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For better or worse, dual sliders are quickly becoming one of Nokia's trademark form factors -- but one thing we'd never really expected out of Espoo was a dual slider equipped with EV-DO Rev. A. Sure enough, FCC documentation has revealed a diminutive black dumbphone that packs CDMA800 / 1900 with 3G and slides two ways: one to reveal a numeric keypad, the other to offer up music controls. Historically, Nokia has "co-ODM'd" its CDMA devices with an unnamed Asian partner, and we suspect this device is no different -- but we've got to give them credit for crafting a genuinely Nokia-esque device here. The draft user's manual doesn't reveal a retail name or model number, but we do see references to UIMs (the CDMA equivalent of SIMs) and British spellings of "organiser," which leads us to believe North America might not be on the VIP list for this one. Would be a shame, wouldn't it?

[Via Phone Scoop]

Update: Commenter Kunal points out that this looks an awful lot like the China-bound 8208, which makes us wonder -- why the FCC approval? Did that bad boy pique the interest of Verizon or Sprint?

We were going to lead this off by saying "start saving your quid," but let's be honest -- the way European carriers work, you'll probably be able to finagle a monthly rate that'll let you walk out of the shop having shelled out nothing or next to nothing for the hottest device in Nokia's lineup. Vodafone has confirmed that it'll be launching the N97 in July, which is longer than anyone would like to wait, but that's still probably within a few weeks of the phone's initial availability. Color us jealous.

[Thanks, Bk7]

It's certainly not unheard of for Nokia to take existing models in its lineup, tweak 'em with slightly improved hardware and software, and re-release them -- see the N85 / N86, N93 / N93i, N95 / N96, and so on -- so we can totally buy that the company's hard at work at updating its 5800 for a future revision. DigiTimes (which admittedly doesn't have a pristine record for nailing these sorts of rumors) cites "sources" with Taiwanese component suppliers as saying that Nokia wants to replace the 5800's resistive touchscreen with a capacitive one -- the S60-based Samsung i8910 does that, by the by -- in an effort to better compete with its rivals. That would certainly make the device more usable and responsive, but in all likelihood, this isn't a simple matter of swapping out a component (how would you use that totally awesome plectrum, after all?) so we'd expect this to be more of an indication that Espoo's looking to move to capacitive going forward, particularly as it transitions over to the Symbian Foundation's builds.

So, there's good news and bad news here, and we're opting to go against tradition by dishing out the positive first. Nokia just pushed out its Q1 2009 results, and while many firms have been struggling to stay afloat, at least it managed to turn a profit of €122 million ($160 million). That said, it's still looking at a staggering 90 percent drop in profits compared to its first quarter of 2008, where it raked in a mind-boggling €1.222 billion ($1.6 billion). Not surprisingly, sales were also down 27 percent to €9.28 billion ($12.2 billion) from €12.7 billion ($16.7 billion). Of course, Nokia's far from being alone in having to showcase less-than-beautiful Q1 numbers, but in reality, the damage could've been much worse; in fact, shares of the company's stock inched up by 8 percent following the reveal, as many had feared an even more significant decline. All in all, Nokia's still holding strong to a 37 percent market share worldwide, and if CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has anything to do with it (hint: he does), things should be on the up and up here soon.

[Via BBC]

The thing with almost every financial statement is that it can be read in either a positive or negative light. Nokia’s Q1 report is just like that. On one hand, the wireless company actually pushed a good amount of handsets out during the first quarter of the year. That being said, the sales numbers are less than the previous year, which doesn’t ride well for year vs year comps. However, even with reporting a 90% drop in profit from Q1 of 2009 verses Q1 of 2008, the Nokia stock is trading up for the day.

Yes, a 90.6% loss in profit verse the previous year is huge, but the company is still pushing out handsets and has big plans for this year. Plus, Nokia made major restructuring changes the last few months including, laying off a 1,700 workers, canceling contracts, and basically trimming down the operations of the world’s largest handset maker. This, folks, is how you ride out a global economic downturn.

by Matt Burns on April 16, 2009

We think "Easy Meet" sounds more like an off-brand Spam than a remote collaboration platform, but hey, whatever works -- and it sounds like Nokia's newest pet project could work swimmingly. Using nary a single download either for PCs or participating phones, Easy Meet allows users to share PowerPoint presentations, images, a communal whiteboard, text and voice chat, and more; notably, mobile users have essentially the same capabilities as desktop users do, provided they've got access to a browser on their phones. The perfect compliment to the already business-savvy E71, eh? Follow the break to see the system in action on video.

Saying that the 5800's now available in gray might actually be a bit misleading, seeing how all variants of the phone are primarily black -- rather, the colored strip around the phone's beltline is now available in a strapping shade of gray. That marks a change from the red and blue that the phone initially launched in, though you won't find the gray version in just any country; just a handful of lucky markets have launched it so far, so keep your ear to the ground if you're looking to scoop it up locally. It'd look nice if they redid the entire phone in, say, red or white from top to bottom instead of repainting that strip alone, wouldn't it?

[Via Cell Addict Blog]

This rumor's got more holes than swiss, but stranger things have happened, so it'll be an interesting scoop to keep an eye on nonetheless. A tipster to Boy Genius Report claims that Nokia is working on a "swiveling E71-type handset" for -- get this -- Verizon, of all carriers, featuring a full QWERTY keyboard and running Series 40. Judging from the mockup here, that sorta puts it in the same vein as the Sidekick -- a form factor most carriers and manufacturers (especially Nokia) have avoided. Given that Espoo's still basically dipping its toes in the CDMA waters -- and the fact that a Verizon device running Series 40 proper seems implausible at best -- we're going to be shocked if this thing sees the light of day. Pleasantly surprised, yes, but still shocked.

Update: Since originally running this story, we've been contacted by a number of individuals who claim to have seen this phone in person; Boy Genius Report also emphatically defends the rumors legitimacy, so we're more inclined to think it's real. (Of course, that doesn't make it any less crazy.)

Check out that mock-up over to the right; now, imagine the Nokia logo floating around on it somewhere, with a little “Verizon” badge slapped on the front. All together, it’s a Nokia-made S40 QWERTY swivel handset for Verizon. Think that’s sounds crazy? Don’t worry - so does everyone else. Well, except for Nokia and Verizon, it would seem.

First word of this Sidekick-esque handset came from the Boy Genius early Easter morning. We were a bit busy gorging ourselves on every Rollo, Snickers, and bite-sized chocolate bunny in sight - but Engadget ran with the story, and got a handful of folks claiming to have seen this phone in all of its plastic glory.

On the crazy scale (which, as all quality crazy scales do, goes to 10), this one’s an 11 - but with batches of people claiming its legitimacy, we deemed it worth a print. When we inquired on the matter, our generally talkative Nokia sources just returned blank stares - whether that’s because they’ve got something they’re not allowed to discuss or they simply had no idea what we were talking about, we’re not sure.

by Greg Kumparak on April 13, 2009

This rumor's got more holes than swiss, but stranger things have happened, so it'll be an interesting scoop to keep an eye on nonetheless. A tipster to Boy Genius Report claims that Nokia is working on a "swiveling E71-type handset" for -- get this -- Verizon, of all carriers, featuring a full QWERTY keyboard and running Series 40. Judging from the mockup here, that sorta puts it in the same vein as the Sidekick -- a form factor most carriers and manufacturers (especially Nokia) have avoided. Given that Espoo's still basically dipping its toes in the CDMA waters -- and the fact that a Verizon device running Series 40 proper seems implausible at best -- we're going to be shocked if this thing sees the light of day. Pleasantly surprised, yes, but still shocked.

Let's start this out with a word of warning: TheStreet.com's latest report allegedly from deep within Espoo's most secretive labs contradicts itself on a couple occasions -- and Nokia has a decent (though not stellar) track record of keeping most prized secrets under wraps -- so we're bringing this up with a good deal of caution, healthy skepticism, and cold, hard reality on our minds. That being said, some aspects of the report seem totally plausible, particularly a new bit about a fresh MID (likely to replace the aging N810) in the works with a sliding keyboard and 4.2-inch display targeted for release before the holidays this year; Maemo 5 development is well underway, so we'd actually be kinda surprised if this didn't happen. Odds are it wouldn't be that rumored Sparrow-powered device, though, since we'd heard 2011 for that one.

Here's where it starts to get a little strange -- next up, the report mentions a "Nautilus project" intending to create an ultra-thin touchscreen phone of some sort that uses a "sensor" (you know, a "sensor") to motorize the keyboard in and out of the body; what's more, the keys would rise up when deployed for better feel. This sounds unlikely at best, considering the added weight, complexity, bulk, and reliability concerns around that kind of a mechanism, not to mention the fact that it'd serve almost no practical purpose whatsoever. At first, TheStreet says this is a device, then later changes its mind and says "the first Nautilus phone isn't due out for another year" -- but whether it's a phone or an entire range of phones, we're just not seeing it; it'd be fun to play with, yes, but we think this is the kind of thing where the engineers would putz with it for a while and realize that it's a really, really bad idea.

[Via Unwired View]

One look at the N97 will tell you that Nokia intends to take this whole touch thing pretty seriously, and considering that we're talking about the largest handset maker in the world here, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that they've got new touch models in the pipe; the volume and style of those new models, though, might be a little shocking. TheStreet.com is reporting "people familiar with the plan" as saying that Espoo will launch up to three different thin touch-enabled models by this fall using the VibeTonz tech it licensed from Immersion back in the day, suggesting that the company's more traditional non-touch S60 devices might have to start to share the spotlight equally with touchier brethren. VibeTonz should give Nokia plenty of options for tailoring haptic feedback based on user interaction, but here's our question: what the hell ever happened to Haptikos?

[Via Unwired View]

Remember back in February when Nokia’s CEO went on the record saying they were “looking very actively” at pushing out some Nokia-branded laptops? It looks like they may have moved past the “looking” stage.

According to TheStreet’s unnamed sources, Nokia has partnered with Taiwanese super-manufacturer Foxconn for their laptop (or, as we postulated before, their netbook) endeavors. Never heard of them? Look around your house. Got a PS2, PS3, Wii, 360, Kindle, Mac Mini, iPhone, or any one of countless other electronic goodies? It came out of a Foxconn plant.

If Nokia’s laptop is indeed a netbook, the move makes sense; netbook profit margins are about as slim as they come, so going with one of the masters of mass production is probably a better idea than going at it alone.

by Greg Kumparak on April 6, 2009

Remember back in February when Nokia’s CEO went on the record saying they were “looking very actively” at pushing out some Nokia-branded laptops? It looks like they may have moved past the “looking” stage.

According to TheStreet’s unnamed sources, Nokia has partnered with Taiwanese super-manufacturer Foxconn for their laptop (or, as we postulated before, their netbook) endeavors. Never heard of them? Look around your house. Got a PS2, PS3, Wii, 360, Kindle, Mac Mini, iPhone, or any one of countless other electronic goodies? It came out of a Foxconn plant.

If Nokia’s laptop is indeed a netbook, the move makes sense; netbook profit margins are about as slim as they come, so going with one of the masters of mass production is probably a better idea than going at it alone.

by Greg Kumparak on April 6, 2009

The talented shutterbugs at the FCC recently got their hands on a sexy Nokia N97 ahead of the phones US release. Not only did the government suits photograph a previously unannounced color scheme, but also published all the details about the phone. We kind of already know most about the phone after spying it at Nokia World ‘08 last December. Really, all we wanna know about is Nokia’s upcoming app store, ovi, which isn’t discussed within the government filling.

by Matt Burns on April 6, 2009

It's out, Nokia's E75 S60 QWERTY is now shipping according to a feverish Nokia press release. For Espoo, that leading "E" stands for businEss so this slider is all about corporate eMail -- a first handset to ship with Nokia's new eMail user interface -- as well as getting you connected to your personal accounts from Yahoo, Gmail, and Hotmail. Unfortunately, the decent quad-band GSM / EDGE and dual-band HSPDA data, WiFi, microSD expansion, 3.2 megapixel camera, and a-GPS specs are offset by that puny 2.4-inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) display. For our money, we'll be holding out for the 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel N97 QWERTY slider just peeped in the FCC, thankuverymuch.

We're not sure if these are false color images, weird lighting, a Finnish sense of humor, or an actual production color scheme for the N97, but regardless, we like it. Nay, love it. Ship it, Nokia. Anyhow, the FCC has published full submitted details of one of the non-North American varieties of Nokia's halo device for the year, putting GSM / EDGE 850 / 1900 and WCDMA band II (1900MHz, if you're curious) through their paces along with the FM transmitter, Bluetooth, and WiFi. We've also got a manual to peruse -- unfortunately, details on the Ovi Store are missing, but at least we can brush up on our phone basics before we get our hands on a device. Anyone else totally forget that it's got an internal magnetic compass, or was that just us?

We're not sure why giant phones are suddenly all the rage, but it seems to be a trend -- Nokia just put up this four-foot 5800 XpressMusic in Antwerp. Unlike the giant Samsung Messager that recently invaded Chicago, it's not actually a working phone, but the custom Flash interface designed by Create Multimedia is meant to mimic the OS as closely as possible -- so we're guessing it's just as frustrating as the real thing. Passerby can play with the Maps app, browse photos, and listen to music through some nifty through-the-glass speakers -- hit the read link for the video.

[Via Nokia Conversations]

What do you get if you stick a Nokia N97 in the dryer on high heat for an hour, rip the keyboard off with your bare hands, and replace S60 with a seemingly random stream of digital puke? Probably something akin to this little bugger, we'd reckon. Nothing worked, the display was wigging out, and we'd gotten it to the point where all we could do was draw red lines and watch random blocks of noise appear on screen -- awesome by Keepin' It Real Fake standards, yes, but not awesome if you're actually trying to make a call. Our recommendation: don't get any closer to this thing than the video you're about to watch after the break.

We were never able to track down an E71x with a SIM and an active AT&T Navigator account, but it's pretty clear from our time with the device that AT&T has left its S60 3.2-based core pleasantly untouched. We wouldn't call it "virgin" by any stretch, but the profile can be tweaked to your liking, we weren't able to find any options that were notably absent, WiFi's still there, and you can file all of the unremovable AT&T crapware in a separate folder that you'll never use (and yes, we did verify that it can't be uninstalled, sadly). And let's not forget -- you're getting one of the sexiest smartphones ever made for a penny shy of a hundie, so really, what do ya got to complain about?