Before this week the Nokia Lumia 800 line-up was already pretty diverse and colourful, with a choice between black, cyan and magenta handsets. However, yesterday the brand announced a new glossy white device to add to the range.

Tiina Aarrasshe, Nokia's colour and material designer, said:

"The story of the Nokia Lumia is one of reduction and purity [...] white is the ultimate colour of reduction. It's also perfect for emphasising the black polished screen. If you stand a white Lumia 800 on a table the body almost disappears, and the black screen seems to lift up and float."

Apart from the fresh lick of paint, it's business as usual for the Lumia 800. The Windows Phone 7 device still sports a 3.7-inch, WVGA 800x480 AMOLED display, an 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, all powered by a 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon processor. There's also 512MB of RAM, 16GB of storage (plus 25GB of SkyDrive storage) and lots of social network integration.

To celebrate the launch of the new white shade, Nokia are also launching a "White selection" on their Mix Radio music service, with tracks from the likes of the White Stripes and Barry White up for grabs. You see what they did there?!

You can pre-order a white Nokia Lumia 800 now from Phones4U.

Today the prologue to the highly anticipated final instalment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, was shown to a (very lucky) select few at IMAX cinemas across the nation.

According to online sources, the six minute prologue was impressive, action-packed and well worth the trip, despite some saying bad guy Bane's voice was a little muffled (but don't worry fans that should hopefully be rectified in the actual film).

But it's not just the prologue that got people talking today, but the fact that 40 of the lucky attendees also got their hands on a limited edition The Dark Knight Rises Nokia Lumia 800. Yes, really.

There's been no official word from Nokia or Warner Bros, but a few images of the phones are now online and from what we can see they're normal Nokia Lumia 800 black handsets with a bat logo etched into the back. Very nice.

Some online commentators have been criticising the design, suggesting the phone should be a little more unusual and the bat on the back is far too subtle, but we think the understated design actually makes it much more desirable, fitting with the dark scenes we've seen of the film so far and much more impressive than some all-singing-all-dancing, cheesy gimmick.

There's also Bane wallpaper on the phone too and an un-named source has confirmed to us that this is in actual fact an alert system to tell the owners of the fancy new Lumias when the next Dark Knight Rises activity is about to kick off. After all, remember this is only the start of the lead up to the film's release in summer 2012, we're expecting a lot of additional activity if The Dark Knight is anything to go by.

But don't get too excited just yet, you're not likely to ever get your hands on one because our source also told us that the 40 handed out today are all there is. Ever. Anyone else wishing they'd broken/blagged their way into the IMAX today too?

[Image via @jonchoo]

At the Nokia World 2011 event in London today, the CEO of Nokia Stephen Elop claimed the brand is now "playing to win" and followed that rather bold statement by announcing a LOT of shiny new handsets.

The five new phones we've got details about so far are part of the Lumia and Asha ranges, and although they're aimed at completely different types of consumers, they certainly have a lot to offer wrapped up in some rather interesting designs.

Have a browse through the photos below and let us know if you're just as excited as we are about Nokia's new devices.

From being the world's biggest phone manufacturer last year - and every year for the past 15 years - Nokia have now slipped to third place, behind Apple and Samsung.

Quarter 2 figures for Nokia from 2011 show that sales have slumped leaving the inventors of the smartphone (9000 Communicator, 1996) trailing two of its major competitors. Profits have taken a real hit as well. It's very sorry reading for a company that defined phones for so long.

Handsets Sold

Nokia sold 16.7 Million smartphones in the past three months. That gives Nokia a preliminary market share in smartphones of 15% - note that it was 24% in Q1 only three months ago!

Apple sold 20.3million iPhones in the same time period.

The unit sales of smartphones are down 31% from just 3 months ago in Q1 when Nokia still sold 24.2 Million smartphones.

The problem seems to be with Symbian phones which handset sellers seem to regard as on the way out. The bottom has fallen out of Symbian sales.

Profits
With the flagship phones taking a hit, so have the profits. In Q3 2010, Nokia made 500 million Euros, now they're making an operating loss - and they've just slashed their prices..

Has Nokia bottomed out? Will they rise again?

Unlike say Blackberry which faces similar mid-term issues see - Why RIM need to stop being nice Canadians and fire some people: Disgruntled employee talks from BB HQ - Nokia admitted their failings last year and have taken up different strategies to stem the decline. But has it been too little too late?

- Partnership with Microsoft on Windows Phone 7 - out in September

- Serious price cuts in their flagship phones

I'm really keen for a great Nokia Windows phone to come out, but it's taken so long. Lets see what September has to offer us...

[info via communitiesdominate]

Nokia unveiled the N9 last night in Singapore as the successor to the N8.

The new design strips all buttons from the face of the device, replacing the home button a universal 'swipe' gesture that takes users back to the main screen. It has an 8 megapixel camera and is reportedly only a shave thicker than the iPhone 4.

Other design features include the strip of metal down the back and the signature tapered edges as seen on the N8.

The device is powered by Meego - an operating system born of the collaboration between Nokia and Intel - rather one of the hyped Windows devices we're expecting. It seems almost that Nokia are getting this Meego device out of the way before releasing a slew of Windows 7.5 phones, expected sometime before the end of the year.

No price or date announced as yet.

More pictures below...

N9 on Nokia.com
Related: Nokia Windows phones will be out before Christmas and we're expecting some extra tweaks and a QWERTY keyboard

We should see some Nokia smartphones running Windows 7.5 out on shelves before Christmas, Nokia reps said last night. And Nokia will be customising that Windows operating system by adding a few Nokia tweaks to the user experience.

Despite a tight-lipped silence on the details, we have a hunch that Nokia will be importing successes from their current smartphones - like Ovi maps - to their new Windows phones. One of their top comms guys dropped the hint that Nokia will be customising Windows phone to make their devices stand out from the rest of the pack - devices by Samsung and LG.

When we pushed their apps guy a little more on what Nokia might add he suggested that the integration of Nokia features will have to be deep within the phone, rather than just the introduction of a few native apps. For instance he said that Nokia Maps could be used to give a deeper integration of location throughout the phone, rather than just plonking the app on the homescreen. It's in keeping with the Windows Mobile ethos of contextualising phone functions rather than the separated out experience you get with iPhone style apps.

Oh and expect a Blackberry-rivalling QWERTY phone in that line-up of phones out this year. Nokia have a A rep said that Nokia wanted to cater to the business market, that Windows Phone was a natural choice for the business user and that business users wanted QWERTY keyboards. I'm taking that as "yes we are releasing a QWERTY phone in our 2011 line-up".

The official release date for the phones is quarter 4 - the last three months of the year - but given that there was a Nokia Windows phone floating around at a Nokia event last night (apparently), I suspect we'll be seeing one sometime round the beginning of that period - September.

See our run-down of Windows 7.5 (aka Windows Mango) -
Windows Phone Mango: 10 Things You Need To Know

And our analysis of the Windows Phone ethos: Windows Phone 7 on the inside: apps versus hubs & tiles

Only days after new Nokia CEO Stephen Elop issued that damning comment about the company standing on 'a burning platform', the mobile group has confirmed a 'strategic partnership' with Windows.

'A new mobile ecosystem' will be the result, if the companies are to be believed. No tall order, then. The Windows Phone 7 OS will become Nokia's platform of choice, as both companies will put their best efforts to release handsets that can compete with Apple's iPhone and Google's Android.

Nokia will use Microsoft adCenter in its mobile devices, and Nokia Maps will become part of Microsoft's Bing search engine. In further collaboration, Nokia's application and content store will be integrated into Microsoft's Marketplace.

'We each bring incredible assets to the table. Nokia's history of innovation in the hardware space, global hardware scale, strong history of intellectual property creation and navigation assets are second to none. Microsoft is a leader in software and services,' Nokia CEO Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said in a joint statement.

Commentators will be watching this one closely to see whether Nokia can reclaim the ground lost to Apple and Android. But at least now Nokia should be in with a fighting chance.

It was supposed to be the super smart challenger to iPhone's iOS operating system and Google's Android operating system, but Nokia have just dumped their high-end operating system Meego.

We hadn't heard much about the system for months so it's not a massive shock to hear that the joint project between Nokia and Intel has failed.

But it is a surprise that two of tech's biggest players couldn't get a product together for one of hottest new areas - mobile and tablet computing.

A sign of the times. And presumably only one of the announcements that will follow Nokia CEO's burning platform comment of yesterday... see: Four reasons why the world's biggest phone maker is in crisis: Crunch time for Nokia

It sells more phones than anyone else, but Nokia, the Finnish phone-making giant is in trouble, according to their new CEO Stephen Elop in a memo leaked to Engadget.

Though they retain the title of biggest phone makers in the world, they haven't adapted to the market changes wrought by apps, smartphones and the rise of the mighty Android and iPhone software systems.

Let's spell it out:

1) While they are dominant in the area of cheap starter phones and middle ranking feature phones, they are losing out heavily at the pricey smartphone end of the market - and that's where the money gets made. As of this week, Google Android phones now sell more than Nokia. And their total share of global sales slipped from 38% to 28% between 2010 and 2009.

2) Software problem one: apps. We all agree that their hardware can be great, but they have serious problems with the software: Nokia's Ovi app store,while growing, always has the feel of too little too late, with the store itself being hard to navigate and app peformance quite patchy and variable.

3) Software problem two: user interfaces. The other problem plaguing Nokia's top handsets is the clunkiness of the user interface. It's slow, unintuitive and not an easy experience. The arrival of Symbian ^3 didn't tackle that basic issue.

4) Bright ideas don't materialise. Their shared project with Intel - Meemo - a new OS that was going take out Symbian and power a new generation of phones seems to have disappeared without a trace.

Elop meant his call as a rallying cry though. It's probably also the preamble to pulling in some drastic changes - like running Windows 7 or Android on Nokia handsets..

Nokia is to release a tablet with an operating system powered by Intel according to a rumour sweeping the interwebs. The Nokia tablet will run Meego and according to the picture doing the rounds on the interwebs, it's a black rectangle with a touch screen. No huge surprises there but of course Nokia is the world's biggest phone manufacturer so anything they release in the tablet area is going to be big news.

Meego - Nokia and Intel's swanky new mobile operating system - has been on the table for a while with little actually ending up on the shelves. We'll be interested to see how this one pans out.

Meanwhile, have a go squinting at that picture above to see if you can work out anything useful from it. We think it's a 7 incher.

from MobileReview

more on Meego

Nokia have been through their app store and come up with six helpful little apps to guide you on your way to achieving those goals in 2011. Your phone might be your best friend in achieving the New You.

Of course whether these wind up being helpful or not depends on just what your New Year's resolutions are: but even if you didn't plan to learn Spanish, well maybe this app is a good reason to start...

The Nokia C3-01 Touch and Type like its name suggests combines a traditional keypad to make typing phone numbers, web addresses, and to sending text messages easier, with a touchscreen that allows for easier browsing of menus and navigation of webpages.

The C3-01 also has 3.5G, WLAN, a 5 megapixel camera with flash, a music player, FM radio and can handle up to a 32mb memory card. Design wise, it has a clean full metal chassis made of stainless steel - which is bound to make it very durable.

This latest phone from Nokia is an affordable option for those looking for a new phone, available at the SIM-free price of £159.

This little group of Ovi apps are all about connecting - getting or receiving information. Nokia users can feel a little underserved in the apps arena but there are a lot out there, especially from the big social networks.

Check out our 5 Nokia communicating apps. They should work for most Nokia phone.. though check on the Ovi store that they are compatible with your handset.

Related: Top Ten Apps for Windows 7 Phone - yes they have apps! and some of them are good

Seeing as she started off as a MySpace phenomenon, it's only appropriate she's now an app. Lilly Allen is also an Ovi app called Lily Allen. Kylie Minogue is one too in fact, her app is called Kylie Minogue.

What do you get on Lily Allen the app? Well, not personal messages from the singer, or free gifts, or invitations from Lily to meet her for coffee and hang out with her in LDN. No. Unfortunately not. What you get is this: "all the latest news, photos, tour info and music from Lily Allen."

Still. Getting new music is pretty good. That's a nice touch. You can find the latest news from celebs in Heat can't you, and it's all nice and saucy over there.

At the most affordable end of the phone family released by Nokia last night is the C6. Packing the same processor and smooth user interface as the other phones in the family, it doesn't have quite the same slickness of design, still that means it's a bit cheaper.

Lots of social networking features and a 8MP camera with full 720p HD recording abilities.

Out from October for 260 euros (excluding tax).

The E7 is Nokia's high-performance business smartphone launched yesterday at the Nokia World Conference 2010. A large four-inch screen and a slide out QWERTY keyboard set it apart from the pack. We gave the specs, a photo gallery and some first impressions here.

Here's a video run-down of the features:

See more stories on Nokia's new launches and future

Running on the same chipset as top phone the N8, the C7 is a lovely smooth phone, just a little cheaper than its big brother. The camera on the C7 is 8 megapixels to the N8's 12 megapixels, and there's a smaller memory.

Otherwise, how does it fare in our quick video run-down...?

The C7 has 720p HD recording abilities and the Symbian ^3 platform, it also has a 3.5 inch AMOLED touchscreen, as well as coming pre-installed wth Nokia's range of free Ovi apps.

The C7 will be in stores by Q4 of 2010, 335 euros (excluding VAT)

While Apple and Android are streets ahead of Nokia in the important field of mobile phone apps, Nokia claim they're not playing the catch-up numbers game with app stores. They are making apps that save the world.

Nokia came late to apps, and they're still dragging their feet a little - the Ovi app store is not big, and integration with different handsets can be clunky. Still what's a clunky user interface when you're saving lives...

While Apple and Android apps have reputation for doing every weird thing under the sun - from telling your fortune to making your photos look like they were taken on a 60s polaroid - Nokia spent a lot of Nokia World 2010 Conference telling us about how their apps save the world.

Developer CEO highlighted humanitarian apps they have produced in countries where they are almost the only handset providers - in India and in China. And though sadly I didn't record the speech, I'm sure at one point she said that their apps have saved thousands of lives. That cannot be said for Hipstamatic.

Sure they did give us a five minute presentation on Angry Bird the game, where you have to squish some pigs who stole your eggs... but that aside, worthy and humanitarian apps were the order of the day.

Three I remember:

1) An app which helps immigrant workers in China (of which there are hundreds of thousands) to find work by providing job listings over mobile.

2) An app which helps mothers in Africa check if the medicines they are being sold are real or counterfeit. (don't know how this one works, we'll look into it).

3) Helping students in remote areas of China learn English by short lessons delivered over mobile.

Other uses included simple things like making the knowledge in wikihow into an app and allowing for banking transactions. Nokia emphasised that they are encouraging developers to make apps in local languages that can be paid for with local currencies. A lot of these apps run on simple Java features phones.. so they're not complicated technically but they do provide information where it's needed

To be honest I think this sort of stuff is fantastic and increasingly important.

But with apps Nokia still need to convince in the top end of market too... and show that they can compete in markets where there are other strong companies.

They still bestride the global phone market and you'll find their devices in the hands of millions in the fast growing markets of China, India and Brazil. But Nokia are desperate to regain their position at the top too. Fairly or not, the media story has been one of decline, a formerly top notch company that has lost its position on the pinnacle.

The opening keynote speeches at the Nokia World Conference this morning were rallying cries "Nokia invented the smartphone!", "symbian os is the biggest in the world!", "we've sold more smartphones than Apple and Google put together". But one of the ironies was that instead of being delivered by the CEO, the VP of Sales had to step in to take the key speech because Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, their leader for 10 years has just been given the sack. The second speaker, also from the old-guard Finnish backbone of the company is resigning within a matter of weeks too.

So they might be gone, but the company, we're told is back. Looking to regain the days when they were top of the desirables list and had the scandinavian cool factor.

There were no announcements about devices on their new top end Operating System Meego, it was all about Symbian today and three new devices were launched on the platform.

As more affordable variations on the lovely N8, the C7 and the C6 look good and we like the idea of the E7, though felt that the software didn't quite match up to the great screen and booklet-like QWERTY keyboard. Reviews to follow...

They're nice and the N8 is a treat but the new announcements are going to be knocking Apple or Google off the top spot yet.

Portable computers are hot hot hot right now, but while mobile phone makers are dying to get into the market, it's hard to get it right. The Nokia Booklet was unveiled in August 2009, but despite having some damn fine features, it never took off. We look at the lessons to be learned from this little finely moulded piece of technology history..