I’m starting to feel like a true Nokia fan-boy here but I saw something very interesting today.

Nokia recently announced plans to make Microsoft Silverlight applications available to all S60 operated Nokias. That would would mean almost the entire Nokia N-Series if I’m not mistaken which would be a huge leap forward. I am not aware of any applications that let you view or use Macromedia Flash technology on a mobile. Nokia also announced support for Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets.

Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for delivering next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications. Silverlight is already powering thousands of applications around the world and organizations including Entertainment Tonight, the NBA and NBC Universal to deliver superior Web-based experiences to their customers. The arrangement with Nokia will substantially extend the reach of Silverlight by making the platform available for hundreds of millions of devices.

Personally, as a .Net Developer, this is exceptionally exciting and I cannot wait for this to become a reality. I already have an idea in mind and will start working on it ASAP and then maybe I can return this blog back to a development focused blog I unfortunately have not yet been able to find more information as to when this will be available. Having recently moved into my own apartment I have not yet replaced my ADSL connection and having to rely on a GPRS connection isn’t that great.

Good news however, I am getting a new work laptop within the next two weeks and I will be organizing a HSDPA connection so I’ll be able to post more ASP.Net related posts soon. I must however admit that the progress from Nokia’s side has truely won me back so far. Now if I could only get my hands on the Nokia N78 for a test run!

Microsoft Silverlight - http://silverlight.net/
Nokia Internet Tablet - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_N800
S60 - http://www.s60.com/
Series 40 - http://forum.nokia.com/series40

The more I find out about this little gem the more excited I get. The possibility of me being able to afford it is a different story but a boy can dream can’t he?

Now as you can see in my previous post, Virgin Mobile told me that they have the Nokia N78 in stock, however, a Nokia representative contacted me this morning and it seems the N78 will only be available here from October this year. I have a sneaking suspicion that Virgin Mobile were confusing the N78 and N73 although the call center were pretty confident when I called them to inquire about the N78. However I’m going to go with what Nokia and said and I only expect the N78 to available from mid October from the major service providers in the country.

Nokia were kind enough to send me more information and images of the N78 so that I could give them to you!

Key features include:

• Integrated A-GPS
• Audio playback time up to 24 hours
• Music player with integrated FM transmitter (88.1 –107.9 MHz)
• CMOS 3.2 megapixel (2048 x 1536) autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, LED flash and up to 20x digital zoom. Automatic tagging with capture location. (GeoCoding)
• 2.4″ QVGA (240 x 320) display with 16 million colors
• Mobile broadband with WLAN and HSDPA
• Multimedia menu and NaviTMwheel for accessing content
• Take up to 1500* tracks with you on a pre-fitted 2GB memory card
• Access your images, music, podcasts and videos remotely via the web

Below are two attachments for you to have a look at:

The Official Press Release
Technical Data Sheet

I am still awaiting replies from MTN and Cell C but as I previously said, I’m going with what Nokia themselves are telling me. I’ll post more information if I get any.

I am thoroughly impressed with Virgin Mobile. Not only were they the fastest to reply to my query BUT they also have the N78 IN STOCK!

Yes Steven We do have the Nokia N78 retailing for less than R5400

Time to check out Virgin Mobile!

Sad news from Vodacom for now. I just received a reply on my query regarding the Nokia N78. Here’s the response:

Dear Steven

Thank you for your email communication to Vodacom.

Cellular networks do not always approve certain handset models due to the fact it does not perform as well on their respective networks. The approval of any new handset on the cellular network is determined by the test it undergoes. We cannot confirm the date when the testing will take place for the Nokia N78.

Should you have any further queries, please contact us via e-mail at customercare@vodacom.co.za.

Warm Regards

Kaashief Nassiep

Email Contact Centre

So sadly it looks like it might still be a while before we see it. Still awaiting responses from MTN, Cell C, Virgin Mobile and Nokia

So I was dreaming of a new cellphone since my Motorola K1 is getting old now. I had a quick look at GSMArena.

Nokia:
Now Nokia and I have up and down relationship but most of my phones have been Nokias. And the one thing I must admit is that Nokias are reliable. I never had a problem with, the only problem I had with the N70 is that I felt it was so slow, other than that I cannot complain at all. They are durable and reliable phones that deliver on what they promise. I sometimes feel sorry for them since they are basically the Microsoft of the cellphone world and as such suffer unfair criticism at times. I too have been guilty of that, but as said, it was mainly because of my N70.

Nokia N78
This little phone looks brilliant! It is typical on the N-Series Nokia in that it comes with a ton of features bundled into a decent size phone. Here’s some of the awesome features in it:

1. Stereo speakers
2. ARM 11 369 MHz processor
3. HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
4. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
5. Symbian OS, S60 rel. 3.2
6. WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
7. 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels Carl Zeiss optics
8. secondary CIF videocall camera
9. Built-in GPS receiver
10. A-GPS support
11. FM transmitter

Thats a great list of features as far as I’m concerned!

Unfortunately I cannot find an exact local release date yet but I have sent emails to Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Virgin Mobile as well ofcourse to Nokia themselves. As soon as I have any feedback I will post it.