Search for 7 back in Lebanon!

If you’re a fan of Nokia, you’ve surely heard of the super-fun "Searchfor7" campaigns that have been taking place around the world. If you haven’t, here’s a link for a summary of the competition.

Beirut had already been chosen among 7 cities to be the host for a Nokia E7 hunt last month, and due to popular demand and the big number of participants we’ve had the first time, we’ve decided to bring back the challenge and extend it over 7 weeks!

Yes, instead of one Nokia E7, the Nokia Levant team is giving away 7 Nokia E7 smartphones – the recently launched New Age Communicator – and this campaign will happen over 7 weeks starting this Saturday, April 2^nd 2011.

Rules of the Game

Quite simple. Start by liking the Nokia Lebanon Facebook page. Then follow the clues that are going to be posted there.

Since the "Searchfor7" campaign is taking place over 7 weeks, you will be presented with 3 clues on the Nokia Lebanon Facebook page either on the day of the event, or the day that precedes it. You will be informed about the time of the hunt prior to the clues so you can make necessary amendments to your schedules.

The Nokia Lebanon Facebook page will be updated with a new clue every couple of hours. Each clue will get you closer to the place where the Nokia E7 will be found. 

The first person to find the Nokia E7 will win it, as simple as that :)

If you’re fast enough and pay attention to all the details, you will be able to “spot” it real quick. 

Who can participate?

Everyone. Except for aliens. 

When does it all start?

Like I said, the competition kicks off on Saturday April 2^nd, and will conclude in mid-May, 2011. If you have plans, cancel them. Any babies you have to deliver do it NOW. You cannot miss this. 

SO! Put your running shoes on, keep your eyes open, and watch out for BLUE BACKPACKS!

The Best Nokia of all-time

It’s been a heck of a ride on the Nokia bus since late 90s and up to this very last minute. The “Matrix Phone”, the Communicator, the internal antenna, the VGA cameras, 2-megapixel, GPS, Carl Zeiss, and the list goes on… I’ve probably used a couple of phones that were out on the market before my first 3210 but it was then that I realized this is a world I needed to explore. Thoroughly, that is. 

Today, I work for Nokia. I guess I can say “mission accomplished”. But it doesn’t end here; on the contrary, this is where it stars getting interesting. You see, on the outside it’s about speculation, anticipation, testing out devices, tricking them out with all kinds of themes and apps and cool stuff, showing them off to your peeps, and tweaking their phones so they look something similar to your little monster. On the inside, it’s all about making things better, studying the market needs, testing devices to improve their performance, listening to enthusiasts and learning what they’d like to see in a device, getting all the apps you can find to check for compatibility issues, and most importantly living with devices that are yet to be revealed to the public eye, making sure you don’t forget them in a bar ;)

To cut it short and get to the point, I’ve got love for Nokia. Too much love. And today, I’m eager to ask you a question which I always ask myself without getting the right answer. 

The question to which I’d hope you reply with the least words possible is:

What is the best Nokia phone of all-time and why?

So, in your own words and below in the comments section, please share your thoughts with everyone. BUT… make it concise, because I know too well that we can keep talking about a phone’s features for hours when maybe one or two features of it make all the difference.

To give you an example, check out the below:

-        - I’d say it’s the E71; it was and still is the classiest business phone Nokia has ever designed. Robust, fast, and it did it all for me.

-        - N95, no competition there. It was the only phone that did so much in such a small design 3 years ago.

-        - N900 because it’s simply a micro-computer.

Now I’m sure you can come up with a better explanation each time, I’m just trying to give you some guidance. It’ll make it easier for me to filter the answers and understand your thoughts.

To me it’s not just one phone. Each phone had an era and not the other way around. E71 was amazing for certain people while the N95 could do it all but without the QWERTY keyboard. So which one is better? I can’t say. Each one had fans, devoted users. This is where you guys come in. You are here to tell me which phone you think is the best and why. The N86 might be your favorite but it’s probably not the best, right? Maybe the N82 was the best. Maybe the N79 (I love that phone). Maybe the E71 was…or the E90. Maybe it’s the N8. It’s up to you to tell me what that phone was, while trying to be as objective as you can. If you’re in love with a pink 5530, it doesn’t make it the best phone ever, does it now? ;)

If you're asking yourself why I'm doing this, it's simply because I'm a blogger, I watch and "listen" to my Twitter timeline most of the day, and I love to interact with my readers. Call it analysis or call it Josh; I just like to hear what you have to say about this. 

So, are you ready?! Go ahead, tell me, what is the best Nokia phone of all-time and why?

The Symbian^3 Family

Finally! The N8 gets new family members.

First the C7-00. This baby is my current favorite in the monoblock segment. Although it doesn’t beat the N8 on specs – heck, nothing beats the N8 on specs! – but I’m loving the design. It’s just so sleek and stylish. At 10mm, it’s one hell of a slim touchscreen phone. The display on it is real glass, there’s metal used all over it, and the screen is just brilliant. Full capacitive 3.5” nHD AMOLED display, 8GB internal memory (+ microSD card slot under the battery – supports up to 32GB), Penta Band WCDMA, Quad Band GSM/EDGE, in addition to HSDPA (10.2 Mbps) and HSUPA (2 Mbps).

Nokia World 2010 in the eyes of the Bloggers

You are surely familiar with the fact that in a couple of days, the most awaited event for any Nokia lover is going to take place in London. Heck, even the haters are waiting for Nokia to make some announcements in order to see where their current devices would stand afterward.

So on the 14th and 15th of September, in London, Nokia World 2010 will bring... let me just say some cool stuff :)

If you're online and aren't fortunate enough to participate by flying over to London this week, you can always follow the bloggers who will be tweeting/blogging from there. And there's quite a few of 'em! I was surprised to see the list, it's a big one!

Here's the list on NokiaDNA that Micky Aldridge has compiled... you can follow the bloggers on Twitter or on their personal blogs. Special thanks to Micky for taking the time in preparing this.

It would be nice to see various reactions from the attendees, and this is one of the best things about Twitter.

You can also download the Ovi Blog app from the Ovi Store and follow Nokia Conversations, the Ovi Blog and all Nokia events on it.

Stay tuned for some cool articles next week ;)

X3-02: Lebanon gets it FIRST !

Two posts in one day! Damn I’m on a roll! I guess it’s because I miss blogging and been away for a while. So, my trusty BH-905 pumping music into my ear canals (listening to AvB at the moment), I’m pretty certain I’ll be deaf real soon; I’m writing this post to inform you all about how my country Lebanon will go down in history this Saturday.

I MADE IT!

 
It feels great to be back!

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been silent for a lengthy while. The site hasn’t been updated since last April. I’m certainly not out of material, on the contrary there’s much to discuss at the moment, especially with so many cool devices coming up very soon (hint hint).

To like the N8 or not to like the N8 - that question is answered.

Now that the ‘leaked’ N8 has finally been unveiled, I couldn’t help but post my own opinion on this. So in brief, here’s what you should and should NOT expect out of this device, again, in my opinion.

Azure brings clear skies to your screen

I cannot cease praising this guy for the great job that he’s doing with Symbian themes. PiZero is definitely my current favorite themer. The latest pack of premium themes has drawn my attention and I have loved every single theme that’s part of that pack. So I am dedicating a post every week for this guy, in which I will talk about the “theme of the week.”

Nokia X6 First Impressions: A New Maestro?

Guess what folks, yet another Nokia handset made it to my office today and it’s none other than Nokia’s first capacitive touchscreen phone - the X6.
For all you unboxing fans I’ve got some bad news: the device came out of the box with no accessories and such. So you have to bear with me here as we skip the unboxing part and go straight to the first impressions.

Nokia now Comes With TONS of Music to the Middle East

Yes, finally! Nokia has done it for the Middle East region.

Around two weeks ago, we have been invited to an event in Beirut, Lebanon where over 100 journalists would equally attend for the launch of a “new service” by Nokia, one that’s supposed to bring a “unique music experience” to the Middle East.