Whatsapp to end support for BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Phone

If you are an avid WhatsApp user and using one of the older versions of BlackBerry, Windows Phone or Symbian, you are out of luck.

If you are still using a BlackBerry smartphone or clinging to an old Symbian-based Nokia phone, it’s high time you may want to consider switching to Android or iOS. Well, your favorite instant messaging application, WhatsApp, is going to end support for BlackBerry, Symbian and even Windows Phone 7.1.

WhatsApp announced it will be ending support for BlackBerry, including BlackBerry 10, Nokia S40, Nokia Symbian S60, Android 2.1 and Android 2.2, and Windows Phone 7.1 – by the end of 2016.

Why is WhatsApp doing this? The reason is very simple — most of the mobile users across the world have shifted to Android and iOS smartphones. WhatsApp elaborates the time it had launched the app in 2009, about 70 percent of smartphones then ran on BlackBerry and Nokia’s Symbian.

But as of now Google,Apple  and Microsoft account for 99.5 percent of sales, which back then had then mere 25 percent of the share. WhatsApp is now looking at the future, and wants to channelize its focus on the current and possible future mobile operating systems, and their updates.

“While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don’t offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app’s features in the future,” WhatsApp said on its website.

If you are using devices based on these operating systems, you can’t really do much than upgrade to the latest Android, iOS or the new Windows Mobile 10 operating systems.

While BlackBerry users can use the BBM, considering that it is a cross platform messaging platform right. But it is highly unlikely that all of your friends might be using the BlackBerry Messenger. Symbian users can either use apps such as Nimbuzz, which is available for almost all platforms. But these alternatives are unlikely to ensure WhatsApp-like instant messaging or have all contacts with same instant messaging application.

Nokia to enter Smartphone Business

Nokia has officially confirmed that is entering the smartphone business and is seeking for a partner. The Finnish smartphone maker will license its brand to a partner that can manufacture and sell phones as well as provide marketing and customer support.

“The right path back to mobile phones for Nokia is through a brand-licensing model. That means identifying a partner that can be responsible for all of the manufacturing, sales, marketing and customer support for a product.”

said Nokia Technologies spokesman Robert Morlino in a statement.

Nokia said that as it sold its Devices and Services division to Microsoft, it will not be able to produce any Nokia branded phone until Q4, 2016. The company is looking for a ‘world class’ partner that will be responsible for the aforementioned aspects of smartphone business. After selling its business to Microsoft, Nokia launched a new brand-licensed tablet computer –N1 produced under license by Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn last year in November.

The latest news comes from Nokia a month after it announced its plans to design and license handsets from next year. Nokia was at the helm of mobile phone market until it faced a tough competition from Android and iPhone. It will be interesting to see, what the company known for its classic feature phones has to offer in the effervescent smartphone market. Unfortunately, we will have to wait till the end of next year.

Nokia C1 Android 5.0 Lollipop Smartphone Image and Specifications Leaked

Looks like Nokia is far from being over. The latest leak by TechWeb Nokia is back in the mill and is busy churning out a new Android smartphone. After the Nokia N1 tablet, the company is rumored to be working on a smartphone, dubbed as Nokia C1.

The device is said to run on Android Lollipop based on Z Launcher. It features a 5-inch screen and is powered Intel processor with 2GB RAM. The device houses 32GB internal storage, 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front camera.

There is no official confirmation from Nokia yet, and we hear no information on its availability yet. Microsoft bought the Nokia’s devices and services division this year. According to the contract, Nokia is restricted on using its brand on smartphones until the end of 2016 and feature phones for another 10 years, but it can use it elsewhere freely.

Keeping the contract in mind, the C1 smartphone might not see the light of the day till 2016. Post that, Nokia can license the brand name, the industrial design and the Nokia Z launcher software layer and IP for Nokia-branded C1 smartphone to any OEM partner on a running-royalty basis.

Nokia CEO Rajiv Suri, before the N1 tablet launch, had hinted that the company might be interested in licensing the Nokia brand for consumer devices apart from smartphones and feature phones. The N1 tablet was launched in November, and was completely manufactured by Foxconn, but only used Nokia’s brand name. Nokia says it will bring the N1 tablet starting from China in 2015 first quarter and it will tie-up with an OEM partner be responsible for not just manufacturing but also distribution and sales.

Microsoft Launched Nokia Lumia 638 with 4.5-inch Display, 4G Windows 8.1 Smartphone in India At Rs 8,299

Microsoft just launched the Nokia Lumia 638, the company’s most affordable 4G smartphone in India. It was originally introduced in China back in June and has a 4.5-inch FWVGA screen, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 and runs Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Cyan. It has a 5-megapixel auto focus rear camera without flash and also lacks a front-facing camera. It has 1GB RAM and comes with single micro SIM support.

It has TD-LTE Band 40 for India that works with Airtel. LTE bands in the phone include, TD-LTE Band 38 (2570-2620 MHz), Band 39 (1880-1920 MHz), Band 40 (2300-2400 MHz), Band 41 (2500-2700 MHz), LTE FDD: Band 3 (1800 MHz), Band 7 (2600 MHz).

Commenting at the launch, Raghuvesh Sarup, Director – Marketing, Nokia India Sales Pvt. Ltd. (a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile Oy), said:

With the Lumia range we have always focussed on delivering new experiences and features to our consumers at affordable price points. Now, we are introducing Lumia 638 which is the most affordable 4G smartphone on Windows Phone 8.1. It builds on the success of the Lumia range in the fast growing affordable smartphone segment and aims to address the consumers’ demand for a device that lets them enjoy uninterrupted video content. We are confident of the success of the Lumia 638 as a comprehensive package and are certain that the device will help us consolidate our position in the affordable smartphones segment further.

Ram Narayan Iyer, Group Director – Retail, Sales and Marketing, Microsoft India said:

Exclusive products and great deals are key differentiators of the Microsoft Brand Store. Given the increasing demand for Lumia smartphones in India, and with more and more consumers choosing to shop online, we are very excited to announce availability of the Lumia 638 exclusively on our store. The Lumia 638 is the first product to be available exclusively on the Microsoft.

Nokia Lumia 638 specifications

4.5-inch (854 x 480 pixels) IPS display
1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor
1GB RAM, 8GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 128GB with microSD
Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Cyan
Dual SIM
5MP autofocus rear camera with f/2.4 aperture, 28mm lens
129.5×66.7×9.2 mm and 134 grams
3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
4G LTE, 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS / aGPS
1830mAh battery
The Nokia Lumia 638 comes in Black and White colors and is priced at Rs. 8,299. It will be available for pre-booking from December 17th on Amazon.in. It will also be available from Microsoft Brand Store. It comes with exclusive offer on Airtel 4G that offers  up to 5 GB of free data on 4G for 2 months for Airtel Post-paid customers in Bengaluru. This offer is available until 31st March 2015.

Microsoft To Replace Nokia App Store with Opera Mobile Store On Nokia feature phones, Symbian and Nokia X phones.

Microsoft has announced replacing Nokia Store as the default app store with Opera Mobile Store on Nokia feature phones, Symbian and Nokia X phones. From the first quarter of 2015, users accessing Nokia store from Series 40, Series 60, Symbian, Asha and Nokia X devices will be automatically redirected to Opera Mobile Store.

“We continue to sell and support classic Nokia devices, which remain popular in many parts of the world,” said Rich Bernardo, Vice President, Phones, Microsoft. “We’re delighted to partner with Opera Software and continue to provide a reliable app store experience for consumers and developers alike.”

“When the current users of the Nokia Store are migrated to Opera Mobile Store, they will continue to get fresh, interesting apps for their Nokia phones,” says Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software. “The Opera Mobile Store becomes an even more significant player in the app store market, and Nokia mobile phone users get a first-class app store for years to come.”

Opera says it is positioned to become the third largest app store in terms of downloads. The store features over 300,000 apps and games. Opera Mobile Store supports more than 7,500 different devices, including feature phones and smartphones.