Samsung may have strived and attained success in the smartphone industry, keeping hold of that success is a daunting challenge. One they address every second of the time using different models. 

Am sure they learnt from the mistakes of the Fallen heroes: Blackberry, Nokia, Erricson and even Motorola.

The reason for even far more energy spent on sustaining success isn't too far fetched considering the plethora of other companies trying to attain that pinnacle of success at the expense of the downfall of the new big names either by copying innovation or using advertising to try and bully the competing company. 

Example is Google who have announced that it would be spending half a million dollars to promote is new Moto X smartphone to make sure that those intending to get iPhone 5S will consider theirs.

Yet another example is Nokia, seriously promoting the Lumia 1020 with all the energy they can muster using the 41mp camera it's equipped with to lure in customers from Samsung, Apple, Blackberry etc while also offering incentives to developers.

Most of the energy supplied into sustaining success go into serious R&D, Marketing and of course employing lawyers with high credibility to fight off patent violators.

Smartphone companies that have failed to supply the needed energy to sustain success either due  to neglect or due to overconfidence in their state, have found themselves retrogressing seriously or non-existent. An example of such companies include the likes of Blackberry, Motorola, Sagem, Sony Ericsson and even Nokia. This you can quickly observe from the rate at which their stock price is rapidly plummeting.

Companies that have taken the time to expend a lot of energy, have not only see growth but also relevance which is also obvious from their stock price at the stock market. Example include HTC

The truth is that the strive is never over. In fact the battle for greatness is just getting started.

Any company that intend to attain and maintain success must keep on striving like there's no tomorrow expending energy because, the battle is even more fierce at the top than ever before and only the rugged and strong can survive that war. Any slight hesitation to improve on something can send one to the gallows.

Obviously, this applies to our everyday life as individuals and we should also borrow from the experiences in the smartphone industry from both the fallen kings, the rise of peasants to the throne and the continual struggle of the average men to attain greatness and stay at that the vantage point.

Success is not cheap and maintaining success is even more expensive.

Why Nokia Choose Windows Phone OS Instead of Android

Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop have given a reason why Nokia didn't choose Android to replace Symbian  in 2010 when it decided to ditch  Symbian OS from its phones and replace it with the struggling Microsoft OS for mobile, Windows Phone OS.

According to Elop, the choice he made was right and he and his team  are happy to have made the choice back in 2010 and still stands by it even now.

He stated that Nokia decided not to go with Android because it seemed like and OS that would be totally dominated by one manufacturer which is what is happening now.

He stated and implied that Samsung is totally controlling Android giving other phone manufacturers little or no chance at success as evident with what HTC is facing in the android space.

In Stephen Elop's words "I'm very happy with the decision we made," he said.

"What we were worried about a couple of years ago was the very high risk that one hardware manufacturer could come to dominate Android. We had a suspicion of who it might be, because of the resources available, the vertical integration, and we
were respectful of the fact that we were quite late in making that decision. Many others were in that space already."

"Now fast forward to today and examine the Android ecosystem, and there's a lot of good devices from many different companies, but one company has essentially now become the dominant player."

That one company is Samsung.

While some may see good number of points in Stephen's rationale,  some may see it as a bad call especially considering the fact that Nokia was already in the phone business long ago before Samsung.

Nokia is a known name amongst so many people, with trusted and quality hardware that are known to be built to last.

Should in case they completed talks with Google back in 2010 and use Android as symbian substitute they would have really gone far.

Besides, there's a huge amount of people who don't really like the Korean company for their copying of iPhone and consequently most westerners would have favoured Nokia as their choice for Android rather than Samsung.

The truth is,  Android have really become a force in the mobile ecosystem and Nokia would have benefited strongly from it if it joined Android in 2010 when Samsung wasn't even a force.

Nokia refraining from Android because of Samsung or because of manufacturer dominating the Android platform shouldn't be a huge reason at all. Instead, Nokia should have challenged Samsung to the call.

Even though Samsung has a lot when it comes to manufacturing power, Nokia is also has equal amount manufacturing power combined with patents and superior hardware and name that would have set it apart from Samsung completely.

Well, as far as Stephen is concerned, there is no going back now.  They are sticking  with Windows Phone 8 and will get to that level they plan to.

Is this really a smart move by Stephen Elop to go with Windows Phone OS instead of Android?  You tell us.

41 mega pixel Nokia Lumia 909 Unveiling Date

Nokia is set to unveil is powerful 41mp camera phone that would be running on the Windows Phone 8 operating system.

Although Pureview 808 also has 41mp camera but it is a symbian operating system phone.

Gone are the days when phones were used only for calling,  with the advent of smartphones, phones have become our everything including the camera we use to take powerful images.

To date, Nokia Lumia windows phone have one of the best camera one can think of and bringing 41mp camera to the WP platform would be a welcomed development to the fans of Nokia Lumia series.

This 41mp Nokia Lumia WP smartphone is called Lumia 909 and would be unveiled July 11th and would be available to AT&T customers. It will be of a polycarbonate design with 4.5 inch display and 720p resol ution. 

Will this huge camera spec increase the rate of adoption of this device? Well we shall be here to give you update on more specs and features during the unveiling of this device come July 

However, Nokia should know that people don't buy smartphones only for its camera but for its application base too and a smartphone is only as smart as the number of tasks it can achieve coupled with huge selection of apps. 

Or what do you think?

Infinix Race Max Q or X530 smartphone

Infinix have come forward with thier latest design in the works and of course you saw it here first.

The battle ground in the smartphone industry is filled with soldiers like Samsung, Apple, Nokia, HTC and Blackberry especially in Europe and America. However, in Africa and Nigeria especially, the new sets of soldiers alongside Samsung, Blackberry and Nokia are TECNO - Mobile and Infinix.

Speaking of Tecno - mobile, their latest flagship phone known as Tecno Phantom A or Tecno F7 as received huge accolades from users and carriers alike to the point that Etisalat Nigeria as keyed in.

However, Infinix haven't gotten that much of a recommendation and they are doing everything in their power to get to that level with the near introduction of Infinix RACE Max Q to the Nigerian market.

To combat how Tecno Phantom A is out shinning their brand, Infinix have decided to release their next flagship smartphone known as Infinix X530 also called Infinix Race Max Q which is first seen in this blog.

Infinix Race Max Q

Infinix X530 Back Case

The Infinix X530 or Race Max Q is a 5.3 inch smartphone with high definition resolution coupled with 8mp back camera and 1.2mp front camera. 

Also, RAM is 1GHz and internal memory is 4GB. Furthermore, processor is 1.2GHz which is quad core by the way and its running on Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean which is higher than what Tecno Phantom A is running (4.1.1)  although on the same Jelly Bean.

Proximity, light and gyro-meter sensor are embedded in this smartphone including FM Radio, WiFi, Bluetooth, Network 2G/3G and dual SIM functionality.

This Infinix RACE Max Q is in stores and selling between N30k - N33k. it in stores yet and as such some information are still missing as regards its specifications and features. However, the device would be released first week in July in selected stores like Slot ikeja and Divine stores ikeja Lagos as said by a top manager in charge of distribution and later rolled out to other states and areas for purchase.

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How To Transfer Your Data From Your Old Smartphone to Samsung Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy S4 is still the best Samsung Galaxy out there and as such shipment is rising by  the day. It is not surprising seeing the specifications of the device.

Having purchased a new Samsung Galaxy S4, you would need to transfer your data from the old smartphone to the new one. To achieve this task, just follow these steps.

Requirements

• Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
• Windows Media Player 11 or later
• Apple: iOS 4.2.1 or higher
• Blackberry: Blackberry OS 6.0 or later
• Nokia: Series 40 or Symbian 6.0 or later
• LG: Android Gingerbread  or later
• Samsung: Data backed up using Kies 2.5.3 or higher

Procedures

1. Backup your data for any of the old smartphone you have on your computer by plugging your phone to the computer

2. Download Samsung Smart switch program here and launch it.

3. Click on Agree at the prompt.

4. Connect your Samsung Galaxy device to the computer.

5. Select the previous backup of your old phone you made.

6.  Choose the content you want to transfer to your new Samsung Galaxy and press the transfer button.

7. All selected contents would be transferred immediately.

8. Disconnect device and you are ready to use your device with all your old data

If you are having difficulty in meeting the requirements or still backing up and transferring, you can see the post in this link 

Nokia Makes Mockery of Apple iPhone & Samsung Galaxy in this Video

Recent developments in the smartphone industry have made tech companies become like children, bashing themselves, with Apple always looking to take down Samsung in court and Samsung returning Apple's gesture with spiting adverts and campaigns.

Google will probably be joining the party soon as Apple is asking Google to release source code for its Android OS to the court.

As all this is going on, Nokia have decided to join in to the party with its own ad campaign making a mockery of not just Apple but Samsung as well, regarding the iPhone as "iSheep" and Galaxy as "Copy Bat" as seen in the video below.

For consumers, it can be hilarious seeing all these Tech giants behaving like 10yr old children fighting each other but on the other hand, it can also be tiring as well.

What do you think of the advert? Drop your comments below

Nokia Lumia 720 for N51, 000 ($320)

Nokia Lumia series smartphones  are here to stay. With the Lumia 920 still the best lumia phone, other lumia series are also sturdy and powerful especially the new Nokia Lumia 720.

Nokia lumia 720 is that low budget smartphone for those that can't afford Lumia 920 but with outstanding features and specifications.

To cut to the chase, Airtel Nigeria is offering Lumia 720 for N51,000 so you can pick it up if you want that trusted quality that comes from Nokia and that smartphone that's capable of carrying out all your tasks.

Since, not knowing the specifications and features of a smartphone could slow you down in making the buying choice, hence, a specification and feature becomes necessary which is then highlighted  below for your digestion.

Specifications and Features

Operating System:                                     Windows Phone 8

2G Network:                                                     GSM 850/900/1800/1900

3G Network:                                                     HSPA 850/900/1900/2100

SIM:                                                                        Micro-SIM

Dual SIM:                                                            NO

Processor:                                                           1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core

RAM:                                                                      512MB

Internal Storage Memory:                    8GB

Memory Expansion:                                 Yes MicroSD, support up to 64GB

Display:                                                                4.3 inches

Resolution:                                                       800 x 480 pixels 

Multi touch:                                                    Yes, Corning Gorilla Class 2

Back Camera:                                                  6.7 mega pixel, auto focus with flash

Front Camera:                                            1.3 mega pixel

Video:                                                                    Yes, 720p @ 30fps

Bluetooth:                                                    3.0 with A2DP

NFC:                                                                        Yes

USB:                                                                        Yes, micro USB 2.0

WiFi:                                                                      Yes 802.11 a/b/g/n

Browser:                                                              HTML5

GPS:                                                                        Yes

FM radio:                                                            No

Battery:                                                        2,000mAh Non-removable

Wireless Charging:                                     Yes

Stand-by:                                                           2G up to 520hrs

Talk time:                                                         up to 23hrs on 2G and 13hrs on 3G

Music play:                                                      up to 79hrs

WiFi browsing:                                             13.4hrs

Size:                                                                      127.9 x 67.5 x 9.0 mm

Weight:                                                              128g

Map:                                                                      Nokia HERE maps.

 These specification outlined above should hep you decide if you want buy this smartphone or not. 

On a last note, the pros and cons of this device is as listed:

Pros: 

• Robust and Sleek design

• Good Nokia apps

• Good battery life

• Good Camera

Cons: 

• Low screen resolution

• Non-removable battery 

• No FM Radio

Contact  Airtel Nigeria outlets to

                       

An Android Based Nokia Phone

Is Nokia fairing well in the face of this fierce competition in the Smartphone Industry?

The competition in the smartphone industry is very fierce. It is not a place for a weak company to venture into at all if you are not ready to do and make drastic powerful choices.

Former powerful companies like Nokia, Blackberry, Sagem etc which have given way to Apple Inc. and Samsung used to dominate the phone industry have fallen and have fallen even more because of this fierce competition going on at this point in time. The devices of these fallen heroes are no more demanded in great quality. People now can't wait to get theirs hands on iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One. Nokia and Blackberry isn't in the list.

What if Nokia had gone the Android way just like Samsung , HTC etc? Would the company be in a better situation?

As of this writing, Apple Inc. is dominating the smartphone market, raking in money by the minute. In fact, the fate of the Phone industry took a new turn since the emergence of the iPhone back in 2007 and have continue to get more powerful a industry.

The iPhone in 2007 came with huge radical innovative design  that made other phone makers to seat straight. This gap in creativity and design of Apple products and the sleekness of the Operating System (OS) running on the devices compared to other phones at that time was becoming too much that there need be a saviour to come up with something to reduce this gap since Nokia Symbian OS and Windows phone were useless. That much needed saviour was the Android Operating System.

Android Operating System, came to balance this huge gap. Before then, there was no device that could stand the iPhone in terms of usability aesthetics, OS stability and appeal. However, when Android started shipping into other phones, that gap started closing up. With the latest Android OS, Jellybean, and high end devices like Galaxy S4, that gap is well reduced.

In other to take advantage of this Android OS, many phone makers, started making phones shipped with Android OS e.g Samsung. this have helped them to gain popularity. Even HTC that used to be a Windows Phone joined the group and become even known. 
Take Nigeria for example, where Nokia used to be the de-facto, Blackberry stole the market, Samsung dealt more damage, Tecno further reduced their market share. However Nokia, a former king in the Phone industry, couldn't fight back successfully. Although, they did tried as they ditched their Symbian OS and formed alliances with Microsoft to get back in the business. Well, That was a bad idea.

Nokia Lumia 920 & Samsung Galaxy S3

Nokia Lumia 920 & Apple iPhone 4S

Nokia Lumia 920 which is still the best nokia phone ever is not selling as you would expect and losses are being reported, yet, iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy s3 even HTC are raking in sales. In fact one will notice that Android and iOS based phones are more prominent and sells faster in the market today.
One can ask what if Nokia had gone the Android way just like Samsung , HTC etc? Would the company be in a better situation?

I believe that if Nokia had opted to use Android on their devices, they would have made a better standing and show. 

As at now, the power of any Smartphone is based on the number of apps available for it and the number of developers willing to commit time to create something for the OS its running.

This is the problem blackberry is having and Nokia didn't learn from it.

Windows Phone app store is not as large as Android and Apple Store thus, it is easy to see why phones running Android OS will become popular.

In conclusion, Nokia already having the name and resources should have adopted Android as the OS of choice on their devices. If this was done, Nokia would have been in a better position.

These are my opinions, if you think otherwise that An Android based Nokia device won't change Nokia's predicament, drop your comments.