Nokia and Finnish telco provider Elise have carried out the first successful commercial deployment of a 5G Cloud RAN solution, with the help of Red Hat.

With Cloud RAN, Elisa can shift network computing power closer to its customers, whose network usage is transforming closer to the network edge.

Elisa said the deployment puts it in a strong position during a move towards the 6G era – which it expects to be increasingly cloud native. ‘Cloudification’ also plays a key role in Elisa’s work on self-driving and self-healing autonomous networks.

"This successful Cloud RAN deployment with Nokia is another important step on our cloudification which started with cloudifying the network core and edge, and now includes the radio access network," said Kalle Lehtinen, Elisa's chief technology officer.

"We continue to pioneer new technologies in our journey towards autonomous operations helping us to continue innovating and delivering the best customer experience."

Nokia and Elisa previously carried out Europe’s first Cloud RAN trial in October 2023.

"This successful collaboration with Elisa confirms that our Cloud RAN solution is ready for commercial deployment," said Aji Ed, head of Cloud RAN at Nokia.

"Under our anyRAN approach, we work very closely with strategic partners like Red Hat and bring together best-in-class partner solutions to offer true flexibility and scalability to operators and enterprises. For our customers, cloudification will enable new revenue models and monetization options."

This commercial deployment completed end-to-end 5G voice and data calls with Nokia’s 5G Cloud RAN solution, including its AirScale Massive MIMO radios, baseband software, and AI-powered MantaRay network management solution.

The deployment verified areas such as capacity, performance, features, life cycle management, automation, and energy management.

Elisa used Dell XR8620 servers as well as hybrid cloud application platform Red Hat OpenShift to support cloud native RAN functions across the network. Red Hat OpenShift integration, the firms said, gives service providers the option to scale their 5G network footprint and quickly introduce new services.

"Red Hat is excited to continue our partnership with Nokia by helping service providers implement RAN for full end-to-end cloudification and automation of next-generation networks," said Honoré LaBourdette, vice president, telco, media, entertainment and edge ecosystem, Red Hat.

"Cloud RAN’s significance lies not only in providing an efficient and flexible way to deploy applications and derive value at the edge but also in boosting collaboration and innovation across the ecosystem."

IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl has expanded its partnership with Nokia in a bid to offer a wider range of data center networking solutions and services.

By bringing in Nokia's data center networking infrastructure solutions, the pair hope to appeal to enterprise customers looking to modernize and expand their data center networks.

"As enterprises face increasing workloads due to hybrid IT environments, AI adoption and high-performance computing, the demand for highly reliable, low-latency and secure connectivity has never been greater," said Paul Savill, global network and edge computing practice leader at Kyndryl.

"Our expanded portfolio of solutions with Nokia underscores the critical role that robust data center network infrastructure plays in driving IT modernization.

“From leveraging AI-driven network automation to extending capabilities at the edge, our comprehensive, end-to-end network services empower enterprises to mitigate future risks, meet regulatory requirements and accelerate their technology transformation journey."

Nokia’s Event-Driven Automation (EDA) technology is an infrastructure automation platform that takes advantage of real-time data and machine learning to automate data center networks.

Under the new agreement, this will be integrated with Kyndryl Bridge, an AI-powered, open-integration digital business platform designed to help customers observe and orchestrate their technology environments, as well as handling network automation management.

Kyndryl’s network portfolio will be further bolstered by the addition of Nokia’s multi-layer security solutions (IP/Optical), Quantum-safe networks (QSN) and the Event-Driven Automation (EDA) technology.

Similarly, Kyndryl will also deploy Nokia’s IP routing products within its data center network.

The improved IT infrastructure will also help to strengthen enterprise resilience against cyber attacks, the firms said, and will support compliance with regulatory frameworks such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA).

"As businesses use AI to transform themselves, they need fast, secure and easy-to-use data center networks. That’s what Nokia and Kyndryl are offering together," said Federico Guillén, president of Nokia Network Infrastructure.

"By combining Kyndryl’s IT expertise with Nokia’s advanced, open and secure network technology, we’re jointly creating solutions businesses can trust. This partnership makes it easier than ever for companies to modernize their data centers and stay ahead in the AI world."

Created as a spin-off from IBM’s IT infrastructure services unit in 2021, Kyndryl now claims to be the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider.

Kyndryl and Nokia already partner on private 5G and LTE implementations, as well as on edge, network and device management services.

Nokia has issued a statement claiming leaked source code data published on an underground hacking forum was stolen from a third-party server and poses no threat to Nokia or its customers.

The Finnish telecommunications company downplayed the severity of the incident, claiming no company or customer data was implicated in the leak.

The prominent threat actor IntelBroker listed a “large collection of Nokia source code’ to the notorious BreachForums on 4 November, offering the stolen archive for sale.

It claimed it was able to steal the information from a third-party contractor that had been working closely with Nokia to help develop internal tools.

The compromised data was said to include SSH keys, source code, RSA keys, Bitbucket logins, SMTP accounts, webhooks, and hardcoded credentials.

According to external analysis of the sample data provided by IntelBroker, the leaked data also contained potentially sensitive customer information related to Vodafone Idea, India’s largest telecoms company.

Nokia immediately launched an investigation into the incident, maintaining at the time it was not aware of any malicious activity impacting its systems or data.

On 7 November, IntelBroker posted on social media stating that it would be publishing the entire collection of stolen data as Nokia refused to acknowledge the breach.

“Since Nokia have denied that they had their data taken from a 3rd party, the data is now freely available to download.”

Nokia says stolen data poses no threat to company or customers

IntelBroker told one outlet it extracted the information after gaining access to a third-party vendor’s SonarQube server using standard credentials, which allowed them to download a series of Python projects belonging to customers including Nokia.

A Nokia spokesperson told ITPro the company’s investigation showed no evidence of its internal systems or data being compromised, confirming the attacker breached a third-party working with Nokia on an application for use on a single customer network.

"Our investigation has found no evidence that our systems or data have been compromised. This is a 3rd party security incident related to a single customized software application used on a single customer network.”

The spokesperson added that the software did not contain any Nokia source code and could not be used maliciously against Nokia or its customers.

“This software was not developed by Nokia, contains no Nokia source code, and cannot be used to negatively impact Nokia or its customers. We continue to closely monitor the situation."

IntelBroker is one of the most prolific threat actors operating on BreachForums, previously listing 80 tranches of stolen data for sale on the forum.

Notable victims who have had their data leaked by the cyber criminal in recent months include Apple, Cisco, Zscaler, Europol, AMD, HSBC, and Barclays.

But questions have been raised over the authenticity of some of these claims with companies frequently claiming the scope of the stolen data possessed by IntelBroker was over exaggerated.

Dell and Nokia have extended their strategic partnership in a move that aims to advance open network architectures in the telecom ecosystem and private 5G for businesses. 

The agreement will see the pair share their respective expertise and solutions, including Dell’s infrastructure offerings and Nokia’s private wireless connectivity capabilities.

Dell will become Nokia’s preferred infrastructure partner for its AirFrame servers, with Nokia to offer Dell technology as part of its telecom cloud deployments.

The companies said they will gradually help transition existing AirFrame customers to Dell’s infrastructure portfolio, which includes the tech firm’s PowerEdge servers for modern telecom network workloads.

In the other direction, Dell will pair Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud (NDAC) private wireless solution with its edge operations software platform, NativeEdge, in a move it said will provide customers with a comprehensive and scalable solution for enterprise use cases at the edge.

“Through our collaboration, Nokia and Dell Technologies will harness each company’s expertise and expanded distribution to simply and quickly scale modern telecom networks and private 5G use cases,” commented Dennis Hoffman, senior vice president and general manager at Dell’s Telecom Systems business.

“With our decades of digital transformation experience, we’re ready to work together with Nokia’s customers to continue their network cloud transformation journey on the industry’s top selling compute platform.”

In addition to the immediate developments, Dell and Nokia said they also plan to collaborate on application and platform testing in the Dell Open Telecom Ecosystem Lab, as well as certify workloads on Dell Telecom Infrastructure Blocks that support Nokia Cloud offerings.

The pair will also continue to collaborate on OEM engagements, they added.

Nishant Batra, Nokia’s chief strategy and technology officer, said the expanded collaboration efforts will ensure that both companies are more flexible and better equipped to meet customer’s future needs.

“Dell’s digital transformation expertise and global scale, services and support will provide a seamless transition option for Nokia AirFrame customers, and Nokia’s vast experience in the design, deployment, and operation of high-performance public and private mobile networks will provide Dell’s customers with a comprehensive, scalable private wireless solution,” he explained.

“In line with our technology strategy, our continued collaboration with Dell will help address the future needs of our customers brought on by the increasing demands on networks and provide solutions to help communications service providers scale modern networks to the cloud.”

Nokia has announced it plans to cut 14,000 roles as it contends with plummeting sales. 

The firm said the job cuts are part of a cost reduction drive to compensate for a rapid decline in sales across the last year. 

Net sales at Nokia declined 20% year-over-year in the third quarter, while profits over the same period decreased by 69%. 

This was largely driven by “macroeconomic uncertainty and higher interest rates”, the organization said, which have put pressure on customer spending. 

In a statement, Nokia said the layoffs will deliver marked cost savings for the firm in the coming years. The Finnish telecoms giant is targeting savings of between $842 million and $1.37 billion by 2026. 

The move will see the company deliver initial savings of around $421 million across 2024 and additional savings of $316 million in 2025. 

“These actions keep us on track to deliver our long-term target comparable operating margin of at least 14% by 2026,” Nokia said in a statement. 

Nokia said it plans to “act quickly” on the employee and cost reduction strategy. In total, the program will reduce its workforce from 86,000 to between 72,000 and 77,000. 

Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO of Nokia, said the decision to cut staff is a necessary step to compensate for intense market pressures. 

“The most difficult business decisions to make are the ones that impact our people. We have immensely talented employees at Nokia and we will support everyone that is affected by this process,” he said. 

“Resetting the cost-base is a necessary step to adjust to market uncertainty and to secure our long-term profitability and competitiveness. We remain confident about opportunities ahead of us.”

Decreased customer demand

Sluggish demand for 5G and telecoms equipment in key markets such as the United States has played a key role in the decision to cut jobs, Nokia revealed. 

It isn’t alone in experiencing decreased demand for equipment in recent months, either. Quarterly earnings from Ericsson, a fellow telecoms equipment manufacturer and competitor, revealed a significant decrease in revenue. 

The Swedish giant reported a dip in revenue during the most recent quarter, with customer spending in North American markets contributing largely to the decline. 

The concerning revenue figures prompted a 9% decrease in share value for the firm, bringing its value to a six-year low. 

Nokia and Google have successfully trialled the use of network slicing, to allow for simultaneous connection to 4G and 5G networks on Android devices.

Network slicing is a method by which a network is separated into a system of logical networks operating on a shared infrastructure, each configured to fulfil a specific purpose. For example, a slice with heightened security could facilitate the transfer of sensitive information, while a low latency slice facilitates a large video conference.

The companies have successfully trialled a solution known as UE Route Selection Policy (URSP), which allows devices to connect to multiple network slices simultaneously, and dynamically switch between slices in use.

This can be activated in real-time, and will enable devices to always connect to the optimal slices for the tasks they are performing. Operators will also be able to provide customers with personalised network slicing services, such as dedicated high-speed slices for enterprise traffic.

Once the solution has been deployed, Android 13 devices will be able to access a range of 5G network slicing services, which operators can tailor to customer needs.

The technology was demonstrated using a Google Pixel 6 Pro running Android 13, undertaken at Nokia’s network slicing development centre in Tampere, Finland. Also included in the trial was novel functionality for LTE-5G New Radio slice interworking, technology that will give operators the ability to use the full extent of spectrum and coverage.

All LTE, 5G standalone (SA), and 5G non standalone (NSA) devices are supported by Nokia’s network slicing solution, allowing operators flexibility to offer network slicing over 4G and 5G and saving businesses from having to invest in new hardware to utilise the system’s benefits.

“New application-based URSP slicing solutions widen operator’s 5G network business opportunities” stated Ari Kynäslahti, head of technology and strategy at Nokia Mobile Networks.

“We are excited to develop and test new standards-based URSP technologies with Android that will ensure that our customers can provide leading-edge enterprise and consumer services using Android devices and Nokia’s 4G/5G networks.”

Nokia is a leading innovator in 5G networking, having been among the first to develop network slicing technology. Last month, the company announced that along with BT it had demonstrated four carrier aggregation on a 5G network, a European first that could lead to faster and better optimised 5G across the UK.

It will also lead the 6G-ANNA project in Germany, which seeks to advance end-to-end 6G architecture and wider network capability across Germany and the EU.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) has signed a three-year agreement with Nokia to deploy and expand its 4G and 5G networks across Indonesia.

As part of the deal, Nokia will provide radio access solutions from its ReefShark-powered AirScale portfolio to Sumatra, Kalimantan, Central Java, and Surabaya, over an area spanning 1.4 million square kilometers.

Nokia’s latest AirScale portfolio will also facilitate base stations and 5G Single RAN for effective indoor and outdoor network coverage. The rollout is anticipated to begin this month.

Additionally, IOH will consolidate its spectrum into a single network through Nokia's integration services, with the aim of minimizing disruption to customers.

"We are excited to collaborate with our long-standing partner Nokia on this crucial project to consolidate and expand our networks for optimal utilization of our resources while providing a world-class digital experience to our subscribers,” said Vikram Sinha, president director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison.

“Nokia's 5G-ready and industry-leading solution will help us maximize the asset utilization even as we future-proof our investments and enhance network performance,” added Sinha.

IOH users will also be able to upgrade to 5G services remotely with Nokia's technology, either using a software update or a plug-in card.

IOH also claims its multi-year network expansion deal with Nokia will contribute to making it Indonesia's most preferred digital telecommunications company for data performance and customer experience.

“We are looking forward to supporting Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison in this crucial initiative to expand its coverage footprint and prepare the networks for more innovative 5G services in the near future. Nokia's 5G-ready AirScale portfolio will help Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison to launch next-generation services while helping it to bring down its operational expense,” said Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia.

Ligado Networks and Nokia have partnered to enhance Nokia's private wireless network and edge computing platform, Digital Automation Cloud (DAC).

Nokia’s DAC makes use of both unlicensed and licensed spectrum to ensure bandwidth, network availability, and security. Per the new deal, Nokia will leverage Ligado's Band 24 spectrum to serve consumers in the US.

Band 24 is Ligado's licensed mid-band spectrum for terrestrial deployment nationwide. It is supported by an extensive network infrastructure, including Nokia's 4G/LTE and 5G base station equipment.

Ligado’s chief strategy officer Scott Wiener said: "We are excited about partnering with Nokia to support 4G and 5G enterprise private networks utilizing Ligado's spectrum."

"US companies, particularly those operating critical infrastructure and systems, are increasingly implementing mobile private networks to assure reliability and security in their business operations.”

“To serve this rapidly expanding market need, Ligado is advancing commercial efforts to deploy its 35 MHz of spectrum with market leaders like Nokia, including 3GPP standardization and ecosystem development of the company's 1670-1675 MHz band."

Nokia and Ligado previously partnered in 2021 to develop 5G base station radios compatible with Ligado's L-Band spectrum.

"Ligado looks forward to supporting Nokia DAC deployments with commercial availability by end of 2022 of our L-Band FDD spectrum platform to feed the demand for efficient coverage and high bandwidth in mobile private networks. We also anticipate developing additional capabilities with the TDD 1670-1675 MHz band," added Maqbool Aliani, Ligado CTO.

According to reports, Ligado and Nokia expect to make their first contact with enterprise customers in early 2022.

The past twelve months have brought challenges for almost all businesses, but they’ve also brought some terrific products. New generations of servers and appliances have arrived, offering levels of horsepower and capacity that would have seemed outlandish just a few years ago. At the same time, value has continued to climb, bringing new possibilities within reach of an SMB budget.

There’s been plenty of exciting developments for end users too. Stunning laptops, tablets and phones have turned our heads, along with powerful printers, scanners and screens. And while threats like phishing and ransomware haven’t gone away, the latest generation of security software is here to keep us safe.

As always, there’s no such thing as a perfect product – every business and every individual will have their own needs and preferences. But we’ve put together our selection of the greatest releases of the past twelve months, to reveal the standout products across a wide range of categories, and to celebrate the manufacturers who’ve driven innovation forward in 2021.

Best laptop 2021

WINNER: LG Gram 17

Weighing just 1.35kg, the Gram 17 is barely heavier than many 14in laptops – yet it has a huge, bright 17in display that’s fantastic for productivity and on-the-go presentations.

There’s plenty of horsepower here too, with an 11th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of RAM on board. With nearly 13 hours of battery life it won’t conk out half-way through the day, and a spacious keyboard and trackpad mean it’s also a pleasure to work on for extended periods. Throw in Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6 and you have an excellent do-it-all, go-anywhere computer for a very reasonable £1,599 exc VAT.

Read our full LG Gram 17 review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Razer Book 13

Razer made its name with gaming laptops, but the company’s first business-friendly model is a big hit. It looks stylish yet serious, with a superb screen that challenges the MacBook Pro for brightness and colour quality. Performance is top-notch too, thanks to an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, and there’s a great selection of ports, including full-sized USB and HDMI connectors. At 1.4kg it’s a little weighty for a 13in laptop, but overall it’s a great, capable choice for an everyday working companion.

Read our full Razer Book 13 review

Best Chromebook 2021

WINNER: Acer Chromebook Spin 713

There are plenty of sub-£500 Chromebooks on the market, but Acer’s Chromebook Spin 713 feels like something much more expensive. Its 13.5in QHD screen has a comfortable 3:2 aspect ratio, and it flips all the way around so you can work in laptop, stand or tablet mode. Unusually, there’s an HDMI output too, giving you additional working options.

Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 round out the feature set, and with a total weight of just 1.2kg the Spin 713 is deliciously portable too. It would have been nice if Acer had given that beautiful screen an anti-glare coating, but when the rest of the package is this good we can live with a few reflections.

Read our full Acer Chromebook Spin review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5

The Flex 5 is another Chromebook with a 360º-rotating screen, though its 16:9 aspect ratio is best suited to conventional laptop-style usage. It’s slimmer and lighter than the Acer Spin 713, and its bright display is less reflective. Connectivity is well covered with both USB Type-A and Type-C ports, along with Wi-Fi 6; if you’re looking for a no-nonsense Chrome OS workhorse, you won’t be disappointed.

Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 review

Best tablet 2021

WINNER: Apple iPad Pro 12.9in

With Apple’s mighty M1 processor, the iPad Pro is fully as powerful as a MacBook Pro. And it has several advantages over the laptop: at 680g it’s less than half the weight, and the touchscreen makes for a slick, tactile experience. The 120Hz mini-LED display is stunning, and a battery life of around 13 and a half hours means you can keep working all through the day and beyond.

No doubt, the 12.9in format is bulky for a tablet, while the optional keyboard pushes up the weight – and the price, which is already steep at £916 exc VAT for the base model. Even so, this is unquestionably the best tablet on the market: it doesn’t just excel at tablet tasks, it redefines what a tablet can do.

Read our full Apple iPad Pro 12.9in review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Nokia T20

It’s short on flashy gimmicks, but Nokia’s T20 feels like a professional tablet. The aluminium build is strong and sturdy, performance and features are up to par, and while we felt the 10.4in screen looked a little cold, its 5:3 aspect ratio is very comfortable to work on. The most impressive part is the price – just £150 exc VAT for the Wi-Fi 5 edition, or £167 exc VAT for the LTE model.

Read our full Nokia T20 review

Best smartphone 2021

WINNER: Apple iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 improves on last year’s iPhone 12 models with better cameras and a bigger battery, adding nearly two hours of daily performance in our tests. You get more storage in the standard model too, up from 64GB to 128GB, and the latest Apple A15 Bionic CPU for true Android-smashing performance.

All the usual iPhone strengths are here, including an excellent screen and a vast library of high-quality apps for work or play. It’s hardly an adventurous update from the iPhone 12, but if you’re choosing a new smartphone today – and aren’t already enmeshed in the Android ecosystem – then the iPhone 13 is the obvious choice.

Read our full Apple iPhone 13 review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: OnePlus 9 Pro

Standing 163mm tall, the OnePlus 9 Pro is large, but it’s perhaps the most beautiful Android smartphone we’ve seen, with a tiny bezel and beautifully textured case. Its 120Hz AMOLED display is a joy to behold, and a collaboration with Hasselblad ensures excellent photo and video quality. Performance is very strong too, courtesy of a top-tier Snapdragon 888 processor; at £829 exc VAT it’s not a budget option, but you get what you pay for.

Read our full OnePlus 9 Pro review

Best desktop server 2021

WINNER: HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 Plus

The MicroServer Gen10 Plus really can fit happily on a desktop, as its square chassis measures a mere 245mm along each side. Yet it’s powerful enough to run a wide range of business services, with your choice of a dual-core 3.8GHz Pentium Gold G5420 CPU or a quad-core 3.4GHz Xeon E-2224. Four integrated LFF SATA drive bays allow for plenty of storage.

The small size means there’s not much scope for internal expansion, but you do get a single PCI-E x16 slot, and remote management can be added via the cheap iLO5 enablement kit. With the entry-level diskless system starting at just £395 exc VAT, it’s an excellent SMB-friendly deal.

Read our full HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 Plus review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Dell EMC PowerEdge T550

The T550 is a real “tower of power” – we tested it with a 12-core 2.1GHz Xeon Silver 4310 CPU, but if you need more grunt it can handle twin CPUs with up to 32 cores each. It also supports up to 24 SFF or eight LFF drives, and a maximum of 1TB of DDR4 RAM. Dell’s comprehensive iDRAC9 remote management platform comes as standard, making this an ideal answer to demanding workloads.

Read our full Dell EMC PowerEdge T550 review

Best 1U server 2021

WINNER: Dell EMC PowerEdge R650

Dell’s latest PowerEdge R650 design crams an amazing amount of potential into a 1U chassis. It supports Xeon Scalable CPUs with up to 40 cores and a massive 4TB of memory, with space inside for up to ten SFF drives and 16 Intel Optane modules to accelerate performance.

If that’s not enough, you also get three PCI-E Gen4 x16 slots and an OCP 3.0 edge slot, plus Dell’s BOSS card for fast booting from SSD media. And as usual with Dell, the iDRAC9 controller provides terrific remote management. It’s not a budget option – our review unit came to £15,417 exc VAT – but the PowerEdge R650 is an incredibly powerful and space-efficient server.

Read our full Dell EMC PowerEdge R650 review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Broadberry CyberServe Xeon

This low-profile server offers a solid chunk of power for just under £1,000. That gets you a quad-core Intel Xeon E-2224 CPU with 16GB of RAM – upgradeable to 128GB – and you’re free to fit your own drives in the four SFF bays and twin M.2 SSD slots. The single PCI-E Gen3 x16 slot can be used to add 10GbE networking, and the Asus motherboard supports web-based management, including full OS remote control and virtual media services as standard.

Read our full Broadberry CyberServe Xeon E-RS100-E10 review

Best 2U server 2021

WINNER: Broadberry CyberServe SP2 208-8I G3

The CyberServe SP2 208-8I G3 is designed for a hardcore server role. The system we tested came with a pair of 36-core Xeon Scalable Platinum CPUs, 512GB of DDR4 RAM, five 960GB SATA SSDs and eight 128GB Intel Optane PMEM 200 modules. This allows for insanely fast storage access – and to help you make the most of it, the system comes with not one but two dual-port Intel 100GbE network cards.

You can upgrade even further by going up to 26 SFF drives in total, plus eight NVMe drives, and the spacious 2U design allows for six free PCI-E Gen4 slots. It’s a magnificent hardware package, and while the £21,895 price tag won’t be within everyone’s budget, it’s superb value for what you get.

Read our full Broadberry CyberServe SP2 208-8I G3 review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Dell EMC PowerEdge R750

Dell’s PowerEdge R750 comes in three versions – the R750xa is built for GPU-based workloads, while the R750xs is a cost-optimised version aimed at specific roles. The standard R750 is a great all-rounder though: the configuration we tested offered two 28-core 2GHz Xeon Scalable Gold 6330 CPUs and 1TB of RAM, upgradeable to a whopping 8TB using 256GB DIMMs. For storage you can choose between a 12-bay LFF backplane or a 16-bay SFF one, and add up to 24 NVMe SSDs. In short, there’s enough power and flexibility here for any business.

Read our full Dell EMC PowerEdge R750 review

Best storage array 2021

WINNER: HPE MSA 2060 Storage

With numerous hardware upgrades over the last generation, this is HPE’s fastest dedicated storage array ever. It’s also laden with powerful features: thin provisioning, snapshots and volume copies are all supported, along with striped SSD caches, RAID10, 5 and 6 options and HPE’s own MSA-DP+ array format, designed for improved performance and faster rebuild times.

The MSA 2060 even offers zero-configuration data tiering, automatically shunting data between regular SAS drives, fast solid-state storage and low-priority ML-SAS volumes according to usage. And it’s all configured and managed from a simple web portal, so there’s no need to be a storage expert to get the best from it.

Read our full HPE MSA 2060 Storage review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Qnap TS-h2490FU QuTS Hero Edition

When performance is a priority, pure NVMe storage is the way to go. This impressive appliance can take up to 24 hot-plug U.2 drives, while Qnap’s 128-bit ZFS-based OS provides enterprise-class data integrity, with compression and deduplication options provided as standard. It’s all based on a powerful AMD EPYC processor, and it comes with a pair of dual-port 25GbE network cards, to ensure you can get the full performance from your storage.

Read our full Qnap TS-h2490FU QuTS Hero Edition review

Best NAS drive 2021

WINNER: Qnap TS-h973AX

Though it looks unassuming, Qnap’s TS-h973AX runs the company’s advanced QuTS hero OS, which offers an impressive range of native storage features. Those include fast, near-unlimited snapshots, transparent self-healing of data corruption and inline data deduplication and compression to make the most efficient use of your storage. Five LFF SATA bays plus four SFF bays provide plenty of room for expansion, while 10GbE and twin 2.5GbE network ports provide high-speed connections to the outside world.

In our tests the TS-h973AX provided fast read and write speeds, and there’s a whole library of apps to expand its capabilities, including backup and virtualisation tools. Costing just over £1,000 exc VAT for the diskless enclosure, it’s well within reach of smaller businesses.

Read our full Qnap TS-h973AX review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Qnap TS-873A

Looking for a simple storage solution? The eight-bay TS-873A makes a great platform for Qnap’s lightweight, simple to manage QTS OS. Alternatively, for more advanced data-protection functions you can install the full QuTS hero OS and make use of all the same features as the TS-h973AX, above. Either way, it’ll run the full range of Qnap apps, and dual 2.5GbE ports help keep data flowing swiftly in and out.

Read our full Qnap TS-873A review

Best printer 2021

WINNER: Epson EcoTank ET-5880

Forget about overpriced cartridges – this A4 MFP uses bottled ink that works out to just 0.2p per mono page and 0.8p for colour. That alone will make it attractive to busy offices, but the ET-5880 has other strengths too, including a swish 10.9cm touchscreen, 802.11n wireless connectivity and excellent colour output. It comes with a pair of 250-sheet paper cassettes, so you won’t be continually restocking it, and the integrated scanner has its own 50-page duplex ADF.

The one caveat is a print speed of 25ppm in standard quality mode: that’s not exactly slow, but it’s unexceptional for a modern office printer. Even so, the Epson’s user-friendliness and phenomenally low running costs make it our top choice for 2021.

Read our full Epson EcoTank ET-5880 review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Kyocera Ecosys

This freestanding laser MFP won’t suit the smallest offices, but it offers a 35ppm print speed and a wide range of downloadable apps to extend its printing and scanning functions. It’s easy to operate, with a big 7in touchscreen, a range of mobile apps and a clear web-based management console. The clincher is the price: the basic model with wired networking and a single 250-page sheet feeder costs just £696 exc VAT, and low-cost consumables work out to a very reasonable 1p per mono page.

Read our full Kyocera Ecosys M6235cidn review

Best scanner 2021

WINNER: Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600

This desktop scanner has a great set of features, including integrated Wi-Fi, a 50-sheet ADF, double-sided scanning and a 4.3in colour touchscreen. It’s fast too: we were impressed to see it rip through our pile of test documents at 43ppm, creating 200dpi scans that were perfectly clear and clean enough for OCR and archival.

Even better, this hardware is partnered by one of the best software suites around. You can scan to a huge range of applications and cloud services, send scans directly to an email address or beam them to a mobile device. For anyone who needs to scan and share documents in a digital or cloud-first environment, the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 is a terrific choice.

Read our full Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1600 review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Canon imageFormula DR-S130

With its output tray folded away the DR-S130 takes up barely any more desk space than a sheet of A4. Yet it scans at a swift 30ppm, and thanks to Canon’s CaptureOnTouch V4 Pro software it can perform all the same scan functions as much pricier, bulkier models. You can set up profiles for different job types, run single- and double-sided scans, perform OCR and save the output in your choice of format and location. The only thing it can’t do is scan directly to cloud services, but for most individuals and SMBs it’ll fit the bill admirably.

Read our full Canon imageFormula DR-S130 review

Best monitor 2021

WINNER: Dell UltraSharp 25 USB-C

We don’t see a lot of 25in monitors, but the format works well for desktop productivity, and the Dell UltraSharp lives up to its name with a crisp 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. It also delivers excellent coverage of both the sRGB and DCI-P3 colour spaces, with an HDR400 certification for extended-range colour.

The final trump card is connectivity: the USB Type-C connector can handle both incoming video and outgoing power, so you can hook your laptop up to the big screen and charge it at the same time. It’s also possible to daisy-chain a second display via the DisplayPort connector, or to swivel the panel round through 90º and work in portrait mode. In short, it’s one of the cleverest monitors we’ve seen.

Read our full Dell UltraSharp 25 USB-C review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Acer ConceptD CP5271UV

The CP5271UV is an exceptionally versatile monitor. It offers custom display modes for print editing, video and games, and also supports high-end features including HDR600 for deep-colour content, dynamic refresh rates up to 170Hz and an incandescent peak brightness of 480cd/m2. It makes a great office monitor too, with integrated gigabit Ethernet and four USB 3.1 ports. At £667 exc VAT it’s considerably more expensive than your typical desktop display, but if you're in the market for a high-end screen it’s a steal.

Read our full Acer ConceptD CP5271UV review

Best endpoint security suite 2021

WINNER: Sophos Intercept X Advanced

There’s a lot of hype around artificial intelligence, but it does have real applications: Sophos’ Intercept X suite uses machine-learning techniques to recognise malware and neutralise zero-day threats. It also includes a full range of traditional protections, defeating ransomware by intercepting encryption attacks and silently restoring the original file, and preventing data leaks by blocking the transmission of certain types of information.

The Advanced subscription adds an analysis centre, where you can forensically review attempted attacks, allowing you to identify and plug the gaps in your armour. It’s easy to deploy and manage too: a central web console lets you email out installer links to all clients, and then administer policies and settings for the whole site.

Read our full Sophos Intercept X Advanced review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus

Kaspersky’s highly flexible licensing lets you protect workstations, laptops, servers and mobile devices all within a single subscription. As well as blocking viruses and intrusion attempts, the software can watch over your network for suspicious activity, and manage Windows Updates from a central portal. The premium Plus subscription adds the Security for Microsoft 365 component, which integrates into Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Teams, providing monitoring and protection for your services as well as your endpoints.

Read our full Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud Plus review

Best antivirus suite 2021

WINNER: Kaspersky Internet Security

Kaspersky is no stranger to our awards, and this latest version of its security suite shows why – in multiple independent tests it scored perfect 100% protection scores without a single false positive. Other notable features include browser protection, ransomware blocking, defences against webcam hijacking and even a fully featured firewall.

Do you need to pay for this type of protection? It’s true that Windows’ built-in security modules are nowadays very effective on their own. However, Kaspersky is much easier to configure, especially when it comes to customising firewall rules. It also has less of an impact on system performance, which makes the modest £15/yr subscription fee easy to swallow.

Read our full Kaspersky Internet Security review

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Avast Antivirus Free

Avast is our favourite free antivirus solution for several reasons. First, it does a great job of blocking malware: independent labs have found its protection on par with Microsoft Defender and ahead of several paid-for suites. What’s more, it’ll run on older editions of Windows – which is ideal if you still have legacy machines running Windows 7 or 8.1 that can’t be upgraded. You do have to put up with a few in-application adverts for Avast’s paid-for products, but if you can’t use Windows’ built-in protections – or just don’t want to – then Avast Antivirus Free makes a lightweight and effective alternative.

Read our full Avast Antivirus Free review

Back in the days before Y2K, the Nokia cellphone was an integral part of the executive armoury. That may no longer be the case, but with its new T20 Android tablet the Finnish brand is gunning to reclaim the role of business companion.

The price is certainly competitive. The Wi-Fi edition of the T20 costs just £150 exc VAT – more than £100 cheaper than an entry-level iPad. And the 4G model adds just £17 to the price, making it one of the cheapest LTE-equipped tablets around.

To get to that price, though, some compromises have inevitably been made. Let’s take a closer look at what makes this affordable tablet tick.

Nokia T20 review: Design

The T20 makes a great first impression. While most sub-£200 tablets are made of chunky plastic, this one has a solid aluminium back, in a tasteful greenish blue that Nokia calls Deep Ocean.

The shape of it is attractive too. The screen has a 5:3 aspect ratio that’s slightly squarer than the 16:10 format favoured by many other tablets – which in our view is no bad thing. The rounded corners look stylish, and the edges are also slightly rounded off, so it’s comfortable to hold. At 465g it’s not particularly light, but it feels well balanced in either portrait or landscape orientation, and the modestly-sized bezels keep the whole thing nicely compact.

As usual, there’s little in the way of physical controls – just a power button and a volume rocker set around one corner. At the bottom there’s a USB Type-C connector for charging, and a 3.5mm audio jack, so you can use any headset for video calls and entertainment without needing an adaptor. A microSD slot lets you add extra storage too, though the 64GB that’s included should be enough for an everyday business role.

Nokia T20 review: Display

The Nokia T20 has a 10.4in screen with a pixel density of 225 PPI. This means text and graphics look perfectly sharp; if you put the Nokia next to an iPad with its 264 PPI screen you might perceive that the iPad looks slightly cleaner, but it’s very marginal.

Brightness and contrast are good too. We measured a peak brightness of 440cd/m2, which is par for the course for an IPS panel, and the tablet’s contrast ratio of 1,903:1 is one of the best around – most Android tablets manage around 1,300:1.

We do have one big problem with the T20’s display, however, and that’s to do with colour reproduction. On paper, it does a fine job of accurately rendering colour tones: we measured an average Delta E of 0.67, indicating that any deviations are too subtle for the human eye to discern.

At the same time, though, the screen only covers 74% of the sRGB gamut, which means it simply can’t display the full rainbow of web colours. Indeed, with default settings we found the entire screen looked uncomfortably cold and blue; adjusting the colour balance in the Settings menu gave us more neutral whites, but reds and oranges remained flat and dull. Sadly, you’ll just have to accept that you won’t get warm, vibrant autumn tones out of this display.

Nokia T20 review: Specs and performance

As is traditional for Nokia devices, the T20 runs a very clean installation of Android 11. The standard Google apps and services are all present and correct, and the front end hasn’t been tweaked in any noticeable way. This is excellent news for businesses – it means you can be confident that your core apps will be available, and you won’t have to worry about support calls from staff battling with an unfamiliar interface.

They shouldn’t hit any problems with the hardware, either. With its eight-core Unisoc Tiger T610 CPU, the T20 isn’t as powerful as high-end tablets costing £300 and up, but it can easily handle things like Microsoft’s Office apps. In the Geekbench 5 benchmark it achieved an acceptable single-core score of 347 and a multi-core score of 1,165, and we found real-world multitasking was perfectly smooth thanks to the 3GB of onboard RAM.

The T20 works well for video calls and meetings too. The front camera points straight at you when the tablet is propped up in landscape orientation – the optional £33 case can help here – and it produces a nice clean image at full 1080p resolution. The integrated stereo microphones had no problem picking up our voice from a few feet away, and while the OZO-branded speakers are decidedly lacking in bass, they’re loud and clear enough for a comfortable conversation.

Nokia T20 review: Battery life

Nokia claims that the T20 will offer up to 15 hours of web surfing time on a full battery charge. We’re inclined to believe it: in our battery rundown test, with flight mode activated and the screen brightness set to 170cd/m2, the tablet played back full-screen video for 15hrs before shutting down.

That’s not quite as impressive as some rival tablets – the latest iPad lasted 16hrs 44mins, while Lenovo’s Tab P11 Pro managed 17hrs 5mins. Still, we’d say this definitely qualifies as all-day battery life. If need be, you can also speed up the recharge cycle by replacing the supplied 10W charger with a 15W model.

Nokia T20 review: Verdict

The T20 isn’t exactly an aspirational piece of hardware. Performance is fine rather than great; ditto the screen and speakers, which is a pity for anyone hoping to double up the T20 as an entertainment station. There’s also no official stylus or keyboard to grow the tablet’s capabilities, and if you already have an iPhone then choosing an Android tablet means you’ll naturally miss out on all the clever ways that iOS and iPadOS devices work together.

Even so, the T20 does everything most businesses need, and at this price it should be a breeze to get the purchase order signed off. It’s well built, and it comes with a promise of two years of OS updates plus an extra year of security updates, so you can expect a reasonable lifespan out of the hardware. In short, for anyone looking to roll out tablets to a mobile or remote workforce, the Nokia T20 is a very persuasive proposition.

Nokia T20 specifications

Nokia has announced its foray into software as a service (SaaS) for communication service providers (CSPs).

With SaaS for CSPs, the firm aims to offer telecom operators a more flexible, customer-centric, and less expensive way to operate networks.

Nokia Data Marketplace (NDM), Nokia's SaaS offering launched earlier this year, is now commercially available through a SaaS framework, enabling CSPs to securely share and access data.

What’s more, NDM's new SaaS version offers enhanced productivity, efficiency, and scalability to a variety of industry verticals, including energy, transportation, and smart cities.

Additionally, Nokia’s NetGuard Cybersecurity Dome, slated to be released in 2022, will enable CSPs to monetize 5G security services. Nokia Anomaly Detection, a machine learning service focused on detecting and remediating network anomalies, will also be offered through a SaaS model by early 2022.

“Offering SaaS for CSPs is a natural evolution of everything as a service, a key element to Nokia’s overall strategy," the company explained.

"It reflects a culmination of steps Nokia has taken in recent years to enhance CSP network operations, including rearchitecting its software applications to make them fully cloud-native and deployable in any cloud environment, edge, public or private."

Between 2021 and 2025, Nokia expects to reach an expanded SaaS market, which is comprised of CSPs and enterprises, with a value of $3.1 billion and an annual growth rate of approximately 25-30%.

Nokia president of cloud and network services Raghav Sahgal said: “The convergence of 5G, cloud-native software and SaaS creates a great and fast-growing opportunity for Nokia. With the groundwork we’ve already been laying, our SaaS delivery framework is in a very strong competitive position.

"It enables a combination of rapid time to value with on-demand access for Nokia SaaS applications and low cost of ownership, based on a pay-as-you-go / pay-as-you-grow commercial model. This is a multi-year journey and we are going at it aggressively.”

A Chicago-based subsidiary of Nokia has admitted to a data breach after it was the victim of a ransomware attack that left systems encrypted and data stolen.

According to a letter sent out to current and former employees, SAC Wireless disclosed that an unauthorized third party accessed its systems as part of a ransomware attack on June 16. IT said the threat actor was the Conti cyber crime gang and had gained access to the SAC systems, uploaded files to its cloud storage, and then deployed ransomware to encrypt the files on its systems.

Following a forensic investigation with help from external cyber security experts, SAC Wireless found the affected files could contain employees’ details, such as date of birth; contact information. such as home addresses, emails, and phone numbers; government ID numbers, such as driver’s license, passport, or military ID; Social Security numbers; and more. Dependents or beneficiaries of employees may also be affected in the breach.

SAC Wireless said it would continue to work with forensic experts to remedy this incident and to identify potential enhancements to its information security systems.

“In response to this ransomware attack, we have already changed firewall rules, disconnected VPN connections, activated conditional access geo-location policies to limit non-U.S. access, provided additional employee training, deployed additional network and endpoint monitoring tools, expanded multi-factor authentication, and deployed additional threat-hunting and endpoint detection and response tools,” SAC Wireless said in the letter.

The company has also brought in Experian to offer employees a free 24-month membership to their identity protection services.

Sam Curry, chief security officer of Cybereason, told ITPro that while SAC may not be a household name, Nokia is, and threat actors follow the money to the biggest bank vaults and companies.

“They have a lot of experience in knowing who pays. While nothing is 100 percent preventable, ransomware attacks can be managed and most often stopped. In the case of data breaches, organizations need deeper insight into potentially malicious activity in their environments and around the closed threat monitoring is most critical,” he said.

Curry added that organizations should have the right practices in place technically, like closing vulnerabilities, identity hygiene, strong general policies, back and recovery practices, and so on. They should also have an EDR, MDR, or XDR strategy.

“Ransomware is spread using the old APT toolkit — the operations that penetrate networks and plant ransomware like explosives can be hamstrung and stopped as they spread,” he added.

When Nokia released its bargain-bucket Android handset, the Nokia 5.3, last year, we were impressed with what the manufacturer was able to package into one of the cheapest smartphones that money can buy. With solid mid-range challengers becoming even more commonplace, impressive, and cheap, there’s no reason why a manufacturer like Nokia shouldn’t push the envelope and try to fit as much as it can into a basic shell.

The Nokia 5.4 is similarly priced to its predecessor and features a similar hardware configuration, but it also shares its limitations. The display is still restricted to 720p and the CPU is fairly basic, although it promises an improved camera and a much better-looking exterior. However, its most immediate challengers, such as the Samsung Galaxy M31 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T - both priced under £250 - have impressed by offering considerable value for money alongside better hardware.

Nokia 5.4 review: Design

The handset’s impressive Polar Night plastic chassis is a substantial improvement on the 5.3’s exterior, which felt relatively cheap. While its predecessor’s build was solid for its price, this is a class above. On first glance, you’d struggle to accurately place this handset on the pricing spectrum, although the feel of the plastic casing does give the game away. With the 5.4, Nokia has ditched a bland trio of Charcoal, Sand and Cyan hues in favour of an immersive multi-toned blue that benefits from a reflective finish. It’s also available in an equally impressive maroon-inspired Dusk.

The design largely remains unchanged, although this smartphone’s a little smaller than the Nokia 5.3, with a screen measuring 6.4in versus 6.55in. The 5.4’s rear, meanwhile, is fitted with four camera lenses and a flash module arranged in an attractive wheel formation above a small fingerprint scanner. There isn’t much separating the Nokia 5.4 from similar devices in this price range in terms of its 180g mass, or screen size. We can look, for example, to the Samsung Galaxy M31 which is heavier but occupies roughly the same dimensions.

Nokia 5.4 review: Display

The 720 x 1,560 display is almost identical to that fitted into the Nokia 5.3 - if you can look beyond the fact it’s a little smaller. In that spirit, it’s just as bright and beaming, although it still uses a 720p resolution and a pixel density of roughly 270ppi. You wouldn’t expect fireworks, given its cost, but with 1080p-plus panels now standard in most handsets priced £250 and upwards, icons and menus can seem a little rough around the edges, while video playback does suffer somewhat.

Our testing confirms just how bright this display can get, however, with a maximum luminescence of 436cd/m2 that’s well above average, and certainly on a par with a few high-end smartphones. Among its competitors, the Samsung Galaxy M31 scored 374cd/m2, while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T hit 403cd/m2.

Colour accuracy and coverage offer a mixed bag, though, with 85.4% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut indeed better than the Nokia 5.3’s 80.5%, but still well below average. Although this is hardly a surprise, both Samsung and Xiaomi’s devices registered scores close to 100%.

This display’s Delta E rating, which measures accurate colour reproduction, reinforced this shortcoming with a score of 3.05. We would consider results between one or two to be acceptable, with scores under one considered outstanding. Despite these underwhelming scores, in practice, the colours and saturation levels were reasonable, although blues were slightly oversaturated.

Nokia 5.4 review: Hardware and performance

In keeping with its low-end display, the Nokia 5.4 is fitted with relatively modest hardware in the form of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 mobile CPU, alongside 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, which can be expanded via microSD.

This chip is objectively a weak performer, but no more so than you’d expect. Testing through Geekbench 5 rendered a single-threaded performance score of 287 and a multi-threaded result of 1,345. That’s edging out the Samsung Galaxy M31’s scores of 264 and 1,219, but this actually represents a step backwards for Nokia’s budget handset.

To begin with, the older Nokia 5.3 (fitted with a Snapdragon 665 chip) marginally outperforms its successor, registering scores of 311 and 1,402. This was also on par with some mid-range handsets at the time, such as the Google Pixel 3a, which registered 343 and 1,296. Fast forward to now, and performance levels have surged in the mid-range bracket. Cheaper phones, with better hardware, such as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T, have also dipped in price to the extent they aren’t far from the Nokia 5.4. The Note 9T, for example, scored 596 and 1,729, and its MediaTek Dimensity 800U chip is paired with 8GB RAM.

Similarly, the Nokia 5.4’s battery life of 12hrs 51mins is very poor, given the Nokia 5.3 lasted a full two hours longer when tested. The display doesn’t exceed a 720p resolution either, with most alternatives at least 1080p and lasting longer. There are weaker performers out there, such as the second-generation iPhone SE which lasted 11hrs 35mins, but the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9T lasted 18hrs 10mins, by way of comparison. The Sa msung Galaxy M31, meanwhile, is one of the longest lasting handsets full stop, with a maximum battery capacity of 30hrs 20mins. The phone does feature a fast-charging feature, but this doesn’t make up for the poor battery capacity overall.

Nokia 5.4 review: Camera

Featuring four separate rear lenses, the Nokia 5.4’s camera array is, on paper, impressive for what you’d expect in a budget handset. The overall configuration is an improvement on last year’s model given the inclusion of a 48MP primary lens in place of its 13MP main lens, while the 5MP ultrawide-angle lens, 2MP macro and 2MP depth lenses are all unchanged. Nokia has also doubled the megapixel count in the 16MP front-facing holepunch camera.

Although it strives to mirror the photography experience of a more advanced smartphone, the Nokia 5.4’s camera inevitably shows up its shortcomings. Images often seem too sharpened and a little washed out. A handful of useful software enhancements, including HDR shooting and a dedicated portrait mode, add a little more to an otherwise basic setup, although these don’t necessarily improve the quality of the photos.

Much like the Nokia 5.3, however, a weak processor means using the camera can be frustrating due to movement lag. This manifests as jitters using some of the most advanced tools, and a delay when panning. It’s more noticeable when shooting video, given it involves a lot of movement. Video, incidentally, can be shot at up to 4K resolution at 30fps using the rear cameras, or up to 1080p resolution using the selfie-cam.

Nokia 5.4 review: Software and features

The Android One operating system, built on Android 10, is very much a stripped-back version of what Android can offer, designed for low-powered phones. Users can customise the UI and add widgets, but the operating system lacks advanced display customisation and the video processing features included in high-powered handsets. There’s little room for enterprise security tools, but Android One does come with Google Play Protect and Google malware-scanning capabilities built-in.

Thankfully, there’s also minimal bloatware, and the user experience (UX) is generally intuitive and smooth. We would recommend switching the navigation system to the three staple nav buttons, as opposed to the clumsy gesture-based navigation that’s enabled by default, however. You can also use a variety of alternative gestures to trigger commands, all of which come standard with Android One, including double-tapping the screen to wake the display, and swiping the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner to show your notifications. At this price, you can forget about an in-screen fingerprint scanner, although the front-facing pinhole camera supports facial recognition in any case.

Sadly, 5G hasn’t made it to the Nokia 5.4, which is a blow given you’ll struggle these days to find devices across the spectrum that don’t support it. On the other hand, with 5G coverage still not universal, and the Nokia 5.4 likely not to be the sort of phone you’d get for future-proofing purposes, it’s not a guaranteed deal-breaker. Bog-standard 4G connectivity is still as effective as ever.

Nokia 5.4 review: Verdict

Priced at £130, the Nokia 5.3 was a bargain bucket device that punched well above its weight and made a lasting impression as a result. Standards have since risen across the board though, and we can see phones around the £250 mark offering more robust hardware and 5G support. This means, sadly, that while the Nokia 5.4 has made meaningful strides upon its predecessor, it’s taken a step back compared to the rest of the industry. Its display and camera offer only marginal improvements, while performance and battery life are weaker than last year’s model.

We should stress, the Nokia 5.4 is among the best you can get at this price, and you can hardly do better for £150. The price gap between this and the next best thing, however, isn’t as wide as it once was. Push your budget that little bit further, and you suddenly open yourself up to a significant hardware upgrade, with 5G connectivity the cherry on top.

Nokia 5.4 specifications

Nokia has released a library of artificial intelligence (AI) use cases for telecommunication providers through a public cloud, an industry first.

Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, the Nokia AVA AI-as-a-service combines Nokia's security framework with Microsoft Azure's digital architecture to help communications service providers (CSPs) take on 5G and cloud computing challenges.

Nokia claims its new solution can integrate AI into CSPs' networks nine times faster than private clouds. Nokia also stated that it takes just about four weeks to complete data set-up for the AI use cases.

Within a week of implementing the initial data setup, CSPs can deploy additional AVA AI use cases across multiple network clusters and allocate resources as needed. Additionally, Nokia's security framework on Azure ensures data is isolated, separated, and protected as if it were in ‌‌a‌‌ ‌‌private‌‌ ‌‌cloud.

"CSPs are under constant pressure to reduce costs by automating business processes through AI and machine learning," said Friedrich Trawoeger, vice president of cloud and cognitive services at Nokia.

Trawoeger continued, "To meet market demands, telcos are turning to us for Telco AI-as-a-Service and this launch represents an important milestone in our multi-cloud strategy. Operators can achieve significantly faster implementation times and can access a library of AI use cases remotely to improve network performance, lower costs, and reduce environmental impact at the same time."

TPG, an Australian mobile operator, reports being the first company to use Nokia AVA AI on a public cloud‌ ‌following‌ ‌its‌ ‌adoption‌ ‌of‌‌ ‌‌a‌‌ ‌‌local‌‌ ‌‌instance‌‌ ‌‌of‌‌ ‌‌Microsoft‌‌ ‌‌Azure.

Using Nokia's AI use cases, the firm improved its network coverage, reduced radio frequency optimization cycle times by ‌half,‌ ‌and‌ ‌eliminated‌ ‌drive testing‌ ‌to‌ ‌lower ‌CO2‌ ‌emissions.

TPG head of radio and device engineering, Declan O'Rourke, stated, "Nokia's AVA AI as a service utilizes artificial intelligence and analytics to help us maintain a first class, optimized service for our subscribers, helping us to predict and deal with issues before they occur."

Nokia has announced it will join WEG’s Open Lab WEG/V2COM project to develop Industry 4.0 solutions in Brazil.

The Brazilian Agency for Industrial Development (ABDI) and the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) will also participate in this pioneering project. Furthermore, Open Lab WEG/V2COM will leverage Nokia's Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) solution to assess the quality and economic value of solutions developed through the partnership.

Compact and easy to deploy, Nokia’s DAC ensures a reliable, high-bandwidth, and low-latency private network with local edge computing resources, voice and video services, and more. Its cloud-based operational monitoring system and network equipment facilitate standard and industry-specific protocol connectivity.

Additionally, DAC combines plug-and-play 4G and 5G connectivity with on-premises data processing to enable real-time applications for smart manufacturing, predictive maintenance, and remote operations.

“The 5G project at the WEG plant will bring the possibility not only of supporting official studies for the use of technology in Brazil but will also accelerate the development and testing of WEG / V2COM products and solutions for our customers,” said Guilherme Spina, director of V2Com at WEG.

According to reports, the Open Lab WEG / V2COM project is being implemented in a real production environment at one of WEG's factories in Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina. The implementation is expected to be complete in about a year.

The factory will serve as a testbed, in which researchers can test a private 5G network alongside a conventional network provided by a Mobile Network Operator (MNO). An independent research institute will evaluate two frequencies of interest: one below 6 GHz and one between 27.7 GHz and 27.9 GHz.

The results will contribute to studies Anatel is conducting on the regulation of business-use 5G private networks.

“Our project with WEG is the latest example of the use of Nokia's 5G private networks to leverage, as a leading supplier and technological partner, the level of Industry 4.0 in Brazil. With our technology, we bring increased productivity to several economic sectors. We are committed to Industry demands, from the training of people, such as our project with Open Lab Senai, as well as the development of case studies such as those being tested and applied by WEG,” comments Marcelo Entreconti, Nokia head of enterprise for Latin America.

Nokia has struck partnerships with the three biggest public cloud providers to combine their respective technologies to develop packages suited to addressing 5G use cases for its customers.

Partnering with Microsoft, Nokia hopes to integrate its mobile network technologies with Microsoft Azure cloud-based services and its developer ecosystem to build 4G and 5G private wireless use cases for enterprises.

The firm will offer its cloud radio access network (Cloud RAN), Open RAN, Radio Access Controller (RIC) and multi-access edge cloud (MEC) with the Azure Private Edge Zone, which allows for data processing close to the user. Nokia will also integrate its 5G RAN with Azure 4G/5G core to showcase how blending these technologies can support Microsoft’s enterprise customers.

An agreement with AWS will see Nokia research and enable its Cloud RAN and Open RAN to support the development of 5G products, with this partnership centred on developing proof of concepts to explore how the networking technologies can be deployed.

The programme will see engineering teams from both firms delve into how Nokia’s RAN (Radio Access Network), Open RAN, Cloud RAN and edge computing systems can work seamlessly with AWS Outposts. This partnership will allow service providers and 5G-ready businesses to use AWS across the entirety of their mobile network.

In working together with Google Cloud, meanwhile, Nokia hopes to develop new, cloud-based 5G radio systems. The two companies will collaborate on a joint product combining Nokia’s networking tech with Google’s edge computing platform and appliances ecosystem. The aim, ultimately, would be to develop use cases to solve 5G scenarios for businesses across the world.

Work is already underway to focus on Cloud RAN, integrating Nokia’s 5G technologies with Google’s edge computing platform, which runs on Anthos. The 5G standalone network will also be tested on the Anthos platform as a cloud-native deployment.

With these partnerships, Nokia is aiming to move away from traditional infrastructure and towards the cloud, with network operators able to launch new services much more quickly by taking advantage of virtualisation and edge computing.

The deals were announced shortly before Nokia revealed it would be cutting up to 10,000 jobs over the course of the next two years as part of wider efforts to restructure its business groups and make cost savings. The firm intends to invest heavily in R&D and future capabilities, including 5G, cloud and digital infrastructure as part of a wider package of long-term investments.

Nokia has announced plans to axe 10,000 jobs over the next two years in a bid to raise €600 million (£517 million) to invest in future technologies.

The Finnish telecoms giant currently has 90,000 people on its books and the planed "restructuring" is expected to reduce that to between 80,000 and 85,000 over an 18-to-24 month period.

The plans to restructure come after Nokia last year announced a new operating model that will see the firm focus on emerging technologies, such as 5G, cloud and edge computing. The company said it plans to "reset its cost bases" in order to fund research and development in these areas that will benefit Nokia in the long-term.

"Decisions that may have a potential impact on our employees are never taken lightly," Nokia's CEO, Pekka Lundmark said. "Ensuring we have the right setup and capabilities is a necessary step to deliver sustainable long-term performance. My priority is to ensure that everyone impacted is supported through this process."

The cuts will not be made in a specific part of the business or in any one location, but they will come as a result of changes to each of Nokia's business groups - Mobile Networks, Cloud and Network Services, Network Infrastructure and Nokia Technologies.

Nokia's Mobile Networks is doubling down on 5G research and development as well as pushing more digitisation across its platform. This will involve reducing investment in "mature or declining parts" of the unit's portfolio. The Cloud and Network Services division will aline with the global shift to "as a service" delivery models. This means changes to its current portfolio of services and its technology leadership will also be "strengthened".

Nokia Technologies and its Network Infrastructure unit will remain "largely" unchanged, but both will increase research and development in future tech. All the changes are subject to local consultation with employees and their representation.

"Nokia now has four fully accountable business groups. Each of them has identified a clear path to sustainable, profitable growth and they are resetting their cost bases to invest in their future," said Lundmark.

"Each business group will aim for technology leadership. In those areas where we choose to compete, we will play to win. We are therefore enhancing product quality and cost competitiveness, and investing in the right skills and capabilities."

Nokia has successfully tested a new real-time spam and fraud detection service that could end nuisance telephone calls. Nokia worked on the trial with Hiya, a Seattle-based identity verification platform that helps analyze over 13 billion calls each month.

The telecoms company has integrated Hiya Protect on its cloud-native Telephony Application Server. Hiya Protect uses machine learning models to analyze calling events in real-time around the world for fraudulent behavior and new scams. Hiya serves more than 130 million businesses and customers worldwide.

The test marks the industry’s first VoLTE network integration through a public cloud service to a major European carrier. The company claimed that Hiya Protect could accurately detect various legitimate and illegitimate calls to keep subscribers protected from the unwanted ones plaguing the telephony industry.

The test involved Hiya's SaaS cloud interworking with Nokia’s cloud-native, IMS based Telephony Application Server. Hiya said the test not only proved the success of its detection and alerting capabilities, including fraud, spam, legitimate callers, and verified businesses, but it also proved the integration of Nokia core solution with Hiya’s cloud. As a result, Nokia’s Telephony Application Server is properly issuing call events and enforcing Hiya’s call instructions, the firm claimed.

Hiya’s integration also showed minimal impact on call set-up time to meet industry-standard service requirements.

Alex Algard, CEO at Hiya, said the project was a critical step in addressing carriers’ needs to integrate a cloud-based solution at the network level.

“Fraudsters and spammers are sophisticated and constantly change their tactics, so our solutions must outsmart them to stay a step ahead, which is why integrating at the network level and pushing the application to the Edge is such an important accomplishment,” he said.

Jitin Bhandari, vice president of core network products at Nokia, said proving open solutions like this can be effectively integrated and accurately detect spam calls is a “big step in pushing the industry forward.”

“This is the type of open cloud-based innovation and collaboration that is needed to solve nuisance/spam calls in networks and make the communication experience better for users across the globe,” he added.

Google Cloud and Nokia are teaming up to develop cloud-native 5G solutions for communications service providers and enterprise customers.

The new partnership also focuses on modernizing network infrastructures and developing network edge as a business services platform for enterprises. Furthermore, the companies will co-innovate solutions to help CSPs deliver 5G connectivity and services at scale.

“Communications service providers have a tremendous opportunity ahead of them to support businesses’ digital transformations at the network edge through both 5G connectivity and cloud-native applications and capabilities,” said George Nazi, VP, telco, media and entertainment industry solutions at Google Cloud.

“Doing so requires modernized infrastructure, built for a cloud-native 5G core, and we’re proud to partner with Nokia to help the telecommunications industry expand and support these customers.”

As part of their strategic collaboration, Nokia will integrate its voice core, cloud packet core, network exposure function, data management, signaling, and 5G core technologies into Google’s services. Nokia will also include its IMPACT IoT Connected Device Platform, which allows for the remote management of IoT devices, and Converged Charging solution for real-time rating and charging capabilities.

Google Cloud’s Anthos will serve as the platform for deploying applications, enabling CSPs to build services across the network edge, carrier networks, and public or private clouds. What’s more, by delivering cloud-native applications at the edge, businesses can lower network latency and eliminate the need for costly, on-site infrastructure.

Nokia cloud and network services CTO Ron Haberman adds, “In the past five years, the telecom industry has evolved from physical appliances to virtual network functions and now cloud-native solutions.”

“Nokia is excited to work with Google Cloud in service of our customers, both CSPs and enterprise, to provide choice and freedom to run workloads on premise and in the public cloud. Cloud-native network functions and automation will enable new agility and use-cases in the 5G era.”

The gap between the most premium smartphones and midrange challengers, in terms of power, display quality and even cameras, is arguably narrowing with each generation. This is due to overall hardware and design improvements, and the fact that premium phones tend to pack more of a punch than is ever needed. Thus it's no surprise that many stripped-down alternatives, such as the Oppo Find X2 Lite or Xiaomi Mi Note 10, are enjoying their time in the sun.

With standards rising across the board, and demand for £1,000-plus devices waning, perhaps there's also room for bargain-bucket devices like the Nokia 5.3 to make an impression, and serve as a viable alternative for those short of cash. Although its £130 price point may seem off-putting for those seeking a little more oomph, a sturdy build, decent camera and beaming display suggests there's more to the Nokia 5.3 that meets the eye.

Nokia 5.3 review: Design

While the Nokia 5.3’s scratch-resistant chassis certainly doesn’t exude a premium feel, it’s far more robust and well-designed than the £130 price tag suggests. The device features an expansive glass-coated display and a rather basic charcoal-coloured rear - one of three ‘Nordic-inspired’ coatings. While the sand-coloured variant is far from the most attractive, the Nokia 5.3’s cyan chassis, on the other hand, looks stellar.

Four camera lenses, alongside the flash module, are aligned centrally in a wheel configuration on the upper portion of the chassis, above a subtle matte-finished fingerprint scanner. While four lenses is impressive, the presence of a physical fingerprint sensor is perhaps the first sign of compromise, with many Android devices now featuring sensors beneath the fabric of the display.

The handset otherwise looks compact and more or less inkeeping with the norm for a device with a 6.55in display. Weighing 180g, it’s also exactly in line with the 6.4in Oppo Find X2 Lite and lighter than most devices of a similar size, edging out the 208g Xiaomi Mi Note 10, for example. Volume and power buttons feature on the right hand side of the device opposite a dedicated Google Assistant button on the left, while the power button also features a curious notification light indicator, which can be toggled on or off. This is in addition to a USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Nokia 5.3 review: Display

The clearest sign of compromise in the £130 device versus, say, more expensively-priced mid-tier smartphones is the Nokia 5.3’s 720 x 1,600 pixel display. While the 270ppi pixel density is fairly standard against similarly-priced handsets, the relatively low resolution doesn’t particularly show itself up when the phone’s in use on a day-to-day basis. Watching videos on the expansive 6.55in panel is a different story, however, and you can really feel the playback limitations versus other devices.

While there’s much to applaud about the Nokia 5.3’s impressive brightness, measuring an above-average 428cd/m2, its colour accuracy is less inspiring, with our testing producing 80.5% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut. This is pretty poor compared with mid-tier devices, which normally score at least 90%, though is hardly surprising when you factor in the Nokia 5.3’s cost. When you compare its brightness with other devices, on the other hand, you can immediately notice how vibrant the panel is, with the aforementioned Oppo Find X2 Lite, for example, scoring only 355cd/m2 when tested.

Users may also configure the display by tweaking a set of core Android operating system settings, for example, by setting a ‘night light’ toggle that warms the tone of the display during set hours, as well as ‘dark mode’. The phone also allows you to adjust the display’s white balance as necessary, although there are no settings to tweak contrast or colour saturation.

Nokia 5.3 review: Hardware and performance

As you’d expect, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 CPU fitted into this low-end smartphone is underwhelming compared to mid-ranged devices, but could well be a knockout when stacked against similarly priced phones. This mobile chip is fitted alongside 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage, which can be expanded to up to 512GB via microSD card.

Our testing shows that while its performance disappoints against some of this generation’s more expensive bargain handsets, all priced at least £100 greater, the Nokia 5.3 is actually a stronger performer than some of 2019’s best mid-range entries. The Google Pixel 3a, for example, registered 311 and 1,295 across single-threaded and multi-threaded Geekbench 5 testing. This is compared against the Nokia 5.3’s result of 311 and 1,402 respectively - and the Nokia handset is approximately £150 cheaper.

On the other hand, a battery life of 14hrs 55mins is relatively disappointing, especially considering the display hits a maximum resolution of 720p; however, compromises are inevitable at this price-range, and with that in mind, it’s not really a bad result. Although the norm for smartphones is a few hours longer, you can certainly do worse. The iPhone SE 2, for example, lasted just 11hrs 35mins when tested.

Nokia 5.3 review: Camera

With four rear lenses arranged in a circular configuration, the Nokia 5.3’s camera is probably the most eye-catching element of the phone, and something its manufacturers were clearly most reluctant to compromise on.

While the lenses and sensors aren’t as sophisticated as those you’d expect in more expensive handsets, they work well together to produce decent images. The Nokia 5.3 is fitted with a primary 13MP and 5MP ultrawide-angle lens, in addition to 2MP macro and 2MP depth lenses to support the overall picture-taking experience and capture elements such as contrast and depth. The 8MP front-facing lens is also nestled on the display in a teardrop-style cutout.

While image quality leaves something to be desired, especially if you’re used to the monstrously impressive cameras fitted into the likes of the Huawei P40 Pro, these lenses do combine well to replicate the breadth of images. Alongside some nifty software features, such as HDR-enabled shooting and portrait mode, it’s an attempt to replicate the sort of experience you’d expect from such a device as the mid-tier Oppo Find X2 Lite, even though this may not translate well to quality.

The phone does, however, struggle to handle the scale of the processing this software requires. We gleaned this from a fractional movement lag, manifesting as a delay when you quickly pan using the phone, present when shooting enhanced photos, such as in portrait mode, or high-definition video. Video, incidentally, can be shot at up to 4K resolution, as well as up to 1080p using the front-facing lens. Given the display can only handle footage of up to 720p, however, you’ll need to export these files so they can be watched on a monitor that can handle such resolutions if you want to get the full effect. Overall, however, it’s another sign that the Nokia 5.3 is a smartphone which strives to punch above its weight.

Nokia 5.3 review: Software and features

Google’s stripped-back Android One operating system, powered by Android 10, is aimed at low-end smartphones and offers a positive overall experience in the Nokia 5.3.

To its credit, the device doesn’t come packaged with the bloatware you may normally expect in budget smartphones while the user interface (UI) is smooth and responsive.The home screen is otherwise clean and intuitive, giving users the option to select from a range of standard Android widgets to customise how they receive notifications and information.

There’s also scope for a few additional features, although not all of these are effective. The default gesture-based navigation, for example, is extremely fiddly, and users would be better off tweaking their settings to restore the three staple nav buttons. Other gesture-based functions include double-tapping the screen when the phone is idle to ‘wake’ the display, and swiping the fingerprint scanner to pull down the notifications centre. Otherwise, the phone features a full complement of connectivity options (barring 5G), including NFC. Users even benefit from fast charging, which is an impressive inclusion at this price point.

Nokia 5.3 review: Verdict

With a decent camera configuration and a fairly attractive chassis (in spite of its bland colour), the Nokia 5.3 represents a surprising package, especially considering its £130 price tag. Of course, compromises are to be expected when you compare it to mid-tier devices, especially in terms of battery life, hardware and in the display quality. Admittedly, these do add up to the detriment of the overall user experience.

Nevertheless, the Nokia 5.3 is possibly one of the best smartphones you’ll get for such a low investment, evidenced by the fact it can go toe-to-toe with much more expensive handsets from only last year. If you can stretch your budget out to at least £300-£400, you suddenly open yourself up to a much broader and feature-rich array of handsets (including some devices with 5G connectivity), but for cash-strapped users, it’s hard not to recommend this device.

Nokia 5.3 specifications

Nokia has announced that it won a contract to bring what NASA calls “tipping point” technology to the moon. Nokia will be tasked with bringing 4G cellular service to the moon’s surface.

The goal is to create an ultra-compact, low-power, space-hardened, end-to-end LTE solution on the lunar surface in late 2022. This LTE service will create communications capabilities for the NASA Artemis program.

The Artemis program is NASA’s venture to take humankind back to the moon. NASA’s Artemis web page says the program’s aiming to land the next man and woman on the moon’s surface by 2024 and establish a sustainable exploration presence by decade’s end. The website continues, “we will use what we learn on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.”

To accomplish all this, NASA has begun awarding contracts to various companies to develop the necessary technology, like the cellular network. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the 14 companies selected at the virtual fall Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium meeting.

“NASA's significant investment in innovative technology demonstrations, led by small and large U.S. businesses across nine states, will expand what is possible in space and on the lunar surface. Together, NASA and industry are building up an array of mission-ready capabilities to support a sustainable presence on the Moon and future human missions to Mars,” said Bridenstine.

The list of selected companies and their contracts are as follows:

• Alpha Space Test and Research Alliance of Houston, $22.1 million
• Astrobotic Technology of Pittsburgh, $5.8 million
• Eta Space of Merritt Island, Florida, $27 million
• Intuitive Machines of Houston, $41.6 million
• Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado, $89.7 million
• Masten Space System of Mojave, California, $10 million, $2.8 million
• Nokia of America Corporation of Sunnyvale, California, $14.1 million
• pH Matter of Columbus, Ohio, $3.4 million
• Precision Combustion Inc. of North Haven, Connecticut, $2.4 million
• Sierra Nevada Corporation of Madison, Wisconsin, $2.4 million
• SpaceX of Hawthorne, California, $53.2 million
• SSL Robotics (Maxar Technologies) of Pasadena, California, $8.7 million
• Teledyne Energy Systems of Hunt Valley, Maryland, $2.8 million
• United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Centennial, Colorado, $86.2 million

Nokia has had a big year. The NASA contract is the latest in a number of significant announcements for the communications brand in 2020. In July Nokia launched its first commercial 5G standalone network. Just this past weekend the company signed a deal with Google to move its IT infrastructure to the Google Cloud.

Nokia has announced a slew of new features for its Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) private wireless networking platform, including simplified integration with Microsoft Azure IoT modules.

Nokia's new approach to software installation, described as ‘click and deploy’, means that Microsoft Azure IoT Edge Modules such as Modbus can now be deployed on the Nokia DAC edge server.

The announcement comes almost a year after Nokia and Microsoft made their first joint solutions public. In November 2019, the two companies announced a strategic collaboration aiming to accelerate transformation and innovation with the help of cloud, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT).

BT was the first global telecommunications service provider to provide its enterprise customers with a managed service integrating Microsoft Azure cloud and Nokia SD-WAN solutions.

According to Stephan Litjens, general manager of Nokia Digital Automation: "Microsoft Azure IoT services enable customers to address interconnected scenarios across multiple industries that include manufacturing, logistics, utilities, smart cities and transportation".

The Finnish tech giant also announced that it would be extending platform capabilities complementing private wireless connectivity as well as providing new, integrated voice and video in order to facilitate campus-wide communications.

"With the new functionality and added value features introduced today, we further ease and accelerate customers’ transformation path towards Industry 4.0", said Litjens.

Nokia’s DAC team comms and DAC VoIP will now offer voice and video solutions to provide customers with secure communication, regardless of how many people they are speaking to. The new on-premise applications are delivered over the platform’s scalable edge cloud and are expected to be especially useful for larger, asset-intensive locations such as ports, mines, and factories.

Nokia DAC Applications head Tuuli Ahava said that the new features will "address the questions facing organizations as they begin to implement Industry 4.0 use cases”.

"Data security, backward and forward compatibility, legacy system integration, ecosystem access, and ease-of-use are just some of the concerns that the DAC platform resolves in one optimized solution," she added.

The announcement follows the launch of Nokia’s 5G SA private wireless network, which is used by Lufthansa Technik, Toyota Production Engineering, and Sandvik.

One of tech's biggest and most unexpected success stories of last year was Nokia. Following its acquisition by Microsoft in 2014, the brand went from bad to worse as years of poorly thought-out and underwhelming devices combined with the precipitously declining popularity of the Windows Phone platform to drive the brand into irrelevance and obscurity.

The Nokia branding was dropped by Microsoft shortly after the acquisition and the division was eventually quietly shuttered. To all appearances, this looked like the end for the once-proud mobile brand and many fans quietly mourned its departure. Rumours of its death, however, were greatly exaggerated.

Last year, out of nowhere, the Nokia brand rose from the ashes thanks to HMD Global, a company formed of die-hard Nokia mainstays. In fact, a large chunk of the organisation is made up of original Nokia employees, after HMD Global re-acquired the Nokia brand and assets originally purchased by Microsoft. With this done, the company then set about repairing Nokia's tarnished mobile legacy.

Perhaps even more shocking than Nokia's resurrection as a smartphone brand was the quality of its new output. The company released six phones last year, the highlight of which was the Nokia 8 an unassuming but capable flagship that matched the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S8 whilst maintaining a very affordable price point.

It's now becoming apparent that this was no mere fluke; the company has just released a slew of new devices at this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and they're all really rather good. Along with an updated quasi-successor to the Nokia 8, there's also a relaunch of the classic 'banana phone' and a number of promising mid-range and budget handsets.

The market response to Nokia's revival has been swift and overwhelming. Less than a year after its return to the market, Nokia has risen to become the third most popular smartphone manufacturer in the UK, and the 11th most popular globally. It's clear that the old Nokia brand name still has some power behind it - and HMD is not planning to let it go to waste.

The company has some very ambitious plans, CEO Florian Seiche tells IT Pro, and it aims to achieve them by making a major push into the business market. Nokia was once among the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world, Seiche says, and he's confident that it will be again. Originally, the company's goal for 2018 was to become the number one feature phone manufacturer in the world, but it comfortably hit this target in 2017.

Nokia's new goal for this year is to muscle its way into the upper ranks of larger smartphone markets like India, which it plans to do through aggressive portfolio expansion. Devices at lower price points like the Nokia One and the Nokia 7 Plus are going to be key to achieving this, Seiche says.

One of the reborn Nokia's principles is that its phones are "pure, secure and up-to-date". They run stock Android, without any of the modifications or overlays added by manufacturers like Samsung or Huawei, which means updates are pushed out to devices faster. Nokia phones receive security fixes every thirty days - much more regularly than many manufacturers' devices. HMD also commits to supporting devices with patches and version updates for three years, and through two Android version cycles.

According to the general manager of HMD's enterprise business Andrej Sonkin, while this is popular with consumers because it means they'll always have the most up-to-date (and thus feature-rich) version of Google's operating system, it has been met with just as much, if not more, enthusiasm from businesses.

"We believe that 'pure, secure and up-to-date' is a key differentiator, because one of the key requirements that we've been hearing from enterprises - and especially the IT decision-makers - is that they want to have the thirty-day security patches because that gives them the best protection and best peace of mind for their organisations," he tells IT Pro.

Aside from the regular security patches, Sonkin says that HMD's use of stock Android allows corporate customers to quickly and conveniently validate Nokia devices for use in an enterprise setting. So efficient is this process, he says, that he has concluded deals with enterprise clients in less than two days including the entire validation process.

What's old is new

The business community also has a lot of fond memories of Nokia, Sonkin tells us, and that goodwill has extended to HMD's recent releases. "The Nokia brand, first and foremost, is very well-recognised, known and liked in the enterprise area, because Nokia has a long history there."

However, while the Nokia brand may be decades old, CEO Seiche presses home the point that HMD is still a young company. "We define our own journey very much as a start-up situation," he tells IT Pro. "We cherish the opportunity to have a fresh start."

"We all think we have a lot of experience in this segment of the market, but therefore we would now like to use these learnings to have a fresh approach," Seiche said. "For consumers, we love to see them see a continuation of the Nokia brand ... but from the way we run the business, we very much see it as a complete start-up situation."

This, Seiche says, is why HMD has opted to pursue a partnership-based business strategy, collaborating with companies like Google, Zeiss and others to help create its devices. This allows HMD to move much faster than a one-year-old company would typically be able to, he explains, and enables the rapid portfolio expansion that underpins the company's business strategy for 2018.

Feature phones like the Nokia 3310 and 8810 will also play a key part of this strategy, the HMD CEO told us. While Nokia's re-released classics may be dismissed by some as a throwback to a bygone era, Seiche believes the market for feature phones can thrive in the right circumstances.

"Feature phones have been and also will still be a key part of the business," he explains. "The predictions have been for many years that it's a declining market, but we have shown last year that with product renewal and refreshed investments, we can actually keep the market going."

This extends to business users as well, adds Sonkin, telling us that demand for the reliability, sturdiness and lengthy battery life offered by devices like the 3310 is still alive and well.

As for how HMD is planning to get its devices into the hands of business users, Sonkin says that it is primarily going to be going through the channel. "We're partnering with our sales channel partners and building channel programmes to have the best possible end-customer support through our channel partners," he says.

"We have tremendously positive feedback from the enterprise, but also from our channel partners because right now the market is starting to realise what 'pure, secure and up-to-date' Android devices can do in the enterprise, and they do see that there's a tremendous opportunity for everybody to go after this emerging market."

Tempting though it may be to dismiss Nokia's return as little more than a cheap 90s comeback tour, HMD isn't messing around. The company has its sights set on reclaiming its former throne and based on its performance over the last 12 months, it might just be in with a chance. Long live the king.

Last year saw the return of possibly one of the most unlikely ex-players in the smartphone industry, with Nokia bursting back onto the scene to almost universal surprise. Even more surprising was that the devices it launched in 2017 were actually really rather good, with the Nokia 8 being a particular highlight.

Its lineup was so impressive, in fact, that Nokia went from a standing start to become the third most popular smartphone brand in the UK, according to Counterpoint Research. Now, Nokia's parent company, HMD, is looking to build on its initial successes with a huge slate of new releases. Alongside multiple mid-range devices and feature phones, the company is launching the Nokia 8 Sirocco, a partial follow-up to last year's flagship, the Nokia 8.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on: Design

Nokia has jumped on the ultra-slim bezel bandwagon, fitting the Sirocco with a screen that covers 95% of its front. As with basically all of the edge-to-edge displays we've seen, it gives the phone an eye-catching and attractive look, and gives the impression of a seamless whole - particularly given that the Gorilla Glass 5 screen has been 'vacuum-molded' to curve around the edges of the device.

The phone's actual chassis is constructed from a single block of solid stainless steel, tapering from 7.5mm thick at its widest point to less than 2mm thick where the glass front meets the polished black rear.

These edges are diamond-cut, and while the result is aesthetically pleasing, it makes the device somewhat uncomfortable to hold, as the edges have a tendency to dig into the palm. This feels like a fairly major problem, and one that really should have been addressed during QA testing. Still, it really is a lovely-looking phone, and by far the most impressive-looking device that Nokia has put out in years.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on: Display

As we mentioned, Nokia has joined the likes of Honor, Samsung and OnePlus in launching a smartphone with an edge-to-edge display, and it hasn't scrimped on quality. The 5.5in OLED panel has a 2K resolution, and is also one of the growing number of phones to use the 18:9 aspect ratio, which is taller and thinner than the traditional 16:9 ratio used in previous devices.

The screen itself looks high-quality, with rich colours, good brightness and clear visuals. We'll know more once we can run some proper tests on it, but early impressions are good, and we're reasonably confident that it'll deliver when we examine it more closely.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on: Specs and hardware

We were expecting most of the smartphones announced at MWC to make use of the latest Qualcomm processor, the Snapdragon 845. Surprisingly, Nokia has not done this. Instead, the Sirocco is fitted with a Snapdragon 835 - a processor from last year, seen on devices like the OnePlus 5T.

While we can't say much about the device's performance without being able to fully test it, we'd be very surprised if it wasn't outclassed by the latest handsets from rival manufacturers. Whether or not it's underpowered is a different matter, however; last year's Galaxy S8 is still more than powerful enough to cope with anything the average user is likely to throw at it, after all.

Elsewhere, the Sirocco features 6GB of RAM and a whopping 128GB of internal storage, which is further expandable via microSD card. It uses a 3,260mAh battery too, which should combine with the lower-powered processor to result in a very capable battery life.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on: Features

As we'd expect from any major smartphone, the Sirocco comes with IP67 waterproofing, and as an extra bonus, you also get wireless charging for extra convenience. There's a fingerprint reader located below the rear camera, too.

Speaking of cameras, Nokia has used a dual-lens camera for the Sirocco. This is made up of a 12-megapixel lens paired with a 13-megapixel telephoto lens, which should result in great-looking photos - the camera was one of the Nokia 8's highlights, and we're expecting good things from this one, too.

Nokia 8 Sirocco hands-on: Verdict

The Nokia 8 Sirocca undoubtedly looks like an elegant and impressive follow-up to last year's Nokia 8. We have some slight concerns about the fact that it's using a last-gen processor, but this should also result in a slightly better battery life than if Nokia had opted for a more recent chip.

It's priced slightly lower than most other 2018 flagships, too, costing 749 (which equates to 659). On the other hand, however, you can pick up a Galaxy S8 from Samsung for not much more than that, so Nokia is basically pitting the Sirocco against the best phone of last year. We're not entirely convinced it's going to come out on top in that fight.

Nokia plans to axe 310 jobs from its technologies unit and halt production of its virtual reality hardware, citing slower than expected growth in the industry.

The Nokia Technologies unit, which employs around 1,090 people and has been responsible for the development of Nokia's VR camera "OZO", will instead redirect efforts towards digital health, according to a statement today.

The job cuts are expected to affect teams in the UK, Finland, and the US. As part of that process, Nokia has invited employee representatives from Finland to appear at "cooperation negotiations".

"In digital media, the slower-than-expected development of the VR market means that Nokia Technologies plans to reduce investments and focus more on technology licensing opportunities," the company said in a statement. "The unit aims to halt development of furth versions of the OZO VR camera and hardware, while maintaining commitments to existing customers."

The OZO camera was to be used in the creation of 3D movies and games, which could then be loaded onto virtual reality headsets.

Nokia's development into VR camera hardware was only launched last year, as the company attempted to create future growth opportunities beyond its bread and butter network and telecoms business. It was also the company's first new hardware product since selling its mobile business to Microsoft in 2013, although its brand has since been revived for future devices through a licensing deal with HMD.

Nokia's push into the digital health market will be supported by its acquisition of Withings, a French developer of wearable health devices, bought for $190 million earlier this year.

"Nokia Technologies is at a point where, with the right focus and investments, we can meaningfully grow our footprint in the digital health market, and we must seize that opportunity," said president Gregory Lee.

"While necessary, the changes will also affect our employees, and as a responsible company we are committed to providing the needed support to those affected."

Microsoft, which paid 4.6 billion for Nokia's phone business, only this week announced that it would be finally ditching its Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile platform, which never quite took off among consumers and struggled to attain a significant market share.

Image: Bigstock

Bill Gates has revealed that he does not use a phone running his own company's Windows mobile operating system.

Speaking this past Sunday to Fox News, the Microsoft co-founder admitted: "Recently, I actually did switch to an Android phone." But he said he's installed and uses multiple Microsoft apps on his Android device.

Nevertheless, it's quite a step for the man who created his company to use its fierce rival's operating system.

However, Microsoft's phones are not exactly well loved. Microsoft's mobile operating system, Windows Phone, has struggled to be successful, especially in the face of Android. In fact, in 2016, Windows Phone accounted for less than 1% of global smartphone sales, according to Gartner, despite the company's $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia's handset business in 2014.

After cutting thousands of jobs from its mobile division in 2016, it appears that Microsoft may quietly retire Windows 10 Mobile OS, its latest mobile operating system, in October as planned.

Microsoft is instead shifting its focus and trying to widen the availability of Microsoft's apps and services to Android and iPhone in order to reach more customers, it is reported.

Ian Fogg, an analyst at the tech consultancy IHS Markit, told the BBC: "It used to be putting the Windows system on everyone's phone was a priority, but now it's about selling services such as Office and Outlook email."

For example, the company started selling its own customised Samsung's Galaxy 8 in the US earlier this year, which comes with Microsoft apps like Outlook, Office, and even Cortana, Microsoft's voice assistant.

Picture of Bill Gates/Credit: Masaru Kamikura (Flickr)

If there's one company that few people expected to see back in the smartphone game in 2017, it's Nokia. The once-proud Finnish tech firm has experienced a tragic fall from grace over the last few years, going from being one of the most respected and popular mobile phone makers in the world to selling its mobile division to Microsoft in 2014, which was then quietly shuttered it.

That was not the end, however; the rights to the Nokia name are now owned by HMD Global, an eight-month-old Finnish company created specifically to resurrect the Nokia smartphone brand. Its first outing was the budget Nokia 3, which received a somewhat lukewarm response.

The company hopes to create more of a buzz with its first flagship device, the Nokia 8. Sporting Zeiss optics, the very latest internal hardware and the purest Android experience, it's making a concerted effort to reclaim the top spot Nokia last held in the early 2000s. Does the device live up to Nokia's old reputation, or will it receive the muted welcome of the updated 3310?

Design and display

For its first flagship Nokia device, HMD has chosen to go down the common route of using an aluminium unibody. The rear of the phone is rounded, with an average thickness of 7.3mm that tapers to 4.5mm at the edge.

It's a fairly unremarkable design, with no visual flourishes or stand-out features to draw our attention. It's not particularly brash, but it does have a certain simplistic elegance. The appearance of the handset is not dissimilar to the OnePlus 5 - the only difference is that the Nokia 8 is available in both matte and mirror-finished colour schemes.

Personally, we prefer the matte versions, as the shiny colour options tend to look somewhat tacky and pick up fingerprints very easily. The shiny versions also feel a lot more slippery in the hand, thanks to a combination of the finish and the tapered edges. However, we know plenty of people that prefer shiny smartphones over matte options.

The Nokia 8 uses a 5.3in display, with a QHD resolution and a 554ppi pixel density. There's no snazzy extra features like the curved edges, HDR or edge-to-edge displays found on other phones, but what you do get is a very competent display, with a bright screen and vibrant colours.

Camera

HMD is making a big song and dance about the Nokia 8's camera. The manufacturer rekindled Nokia's old partnership with legendary lensmaker Zeiss earlier this year, a partnership which led to some of the most widely-lauded smartphone cameras around in years past.

The Nokia 8 is the first device to bear the fruit of this renewed collaboration, and the dual-lens camera setup proudly bears the Zeiss Optics branding. Unfortunately, that's not as much of a watchword for quality as HMD would have you believe. After all, lenses are arguably the least important element of a smartphone camera - far more important is the sensor technology and image processing software used to actually capture the photos.

This is what lets the Nokia 8 down - the Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 both outclassed it when taking low-light pictures, and even the OnePlus 5 produced superior shots. Pictures taken with the Nokia 8 had more noise, with colours blown out compared to the other phones we tested it against. It's not a huge difference, but it is noticeable.

The Nokia 8 has one more trick up its sleeve that it hopes will convince you, though, and that's 'dual-sight' mode. This camera mode combines the image from the front and rear cameras, allowing you to capture your reaction, in addition to whatever it is you're shooting. HMD calls this a 'bothie' (as opposed to a selfie) and is also building livestreaming features into the camera app so you can stream your dual-sight footage to Facebook and YouTube.

Specs, performance and features

High-end specs are a must for any modern flagship, and the Nokia 8 delivers here. It's fitted with a Snapdragon 835 processor, and HMD has worked with the folks over at Qualcomm to make sure that it's as optimised as possible. This is paired with 4GB of RAM, adding up to an internal configuration that should rival the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8.

Sure enough, when we put it through our benchmark tests, the Nokia 8's scores were just fractionally behind that of Samsung's latest flagship, and well ahead of the company's other recent devices. In everyday use, the phone was smooth and responsive, with no noticeable performance issues.

It comes with 64GB of storage as standard, and thanks to a deal with Google, Nokia 8 owners get free unlimited storage via Google Photos for all their pictures and videos - something that only Pixel owners have benefitted from up until now. If that's still not enough, one of the Nokia 8's dual-SIM slots doubles up as a microSD card slot to further expand the storage. There's also a fingerprint reader for biometric authentication.

Another interesting security feature is that Google will update the Nokia 8 with the latest Android security and feature patches, following swiftly behind the company's first-party devices. It's also running pure, stock Android, rather than a modified, reskinned version, which presumably makes this update process easier.

Enterprise

Unlike flagships from other manufacturers, the Nokia 8 doesn't offer much in the way of business functionality or enterprise-specific features. What it does have, however, is Nokia's assurances that the phone won't be far behind Google's own-brand Pixel devices in receiving the latest security updates, which will be music to the ears of IT departments worried about the relative security of Android phones.

Battery and charging

As smartphones advance, battery life is becoming one of the most important differentiators. The Nokia 8 has a 3050mAh battery, which is markedly less than some other smartphones, but HMD claims that effective thermal management means it can squeeze a day and a half of use out of the 8. It uses a custom heat pipe and graphene shielding to dissipate the heat across the phone's whole body, eliminating hot spots and conserving thermal efficiency.

With a battery life of 18hrs 46mins, according to our tests, the Nokia 8 happily lives up to those claims, too. It's easily enough to see you through a full day with charge to spare for when you get home, and it's on par with the best smartphones on the market. Thankfully, even if you do end up running out, Nokia has included QuickCharge 3.0 compatibility, meaning you can juice back up in no time at all.

Verdict

The Nokia 8 is a very competent phone. There's nothing it does badly and, indeed, some things it does quite well. It's almost as powerful as the mighty Galaxy S8, for example, which is no mean feat, and boasts a battery life of nearly 20 hours. It's also running stock Android, which is surprisingly rare to see.

The problem is that the Nokia 8 isn't terribly different or exciting. It's perfectly acceptable, and has decent technical specs, but there's also nothing to draw you in. The only unique and interesting thing that the Nokia 8 has going for it is the Dual-Sight camera, which feels like a gimmick rather than a feature.

It is, however, very reasonably priced for a flagship smartphone. Starting at 499, it's just 50 more expensive than the OnePlus 5, and a full 100 cheaper than the Google Pixel. This is a rather attractive price, especially given its pedigree.

The Nokia 8 is an excellent phone, and while it doesn't pull much out of the bag in the way of extra bells and whistles, it's good value for those that are just after a phone that will match the performance and battery life of flashier devices like the Galaxy S8. It may not have the 'wow factor', but the Nokia 8 is a sterling all-rounder that's well worth your time.

Verdict

While the Nokia 8 is technically competent, there's little here to inspire or excite. For added extra features, the similarly priced Google Pixel represents a more attractive option.

Zeiss-branded cameras could be set to make a return to Nokia smartphones, after HMD Global reinvigorated the partnership between the two companies.

The Finnish firm, which holds the license for producing Nokia-branded devices, has already unveiled three Android devices which are scheduled to hit UK shelves over the next few months.

None of the phones are fitted with Zeiss lenses, but HMD Global has teased a more expensive premium handset, which will presumably have a Zeiss-branded camera.

"Collaborating with Zeiss is an important part of our commitment to always deliver the very best experience for our customers," said HMD Global CEO Arto Nummela. "Our fans want more than a great smartphone camera, they want a complete imaging experience that doesn't just set the standard but redefines it. Our fans expect it and, together with Zeiss, we're delivering it -- co-developed imaging excellence for all."

"Our partnership is built on a solid foundation," added Dr. Matthias Metz, member of the executive board of Zeiss Group. "Together, we look forward to an exciting journey into the future of sophisticated smartphone imaging."

Many of Nokia's older Lumia devices featured Zeiss optics, which contributed to several of the company's handsets become cult classics among photography enthusiasts, such as the beloved Lumia 1020.

Smartphone cameras have become a strong differentiating factor in recent years, with handsets like the OnePlus 5, Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8 all making a big deal of how impressive their snappers are. HMD will no doubt be hoping to use the well-respected Zeiss name to tempt budding photographers away from other devices.

However, it's worth remembering that the lenses alone aren't necessarily a guarantee that the camera will lead to better photos. A large part of what makes smartphone cameras good or bad is the image processing technology that goes on behind the scenes, and that's something that Zeiss has no control over.

Seventeen years after the launch of its namesake, the revamped Nokia 3310 goes on sale today for 50 in the UK - though it's already sold out in some places at the time of writing.

The mobile phone boasts many of the features that made the old 3310 such a success, like Snake, a long battery and the signature design Nokia excelled at.

This time around it's HMD Global that is responsible for the phone's look and feel, making the 3310 available in blue, grey, yellow and red for 49.99.

However, due to pre-orders and demand for today's launch, Carphone Warehouse said the phone was already out of stock at the retailer at the time of writing (midday, 24 May) - people can pre-register their interest for when new stock arrives. Vodafone also stocks the device in the UK, though its levels of stock are not known.

While the Nokia 3310 (2017) shares plenty of similarities with its predecessor, it's done well to upgrade on the old model's signature features too. For a start it's less blocky, and its famous Snake game plays out on a colourful screen with different game modes, too.

This time it also features a rear camera and a screen you can see in sunlight too - a great plus for those who remember squinting at the original every time a text came through.

In our sister site Expert Reviews' early hands-on review, they said of the phone: "Nokia's 3310 isn't a smartphone; it's more a 2017 re-do if anything. It's an interesting idea - pull at the heartstrings of nostalgia-ridden fans for the firm's big comeback and for the most part, I think it's worked. Nokia's 3310 resurgence has raised a lot of eyebrows, even if it is the strangest product to launch at this year's MWC."

15/02/2017: Nokia could relaunch one of its most popular phones ever at Mobile World Congress (MWC), according to notorious leakster Evan Blass.

Finnish firm HMD Global is licensed to sell the Nokia 3310 device, and will market it at MWC at the end of the month, Blass wrote in VentureBeat.

Known for its rugged chassis and outstanding battery life, the revamped 3310 won't wander too far from its original design, Blass said, referring to a source briefed on HMD's plans.

Nokia 3310/Wikipedia

The budget device will be sold for just 59 as a second phone with very few frills, according to the publication, though fans of the classic Snake II will hope it appears.

The original Nokia 3310 is available to buy still from Amazon. If you want to buy it new, it's more expensive than the rumoured revamp will be, at 66.99, or you can buy it refurbished from 23.99.

Blass said the Nokia 3310 has been specifically designed for the European market, which suggests it'll be coming to the UK, although we may not be the first country to see it launched.

HMD will also supposedly also reveal the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 at MWC. The Nokia 3 is an entry-level Android device retailing for 149, while the Nokia 5 is said to feature a 5.2-inch screen, 2GB RAM and a 12-megapixel camera. The Nokia 6 is the flagship of the three, with a full HD 5.5-inch screen.

The latter device has already been on sale in China, running Android 7.0 Nougat with a Snapdragon 430 SoC, 4GB of RAM and 16-megapixel camera.

Cast your eyes back to the turn of the century and you'll spot a familiar handset crammed in most pockets: Nokia's 3310. Having since achieved near-cult status as the indestructible phone (with memes galore), Nokia's 3310 was trusty, reliable, and incredibly resilient. 17 years later, the most beloved phone in history is making a comeback.

Nokia, which now operates under Finnish company HMD Global, has decided to launch an updated version of the Nokia 3310 for the modern age. That's all well and good for those with fond memories of Nokia's finest, but will the Nokia 3310 still hold a place among the Samsungs and Apples of 2017?

Design, key features and first impressions

Nokia's 3310 revival serves as an homage to that coveted handset of old. Known for its simplicity, Nokia hasn't deviated from that, with its design only slightly changed from the original - excluding a few key differences.

For starters, the Nokia 3310 mark 1 didn't have a camera of any sort but this 2017 resurgence features a 2 megapixel rear snapper, plonked just above the Nokia logo on the back.

That new camera would be for nought should that old monochrome 84 x 48 display of old make another appearance, but we're treated with a proper 2.4in colour display with the 3310 mark 2. Nokia also boasts 22 hours of talk time and 1 month of standby time on a single charge. That's a lot of games of Snake.

Sadly, faceplate customisation has been forgotten about no more garish Hello Kitty-ridden custom covers that you used to pick up at your local market. This time around you can only pick up your Nokia 3310 in either red/yellow or dark blue/grey.

Early noughties nostalgia came flooding back when we picked up that handset 17 years on. It's bare bones compared to its smartphone brethren, sure, but there's beauty in its simplicity. It's worth it for Snake alone

Release date

HMD has revealed its Nokia 3310 revamp will arrive on 24 May, costing around 50 for those who want a back-to-basics phone they won't be afraid to lose or break.

It's a significant saving on the original Nokia 3310's price tag of 129.99 and HMD is hoping that'll make it more attractive for businesses that want to roll out basic phones to their workforce, as well as people looking to take a cheap device with a substantial battery life to festivals.

The device will be available from a number of retailers including Carphone Warehouse, plus as a pay-as-you-go device, although only Vodafone and EE have announced they'll be stocking the "dumbphone" so far. O2 and Three told Techradar they don't currently have any plans to sell the handset.

After UK citizens take advantage of the phone's launch on May 24th, Germans will be able to get their hands on it from 26 May, with the Netherlands and Belgium getting it on 5 June.

Early verdict

Nokia's 3310 isn't a smartphone; it's more a 2017 re-do if anything. It's an interesting idea - pull at the heartstrings of nostalgia-ridden fans for the firm's big comeback and for the most part, I think it's worked. Nokia's 3310 resurgence has raised a lot of eyebrows, even if it is the strangest product to launch at this year's MWC.

Still, It's a decent upgrade from that 17-year-old handset nonetheless, while still packed with those games and the simplicity that made you fall in love with the handset in the first place. With a rear camera and a proper display you'll be able to read in sunlight, Nokia's 3310 is a wonderfully affordable nostalgia trip that's well worth the ticket.

Nokia has announced its intention to purchased Finnish software provider Comptel for $370 million, hoping to accelerate its software strategy at a time when mobile infrastructure seems to be on the decline.

The company, which has invested heavily in its infrastructure equipment business, is likely to be feeling the burden of providers pulling back on 4G broadband plans and so is searching for other avenues to grow its business.

It's hoped that by acquiring Comptel, Nokia will be able to sell cloud-based software that telecoms companies need to manage their networks and adapt to the changing demands of customers.

Comptel develops analytics software that could prove very useful for mobile providers, helping them work out what their customers want and how they can make their network operate more efficiently.

The company's Eventlink software for example, scrapes information about telecom customers including who's most active, which websites they're visiting and on which devices.

"Nokia is committed to building its software business and is backing its commitment with strategic investments," Bhaskar Gorti, president of Nokia's applications & analytics business group said. "The timing of the Comptel purchase is important as our customers are changing the way they build and operate their networks.

"They are turning to software to provide more intelligence, automate more of their operations, and realise the efficiency gains that virtualisation promises. We want to help them by offering one of the industry's broadest and most advanced portfolios."

Nokia will also get access to Comptel's customers, including some of the biggest players in mobile technology such as Telefonica, which is using Eventlink to monitor its traffic on smart meters, BT, T-Mobile (US), Orange (France), Indosat (Indonesia) and Chorus (New Zealand), according to Forbes.

The planned acquisition faces a number of hurdles before it can proceed, including approval by competition authorities and the publication of a tender offer and the subsequent completion of the tender offer a process expected to last about four weeks.

WhatsApp users could be forced to upgrade their phones if they want to continue using the service as the firm behind the service has warned that it will stop working on older phones next year.

Affected Apple devices will include iPhone 3GS and other devices that haven't been updated to the newest operating system iOS 9.3.

First, second, third or fourth generation iPads that haven't been updated should also be affected.

Any phone running Android 2.1 or 2.2 will no longer support WhatsApp, including devices released between May 2010 and November 2011 by different manufacturers.

Other affected smartphones include Windows Phone 7, Nokia 240, Nokia Symbian S60, BlackBerry 10 and phones running on BlackBerry OS.

"While these mobile devices have been an important part of our story, they don't offer the kind of capabilities we need to expand our app's features in the future," a spokesperson from WhatsApp told the Liverpool Echo.

The app should stop working on most old devices by the end of 2016, while a few could still support the app until mid-2017.

"As we look ahead to our next seven years, we want to focus our efforts on the mobile platforms the vast majority of people use," WhatsApp told the Liverpool Echo.

It appears Nokia smartphones are set to make a comeback in 2017, as newly formed HMD Global Oy is set to launch a range of devices featuring the brand name many considered dead.

HMD, founded to provide a home for a new generation of Nokia-branded phones and tablets, signed a strategic partnership with Nokia Technologies in May, granting sole use of the brand and patent licensing over the next 10 years.

In a statement released on Thursday, HMD confirmed that the new range of devices will be powered by Google's Android operating system, which makes up 86% of the smartphone market.

The Finnish tech firm has also partnered with consumer electronics company FIH Mobile (FIH), which will manufacture the Nokia-branded devices and provide future research and development opportunities.

"Today marks a happy and important day for HMD," said Arto Nummela, CEO of HMD Global. "Nokia has been one of the most iconic and recognisable phone brands globally for decades. The excitement of re-introducing this much loved, well known and trusted brand to smartphone consumers is a responsibility and an ambition that everyone at HMD shares."

"We are excited about building the next chapter for Nokia phones. We see this as a brilliant opportunity to solve real life consumer problems and to deliver on the quality and designs that the Nokia brand has been always known for," added Nummela.

Microsoft first bought Nokia's mobile phone business in 2014 for $7.17 billion, however the tech giant was forced to sell the iconic brand this year amid declining sales of feature phones, almost wiping out the entire value of the deal.

In May HMD global announced a conditional deal with Microsoft to acquire the rights to use the Nokia trademark on devices until 2024. The agreement gives HMD sole control over the sales, marketing and distribution of new Nokia-branded phones and tablets. HMD has previously stated it would be spending $500 million of investor funding over the next three years to market the new device range across the globe.

"We believe that the time is right for renewal in the mobile industry," said Florian Seiche, president of HMD Global. "The market is fatigued and flooded with undifferentiated products. Consumers are looking for technology with clear purpose that is useful, exciting and with a brand they can trust. So our approach will focus on true, core user experiences and a dedication to quality."

HMD is expected to announce the first of a new line of Nokia-branded smartphones, rumoured to be the Nokia D1C, at the Mobile World Congress in February 2017.

Picture above is of the Nokia Lumia smartphone

Nokia has today reported a decline in third-quarter revenue and profits for its network gear business, but managed to mitigate some damage thanks to its recent takeover of rival Alcatel-Lucent.

Total third-quarter profits of 556 million, an 18% drop compared to this time last year, but better than the 430 million anticipated by analysts, helped in part by the Alcatel-Lucent acquisition in April, which boosted revenue through a one-off licensing payment.

Overall revenue fell 7% to 5.95 billion year-on-year, while sales for networking equipment dropped 12% to 5.32 billion slightly below market estimates of 5.39 billion.

Despite the drop in sales, Nokia still managed to outperform its biggest rival, Ericsson, which reported a staggering 93% drop in quarterly operating profit for its network business earlier this month. The near disastrous Q3 has caused concern among investors, as the Swedish company struggles to cope with slow demand in the network market and tough competition.

Nokia has so far been able to ease the pressure on its networking business through a number of cost cutting measures, including the loss of thousands of jobs worldwide, as it plans to save almost 1.2 billion by 2018.

"We were able to deliver solid results despite market conditions that are softer than expected, particularly in mobile infrastructure," said Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri, in a statement. "We expect those conditions to stabilise somewhat in 2017, with the primary addressable market in which Nokia competes likely to decline in the low single digits for that year."

"I believe that we will meet our guidance for our Network business of significant sequential sales and operating margin increase for Q4, and our full-year operating margin guidance of 7% to 9%," added Suri.

The value of Nokia shares fell 6.1% to 4.40 on Thursday, dropping almost 33% this year, compared to a 46% drop by Ericsson.

Speaking to Reuters, Inderes Equity Research analyst Mikael Rautanen, said: "Nokia was able to achieve surprisingly good margins in the networks business. It's a defensive win for Nokia, after the market was spooked by Ericsson."

"The trend for declining sales is similar for both companies, but Nokia has been better prepared for slowing demand by continuously improving its efficiency," added Rautanen.

Network equipment providers have struggled with slowing growth, as wireless carriers in principle markets such as the US have curbed spending on current infrastructure, as they await a fresh cycle of upgrades in 2020.

BT and Nokia have agreed to work together to advance 5G technologies, bringing us one step closer to ultrafast mobile connectivity.

The companies will collaborate on a number of trials to test mmWave radio spectrum and convergence as enablers for the new technology, alongside how it would work with the Internet of Things.

Mobile gaming and driverless cars could stand to greatly benefit from 5G, thanks to greatly reduced latency and ultrafast speeds.

BT-owned EE's 4G network will cover 95% of the UK by 2020, according to Howard Watson, chief executive of BT technology, service and operations.

Nokia is currently trialling 5G-ready radio equipment at BT labs in Suffolk, using Nokia AirScale radio access and a new 5G frame structure.

5G is the next generation of wireless mobile technology, and will be significantly faster than the current 4G and 3G. In theory, on a 5G connection you could download 33 HD videos within a single second.

2020 is the date widely touted as the earliest we'll be able to take advantage of such speeds, though given that the benchmarks have been chalked up in lab conditions, it's unlikely to be quite as speedy out in the wild.

The UK government will establish a 5G strategy next year, in an effort to secure a place among technology world leaders.

Last month a coalition of close to 20 major telecoms providers offered to work together to create 5G networks across Europe in exchange for the EU softening its stance on open internet.

18 months after Microsoft bought Nokia and dissolved its brand, the company could be seeing a rebirth under newly created company HMD Global.

Microsoft has sold the old Nokia brand, splitting it in two. The brand part of the company was sold to HMD Global, which was set up by old Nokia employees, while the manufacturing, distribution and sales arms of Nokia have been bought by iPhone manufacturer Foxconn's subsidiary FIH, which will also build the next Nokia phone.

Nokia's line-up will run on Android, rather than Windows as was the case with previous devices made by both Microsoft and Nokia before it, demonstrating a huge shift for the company as it plans to make feature phones smarter.

However, the deal only covers Microsoft's feature phone business rather than its flagship smartphone arm, which bore devices such as the Lumia 650 XL and Lumia 930.

"We will be completely focused on creating a unified range of Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets, which we know will resonate with consumers," Arto Nummela, chief executive of HMD global said.

"Branding has become a critical differentiator in mobile phones, which is why our business model is centered on the unique asset of the Nokia brand, and our extensive experience in sales and marketing. We will work with world-class manufacturing and distribution providers to move quickly and deliver what customers want."

The news also means a new area of business for Foxconn, which previously only manufactured devices on behalf of big tech companies such as Apple, rather than having a brand of its own. Although these new devices presumably won't bear the Foxconn logo either, it's still a step in the right direction for the Taiwanese company.

"This agreement will give HMD full operational control of sales, marketing and distribution of Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets, with exclusive access to the pre-eminent global sales and distribution network to be acquired from Microsoft by FIH, access to FIH's world-leading device manufacturing, supply chain and engineering capabilities, and to its growing suite of proprietary mobile technologies and components," a Nokia statement said.

Ever since it launched the Lumia 950, Microsoft's been keen to emphasise the business applications of Windows 10 Mobile and rightly so. Continuum, for instance, is by far the biggest and best new feature of the entire operating system, as this let you to connect the Lumia 950 or 950 XL to an external display, mouse and keyboard and turn it into an easily transportable desktop PC using Microsoft's Display Dock accessory.

As we mentioned in our Lumia 950 XL review, Continuum still has some way to go before it can match a proper Windows 10 PC or laptop experience, as its window management and multi-tasking capabilities are rather lacking. However, there's clearly a lot of potential here and it could still be massively useful for employees who hot desk round the office, as it effectively negates the need (in some circumstances) to carry round a laptop all day.

It's curious, then, that the Lumia 650, one of Microsoft's first budget entries in its new Windows 10 Lumia family and the phone that's arguably most likely to be bought en masse for company employees, has no Continuum support whatsoever. Instead of having a USB-C port like the Lumia 950 or 950 XL, the Lumia 650 only has a regular Micro USB connector, thereby making it incompatible with Microsoft's Display Dock. Without Continuum, the Lumia 650 has already lost one of its key selling points, and it makes the rest of the phone a much harder sell compared its older, and now considerably cheaper, predecessors.

Casing and screen

One thing the Lumia 650 does have in its favour is its top class casing. With its metal frame and diamond-cut edges that measure just 6.9mm thick, the Lumia 650 is a world away from the glossy, curvy plastic shells of Lumias past. It's a shame it doesn't come in slightly more colourful variants, but the choice of matt black or matt white should suit professionals who want something a little more unassuming than the latest Android flagship.

It's a beautifully made phone, and its smooth rear panel can be lifted off to reveal a replaceable battery and microSD slot to expand its 16GB of onboard storage. It's just about small enough for one-handed use, too, so you shouldn't have to stretch too much to reach the Action Centre at top of the phone or tap any Live Tiles on the other side of the screen.

Microsoft doesn't stop there, either, as it's also included a 5in OLED display. It's rare to see an OLED screen on a phone of this price, as these are typically reserved for more expensive handsets. To see one on the Lumia 650, however, is a very welcome change, as it means the screen's colour accuracy and contrast levels are above and beyond what we'd normally expect to see from a budget smartphone. It only has a 1,280x720 resolution, but the screen still looks perfectly sharp and clear.

Performance and Battery Life

Sadly, Microsoft shoots itself in the foot by equipping the Lumia 650 with an elderly 1.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 quad-core processor. Even when paired with 1GB of RAM, the Lumia 650 performed very poorly in all of our benchmarks, and its 3D performance was particularly abysmal. This is arguably less important for business users, but when it struggles to load Microsoft's own Photos app, the Lumia 650 quickly becomes more of a daily irritation than anything else.

Web browsing was admittedly a little better, as it was able to cope with media-heavy pages without too much stutter, but it can often take a full minute for every last picture and advert to appear onscreen.

It does, at least, have enough stamina to get you through the better part of the day. Its 2,000mAh battery managed 11 and a half hours of usage in our video playback battery life test, which is pretty respectable compared to other phones in its price range.

Camera

Like the Lumia 640 before it, the Lumia 650 comes with an eight megapixel rear camera. That's a little low when the vast majority of budget phones are all now starting to come with 13 megapixel sensors, but the Lumia 650 does give you plenty of control over the quality of your images. Like the Lumia 950, Microsoft's camera app lets you change the white balance, ISO, shutter speed and brightness. It also comes with Microsoft's Rich Capture mode, which combines HDR and post-processing to automatically take the best picture possible regardless of lighting conditions.

In practice, however, we couldn't see any discernible difference between the pictures taken with Rich Capture, and those without. Colours were equally neutral across both modes, and detail levels were relatively unchanged.

It coped reasonably well in low lighting conditions. Colours were a little dim, but noise was kept to a minimum and there was a decent level of detail.

Conclusions

Without the draw of Windows 10 Continuum, it feels like the Lumia 650 is perpetually on the back foot. It never really makes the most of its new operating system, and there's very little to distinguish it from its Windows Phone 8-based predecessors apart from its metal frame and beautiful OLED display.

In every other respect, it's more or less a clone of the Lumia 640. It wouldn't be so bad if the Lumia 650 was a bit faster, but its day-to-day performance just isn't good enough to compete with other phones in the same price range. Even the Lumia 640 feels a lot nippier than the 650, and that's over a year old.

It's possible the Lumia 650 is a sign of greater things to come from Microsoft in the near future, but for now, the Lumia 650 remains a rather forgettable Windows phone whose inner workings just don't do justice to its superb outer shell.

Verdict

All style and no substance, the Lumia 650 doesn’t have the speed to compete with its nearest competitors and its lack of Continuum means it misses out on Windows 10 Mobile's best feature

When journalists and bloggers write about tech companies that "got it wrong" in the face of an evolving market and paid the ultimate price, nine times out of ten Nokia will be listed a recent example.

Even its then-CEO, Stephen Elop, described Nokia in an internal memo as a "burning platform" back in 2011.

"Apple disrupted the market by redefining the smartphone and attracting developers to a closed, but very powerful ecosystem," said Elop in the memo. "And then, there is Android. In about two years, Android created a platform that attracts application developers, service providers and hardware manufacturers.

"Android came in at the high-end, they are now winning the mid-range, and quickly they are going downstream to phones under 100. Google has become a gravitational force, drawing much of the industry's innovation to its core."

He then wrote: "While competitors poured flames on our market share, what happened at Nokia? We fell behind, we missed big trends, and we lost time. At that time, we thought we were making the right decisions; but, with the benefit of hindsight, we now find ourselves years behind.

"We are standing on a burning platform. And, we have more than one explosion we have multiple points of scorching heat that are fuelling a blazing fire around us."

We now know, of course, what Elop's plan to put out the fire was: sell the Nokia devices business - what was considered the heart and soul of Nokia - to Microsoft and jump ship at the same time, apparently leaving what remained of the Finnish company as a dried-up husk of its former self.

And it would seem that, ultimately, Microsoft is slowly but surely calling time on that business too.

The only place not to see Nokia as a dying company is, apparently, Nokia. Yesterday at MWC 2016, CEO Rajeev Suri announced the firm's re-entry into the smartphone market (despite earlier denials).

This should not come as a surprise, nor is it to be sniffed at, because what so many commentators, and apparently Elop too, have failed to look at is Nokia's history of radical reinvention.

Over the past 150 years, Nokia has been at various times a wood pulp mill, a maker of rubber boots, a provider of electricity and telegraph cables, a manufacturer of gas masks, early entrant into the PC market and, of course, a creator of mobile phones.

This is not the profile of a company suffering from terminal inertia, but rather one adept at evolving in the face of a changing market.

There are even parallels between what happened to Nokia between 2010 and 2013 and another difficult period in its history exactly 20 years before when, in the early 1990s, Finland was hit by recession.

Struggling to grow, Nokia shed less profitable TV and PC divisions to double down on telecoms and drive international growth, eventually becoming the largest mobile phone maker in the world.

In 2016, despite the sale of its devices unit to Microsoft and the widely respected Here maps division to BMW, Daimler and the Volkswagen group, the company is far from down and out - it is entering a new phase of evolution.

The company has been strengthening its already-respectable networking proposition through the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2015 and making inroads into the burgeoning Chinese market through a networking deal with China Mobile and with its N1 tablet. Then came yesterday's announcement, that it plans to build mobile phones again as early as this summer.

We shouldn't lump Nokia in with the likes of Palm in lists of companies that failed to recognise market trends until it was too late.

Nokia really should be on the list of companies that have evolved rather than died, even if it has a tendency to do so in a rather unorthodox manner.

Nokia has agreed to sell its HERE digital mapping business to BMW, Audi and Daimler for approximately 2.8 billion (1.9 billion).

The Finnish former phone maker today confirmed the German car manufacturers have clubbed together to buy its geomapping division, which provides services such as satellite navigation as well as technology for self-driving and semi-autonomous cars.

The car manufacturers were reportedly spurred into action by fears the technology may fall into the hands of Uber, which reportedly bid $3 billion (1.9 billion) for it in May, as well as interest from Google or Apple.

Although HERE has been valued at 2.8 billion, Nokia expects to recieve a little over 2.5 billion, due to the purchasers being compensated for "certain defined liabilities" within the asset.

This deal's completion could mean the car makers will invite the likes of Renault, Ford, Toyota, Peugot Citroen and Fiat Chrysler to invest in the system as well.

"I believe today's announcement is a very good outcome for HERE, its customers and employees", said HERE president Sean Fernback. "The new ownership structure of HERE will allow us to accelerate our strategy, further scale our business and fulfill our intent to become the leading location cloud company across industries".

Nokia mooted the idea of selling HERE in April following its 15.6 billion acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, as well as the sale of its hardware arm to Microsoft last year.

"With this step we complete the latest stage of Nokia's transformation", Nokia president and CEO Rajeev Suri said in a statement issued today.

"Going forward, we will focus on our planned combination with Alcatel-Lucent. Once that is complete, Nokia will be a renewed company, with a world-leading network technology and services business, as well as the licensing and innovation engine of Nokia Technologies."

Nokia's 15.6 billion acquisition ofFrance's Alcatel-Lucent has received the EU's blessing, paving the way for the merger to go ahead.

The European Commission began investigating the deal following its proposal in April this yearin order to ensure that it is not in breach of anti-monopoly statutes, and has now determined it does not violate EU laws preventing anti-competitive behaviour.

The Commission's reasoning behind its decision was "because the parties are not close competitors, and since a number of strong global competitors will remain active after the transaction".

Key rivals such as Ericsson and Huawei are challenging the combined market dominance of Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent, according to the Commission.

"In particular, Samsung is expected to play a more significant role in the near future in relation to the newest generation mobile telecommunications equipment", its statement read.

There is also little overlap in the regions that each company is most dominant in, according to the Commission, with Nokia maintaining a strong European presence while Alcatel-Lucent remains a big player in North America.

This purchase marks the latest stage in Nokia's transition to a new business model, following the sale of its well-known mobile division to Microsoft last year.

It is also set to shed its mapping service, HERE, to a trio of German car manufacturers including BMW and Audi.

The company is now aiming to return to its roots as a provider of network equipment and infrastructure systems.

In a joint statement following the merger's announcement, the firms said "the combined company will be in a position to accelerate development of future technologies", citing 5G and the Internet of Things as particular focuses.

A Nokia statement released on Friday read: "The transactionremainssubject to approval by Nokiashareholders, Nokia holding over 50.00% of the share capital of Alcatel-Lucent on a fully diluted basis upon completion of the public exchange offer, receipt of other regulatory approvals and other customaryconditions."

If approved, it should go through in the first half of 2016, Nokia added.

Ex-Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will be leaving Microsoft as part of its management reshuffle, alongside two other senior executives.

Elop joined Microsoft as part of the 4.6 billion Nokia acquisition he helped engineer last year, claiming the title of executive vice president of the Devices and Services group.

However, he will now be replaced by Terry Myerson, executive VP of Operating Systems, who will also run the company's new Windows and Devices Group.

Executive vice president Scott Guthrie will continue to lead the Cloud and Enterprise (C+E) team, building on the company's successes and introducing new enterprise tools in data and analytics.

"As a part of this announcement, the company will move the Dynamics development teams to the C+E team, enabling the company to accelerate ERP and CRM work and bring it into the mainstream C+E engineering and innovation efforts," Microsoft said in a blog statement.

Qi Lu will also keep his role as leader of the Applications and Services Group (ASG), part of which will be introducing integrated productivity services across devices and across business and personal lives.

Microsoft explained that Stephen Elop, Kirill Tatarinov and Eric Rudder will all leave Microsoft after a "designated transition period". Chief Insights Officer Mark Penn will also be leaving Microsoft, although the company said that is unrelated to the management shake-up and he has decided to pursue "other opportunities".

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft said: "We are aligning our engineering efforts and capabilities to deliver on our strategy and, in particular, our three core ambitions. This change will enable us to deliver better products and services that our customers love at a more rapid pace."

Nokia and NTT Docomo have teamed up to develop a 5G service, which offers speeds of up to 2Gbps by using previous unused spectrum.

The two companies announced their venture at a demonstration at Barcelona's Mobile World Congress, which was made possible by utilising higher frequency bands including millimetre waves.

Seizo Onoe, chief technology officer at NTT DoCoMo, said: "We believe that high-frequency spectrum shall be used not just for small cells as a means to complement the existing network, but also for building solid area coverage through coordination with existing lower frequency bands.

"The success of this indoor trial with Nokia Networks using the 70GHz band marks an important step forward in our 5G vision for 2020."

The longer-term plans are to implement a 5G network at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, although the two companies will need to optimise the technologies for indoor and outdoor use to ensure it is reliable enough for a commercial rollout.

Currently, 4G connections can obtain speeds of up to 300Mbps, so this technology will enable speeds to increase exponentially.

Nokia is predicting wireless data traffic will grow 10,000 fold within the next 20 years and thinks that 50 billion devices will be connected to mobile networks by 2025, feeding the need for networks to embrace the super-charged wireless internet services.

Hossein Moiin, CTO, Nokia Networks, said: "Moving ahead on our pledge to cooperate on 5G research and innovation for developing and validating 5G, we have laid a strong foundation for realising DOCOMO's 5G vision.

"We will ensure that our focus is clearly trained on helping the operator monetize the immense revenue potential of future-ready technologies to effectively address ever-increasing network coverage and capacity requirements."

Last September, Nokia announced it was trialling 5G in Finland and plans to open up APIs to partners when the trials are complete.

The Nokia N1, an Android tablet pitched as a rival to Apple's iPad mini, was unveiled on Twitter last night despite rumours the device had been scrapped.

The 7.9-inch tablet sports an 8MP rear-facing and 5MP front-facing cameras, with 32GB storage, a 2.4GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3580 processor and 2GB of RAM. It weighs 318g at 6.9mm thick, and will be available in standard or darker grey versions.

The tablet runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop, and features Nokia's Z launcher, which boasts an adaptive capability that arranges users' apps based on preference and use. Users can also use their finger to write on the screen, finding apps faster. Z launcher is already available for other Android smartphones and tablets.

It will reportedly cost $249 (159), and will launch in 2015. A more specific UK release date is currently unknown.

Microsoft recently ditched the Nokia label with its Lumia 535 smartphone, with uSwitch.com mobiles expert Rob Kerr saying there's "no room for nostalgia in the fast-moving mobile market."

This is despite Nokia being owned by Microsoft since April this year. As part of the deal, Nokia will not be allowed to use its branding on smartphones between now and 2016, but the company announced that it would still focus on new devices.

At a presentation at the Slush technology conference in Finland (via Total Telecom), head of Nokia's product business Sebastian Nystrom said: "They say Nokia is dead. They say Nokia is no more. Hey, they even say, rest in peace, Nokia. Look, I say they couldn't be more wrong."

Inside the enterprise: Nokia is a brand synonymous with mobile phones.

For anyone who started work in the 1990s, or had the cash to buy a phone for themselves, Nokia was the brand you wanted. Nokia phones even made cameo appearances in the movies, most notably The Matrix.

Over the years Nokia has sold millions of handsets. But the company struggled with the smartphones trend and especially, touch-screen handsets. Nokia did develop early touch-screen phones based on its Symbian operating system, but Apple made the technology its own. And Samsung has caught up fast, and is the UK's most popular phone brand.

This has left Nokia trailing behind. The company reacted by ditching Symbian, and moving to the Windows Phone platform. Last year, the company itself was bought by Microsoft. Now, Microsoft has announced it is dropping the Nokia name from smartphones altogether, and rebranding them as Microsoft Lumia devices.

This looks like the end of an era. Microsoft plans to market its smartphones, from now on, as simply Windows devices. This makes sense, given the increasing power of smartphones and, with larger and larger devices on the market, the narrowing gap between smartphones and tablets.

It also makes sense for Microsoft to try to extend one of its greatest assets, the Windows brand, to its phone business.

The Windows Phone platform continues to lag a long way behind both Apple's iOS and Android, with just 2.5 per cent of the market, according to one analyst firm. Using the Windows brand is at least one way of ensuring interest in its phones, especially from business users familiar with Microsoft tools at work.

But, so far at least, the "halo" effect that Apple uses to drive sales of its other gear, including Mac computers, off the back of the iPhone's success, has eluded Microsoft. In fact, at least one Windows Phone licensee, Alcatel, believes the future of the platform lies at the low end, rather than in competing with iPhones or Samsung Galaxy handsets.

For Europeans, the demise of the Nokia name is sad news: Nokia was not just a technology pioneer, but a European company that became a genuinely global brand.

Nokia will not disappear altogether, though. Microsoft continues to make low-end Nokia handsets, including Nokia's Asha brand; these don't run Windows and will, presumably, be unaffected by the rebranding.

And Nokia itself continues to exist: the non-handset part of the company, which now also incorporates the Nokia Siemens Networks business, is independent of Microsoft.

This will go on making cellular base stations, transmitters and other high-end equipment, as well as developing key technologies for the mobile industry. Just this week, Nokia's Networks division unveiled a technology that makes smartphone browsing 20 per cent faster and uses 40 per cent less power. The phone in your pocket may no longer carry a Nokia label, but it may still feature Nokia technologies.

Stephen Pritchard is a contributing editor at IT Pro.

Microsoft is to remove the 'Nokia' name from Lumia devices as it takes steps to pretend the smartphone manufacturer never existed.

Although Nokia is now owned by Microsoft, it has managed to keep its name stamped on devices, despite becoming part of the PC manufacturer in April for the princely sum of 4.5 billion.

However, Nokia's networks business, navigation offerings and patent portfolio wasn't bought by Microsoft and will continue to use the Nokia branding.

The over-arching department that owns Nokia is now called Microsoft Mobile and is attempting to focus on providing mobile devices and services to try and compete with Apple.

The announcement was made on Nokia France's Facebook page, swiftly followed by a post on its Twitter account saying the page would soon be changing to 'Microsoft Lumia'.

Microsoft then went on to confirm to tech site The Verge that it would be changing the branding worldwide.

The Nokia/Microsoft acquisition was announced back in September 2013 and in April, it made some significant changes to the original deal, in an attempt to woo Chinese authorities.

Brad Smith, general counsel and executive vice president of legal and corporate affairs at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post at the time: "We've adjusted this agreement so the 21 employees in China working on mobile phones will join Microsoft and continue their work."

Another change made was that Microsoft would take over Nokia's online assets. Smith continued: "Our two companies have agreed that Microsoft will manage the nokia.com domain and social media sites for the benefit of both companies and our customers for up to a year."

Microsoft and the Open Space Agency (OSA) have created a 3D-printed observatory dubbed the "Ultrascope".

The prototype is powerful enough to take professional-grade photos of space using just a smartphone.

According to Microsoft, the mini-observatory has "the potential to completely reinvent astrophotography, making it possible to capture professional-grade celestial images, right from your back garden, for a fraction of the price of traditional space telescopes".

The viewing devices can be fabricated using a 3D printer and stand at 1 metre tall when pointed vertically and 65cm wide at the base. They can be controlled via a laptop, which receives ISS orbital location data.

This then forwards the information to the telescope, locating the target, while using the smartphone to take pictures. These images are then sent to the cloud where the data is processed into a form useable by scientists.

The Ultrascope is the idea of OSA founder, James Parr, who said such a project would have been the exclusive preserve of professionals a few years ago.

He also hopes the project will open up "opportunities for people who have been gazing at the stars their whole lives, but haven't, until now, been able to get involved".

"Our hope is that hundreds of Ultrascopes will be assembled, enabling a large number of people to contribute to new discoveries as they explore the night sky."

Dr Juha Alakarhu, head of Imaging Technology at Microsoft, said: "It's great to see that the efforts of James Parr and the OSA with the Ultrascope, and I look forward to seeing the images as they continue to shape this exciting project. It's wonderful to think this could be available to the masses in the near future."

In order to make the Ultrascope, interested people need to sign up and be accepted on to a beta programme. To make the scope, access to a 3D printer and laser cutter is also required.

The OSA hopes to create "increasingly sophisticated models" over the next 12-18 months to help enthusiasts "peer ever deeper into the stars".

Nokia is to start trialling its 5G network in the company's native Finland and plans to share its network-based APIs with partners and competitors.

Nokia's technical director Juha Maatta said the trial is likely to roll out in early 2015 because a formal decision on how to build the network is still under review.

The company will partner up with the University of Oulu and the city of Oulu along with the Finnish Technical Research Centre for the trials.

5G will see a huge increase in both speeds and capacity when it is rolled out commercially.

Data transfer speeds will be ten to 100 times faster than they are at the moment and more people will be able to use it with a capacity of 1,000 times what we're used to.

The standard will also be more efficient than 4G, saving 90 per cent more energy.

Nokia said any discoveries it makes along the way, or APIs it develops to make the technology work, will be shared with its partners and even competitors.

Maatta said: "It won't be just one product, but there would be an entire ecosystem around it. We also have to develop the user experience. In this way people will see that they will have limitless capacity at their disposal."

Nokia isn't the first company to throw its weight behind 5G technologies. Huawei has announced it is pumping 400 million into developing 5G technologies and even a UK network, while Samsung and Telefonica are also experimenting with the superfast data technology on UK soil.

David Cameron is also behind the UK developing its own data speeds. He announced a project between the University of Dresden, King's College University in London and the University of Surrey earlier in the year to investigate 5G's capabilities.

Opera Mini will become the default browser for all of Microsoft's Nokia-branded Series 30+, Series 40 and Asha devices.

Customers who already have a low-end Nokia device running the Xpress browser will be encouraged to download and install the Opera, while all new devices shipped will have the software pre-installed.

Opera Mini works across all devices - whether running Android, iOS, Windows Phone or older versions of Symbian. It compresses web pages so they are more suited to small screens and allows customers to save on mobile data charges.

Lars Boilesen, CEO of Opera Software, said: "This is a great opportunity to spread the benefits of Opera Mini to millions more consumers in our core markets. There are still massive numbers of people who have not moved to smartphones, but Opera Mini can provide them with an amazing browsing experience right now."

Microsoft took over Nokia's budget phone business when it bought the company earlier in the year. Although it's not the software giant's core market, addressing the needs of those with lower disposable incomes and the developing markets have always been a key part of Nokia's business.

Rich Bernardo, head of legacy business in the phones division at Microsoft, said: "We continue to sell and support classic first and feature phones as well as the Asha range, which have performed well with millions of people who want new mobile experiences at lower price points.

"The agreement with Opera will enable us to provide continuity of service as we transition from Xpress Browser to Opera Mini."

Around 250 million people use Opera Mini and more than 100 million of these use it on the Android platform.

Microsoft has pulled the plug on Nokia's short-lived dalliance with Android.

In an email to employees, Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said the company would be switching some of its Nokia X devices to its own Windows Phone operating system.

The email also detailed the biggest cull of jobs from the firm in its history with the loss of 18,000 jobs across the board. Around 12,500 would be from its recently acquired Nokia Devices division.

Nadella said the Nokia Devices and Services teams would be integrated into Microsoft.

"We will realise the synergies to which we committed when we announced the acquisition last September," said Nadella. "The first-party phone portfolio will align to Microsoft's strategic direction. To win in the higher price tiers, we will focus on breakthrough innovation that expresses and enlivens Microsoft's digital work and digital life experiences."

He added the firm would "shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows".

"This builds on our success in the affordable smartphone space and aligns with our focus on Windows Universal Apps."

In a memo to staff, Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Microsoft's devices unit, echoed Nadella sentiments and saidMicrosoft would now be "particularly focused on making the market for Windows Phone".

"In the near term, we plan to drive Windows Phone volume by targeting the more affordable smartphone segments, which are the fastest growing segments of the market, with Lumia," he said.

"In addition to the portfolio already planned, we plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices. We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products."

The move to kill Android-based Nokia phones echoes Microsoft's moves to ditch the Kin phone in 2010.

Only last month, Microsoft unveiled its second generation Android phone Nokia X2.

Microsoft has announced it will axe 18,000 jobs in the firm's biggest ever cull.

The newly integrated Nokia division will bear the brunt of the cuts with 12,500 professional and factory positions deemed to be surplus to requirements.

Employees who will loose their jobs are expected to be informed in the next six months and Microsoft aims to complete the process by 30 June 2015.

In an email to employees, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claimed the reductions were driven by two factors: work simplification and the integration of the Nokia devices and services team into Microsoft.

"It's important to note that while we are eliminating roles in some areas, we are adding roles in certain other strategic areas. My promise to you is that we will go through this process in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible," he said.

"We will offer severance to all employees impacted by these changes, as well as job transition help in many locations, and everyone can expect to be treated with the respect they deserve for their contributions to this company."

Microsoft isn't the only blue chip company shedding thousands of jobs. HP has let go of 50,000 employees since Meg Whitman took charge in September 2011 in a bid to re-invigorate itself.