UK: MOTOROKR E8 now available - according to Moto!

We've mentioned the Motorokr E8 several times before on IntoMobile, but the bods at Moto were nice enough to send me an email yesterday telling me where I could buy it in the UK - and basically that boils down to Orange shops, O2 stores, and also the Carephone Warehouse stores.

Just to remind ourselves, key specs are:

• Switch from phone to music to camera mode with a single touch of a button
• Quick and easy navigation with the Fastscroll™ wheel
• Transfer an album in under one minute with USB 2.0 with 2GB onboard & up to 4GB external memory
• With Windows Media Player® 11, there is no need to download additional software

If you are hot for this device, then you can find out more info here.

First fringAdd-ons now available; Facebook, Gmail notifier, Orkut and others

Roughly 10 days ago we wrote that fring has opened up its platform allowing third-party developers to create the so called fringAdd-ons and additionally drive fring's functionality forward.

The first batch of fringAdd-ons is now available and it includes Facebook, Gmail notifier, Orkut, vTap and Yandex.mail notifier. In order to give these apps a try, you'll need the latest version of fring (download from here) and afterwards manage them from "Options" -> "settings" -> "manage add-ons" and you're almost there….

Opera Mobile 9.5 Beta for Windows Mobile available within two weeks

The long awaited Opera Mobile 9.5 will be hitting Windows Mobile smartphone world on July 15. We've already seen the mobile browser demoed in the past and we know what to expect - the desktop-like web browsing experience. That includes such features as tabbed browsing, call phone number from a web page, password manager, URL auto-completion, history, copy text, save web page for future offline access, and more.

July 15th is two weeks away. Will you be one of the brave ones to give Opera Mobile 9.5 beta a try?

[Via: PhoneScoop]

Most smartphone consumers looking to buy iPhone 3G, says report

We can't wait for the iPhone 3G to hit market, and it seems most of the US smartphone consumer market is thinking along those same lines. RBC Capital Markets has just released the results of a study that indicates a majority of consumers in the market for a new smartphone are seriously considering the iPhone 3G as their handset of choice.

The study, which surveyed 3,600 RBC Technology Adoption Panel members after Apple's iPhone 3G unveiling at WWDC earlier this month, showed that a full 56% of mobile consumers looking to buy a new smartphone in the next 90 days planned to buy and iPhone 3G after its July 11 launch.

The results offer a glimpse in to the blooming smartphone market in the US. Just this past March, RBC conducted a similar survey to estimate potential iPhone 3G interest. The study was conducted prior to Apple revealing the surprisingly low iPhone 3G price-point - and showed that only 35% of consumers planned to buy the iPhone 3G.

It seems that the $199 admission price for the iPhone 3G-show has hit a sweet spot among consumers. With an entry-level iPhone 3G costing little more than a few tanks of premium gas, interest has increased significantly.

And, more encouraging for Apple, the RBC study showed that only 23% of smartphone buyers were waiting it out for a new BlackBerry handset in the next 90 days. Palm limped in with a 3% planned buying-share. HTC, Nokia, and Samsung managed to swing 2% of the votes their way, while Motorola barely managed to convince 1% of respondents that theirs was the smartphone to own.

So, the iPhone 3G is set to take the US smartphone market by storm - that much is clear - but why? The lower price-point and faster 3G data access were indicated as the most compelling reasons to buy the Apple handset, with 67% and 63% of survey respondents indicating such aspects as most-important in their buying-decision. The addition of GPS was listed as most-important to 47% of survey participants, while 35% and 20% place a premium on enterprise support and third-party applications, respectively.

Will the iPhone 3G deliver on the hype in the US? Most definitely - and probably more so than the first go-around with the original iPhone. Will the iPhone 3G make as big a splash overseas? Probably, but only time will tell.

[Via: Electronista]

Nokia Offers Native Push Email With New Service

Through a kind invitation from Nokia I've been able to test out a new service called Nokia Email.  Nokia Email is an application that offers native push emails to your device.  Think Mail for Exchange for us non-corporate folks!

Finally, a native push email solution from Nokia.  Current email types supported are POP and IMAP.  MSN Hotmail and Corporate Mail is not yet supported.

Current supported devices include:  Nokia E51, E61, E61i, E65, E66, E71, E90, N73, N80, N81 8GB and N95. I've successfully installed it on the N95-3, N95-4 with no problems, but it didn't work on the N78 so don't try it.

To begin you must register on the site.  You will receive the application via download link to your mobile.  Installation is very simple and the application can be installed on more than one Nokia. Once the application is installed the set-up automatically begins. Since the application isn't available to all devices yet I installed it on my N95-4. 

Setting up the sync schedule is easy as well and of course since we want push we want it on at all times!  Remember though that data charges will apply if roaming.

One of the great features of composting mail is the easy integration of the address book. Now to protect the privacy of my contacts I refrained from sharing that screenshot, but when you compose a new email all you have to do is press the center key from your device and all of your contacts appear in a scrollable list. Unlike having to switch screens to select a contact.s the easy integration of the address book. Now to protect the privacy of my contacts I refrained from sharing that screenshot, but when you compose a new email all you have to do is press the center key from your device and all of your contacts appear in a scrollable list. Unlike having to switch screens to select a contact.

The inbox speaks for itself.  The application also gives an option to create local folders which are stored on the device, but not synced with Gmail in this case.  Since I used my Gmail account for this I appreciate the more detailed inbox for my emails.  While Gmail is a great app this offers me alot more details.  Although with Gmail you have a threaded conversation for a topic (in this case my Google alerts for T-Mobile) sometimes you miss out on mails because they are compiled into a thread instead of individual emails.  This of course is a personal preference.

Many great features are included in this application and so far I'm looking forward to final release.  Some of you may ask "what makes this different from the built in mail client" or "does this put an inbox list on my standby screen".  Those are good questions!! Hopefully soon I will have some more details and possibly some answers as beta progresses, so stay tuned and check the FAQ's.  In the meantime, feel free to post any questions you may have in the comment section or leave feedback on the Nokia Email site.

Nokia welcomes Warner Music Group to Comes With Music

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) today announced that Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) will make its diverse catalog of new stars and legendary artists available through Nokia Music Stores around the world as well as through Comes With Music, a revolutionary way for people to discover and enjoy music offered uniquely by Nokia.

"Warner Music Group has been a pioneer in developing new digital music business models and we are very pleased to have them supporting both the Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music," said Tero Ojanperä, executive vice president and head of the Nokia Entertainment and Communities business. "Comes With Music enables people to access great content, provides artists to wider exposure with new and existing fans, and creates new revenue for all stakeholders."

"Nokia's Comes With Music service will be a significant step forward in the evolution of digital music. It's the first global initiative to fundamentally align the interests of music companies with telecommunications companies," said Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music Group's Chairman and CEO. "Through this innovative service and business model, all parties are equally driven to create the best and most comprehensive music offering designed to meet the ever-expanding consumer appetite for music and music-enabled devices."

Comes With Music is expected to launch in the second half of 2008 on a range of Nokia devices in selected territories. With a single purchase, consumers will have access to a year of exploring and downloading the music that they love, and be able to keep all their selections in their permanent library.

Warner Music Group content will also now be available through the Nokia Music Store. With millions of tracks from major artists and independent labels, the Nokia Music Store lets people enjoy music directly on their Nokia device or personal computer. The Nokia store, with its compelling combination of download and streaming services, empowers fans to connect to music they want, in the way they want.

Consumers can browse for new music, get recommendations or search for favorite artists, songs or albums all from the palm of their hand. Songs can be added to a wish list for future purchase or purchased immediately and downloaded directly to the mobile device. Purchased songs can also be transferred between a PC and a compatible Nokia device, regardless of which device was used to buy them.

The Nokia Music Store is available in Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom and is expanding to additional countries.

No more Walkman phones from Sony Ericsson?

Leaked pictures of the Sony Ericsson Remi have emerged, which show a super-thin (10mm) candy bar phone that has overtures of Sony Ericsson's old T610 phone. Looking rather stylish in a minimalistic kind of way, the Remi (which is currently a codename, and not the final name of the phone) will be a mid-range phone, and quite highly specced, with HSDPA and a 3.2 megapixel camera .

In fact most of the features are already on the Sony Ericsson W890, as the Remi is pretty much exactly the same phone, just without the Walkman branding. All of which leads me to wonder quite why the Walkman branding has suddenly been dropped...
(more...)