Nokia Press Bulletin Board

The smallest Nokia headset to date, the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 has received honorary mention in the Finnish design competition The Fennia Prize – Good design grows global. The award ceremony was held in Helsinki on February 19. The Fennia Prize is a competition for firms and companies rewarding the exemplary use and application of design in business – companies for which design is a central means of product development and brand construction. The honorary mention for the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 was one of the 18 products or product concepts to be chosen to receive this recognition.

The Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 is the smallest Nokia headset to date. The product combines cutting-edge technology with genuine aluminum case, slim lines and a compact size making it a stylish accessory to any mobile device. Boasting superior audio quality and the latest audio features, including digital signal processing (DSP) for background noise cancellation, the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 lets consumers enjoy crisp, clear conversations while on the go.

For more information on the Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 and the designer video interview see www.europe.nokia.com/bh-804. Information on the Fennia Prize 2009 can be found at www.designforum.fi/Fenniaprize09s

Nokia has completed a EUR 500 million loan agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The five-year loan will be used to part-finance software research and development (R&D) projects Nokia is undertaking during 2009-2011 to make Symbian-based smartphones more competitive.

Nokia envisages that the R&D activities supported by this loan will also benefit the work of the Symbian Foundation and its development of open-source software for mobile devices.The Symbian Foundation is an independent, non-profit entity being set up by Nokia and its industry partners to develop a unified software platform with a single user interface framework.  As previously communicated, the foundation is expected to start operations before the end of the first half 2009.

The agreement with the EIB follows Nokia’s successful launch last month of its inaugural Euro Bond transaction. The EUR 1.75 billion issue was extremely well received by a diverse and high quality investor base, leading to competitive borrowing costs. The proceeds of the bond issuance are being used to repay existing short-term borrowings, further strengthening Nokia’s financial flexibility.

Today Nokia announced an exciting new mobile device for its select CDMA markets outside the US. The 3G speed, music capability and elegant, dual–slide function of this device brings consumers high-speed, high tech combined with good looks.

With its uncomplicated functionality, the new Nokia 8208 gives consumers a range of features, while turning heads with its design. “We instinctively wanted to carry out a very modern look and feel in the design of our new devices, and to bring consumers a wide range of features,” said Larry Paulson, Nokia Senior Vice President, CDMA Devices. “Consumers want devices that are beautiful to look at and reflect their individuality, but also have the functionality that keeps them connected to their world easily. This device echoes our goal to broaden the Nokia portfolio of high tech, yet stylish devices in select global CDMA markets.”

The sophisticated Nokia 8208 features a smooth, dual-slide form factor, and packs a dose of entertainment with its MP3 music player and 3 megapixel camera. The Nokia 8208 provides easy access to tunes through the phone’s dedicated music buttons, where music can be played for up to 20 continuous hours.  Moments in life are captured in crisp, clear photos with the 3.0 megapixel camera. For easy music storage, a 16GB external memory card slot holds up to approximately 4,000 songs in AAC+ and MP3 digital music formats.  When reaching for contacts, use the Speaker-Independent Name Dialing mode for hands free dialing, or assign photos to favourite contacts to quickly see who’s calling, or sending multi-media messages. With the super fast 3G connection, no more waiting around to get to the things you most like to use.

The Nokia 8208 is expected to launch in select CDMA markets, in the first quarter of 2009.

A complete list of Nokia 8208 features and technical specifications can be found at http://www.nokia.com/press/media_resources/documents/data-sheets

Related photos in print quality can be found at www.nokia.com/press/photos

At this week’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Nokia is showcasing “Green Explorer”, a multi-channel service where people dedicated to a sustainable lifestyle can explore and enjoy the world. Through Green Explorer people can share information, give guidance and communicate about eco-friendly traveling. By signing up to the site you can share eco tips and photos, ask questions, add comments and rank destinations for a more enhanced and meaningful travel experience. In addition, map features include images to visualize destinations and Green Explorer points of interest. And you can take it all with you on your mobile device. 

The service has environmental information and eco tips from WWF covering 30 different countries plus eco travel information from Lonely Planet for almost 3000 locations worldwide. You can also select the most sustainable way to get to your destination based on mode of transport, cost, time to destinantion, and CO2 emissions. You can also look up eco city guides and subscribe to eco news from many cities around the world. 

“We have added lots of interesting new information and travel tools to the Green Explorer service, and it is great to see people using it to share tips and hints with others. Because Green Explorer is a mobile service people can take it with them on their travels and use it to make their trip fun and environmentally friendly.” says Minna Lindholm, Senior Environmental Manager. Green Explorer can be found at www.greenexplorer.nokia.com and is optimized for your mobile device.

Ovi Mail (you@ovi.com), the free email service from Nokia, is now available on the web at http://mail.ovi.com. For millions of first-time email and even Internet users, Ovi Mail will provide them with a digital identity on the internet, giving them email via a simple and elegant interface, the convenience of local language support and spam filters to block out unwanted mails. An inbox preview that remains open while a message is being read also gives the user a snapshot view of the emails in his inbox, while dragging and dropping messages from the inbox to subfolders makes storing messages extremely easy. As part of the Ovi family of services by Nokia, Mail will give people cross access to other services, including maps, games, media sharing and music.  

Ovi Mail features an extremely easy-to-maneuver user interface that requires only a simple signup process. The beta service kicked off just before Christmas 2008, and in just over a month, over 100,000 brand new email accounts were created directly on Nokia Series 40 mobile phones, such as the popular music phone Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. Other than on the PC, Ovi Mail can be set up and accessed directly on more than 35 Nokia device models that are currently shipping.

Last week the Nokia 5630 Xpress Music was released. The device offers a high-quality entertainment experience at a reasonable price. But that is not all—it also has several environmental improvements that are worth a mention.

First of all, the device has a series of energy features that means it only uses the power it needs. Its Power Save option has an ambient light sensor that reads how much natural light is available and only adds extra additional illumination to the screen and keypad if needed. It also comes with Nokia’s energy efficient micro-USB charger, plus visual and audio alerts to remind people to unplug the charger from the wall when the device battery is full.

The Nokia 5630 Xpress Music is a good example of how Nokia also considers the environment in the materials it uses to make its devices. It is completely free of PVC, phthalates, chlorinated flame retardants, and all compounds containing bromine or antimony trioxide. As with every Nokia device, it is 80% recyclable and its compact packaging is 100% recyclable.

The device also comes packed with software and services to help people make more sustainable choices. These include the Green Explorer widget for more sustainable travel, we:offset application for offsetting CO2 emissions from any flights you must take, and an Eco zone with environmental tips. Last but not least, this device offers an exceptional music experience, internet browsing and a camera, removing the need for other separate devices.

“At Nokia we consider the environment in every device we make rather than producing one off green products. The Nokia 5360 XpressMusic is packed with many of our very latest environmental innovations and these will be rolled across our range. By considering the whole product, from the device to the packaging, the energy consumption, and the environmentally engaging software we can really minimize its environmental footprint and help people use mobility to make more sustainable choices” says Mitti Storckovius, Director of Environment, at Nokia Devices.

Nokia today introduced the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, a new ultra-slim S60 device that offers a complete entertainment experience, letting individuals quickly and easily play music, videos and games, as well as share content.   

Building on the XpressMusic range tradition of delivering superior entertainment experiences, the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic features a world class music player for excellent audio quality, music and videos on-the-go through dedicated keys, and music essentials including a 4GB memory card for storing up to 3000 tracks, with option to upgrade up to 16GB microSD memory card, support for all main digital music formats and a 3.5 mm AV jack.  Featuring Nokia’s innovative voice-controlled ‘Say and Play’ feature, consumers can merely say the name of a favorite artist or song to automatically play it. 

Offering a seamless music experience, Nokia 5630 XpressMusic is compatible with Nokia Music Store, allowing consumers to browse and purchase tracks from the Nokia Music Store, where applicable, while the Nokia Music for PC software allows for easy drag-and-drop transfer of songs and management of any music collection. In selected markets, the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic will also be sold as a Comes With Music device. 

Putting people first, the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic homescreen gets individuals closer to the people and media that are most important to them. The Contacts Bar allows direct access to up to 20 closest friends or business contacts straight from the homescreen and provides a full communication history with these contacts including recent emails, messages, phone logs and photos shared.  A shortcuts bar at the bottom of the homescreen gives quick access to the most frequently used applications including music, radio, Web, N-Gage and photos. 

The 5630 XpressMusic comes with a complete N-Gage experience with an N-Gage shortcut on the homescreen.  N-Gage offers an entire catalogue of games from leading publishers, a multiplayer feature, and the ability to track progress, as well as add friends to play against. 

In addition, with the full focus 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, images or videos can be captured and shared via a favorite online community, such as Share on Ovi, Flickr, or Facebook.   

The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic will be available in select markets beginning in the second quarter of 2009 with an estimated retail price of 199 EUR exclusive of subsidies and taxes.