LiVe LiFe To The FuLLThe world is moving ! Don’t stay behind…

As MWC draws closer mobile fans around the world wait in anticipation as mobile companies prepare some of their biggest announcements of the year. Leading up to MWC, news coming from manufacturers is historically positive - a taste of things to come in Barcelona. In this economic climate however, mobile companies find themselves unable to wait until this sacred time has passed and we are still seeing bad news come down from every corner of the industry. Today’s news comes from our friends in Finland as Nokia discusses the coming year with two key phrases: scale down and reduced market demand. Juha Putkiranta of Nokia:

With these plans, we aim to scale down Salo production to reflect reduced market demand, while operations in the factory continue uninterrupted.

Nokia plans to cut handset production and layoff the entire staff at its Salo plant (2,500 workers) on a temporary rotational basis. In other words, the plant will remain operational but only 20 to 30 percent of its staff will be on hand at any given time. Following Nokia’s closure of its German manufacturing plant, Salo is the last major handset plant in Western Europe and had been used to produce some of Nokia’s higher-end handsets, the bulk of which will now likely be moved to foreign plants. All of these moves of course, are part of an effort to shave $905 million from its operating expenses this year as many project Nokia’s shipments and sales to continue to decline. Less market demand, declining numbers and more competition are never a good trio for any market leader but we’re hoping Nokia has some tricks up its sleeve for 2H 2009 and beyond.

Nokia just launched three new handsets said to “build on the formula that made Nokia the world leader in mobile phones.” The threesome includes the new 6700 classic (pictured) that continues the legacy of the Nokia 6300, a phone that “topped all sales records for a mid-range mobile phone” back in 2006 according to the tall slender cats from Espoo. As such, don’t expect any fancy-pants software or touchscreen novelties here — the “slim” 6700 classic (pre-tax €235 / about $311) plays it straight as a small-screened candybar with a 5 megapixel camera, aGPS navigation, and “high-speed” data access undoubtedly of the HSPA variety. Nokia has the nerve to call the 2.2-inch display on the (€135) 6303 classic, “large,” but makes up for that assery with the inclusion of supposed “excellent” battery performance, a 3.5-mm audio jack, and aGPS with Nokia Maps. Bringing up the rear is the (€65) Nokia 2700 classic touting 2GB of on-board memory plus memory card expansion, a 2 megapixel camera, and full integration with Nokia’s Ovi suite of services, natch. All are expected to ship before June. Hey, Nokia, we understand your quest for mid-market domination, but with market share in decline and your unlauched, flagship N97 receiving a lukewarm response at announcement (think Palm Pre by comparison)… might we suggest looking forward, not back?

Nokia dabbles with the luxury handset market yet again with the Nokia Royal, and you don’t have to be blue-blooded to own one, just make sure you have enough balance in your bank account after you make your purchase. You get 8.2 cts of vvs, color ‘F’ diamonds, alongside approximately 1,160 individually set sparkling gems with the Nokia Royal. Its carbon fibre exterior is removed and fitted with a vast amount of solid platinum, held down securely by 8 handmade platinum screws. The Nokia Royal has enough platinum to make 16 wedding bands of the same material. If you’re thinking of a really, really lavish gift for your other half, we guess you’d best mosey down to the Colette store in Paris on January 31st and rub shoulders with sheikhs and other folks on the Forbes list since there will only be 50 Nokia Royals in existence.

Finally some good quality snap shots of the upcoming Nokia N75 smartphone. Apparently it is the first Nokia smartphone with a sideways sliding QWERTY keyboard. Full spec details on the E75 are still scarce, but it’s believed to have 3G, WiFi and a 3.2-megapixel camera. The phone has a 2.4 inch screen which has what seems to be light / proximity sensors, though there is no touch screen to turn off it might be activating the calender or contacts when taken away from the face mid-call. Availability and pricing is not known for now. But we expect more details when the Mobile World Congress kicks off next month.

The latest addition to the XpressMusic family, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, just got the full-on preview treatment over at Mobile-Review. As is always the case, you’re in store for more pictures than you know what to do with, along with just about all the details you can handle. The 5730 is a mid-range handset that adds a QWERTY slider to Nokia’s popular line of music-centric XpressMusic phones. The 5730 packs the following features into its metal and plastic chassis:

• 2″ QVGA display with 16 million colors
• GPS
• EDGE connectivity
• 128MB RAM, 140MB internal storage
• 3.2MP Autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss lens and LED flash
• microSD expansion (ships with 8GB in some countries, supports up to 32GB)
• Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR
• FM radio with rds
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• USB (mass storage, Nokia PC Suite, and Image Print support)
• Symbian S60 3rd Edition
• Red or Blue choice color
• 1000mAh battery, 4.5 hours of talk time, 270 hours standby

The 5730 will be available starting in April 2009 in unnamed countries and will retail for €220 ($289). Hit the jump for a few more images.

Here is a new mobile phone from Nokia that is perfect for those who are concern abut their health condition. The Nokia N79 Active ships with the wireless Polar Bluetooth WearLink heart rate belt from Polar, the leading brand in sports instruments and heart rate monitoring. This handset comes equipped with A-GPS tracking, and the Nokia Sports Tracker application to record and publish your running or biking routes and fitness data onto the web. The Nokia N79 Active also features a 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Other features include headphones, an armband, FM tuner, a 4GB microSD memory card for your songs and photos and integrates with the Nokia Music Store, which is not yet available in the US. The Nokia N79 Active will be available in select markets for approx. $492 before taxes and subsidies.

We knew something was up with these Bluetooth heart rate straps from Polar, and sure enough, Nokia has announced a partnership to get serious fitness monitoring integrated with its products. The first to take advantage will be a special version of the N79, creatively dubbed the N79 Active, which will include 4GB of onboard memory the requisite strap right in the box and sell for about €375 ($494) when it ships “soon” in “select territories.” Of course, the new hardware isn’t any good without new software, and it just so happens that the N79 Active will include a new version of Nokia’s Sports Tracker app for keeping tabs on workouts. We’d heard that other Polar accessories like cadence sensors for biking fanatics were in the works, so this could end up developing into a whole franchise

The Nokia 6208c is finally official in China at least, as Nokia released it in an event today. Well, this bodes well for folks who want to write Chinese characters and messages in the most natural way possible - using a pen, of course. The entire stylus was specially designed to attach itself to the back of the phone, and the handset itself features a large color display - all the more better for you to write those Chinese calligraphy in a digital manner with flair. The entire 6208c features design cues using premium materials including a stainless steel back cover. Other functions found on the Nokia 6208c include a 3.2 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 4x digital zoom, a microSD memory card slot and Chinese language support. It will ship to selected markets sometime in the first half of next year. Image courtesy of s60blog.

Not that Nokia’s current Communicator is in need of a major refacing or anything, but we’re always up for some innovation. A recent patent application from the outfit showcases a completely bizarre four-way folding Communicator, chock full of hinges, keys and pixels. In fact, the verbiage spells out a future device consisting of “at least four device parts,” leaving open the option for a handset that miraculously unfolds to completely envelope you in a glass case of emotion. Hit the read link for the full dream spilled out in entirely too much detail.