Since the unveiling of the Nokia N79 and Nokia N85 mobile phones on August 26, Nokia fans in Nigeria have been anticipating these new releases and finally they have arrived into the Nigerian mobile market.

Yesterday, I got a glimpse of the N85 Nokia gadget already making a buzz in the mobile industry. As a Nokia fan, I’m always fascinated by Nokia’s usability technology and have recently become more interested in a site for Nokia fans in Nigeria. Nokia is the 8th most searched word in Nigeria within the last 12 months.

According to Nokia Nseries Director, Juha Kokkonen:

The Nokia N79 packs cutting-edge technology into a compact design – a characteristic of the iconic Nseries – that allows people to discover, create and share their passions with others. Behind its sleek exterior, Nokia N79 is a technology powerhouse that offers a full range of multimedia experiences including integrated navigation where available, music with FM transmitter, high-speed connectivity, superior web browsing, 10 pre-loaded N-Gage games and an advanced 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

The Nokia N79, which comes with Xpress-on smart covers that are available in five cool colors: light sea blue, espresso brown, olive green, white and coral red, is perfect for the style conscious. The convergence of photos, music and navigation where available in the Nokia N79 combines with hi-speed 3.5G HSDPA and Wi-Fi to make it quick and easy to share experiences on websites, blogs or online communities.

Also according to the General Manager, Nokia Nigeria, Mr. Phillip De La Vega:

The N85 comes with an eye-catching 2.6” Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screen and smooth, sleek finish, thereby redefining the mobile experience. It boasts of N-Gage gaming, music with in-built FM transmitter, 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and geo-tagging capabilities, three month integrated license for turn-by-turn voice navigation where available and high-speed connectivity, all in one device.

N85 is engaging and interactive with its pre-loaded 10 made-for-mobile N-Gage gaming titles that jump off of the screen, thanks to the dazzling OLED display and a voucher to activate one full game license. Dedicated gaming keys light up when the device is in landscape gaming mode to further enhance the action-packed experience.

A state-of-the-art 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and bright dual LED Flash captures clear, sharp images as well as Digital Video Display (DVD)-quality videos at 30 frames per second. Combined with A-GPS it is possible to geo-tag favorite pictures to see where each photo was taken.

I’m not sure what the cost is for these gadgets, but would be sure to provide updates as soon as I have the information. However, if you have any info about these latest Nokia series, you can leave them in the comments.

If you are a Nokia fan, you can also share your thoughts here.

Last week, it was announced that the world’s biggest mobile phone group (by revenue), Vodafone may soon be venturing into the Nigerian telecoms market as it sees a lot of potentials in Africa’s most populous nation.

Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Annual Technology, Media and Telecoms Conference in Barcelona, Spain, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao said Vodafone might be interested in expanding into the Nigeria market, noting that “it doesn’t take a very sophisticated analysis to see it is one of the very few large markets with decent GDP, a young population and the classic conditions for being interesting for Vodafone.”

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New Heights Microfinance Bank has chosen Clickatell , a leading global provider of mobile messaging solutions for financial institutions, to deploy mobile messaging services to its customers.

Launched in August 2007, New Heights has introduced its suite of microfinance solutions including loans, credit, savings, money transfer services, and microinsurance products to serve an eager underbanked market (an estimated 79% of the adult population in Nigeria are considered underbanked).

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When the announcement came in June this year that the 3G iPhone will be launched in Africa, I was eagerly anticipating to witness the hype in Nigeria, even though I had witnessed the hype first hand in France last year.

Before then, Vodafone had signed a ten-country deal with Apple to supply the iPhone to Africa. In September, the 3G iPhone finally arrived in South Africa after a lot of rumors and speculations.

Today, iPhone 3G is available in 64 countries across Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, South America, the Middle East and the Carribeans. In Africa, the 3G iPhone is currently available in Egypt and South Africa.

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Since the Blackberry device came into Nigeria in 2006, there has been a huge hype about the future of mobile devices in Nigeria. While we await the arrival of the Apple iPhone into Nigeria, here comes another smartphone designed and manufactured for Africa - Anabel Mobile.

Anabel Mobile is Africa’s first smart phone with value added services and functunalities such as the ‘push and pull email’ which has been the hallmark of the Blackberry device.  The handsets are manufactured and distributed by Nigerian-based start-up Anabel Mobile.

In a statement released to THISDAY, the company stated that “Anabel Mobile is a global brand created by Nigerians and which has chosen first to start with Nigeria giving Nigerians the respect and focus that many international brands have failed to do”.

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