To my knowledge Nokia has not officially announced just about anything, though I think earlier it was at least heavily implied that the 2006 OS update would bring VOIP to 770. GoogleTalk is a service from Google as well, right? So that's where some extra bucks could come into a new bundle with the same old 770 device :-)

There are at least 5 people at Nokia who have blogs and are connected with 770, some of them indeed are engineers. But I'd doubt they give any info on these rumours in their blogs :-)

Well, I knew the VOIP solution would be based on Google Talk. There was a video on video.google.com about 1-2 months ago where someone from Google was talking very briefly about it at some conference. Can't seem to find the video now though Do they delete videos after a while?

In the presentation he gave he was talking about the Nokia 770, and everything else so far has indicated that the VOIP and IM features would come with an OS upgrade, not with a whole new device. The only indications of a new device so far has come from news sources that in the past have showed us that they know sh*t about the 770.

So lets just hope that there will be no new device (for now at least), otherwise I will never trust Nokia again.

I bet this story is being picked up in the media now because of the names of the companies: Google and Nokia. In general, I don't think many folks, even gadget and tech bloggers, have a very good bead on what Nokia has been up to. So I wouldn't be surprised if they were just reporting on the availability of the updated Nokia 770 (i.e., ROM updated 770). I don't really see Nokia changing the form factor of the 770 substantially, it's basically fine the way it is.

Nokia has been making moves for some time towards internet data synchronization and a good web browsing experience. It seems to be their overall strategy for competing with Windows Mobile smartphones and PDA phones: propping up Symbian OS, supporting data synchronization with a PC and USB/BT modem functions, going with Linux, and moving towards internet services and real internet browsing without a full OS PC. Real internet browsing is a big weakness of PDA's and PDA phones, what with the limited screen resolutions and odd dimensions, etc.

In general, Nokia has quietly been on the move, while most of the attention has been paid to HTC, which has kind of just exploded all over the cell phone market. But no one seems to synthesize the data about Nokia. So, Nokia recently bought Intellisync, and I think I heard that they are hoping to open some retail stores. They are working on designs for a high quality camera phone and a music phone to compete with Sony-Ericsson; in fact, the upcoming Nokia music phone will be the first phone with a built in hard drive (we'll see how well that works out). And recently Nokia released some free Symbian OS downloadable games that seem designed to run on the Nokia 9300, which is itself kind of interesting.

I just played with the Nokia 9300 in a Cingular store, and it has a great wide interior screen for web surfing and simple PIM management. Overall, I found using it to be very pleasant; kind of the anti Blackberry, anti HTC Wizard experience. Apparently it has super battery life as well. It has a unique design that is not at all similar to any other phone device with a keyboard on the market, and it was clearly built from the ground up. It seems like it's built to last twenty years. In fact, it's substantial enough that you could probably knock someone unconscious with it.

In any case, it's true that Nokia and Google make a pretty powerful combination. Web services mean you can use any internet device without locally installed apps, sync your data between the web and any device(s), and share your information selectively with others who also aren't required to have special apps installed. Nokia, in the meantime, has started prioritizing internet browsing just like it is on a full sized PC, minus the PC.

You have it hand it to Nokia for taking huge design risks while maintaining basic ergonomic and design principles. Nokia has released all kinds of designs to address wifi, web browsing, and text entry: the fold-out keyboard for text messages, the 770, the 9300, and the upcoming communicator-style blackberry-like phone. Of all these devices, IMO, the 770 has a unique role in allowing people to own whatever phone they want (including Nokia's own crazy fashion phones) by giving them a serious web browsing tablet that accesses the real web.

I wonder how Skype feels about this Google talk stuff.

Anyway, I found these pics of the Nokia 9300 showing Google Local maps:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyimage/127038755/

Yea, I don't think any news sources know what they're talking about. This one says that the new version of the Internet Tablet comes pre-installed with Google Talk, no mention of hardware change. Also, it says the device was launched in September. Wasn't the official launch in Europe in November?
http://www.betanews.com/article/Noki...let/1147461058

What we really need is the source of all these news articles: that Wall Street Journal article. Anybody here have a subscription?

See, this is the problem with the media. They get the story twisted. The true story comes from the company's own mouth. The news is either so anticlimatic that it'sdisappointing or is actually horrible news that was expected to be good and starts riots (okay, so no one is gonna start a riot, but still). The worse part about it all is that all the news sites and blogs are copying from the same twisted news source. Just because the WSJ is a well known resource doesn't make it flawless when it comes to some of its reports.

technodoc: There are a couple of Nokia blogs which are relevant, Ari Jaaski's, tigert's, tko's etc. All syndicated on http://planet.maemo.org/, however they'll not be talking about rumours etc.

Having slept on it:

(emphasis mine)

IMHO, it's quite clear that nothing's going to be launched next week except an announcement about the partnership. Once announced, how long until there's a 2006 OS beta (hopefully), SDK, or the release itself is unclear. I'd guess we'll see a PR exercise and maybe some screenshots/demos etc. next week.

Calendaring? Not without client software. Think about the use cases a little: Often schedule is checked and new appointments are added "on the move", when there is no connection available (or when you would have to connect through a phone). The data repository may end up on a (Google) server, but there has to be a client software (maybe not a full blown one, but something).
Same applies, although not as much, to Contacts and E-mail.

The official 770 web pages still say "...Internet Tablet 2006 software edition – that will support additional services, including Internet telephony (VoIP) and Instant Messaging" -- on the other hand the page refers to 2006 as 'next year', and to the OS update as 'planned', so go figure...

Hi

I think Google Talk needs a Gmail account, but in the UK these are not offered. Does this mean Google will allow UK GMail accounts to be setup via the mobile SMS? Or does anyone have a spare invitation...

Cheers
Rich

What would be great is if Google allow the Google Talk software to break away from the Gmail account requirement and let users set up a separate account for Google Talk. There are a lot of people that don't have/want Gmail but would like to use the Google Talk app for a VoIP/Chat solution.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, will unveil on Tuesday a new version of its Internet tablet device that runs Google Talk communications software, sources familiar with the plans said on Friday.

The pact between the Finnish company and Web search leader Google Inc. would offer consumers the ability to chat with other users of instant messaging software via the Nokia Wi-Fi device, which relies on short-range wireless networks.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, introduced last year, offers wireless access to digital music and video playing on a high-contrast color screen, as well as to check e-mail, surf the Web and read computer documents or play video games.

At a press conference to be held in Stockholm on Tuesday, Espoo, Finland-based Nokia will introduce a new version of the Internet Tablet with upgraded software and hardware elements, one source said.

Nokia's 770 is available worldwide via its Web site. The 770 is a rectangular, 5.5-inch by 3.1-inch device with a big color screen that is slightly bigger than a mobile phone. It has a retail list price of around $400 in the United States.

In contrast to phones, the Nokia 770 relies on unregulated local wireless connections rather than cell phone networks.

Google Talk, which allows users to chat via text or to talk with other instant message users, will be one of the featured applications on the Nokia Internet Tablet, a second source confirmed.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

The deal with Nokia marks the Mountain View, California-based Google's latest move beyond computers and into the mobile communications market.

Earlier this year it announced a plan with Nokia's biggest rival, Motorola Inc. to feature Google search software on Motorola phones.

Google rivals Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are also pushing to have their services featured on handsets. Yahoo is offered on several Nokia phone models.


If Nokia is going to upgrade both hardware and software, means Nokia is listing to the end users feedback they have received during the last few months. From this point of view, it's a very good decision.
However, I hope the new software release will also be available for the current user base with the current hardware version.