Nokia Guru MP3 player
According to the relatively reliable evLeaks Nokia is planning to release a device called the Nokia Guru which will resemble an iPod Shuffle but with NFC support.
No other information was forthcoming, but it seems unlikely that Nokia would enter the shrinking stand-alone MP3 player market.
It seems much more likely the Guru is a new A2DP headphone accessory for their smartphones with NFC pairing like the Nokia BH-500 pictured right.
The move is a sign of a company that continues to think big and is not afraid of supporting and building its own ecosystem by developing and releasing accessories for their phones, even if no-one else does, which I think is one of the reasons Nokia dominates the Windows Phone market.
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How to take photos of water drops – with Nokia Pro Camera
Taking a decent photo of a fast moving object with a camera phone is tricky. Very tricky, in fact. You need a camera that’s able to open and close its shutter at very fast speeds, at fractions of a second. Fortunately, Nokia Pro Camera is capable of such speeds, and we’ve put together a guide on how to take photos of dripping or splashing water.
We’ve all seen photos of a water drop landing into a pool of water, while ripples radiate outwards to infinity. Professional cameras with very fast shutter speed usually capture those photos.
The shutter speed with Nokia Pro Camera can be manually set anywhere between 1/16000 (or 1 sixteenth thousand of a second) which you’ll need for freezing objects in their place, right up to four seconds, which is ideal for capturing light trails.
When capturing dripping or splashing water, you’ll need to turn the dial down to probably at least 1/1000.
To do this, launch Nokia Pro Camera and head to the control panel at the top of the screen. Find the shutter speed control (the second icon from the right) and tap on it
Bring the dial down and start at 1/1000, but you may want to bring it down even further, depending on how your photo comes out.
You’ll also need to get in close to the water to be able to capture it effectively, so you’ll need to take manual control over the focus – it’s the third icon from the left in the control panel.
There are a number of ways to capture dripping of splashing water. One is to stage it, and the other is to capture it naturally.
Dripping water
Dripping water is notoriously difficult to photo in a natural environment, due to environmental factors such as wind and the continued water resource. Staging the shot will result in you capturing the photo quicker than if you’re waiting for nature to throw you a bone.
Taps are a good source for dripping water, so head to the sink or the tap in your back yard. Turn the tap on so that it drips, but not running.
To start, position yourself a short distance away from the tap, about 15cm away, and manually set the focus. You don’t want anything in the background to be in focus, otherwise you’ll not see the water drop in the photo.
It might also be a good idea to set the flash to always on. In a dark environment this is will be essential, but in a light environment, it’s up to you if you want it on or not. If it’s on, it can leave you with a nice effect as the light sparkles off the water.
Now take the shot! This is easier said than done.
Because you’ve set the shutter time to very low, it’ll only be open for a fraction of a second. That means capturing a moving object is extremely difficult and timing is everything.
You’ll undoubtedly need to take several shots, one after the other. But if you persevere, you’ll capture one that’s just right – like the one below.
Splashing water
Much like trying to capture a water drop, taking a photo of splashing water requires you to get in close to your subject.
However, because you’re not relying on a constant regular drip, you can get outdoors and find some good places to splash.
For this example, I found a puddle in the middle of the street and asked a colleague (Phil) to stamp in it. I wanted to capture his foot and the water escaping around it.
As you can see, the result is quite a striking one. It shows an action shot, but I’ve frozen it. The water looks almost solid but still very fluid.
To capture this, or something similar, you’ll need to get down on the floor (or in the road, in my case, so be very careful here), which can be dirty work – but worth it if you get a great shot.
Start by asking your friend to put his foot in the puddle. That way you can set the distance and manual focus. Remember that you’re trying to capture the water, and not just the foot, so set the focus slightly closer than the foot.
Now, this next step involves splashing water while your phone, and yourself, is less than a foot away – so you might get a little bit wet – so again, be careful.
As your friend’s foot taps into the water, press the camera shutter key. Again, you’ll probably need to take a few shots to get the perfect shot, and making slight changes to the focus may help here.
With your Nokia Lumia, some perseverance and Nokia Pro Camera you’ll be able to master the water.
Steve Ballmer Visits China To Dicuss About Nokia Acquisition Integration
WPDang reported that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer visited Nokia China’s regional office in the last week of September. Nokia has got a regional office in China along with its factories to manufacture devcies and few R&D centers. It seems Ballmer met Nokia’s devices division VP Stephen Elop in a serious and organized staff meeting. It was reported that Ballmer had discussion about the merger plans for Nokia’s existing R&D centers in China once the acquisition gets over. Also Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia will have no effect on the Nokia’s existing manufacturing plants in China and in fact Microsoft will try to use them to get their own hardware done in an efficient way.
I guess this might be Steve Ballmer’s last official visit to China as Microsoft’s board is actively looking for a replacement for him and they are expected to find a new CEO for Microsoft before end of this year.
Nokia's designing a watch too
Plenty of companies have been noodling around with the idea of wearable tech, but Nokia's always offered up some of the most eye-popping concepts. The latest application to reach the Patent and Trademark Office, however, is a little more practical: a modular watch that you can customize to your heart's content. An even more outlandish idea is that each of the segments would contain a display tailored to a specific function -- and by turning the device around, you'd be able to access and use whichever was pointing upward. While you certainly can't draw any conclusions from the illustrative diagram, it's interesting to see that the doodles use a Windows Phone-style lock screen. Still, we imagine that Microsoft will want some say in this device's development if the Nokia Watch ever makes it as far as a working prototype.
Nokia Conversations Blog Has Got A New Design Today
Nokia’s official blog Nokia Conversations has got a new look today. The new design looks awesome with large Live Tile like looks on the home page. Nokia cited three main reasons for re-designing their official blog,
Nokia’s main site has been redesigned recently, and we want to reflect its fresh, modern look (though adapt it so it’s better suited for blog content). It makes sense for Nokia’s different sites to look like they’re all part of the same family, after all.
The current site was mainly designed for larger screens. On mobiles and tablets, it doesn’t work as well (as you may have noticed). We aim to make the new version fully responsive, adapting the content dynamically to suit different screen sizes.
The blog has grown bigger in the last year as we’ve welcomed HERE, Nokia Gear, Nokia Connects and Nokia at Work to join the global blog. More space is needed for all the great content produced by our extended family of editors, and we think the new blog will help us with that.
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