Last week, the NPD Group, a research firm, released a study that states of all photos taken in 2011, 27 percent were taken on smartphones, up from 17% a year ago. Traditional cameras took 17 percent of the photos, down from 53% the year before. The fact is – as cameras on smartphones continue to advance in image and lens quality, packing around that Canon camera is becoming less common these days.

For me, the smartphone camera revolution happened back in 2007 when I first utilized the Nokia N95. This phone, advanced for its time and still impressive today, had a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, resulting in great images and fluid 30 frames-per-second video. Today, I carry a Nokia N8 which has a 12 megapixel shooter and xenon flash (the same you find on your traditional point and shoots) which takes HD quality video and also can send and receive phone calls too.

Unit sales of cameras are down overall, but it’s not all bad news for camera manufacturers. SLR-type cameras with detachable lenses are seeing an upswing in sales. Also, I’m seeing some folks shun using their smartphone as a camera because they want the battery life to be saved for actually making calls and sending messages.

How about you – are you a smartphone picture taker?  Sound off below in the comment!

(Photo credit: liewcf)

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Study: Smartphones Killing Camera Sales

Nokia has finally taken wraps off their first Windows Phone device for the United States. Coming in January 2012, the Nokia Lumia 710 will be available for T-Mobile customers.  This phone is an entry level phone, but a very well equipped one.

The Lumia 710 comes in white and black (I’m hoping to get access to a white one) with covers that go on the back. Additional colors will be available from select retailers in the future.

The Lumia 710 sports a 3.7 inch ClearBlackDisplay, which means they have some wicked technology that produces vibrant colors and deep, deep blacks. I have a Nokia N9 is also a ClearBlackDisplay and the colors and color depth is astounding.

Back to the 710, it is capable of T-Mobile’s 4G speeds and runs Windows Phone, a new platform for many, including me. I adopted Windows Phone back in November and I can’t look back. Between People Hub, which brings all your social networks and friends from them in one central place, Bing Search, Local Scout (which shows you food, shops, and experiences around any location from within a map) and the smoothness of Windows Phone 7, I’m totally sold on the platform.

Affordable Phone and Affordable Plan

One facet to this phone that makes it astounding to me is the price. The Nokia Lumia 710 will only cost $50 on a two-year contract and will be available to be on a $50/month plan from T-Mobile that will give you voice minutes and mobile data.

This is intended to convert existing feature phone owners (the vast majority of phones in America) to smartphone owners, of which Nokia says there are 150 million in the States.

Looking at the specs

For those wanting to know what this phone can do specs-wise, let’s do the run-down:

The Lumia 710 features a 3.7-inch WVGA display with Nokia’s ClearBlack technology; 1.4GHz single core SnapDragon processor with 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of storage; HSPA Category 10 at 14.4Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up, Bluetooth 2.1, Wi-Fi, and GPS. It has a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash, and video capture at 720p HD.

[Full Disclosure: I write for Nokia Conversations and am a paid contributor there.]

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Nokia Announces Lumia 710 for T-Mobile US

Tuday, on the Rudy Maxa show, I presented the top travel applications for this Fall traveling season. Here is a summary for those who listened to the show and want more information.

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Fall 2011: Top Apps for Travelers

On the software side, I was happy with the improvements Nokia has made with Symbian^3, making it more usable and useful than the Symbian predecessors that came my way. I would say that the Nokia N8 “got the job done”, meaning that the phone did core functions such as calling, SMS and email reasonably well. However, I live a very social media centric life including Foursquare, Twitter and Facebook use on a regular basis. Being able to interact with these services on my mobile is an expected activity while I’m mobile.

The Nokia N8 combined with Symbian is blessed on the Twitter front with Gravity. This fully featured client does Twitter really well (the best app on any platform as far as I’m concerned), and it does reasonably well with Foursquare, but it leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, I can check into a location and see where my friends are, but there’s no ability to look at photos, see tips and use other Foursquare capabilities in Gravity.

Anna update breathes new life

A few changes in the last week has made me even more crazy about the Nokia N8. First of All, Symbian Anna was released. This much-needed OS upgrade brought a few new things to my phone including:

• Refreshed look and user experience
• Portrait QWERTY keyboard.  No more turning on the side to use Swype!
• Needed updates to the email application
• Meeting request handling in the messaging application
• Some needed Maps updates
• SPEED IMPROVEMENTS — my N8 no longer has lag when navigating menus, switching between screens and doing routine tasks

New apps to check out

Along with Symbian Anna, two applications have completely rocked my mobile experience as of late.

fMobi

First of all, Facebook. I love to keep up to date, browse photos and events and Facebook has always been a hole in the N8 owners’ experience. fMobi fixes all this. fMobi is a fully featured Facebook client for Nokia devices. With the latest update, fMobi is now available for Symbian^3, Meego and Symbian^1 devices.

With fMobi, I can see friends’ updates, browse photo galleries, see notifications and have a full Facebook experience all on my N8. This Qt app is silky smooth and runs so fast on my N8.

The application also includes the ability to do Facebook Chat, view user profiles and get sound notifications when updates roll in. fMobi supports Check-in/Places suppoer and has a user interface that just rocks. I used to be a fan of Borg, another Facebook client for Symbian, but fMobi is miles ahead in usability and utility.

To check out fMobi, use the link above as it has not been added to Ovi Store by the developer just yet.

4squick

Another Qt app has made my day. As an avid Foursquare user, I’m constantly disappointing by the experience on the N8. There’s an official Foursquare application in the Ovi Store, however this application is a WRT widget that is slow, kludgey and just abhorent to use.

Also, Gravity can be used for check-ins but it’s Foursquare integration is passable at best.

4squick fixes all that. This responsive and useful application makes checking in, browsing your friends location and ability to check out locations around you a breeze. Supporting Venues, pictures, tips and all the useful Foursquare features, 4squick also has a user interface that is beautiful. The app reminds me of Windows Phone in styling.

Have you found any new applications that have made your N8 better?  Sound off in the comments below.

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With Symbian Anna, fMobi and 4squick, My Nokia N8 Is A New Animal

I am a huge fan of Google+, in fact am using both Twitter and Facebook less because I’m on Plus more and more.

However, the real jewel in Google’s social crown is centered around the universe the company is building around places. I’m fortunate to live in Portland, Oregon, where Google debuted Google Places and some other cool location-based technologies. Google Places is powerful because it gives us a central place to look for business-specific information. At the Oregon Coast last month (a very rural part of Oregon), I saw a Google Places sticker on a restaurant window. After I scanned the code on my Nokia N8, I was taken to a webpage with a menu, hours of operation and recent reviews left by patrons. Very powerful stuff. These Places stickers are everywhere in downtown, but to see them on the Oregon Coast suggests a level of ubiquity that is rather high.

Yesterday, when I went to one of my favorite food carts here in downtown Portland, I saw this sticker:

Which, of course, piqued my curiosity. I whipped out my T-Mobile G2 and searched for TalkBin in the Android Market. Then I pulled up the individual cart and submitted a short piece of feedback. Within 10 minutes, I got a response from the owner of the cart!  That’s awesome. For testing sake, I also sent an SMS on my N8 and got a response in the same fashion.

So, what does this mean? It means that when I have feedback, good or bad, I have an automatic connection to the owner/manager of this business. To accomplish something similar, I’ve tweeted to business before, most of which are not listening on Twitter and Facebook for that matter. However, most of the time, complaints are best handled 1-on-1 anyways, so TalkBin is a huge asset to me as a consumer.

Google Starting to Own the Place Space

Google acquired TalkBin earlier this year and combined with Places, is becoming a go-to resource for me when it comes to business discovery and feedback. TalkBin is powerful because with native apps for Android and iPhone, combined with SMS for every other mobile consumer, we have a feedback mechanism that is unrivaled.

Of course, much of this functionality has been built in to Yelp for a few years now. however, having all this functionality inside an inclusive Google suite (through Maps as a gateway. One place to go for hours, reviews and feedback.  I like it – do you?

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Google’s Social Places Platform: Places and TalkBin

What a QR Code Looks Like

First of all, let’s start out with the most basic concept: what is a QR code, anyways? A QR code is an acronym for quick response code. The QR code is actually quite old, starting in Japan in 1994. However, the technology is now taking off in the United States because they are simple to use and can be used by just about any phone with an onboard camera. A QR code, once scanned, can take a phone user to a web page, a video, or even place a call.

What a QR Code Can Be Used For

QR codes can be used for a variety of different uses. Many companies nowadays including Macy’s, Target, Best Buy and Starbucks are utilizing the handy little barcodes to use then for ads or specials inside stores. Advertisers can embed QR codes on billboards to send mobile phone users to a link containing more information on a product or service.

Recently, while planting our garden, I noticed QR codes on the sides of the bags of seeds we planted, which sent me to a link showing proper planting patterns, growing information and other tidbits regarding the product I was putting in the ground.

Businesses can utilize QR codes in their shop window to send users to a web page containing hours of business, a menu and even reviews on the business. Google Places is utilizing QR codes to make reviews easily accessible to phone users in and around Portland, Oregon (and beyond).

How do I Scan a QR Code?

OK, so you own a smartphone, see a code somewhere in the wild, and you wish to scan it and see what’s next.  To utilize a QR code, you need two simple things: 1) a phone with a camera and 2) an application on your phone that can scan the code and interact with the code on your behalf.

Depending on your phone model, you have a few options:

Android Phones
Fire up your Market application and search for “Barcode Scanner”.  Barcode Scanner will will let you can regular bar codes (think on the side of a book or cereal box) or QR codes as well.

If you want an alternative, check out Google Googles.

iPhone and iPod Touch
If you’re an iPhone or iPod Touch owner, the recommended solution is QuickMark. This application is only $1.99 and is a fully featured scanner.
For a free alternative, again check out Google Goggles, part of the Google application available in the iTunes App Store.

BlackBerry
The best application, according to sources I’ve asked is MobileTag. I cannot give first hand accounts of this application because I’ve not tried it myself. Another QR code scanner that got good mentions is I-Nigma, which is said to be better for complex codes that contain V-card (contact information) files.

Nokia
Nokia phone owners will find a great solution in UpCode. This application, available in the Ovi Store, will quickly scan your QR code and send you to the destination with ease. It’s available for all Nokia smartphones with a camera.

(Photo Credit: Flickr User hirosan)

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How To Use QR Codes

The folks at Nokia BetaLabs have been hard at work trying to make the N8 useful and easier to use. I’ll highlight three of the most recent gems to come out of Helsinki in the recent weeks.

Nokia Sleeping Screen

Most mobile phones are useless when the screens are turned off.  Especially the iPhone – that thing is just dark with no LED light or indication of a missed call email. Nokia Sleeping Screen aims to give you some indication of what’s going on with your phone while it’s been sitting on your desk, with the screen powered down for battery saving.

With Nokia Sleeping Screen, time and date are always present on the device while it sleeps. If you miss an SMS, call or calendar event; an attractive animation pops up and alerts you to this event. Also, there’ s a cool battery charging animation that pops up when you’re charging.

See the video below for more info:

Nokia Drop

One feature I love about Android is Chrome-to-Phone. This utility allows you send links, maps/directions and other bits to your Android phone, straight from your browser. The Chrome-to-Phone feature is standard in Android 2.2+, and Nokia Drop is Nokia’s stab at emulating this awesome utility.

Nokia Drop comes in two pieces – first is an application that downloads to your phone and waits to get push notifications from your browser. The other piece is a browser plug-in, either for Google Chrome or Firefox, that can send three types of content to your phone: 1) links, 2) sending images to your phone as a file, and 3) sending an image and having it assigned as your phone’s background.

Granted Drop is a little limited in what it can do now, but Nokia will be adding functionality as time goes on. I’d love to see the ability to send links from an address and see Ovi Maps pop up with automatic navigation and further ability to send files through the cloud.

As before, here’s a video that explains the concept further:

Nokia Situations

I love my phone to be smarter than me. That is, when I am going into certain contexts, I want it to sense this and do certain things. Such as, when I go to work, go in to Meeting mode so my phone only beeps when I have a call, rather than ringing loudly.  Also, from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM, I want the phone to be silent because my I am sleeping.

I do these tasks routinely, but wouldn’t it be nice for the phone to do it in the background? Nokia Situations facilitates this. For example, when the phone senses my workplace’s wireless network, the phone goes into Meeting mode. You can set a variety of triggers to do certain actions, based on the time, wi-fi networks or location.

It’s a great utility and I’m glad it’s a reality now in Nokia devices.

Another obligatory video:

Conclusion

It’s awesome to see BetaLabs pumping out awesome apps that give us some visual eye candy and effective utility to our Nokia devices. Kudos to the BetaLabs team and keep it up!

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Three New Amazing Apps from Nokia BetaLabs

I went to SXSWi last year (my first episode of the Austin super networking festival) and I was completely reliant on my mobile – using a mix of text messaging, Twitter and Facebook, I was able to meet up with friends no matter where they were in Austin. Yobongo attempts to do the same, but all inside a hopefully addictive application.

There are other apps that do this including GroupMe and Beluga (as the Techcrunch article points out), but Yobongo hopes to stand out in March come SXSW.  For me, I see a few factors stacked against Yobongo including:

• As of now, it’s iPhone only. At SXSW and other technical conferences, they *used* to be iPhone dominated, in 2008 and even 2009.  But in the last two years, I’m seeing MANY Android handsets and even BlackBerrys (and a few Palm devices here and there). Being iPhone only will automatically limit the audience for any app trying to make a dent amongst the mobile SXSW-ers.
• They’re fighting the incumbents. We already have apps such as Foursquare, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook and plain SMS (text messaging for those in North America) to find out where our friends are and what they’re doing – can Yobongo stand out enough?
• Yobongo isn’t innovative enough. Um, watch the video below…yeah, the app is interesting- but it’s not intriguing enough to alter the existing applications and behaviors surrounding then that are listed above.

I can’t wait for SXSW Interactive – it’s coming up in just a few weeks. To test out every app possible, I’ll bring my Android handset, BlackBerry device and even my iPod Touch to test out iOS apps…I have an open mind and can’t wait to see what apps rise to the top in the 4 day festival.

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SXSWi’s Darling App: Can Yobongo Do It?

Samsung has recently announced their focused intent on taking the number one title away from Nokia.  In fact, if sales numbers continue at current paces, Samsung will overcome Nokia sometime within the next three years.

To do this, Samsung is making some changes.  First, the Korean giant is shifting phone manufacturing to China and Vietname with new manufacturing plants.  Samsung sees demand for tablets and smartphone continuing to rise and desires to build manufacturing capacity to match it.  In the end, the three plants in China will account for 60% of their total production.

Other Moves

Samsung has been making some other changes to help combat Nokia and increase sales.  Just this year, Samsung has ended support for Symbian, the operating system once used by Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericcson and a few others.  The Symbian OS has been around for a while and is dated when compared to Android and iOS from Apple.

Samsung has thrown it’s weight behind Android and this is apparent with their hugely successful Galaxy S line of phones that is selling like hotcakes.

With Nokia sticking to Symbian, many analysts see their market share loses continuing.  I’m a bit more optimisitic than that – and I know Nokia has some amazing engineering talent, so I’m hopeful Nokia can surprise us in 2011.

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Samsung Wants to Be Top Mobile Dog

Skype has released an update to the Skype package that has solved my problem.

Available now, Skype has been released for the latest Symbian phones, all of which are running the latest Symbian^3.  So, owners of the N8, C7 and E5 can download and use the revolutionary VoIP client.

The latest version of Skype also includes SILK, which is Skype’s very good sounding high quality audio codec.  The company says that SILK will work well even on low-bandwidth situations.

Aside from making audio calls, with this version of Skype you can

• IM over 3G and Wi-Fi connections
• Make calls over 3G (Take that, Verizon!)
• Share pictures, videos and any other file via file transfer.

To get the latest Skype for Symbian, head to skype.com/m on your mobile browser and you can download it directly.

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Skype Updated for Symbian Devices