Earlier this week, Nokia announced a “big announcement” for folks. And here it is… a bloke wearing a standard fare cardigan, armed with probably comical looks and positions, it seems like Nokia is going to dive deep into the viral marketing pool with… a photo-based comic strip that sings the praises of the oft-maligned (by users) Nokia Ovi Store.

Today, we finally unveil (part of) the mystery.

Starting next Friday (July 30), we’re premiering an original comic series here on the Ovi Blog called “Old School”. We won’t tell you too much more about it, but it’s fun and we hope you love it.

And for those that were guessing, this isn’t a product launch or announcement. It’s just a thank you for everyone who loves Ovi and reads the blog. Share it, like it, comment on it, repost it: we’re looking forward to your reaction!

Here’s my chance to get on my soapbox.

Ok, I know I cannot be the only person that’s looking at the Nokia official blogs hoping that Nokia will finally start to do the things that they have not done in ages; effective marketing in North America. Nokia has gone from being perceived as a top notch handset manufacturer to something that you get when you want a free, subsidized phone on contract. Nokia N-series, largely unpopular with folks that don’t want to do any type of research – face it, most consumers are not willing to read more than a headline, pay more than a dime and learn more than a page of the user manual. Nokia N900, Nokia N97, Nokia N95… rare as hell in the US. Even more rare in Japan, yet another place where Nokia has stopped advertising.

So with the drama surrounding the current CEO, the fact that their stock has gone from ~$40 per share to under ~$9 per share in just two years, Nokia looks like a bust. But they’re not, they still sell millions of handsets and have open-sourced Symbian and have the open-source MeeGo partnership with Intel and the Linux Foundation. In fact, Nokia sells more than the next 2 manufacturers combined still. More than Apple, more than Blackberry. So what’s going on? Y’all can’t get advertising right? And… a friggin’ comic based on an office setting? Office Space came out in 1999, The Office (UK) came out in 2001. Nokia, it’s 2010. You guys can do much better than something so tried, so used up, so boring as an online comic.

“Old School” indeed. Nokia, get a clue.

[ Links: Nokia Ovi Blog ]

Apparently the long-awaited update for the Maemo based Nokia N900 has been leaked as a global PR1.2 update and has finally updated a lot of stuff after the prior PR1.1 and PR1.1.1 updates; which ushered in a few updates and bug fixes. What’s been confirmed so far is:

• Qt updated to 4.6.2
• Portrait Browser Mode
• Updated Application Manager
• Skype and Google Talk video calling
• Improved virtual keyboard
• USSD call codes now work
• Improved camera options
• Build No: 10.2010.12-9

Among other UI and software updates, unfortunately there’s not an update for the Flash version but it’s not the 10.1 Flash Player (version 9.0.260.0). PR1.2 is apparently quite the update.

As it stands though, Nokia has not officially released the PR1.2 update and this build is 4 weeks behind the latest known PR1.2 update, but as it stands this leaked version is a global release that has plenty of bugfixes and features that many Nokia N900 owners have been waiting for. I’m impressed with the Skype video calls… that’s a killer app in my mind. More over at Talk.Maemo.org (TMO).

Update: Ovi Maps 3.0 also confirmed.
Update: Flash Player has been updated from 9.0.246.0 to 9.0.260.0.

[ Related Links: Maemo "PR1.2 Is Released" Thread, Nokia N900 PR1.1 Update ]

Call it a work in progress, but some illustrious members of Maemo.org have gotten Google Android (Eclair) to boot and be functional on the Maemo Linux based Nokia N900. Why is it a work in progress? The touchscreen works, as well as the keyboard on the N900; however you will not be making any phone calls via Android on the N900 quite yet. In fact, not all sounds or modules have been interfaced yet.

However, it’s pretty darn cool. Read more about it over at Maemo.org – [ thread here ]

Earlier in the week, Nokia came out with their PR1.01 and people were wondering when the “by Christmas” update that Nokia promised was coming. Well, question no more. Nokia’s PR1.1 update raises the Maemo 5 build to 2.2009.51-1.

First up is support for the Swiss keymat variant with hardware and virtual keyboard layouts supporting the combination of German, Italian and English characters. We’ll also see full compatibility with certain SIM cards from network operator 3. Although only a small number of SIM cards were impacted at the time, this release means the N900 is now fully compatible with 3 SIM cards.

Mail for Exchange also sees an update which will it allow it to work with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. This should bring the possibility of Exchange integration to a much broader group of users.

Ovi Maps also gets the update treatment, with improvements made to search performance and route calculation. Beyond these major changes come a range of smaller usability improvements which have been worked into the release and are based on the excellent user feedback the team have received (keep it coming).

Microsoft Exchange 2003 support, an updated Ovi Maps, among other fixes that people have been plain out begging for since the initial release of the Nokia N900.

The rollout is being staged across multiple territories, so if you do not see it now, be patient. Read more about it at Nokia Connections or at the Nokia Maemo 5 Wiki.

[ Links: Nokia Connections, Maemo 5 Wiki, Maemo Talk ]

In a move that is equal parts “about time” and “how in the heck will they do it”, VMware has announced that they are working on mobile OS virtualization for the smartphones that are always growing in processing power and capabilities.

VMware has flagged smartphones as the next platform in the evolution of virtualization, but at least one major competitor, Microsoft, says that it sees no demand for the technology.

Speaking to Computerworld, Srinivas Krishnamurti, VMware’s head of mobile phone virtualisation said the company’s vision for virtualization on smartphones went beyond the basic dual-boot prototypes currently in development to one that ran both a private and work operating system and profile at the same time.

“We don’t think dual booting will be good enough – we’ll allow you to run both profiles at the same time and be able to switch between them by clicking a button,” he said. “You’ll be able to get and make calls in either profile – work or home – as they will both be live at any given point in time.”

Even though the example(s) show Microsoft WinMo and Android, if down the road it means that I can run Maemo 5/6 on the Nokia N900 and run an instance of Mobile OS X – the OS that’s on the iPhone – or Google Android or even Microsoft WinMo… I’ve found a project that would allow me to use different browsers, connectivity, or features that aren’t always on my phone of choice. Can’t wait to see what happens with this. No announcement on availability.

[ Links: Computer World Australia, VMware ]

Did you preorder one? If not, don’t feel too bad because the slightly delayed Nokia N900 is now shipping to Europe, Middle East, Russia and North America. Preorders are definitely going to be filled first, but shortly thereafter it’ll be easily enough to pick one up.

Nokia Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said in a speech the company started deliveries of the phone on Tuesday.

The N900 model is Nokia’s first phone running the Linux Maemo operating system, which analysts see as a key for Nokia to regain ground in the coming years.

In the US, T-Mobile will be the carrier of choice initially. Let’s hope later announcements include expanded frequencies that will allow 3G support on AT&T or other US carriers.

[ Nokia N900 ] [ Related: N-Series Maemoproject.com Viral Ads ]

Seems like Nokia is going viral for the upcoming and heavily anticipated Nokia N900 [ site here ] for their advertising.

It sorta starts at Major Compete [ site here ] and you’ll see a note:

M _ _ m _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

With some good deduction, it lands you on Maemoproject.com [ site here ] which… well, is just a looping video of a room with four visible chairs, a table, some glitchy video and… well, a hint that something that’s forthcoming. What else could it be, I don’t know.

Update: It was for a contest where you can enter to win a Nokia N900 and other items.

[ Nokia N900 ] [ Maemo Project ] [ Major Compete ]

Nokia announced today a total combined loss of 1.36 Billion – that with a big “B” folks – due to slumping sales during it’s Summer 2009 sales. This would include the sale(s) of their flagship Nokia N97 which sold relatively strong with 2 million units in about 3 months. The problem though was that most users shifted from their flagship, more expensive phones to much lesser expensive phones due to the global economy downturn.

Then how could the Nokia N900 [ site here ] save Nokia? By all intents and purposes, it’s a very high priced phone that clocks in at over $500 USD unsubsidized. And the forthcoming Nokia X6 32gb [ announcement here ] is even higher priced. So can the Nokia N900 and the buzz around it be a very good thing for Nokia? Could the introduction of the Nokia Twist and other phones built just for the lower priced, subsidized market help get Nokia an American market presence that’s been sorely lacking for quite a while?

T-Mobile has their upcoming Project Dark/Black announcement that might put the Nokia N900 in more pockets than previously thought before. Can increased sales of the Nokia N900 at least help Nokia? I truly hope so.

[ Electronista ] [ Bloomberg ]