There was a time, before phones became smart, that a cell phone was just a cell phone. Then, Nokia was king.

But that was before Handspring came along. And before Palm and Blackberry, the iPhone and Android. Before cell phones turned into smartphones that made Nokia’s offerings — which lacked big screens, GPS navigation and app stores — seem, well, dumb.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, Nokia is back!

Truth is, they’ve been on a path back for some time. But if there was one single event that marks Nokia return to smartphone prominence it might be the moment the company announced the Nokia Lumia 1020.

Continue →

Here’s an amazing statistic:

Of all the people living on the planet today who have ever taken a photograph, 90% of them have only done so on a cell phone.^†

Even among people who own both a camera and a cameraphone, 70% use the latter as their primary device for taking photographs.

The explosion of phone photography is partly a matter of convenience. But it’s also a function of improved functionality. Sensor sizes, processing power and lens quality on cameraphones have all gotten significantly better over the last few years. Yet for all those advances, there are at least three areas in which on-phone cameras are in serious need of improvement: zoom, manual controls and low-light capabilities.

Spot Cool Stuff is still waiting for a smartphone camera that offers a telephoto zoom and SLR-like manual controls. But, hallelujah, we’ve finally found a smartphone with a camera that’s capable in low-light situations: the Nokia Lumina 928.

Continue →

Might the next front in the cola wars consist of advertising campaigns aimed at convincing the public to pour a particular brand of soft drink into their cell phones?

It will if Chinese designer Daizi Zheng and Finnish electronics giant Nokia have their way. The two have teamed up to develop a biodegradable cell phone that runs on Coca-Cola.

Continue →