Handset maker, Nokia and software major, Microsoft might be planning to release the new Lumia 800 smartphone through Microsoft's chain of retail stores on Valentines Day next week.

According to a report by The Verge, Nokia's new smartphone will initially be available only as a bundle and will be available fro sale on 14 February. The bundle might include Nokia Play 360 wireless speaker, a Purity HD Stereo Headset and an in-ear Bluetooth unit besides the unlocked version of the handset.

Retail giant, Wal-Mart has started offering the new Nokia Lumia 710 for free with a two-year contract, raising doubts among technology enthusiasts over the ability of the new Windows Phone to attract customers without the attractive offer.

T-Mobile and Best Buy are offering the same device for $49.99 with two-year contract. It is believed that the attractive offer by Wal-Mart is not because phone is not attracting customers but because the retailer wants to have a competitive edge over others.

Some new leaked images claimed to be that of the Nokia Ace 900 Windows Phone have been spotted on a Christmas card distributed by a Microsoft partner.

According to a report by PocketNow, several features suggest that the images are that of Nokia Ace 900 instead of the Nokia Lumia 800. Both the phones are almost identical in design. The pictures show a device with a front-facing camera and a camera button located a bit higher than it is on Lumia 800.

Finland based mobile phone maker, Nokia is planning to offer training to students in India in the field of mobile technology and has already tied up with Bharath University, Chennai for the initiative.

The two sides have already signed a Memorandum of understanding under which, courses will be incorporated as per the industry standards and Nokia will share its expertise with the students.

Jasmeet Gandhi, head, services marketing, Nokia India said that the company believes that there will be a huge requirement in the field of mobile technology in the next 4 to 5 years. She also said that the company has tied up with various educational institutions and it an initiative to increase the talent pool for the company.

Handset major, Nokia has announced the launch of its four new mobile handsets including the Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 smartphones, the Nokia 500 and Nokia 101 in the Philippines.

The Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 smartphones are powered by the company’s latest Symbian Belle OS and offers various innovating functionality. The new OS powered both devices with single-tap NFC Technology sharing and pairing. The company also offers a personal user interface as well as a more powerful mobile Web browsing.

Leading handset maker, Nokia has refreshed its global operations and is also in the process of appointing a new India head for its unit in one of the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world. The company was supposed to have a new head from January but it is yet to find a suitable candidate.

"We're looking for people and examining internal and external candidates. As is mandatory for every senior role, we always take the best from the industry," said Shivakumar.

Mobil phone manufacturer, Nokia's employee has hinted that the its much anticipated Belle update will not be released on October 26 during the Nokia World 2011.

Several rumors circulating on the internet claim that Nokia might be planning to release the new version during the event in London. The company has not announced any launch date for the new software but has only hinted that it will come in eth coming future.

According to several reports circulating on the internet, Nokia is working to develop a new Linux based platform, Meltemi to power its handsets after it moved away from its Symbian platform and MeeGo, which was jointly developed with Intel.

The company will mostly likely equip its S40 handsets with Meltemi allowing developers to use several accepted development tools. The platform will only focus on feature phones and will be separate from company's plans to produce smartphones using Microsofot's Windows Mobile platform.

According to recent reports, Nokia might be planning to release smartphones powered by the open source platform, Linux.

The news is surprising to many as Nokia has just distanced itself form a Linux based MeeGo platform. MeeGo is a combination of between Intel’s Moblin and Nokia's Maemo projects and was launched jointly by the two companies last year. There were aiming to create a multi-use OS based around Linux.

Handset maker, Nokia has tied with three new UK distributors namely, Micro-P, Ingram Micro and Kondor replacing current distributors, Data Select and 20:20 Mobile.

The move is aimed at increasing the company’s presence in IT resellers and independent retailers in the UK. Nokia is also introducing a partner network designed to provide product training, device seeding, sales support and care to telecom dealers, IT resellers and independent retail store customers.

Micro-P will manage Nokia’s consumer and business telecom dealer channel and Ingram Micro will be in charge of its distributor within the business IT reseller channel.

The company’s relationship has also expanded and it will become franchise accessories partner.

Nokia Chief Stephen Elop has indicated that the handset maker will launch Windows Phone powered handsets within this year.

He confirmed reports that the first Windows Phone device from Nokia will be launched within 201m in an interview to a media outlet. Elop said that the company will launch the devices country-by-country starting sometime in 2011 but will reach some countries only in 2012.

Mobile phone major, Nokia has confirmed that an online hacker was able to hack into its developer forum website and also access a database table with user account information.

The company has removed its developer community site from the internet while it investigates the attack, which reportedly exploited a SQL injection vulnerability in Nokia's website to breach security. The hacker may have accessed names, email addresses, and other information belonging to developers of smartphone apps.

The much anticipated Nokia N9, which is the first handset from the Finnish handset maker to run on the Meego platform, is set to be launched on 23 September.

The launch date has been confirmed by a new countdown clock put by the company on its official Swedish website. The N9 features a ultra slim design and an impressive 3.9 inch AMOLED display with gorilla glass coating fro extra protection.

The handset also features an 8 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens. It will come in two variants; one with 16 GB built in storage capacity and another with massive 64GB storage.

According to a new study, almost a third of the browsing in the UK is done through smartphones from the likes of Samsung, Apple, HTC, Nokia and others, which provide easy access to internet.

The Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing (IDM) noted that around 28 per cent of internet browsing is done on these devices. IDM mobile consultant and digital trainer Rob Thurner said that the use of smartphones for accessing internet has increased as the customers are able to benefit from cheap data plans.

UK based telecom operator, Three has announced the launch of a dedicated channel with a third-party app store. The company has partnered with handset maker, Nokia a section on the new store called, ‘Three Likes.’

Customers of Nokia's Ovi Store will now be able to avoid the premium rate SMS service or third party financial service fees when they purchase apps on their mobile phones. The purchased apps will appear in their monthly bills.

Accordign to some reports, Nokia may not launch its latest Meego powered smartphone, the N9 in the UK market.

the UK is not among the list of countries that Nokia has asked its users to check for availability. Surprisingly, Italy, Spain, Germany and France are also not mentioned in the list.

“The N9 will begin shipping in 2011. We will share more information about the specific markets and the pricing closer to product availability,” said Nokia's communications manager, Mark Hindle.

Leading handset maker, Nokia might not offer its N9 smartphone in the UK, when the Meego powered device is launched later in the year.

According to a new report, the UK is not among the list of countries that Nokia has asked its users to check for availability. Surprisingly, Italy, Spain, Germany and France are also not mentioned in the list.

“The N9 will begin shipping in 2011. We will share more information about the specific markets and the pricing closer to product availability,” said Nokia's communications manager, Mark Hindle.

Nokia assured its costumers that it will regain the popularity that was lost for a while and was going to give a tough blow to its competitors with its efficient performance. The Chief Executive, Stephen Elop, revealed at a telecom fair at Singapore that with the help of Finnish company, Nokia was repairing its working and thereby launched its new Nokia N9 so as to authenticate its declaration.

Handset maker, Nokia has lost a UK court action to through away a European patent holding claim to technology used by company's handset to connect to 3G technology, in the UK High Court.

Nokia lost the legal suit against a patent held by IPCom GmbH & Co that covers technology for allowing handsets to connect to a 3G network. Judge Christopher Floyd has upheld the patent held by IPCom's patent indicating that the company will now have to pay IPCom for using the technology.

World’s no. 1 Manufacturer of Mobile phones, Nokia has revealed that its E6 touch and type smartphone is now available for pre-order in the UK. Indian customers who are willing to buy the new smartphone, which is powered by the Symbian Anna operating system, can pre-book it. The handset is available at selected Nokia Priority stores across the country where buyers can go and check it.