Nokia shares plummeted 13 percent after its new Lumia smartphones failed to impress investors looking for transformational handsets to rescue the struggling Finnish company.

Nokia and its partner Microsoft Corp showcased the Lumia 920 phone on Wednesday in what may be their last major shot at reclaiming market share lost to Apple Inc, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Google Inc.

Microsoft and Nokia hope the device - sporting bright colors, a bigger screen and technology that reduces blur and shakiness in pictures and video - will become a potent weapon in an escalating global war to dominate the mobile industry. But investors said it lacked "wow" and gave it a quick thumbs-down. Some analysts said Nokia's reticence about dates, prices or carrier partners also did not help.

Nokia shares traded in Helsinki began sliding midway through the New York launch and ended down 13 percent at 1.99 euros, their biggest single-day loss since June. Nokia's U.S.-listed stock closed down nearly 16 percent at $2.38. The stock had gained 67 percent since mid-July as anticipation built ahead of the Lumia's unveiling.

The Lumia was the first in a flurry of planned mobile-device launches expected ahead of the holiday shopping season. Google's Motorola Mobility showed off three new smartphones based on Android software later on Wednesday. Verizon Wireless the top U.S. mobile provider committed to sell all three of the Motorola phones.

Amazon.com Inc will unwrap its new Kindle Fire tablets on Thursday and Apple is expected to unveil the latest version of its seminal iPhone on September 12.

"The challenge is that the world is working on the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of their devices, while Nokia is still trying to move from chapter 1. It still has quite a bit to catch up," said RBC analyst Mark Sue.

"People were looking for something that would dazzle. Most investors will view it as evolutionary, not revolutionary. Nokia has made some good progress, but investors were looking for quantum leaps. We didn't get that."

Many of the industry analysts who saw the phone up close in New York deemed it a solid device with a few differentiating features. But it did not push the envelope as Nokia CEO Stephen Elop had promised.

The device runs on the latest Windows Phone operating system, which Microsoft - the world's largest software maker - hopes will rival Apple's iOS and Google's Android to become a third mobile platform.

Nokia announced no partnerships with wireless service providers, leading some analysts to worry this was a sign of weak carrier support. The Finnish handset maker said it would announce pricing and roll-out dates for the new Lumia later on a country-by-country basis.

"It is impossible to assess this launch without price and roll-out info. This is disappointing," said Bengt Nordstrom, CEO of telecommunications consultancy Northstream.

For Microsoft, successful Lumia sales could convince more handset makers and carriers to support Windows Phone 8, which promises faster performance and a customizable start screen. Samsung last week became the first to announce a smartphone running that software, which it said it would begin selling as early as next month.

If the new phones do not appeal to consumers, it could spell the end for money-losing Nokia and deal a serious blow to Microsoft in its attempts to regain its footing in the market.

"We're working with our carrier partners to finalize our plans," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of smart devices for Nokia.

Windows phones have captured only 3.7 percent of the global smartphone market, according to Strategy Analytics.

Asked about estimates that Windows phones might account for 10 percent of the market by the end of 2013, Harlow said: "With momentum, if we're at 10 percent at the end of 2013, I'd be a happy girl."

ECOSYSTEM WARRIORS

Nokia badly needs a hit. It has logged more than 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in operating losses in the past 18 months, forcing it to cut 10,000 jobs. Its share of the global smartphone market has plunged to less than 10 percent from 50 percent during its heyday, before the iPhone arrived in 2007.

The Lumia 920 - billed as the flagship Windows phone - uses "PureView" and floating-lens technology for its 8.7 megapixel camera to reduce blurring and shakiness from hand motion, and has wireless charging capability.

Powered by Qualcomm Inc's Snapdragon processor, it comes with augmented reality technology that lets users see details of their surroundings through the camera. And it sports a bigger, brighter, 4.5-inch screen than Nokia's previous smartphones, taking a page from rivals such as Samsung, which has backed larger displays.

Attendees at the New York event did not see the Lumia as a significant threat to the iPhone, the device that revolutionized the mobile industry and popularized the model of a third-party developer "ecosystem," today considered pivotal to the success of any operating system.

Part of the reason for the limited success of Windows phones is that they support only 100,000 or so apps, compared with about 500,000 or more for Android or iPhones.

Apple's and Google's entrenched positions - where consumers have already invested heavily in apps and content - discourages switching to a new mobile system.

Windows Phone 8, however, might have several factors in its favor. It is similar to the Windows 8 desktop and tablet software to be released October 26, making it easier for developers to write apps for both. Microsoft hopes this will boost the platform's popularity.

"The big difference versus Android is that there is a big Microsoft developer base that will catch on quicker, once there is a sufficient customer base," said Magnus Jern, founder and chief executive of Barcelona-based Golden Gekko, which has created Windows Phone apps for Heathrow Airport and for Yellow Pages in many European countries.

Many developers already working on iOS and Android may look to support Windows via HTML5 - a Web programming standard intended to work across different mobile platforms - to avoid having to fund a third or fourth development team.

"HTML5 apps require less skilled resources to achieve a minimum level of service. And although it's a compromise, it works and is usually an acceptable compromise," Jern said.

The new Lumias could also benefit from the continuing decline in Research In Motion Ltd's BlackBerry and from a recent legal setback for the Android operating system.

A California jury decided last month that some of Samsung's hot-selling Android smartphones copied features from the iPhone, which might result in import bans and drive handset makers to put more resources into making Windows-based phones.

But for Nokia and Microsoft to exploit that window of opportunity, they must first win over consumers, who so far have shown little enthusiasm for Windows smartphones.

"If you were looking for an iPhone knock-out punch, this isn't it. That's not going to happen with one product," said Ross Rubin, an analyst at Recticle Research.

($1 = 0.7947 euros)

All the rumors and speculation stopped today as Phil Schiller got up on stage and showed us what the real iPhone 5 looks like. And it turns out the leaks were true, but the iPhone 5, which rose up out of the stage as an introduction, still had a few secrets left to surprise us with.

The iPhone 5 is made with a glass and aluminum, and Apple is touting it as the world’s thinnest smartphone with good reason. They’ve managed to fit everything inside a 7.6mm thick case (18% thinner than the iPhone 4S). The weight has also been cut down to just 112 grams (20% lighter than the iPhone 4S).

Both those stats are impressive, but Apple has achieved that while at the same time making its iPhone 5 bigger. As expected, the smartphone uses a 4-inch 16:9 display with a resolution of 1136 x 640, which is 326ppi. Apple has also managed to integrate touch directly into the display, which it claims makes it the most accurate touchscreen on the market. Add to that the fact the display looks better with color saturation increased by 44%.

A 16:9 display present a longer screen, and Apple is taking full advantage of that. There will be a 5th row of icons displayed in iOS, and you will see more in your apps, e.g. more mails, more days on your calendar. Any apps that haven’t been updated will have black borders down the sides, but Apple says devs are now applying 16:9 updates very quickly so it should be a temporary issue.

Moving on to the internals and the iPhone 5 has a new processor at its heart. Details are still sparse , but Apple is claiming the A6 chip offers 2x both the CPU and GPU performance of the A5 found in the iPhone 4S. The knock on effect of that is a claim of console quality games, but also just about everything you want to do on iPhone 5 will happen twice as quickly.

The iSight camera has also been improved. It’s 25% smaller, but 40% faster at taking pictures. It is 8MP (3264 x 2448), backside illuminated, has a hybrid IR filter, five element lens, f/2.4 aperture, and a Panorama mode capable of capturing 28MP images. Add to that a dynamic low light mode, precision lens alignment, and a sapphire crystal. It can also capture 1080p video, has face detection, better video stabilization, and captures images while recording video. Impressive stuff.

Communication is getting a lot faster, too. HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and LTE are supported with one chip, one radio, and a dynamic antenna. Apple also managed to squeeze in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands for 802.11n compatibility. You won’t be waiting very long for anything to download on the iPhone 5.

Audio hasn’t been overlooked, either. The speaker is 20% smaller, but outputs better wideband audio and takes advantage of a 5 magnet transducer. Three microphones are built in, located on the front, back, and bottom of the phone, and the earpiece is also noise canceling. Apple also slipped in that FaceTime calls can be made over cellular networks, depending on your network of course.

The 30-pin dock port on the bottom has gone, replaced with the smaller Lightning port we all heard about earlier today when the cable leaked. Apple is working on an adapter for peripherals that use the old 30-pin port, but it isn’t ready yet.

So a larger screen, better wireless, and better sound must come at the cost of the battery, right? Wrong. The iPhone 5 is actually better on battery for some things than its predecessor, achieving 8 hours of 3G talk, 3G browsing and LTE browsing. 10 hours of WiFi browsing, or video, and 40 hours of music playback. On standby it will go 225 hours between charges.

On to the software and the iPhone 5 will ship with iOS 6. Highlights detailed so far include built-in turn-by-turn navigation along with 3D satellite imagery and flyovers through an updated Maps app. Safari now has a fullscreen mode and something called iCloud tabs, which makes it easy to instantly access all the content you have open in the browser.

Siri has been updated to read out sports scores, and she will also tell you a lot more about movies, even going so far as to recommend one to watch apparently. You’ll also get to use an app called Passbook, which handles all your event tickets as well as digital boarding passes, all of which can be accessed from the lock screen on the iPhone.

So when can you get your hands on it and how much will it cost? You can pre-order the iPhone 5 from September 14, available September 21, and it will be the same price as the iPhone 4S was on contract: $199, $299, and $399 for the 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models respectively. The iPhone 3GS is not officially dead, the iPhone 4S drops to $99, and the iPhone 4 is going free on contract.

One final note: existing Apple gadget owners can upgrade to iOS 6 on September 19.

How To Make Money on YouTube

A couple of days ago I wrote a post talking about some British parents who published a 57-second video of their children on YouTube and ended up making over $150,000 from that video alone.

Most people who left a comment wanted to get more information on how to make money on YouTube, so I decided to write a follow-up post about it.

In a nutshell you make money on YouTube by becoming a YouTube partner, which allows you to display ads on your videos, and then you earn a percentage of the revenues generated by clicks on those ads, much like with AdSense. As for how much money you can actually make, I heard numbers anywhere from $3 up to $10 per 1,000 video views.

However, the process of becoming a YouTube partner is not as trivial as becoming an AdSense publisher. Below you’ll find the basic steps you need to go through:

1. Make Sure You Have an AdSense Account

While the process to be able to display ads on your YouTube videos is a separate one, your earnings and stats will go together with your AdSense account, so you need to have one.

In theory you could apply to become a YouTube partner before having an AdSense account, and in case you get accepted you would then follow up with an AdSense application. I believe the other way around is much simpler, though.

2. Grow Your Audience on YouTube

One of the most important criteria the YouTube guys will use to evaluate your application is the audience you reach on YouTube. They don’t reveal what are the requirements, but I’ve seen many people say these are the ballpark numbers you need to have before getting accepted:

at least 1,000 subscribers
at least 1,000 views on all your videos
at least 10,000 channel views

These are the very minimum though, if you want to make sure you’ll get accepted I would aim for 5,000 subscribers, 50,000 channel views and over 1,000,000 upload views total.

3. Get Videos Out There Regularly

If you only have one or two videos uploaded your chances of getting accepted are low, even if those videos went viral. That’s because YouTube is looking for people who are planning to work with them over the long term.

The more regularly and frequently you upload new videos, the better. For instance, someone who uploads a new video every day will have a better chance of getting accepted than someone who uploads one every couple of weeks.

You also want to make sure you have at least 100 uploaded videos before applying to become a partner (though some people say 50 will be enough).

4. Develop A Brand Around Your Videos

This step is not essential, but I think it helps a lot on getting approve. You need to remember that, once you meet the technical guidelines, it will be a person on the other site deciding on whether you are a good fit for becoming a YouTube Partner or not. In other words, the more professional you look the higher your chances.

Practical tips include:

Create a website to host your videos and give your audience more wayts to interact
Create a nice logo and use it everywhere
Use a watermark on your videos with your logo
Consider getting a professional intro made for your videos
Customize your YouTube channel to make it look professional

5. Make Sure Your Content Has Zero Copyrighted Material

If there’s one thing that will get your application rejected on the spot is copyright infringement, so make sure you have zero copyrighted material on your videos.

This includes images, graphics, logos, video clips and audio. For instance, even just using a music on the background which you don’t have permission to could get your application rejected.

6. Apply to Become a YouTube Partner

After you followed all the previous steps you are ready to apply. You can do that via the official YouTube Partner Program page. It might take a while to get your application considered due to the load of people applying, but once you get accepted you’ll be able to start displaying ads on your videos right away.

For our Apple users – the IPAD 2 is different than the original IPAD more importantly in terms of its refined shape in terms of its thinness and increased speed, making it a brand new product by itself. The Apple IPAD2 weighs few ounces smaller than its predecessor. This is 1.3 pounds versus the original 1.5 pounds and is 0.34 inches thick (which equals nearly 33% than its original version). On the speed front, critics have claimed that the new A5 processor in the IPad 2 is two times faster than the original version. The apps and the websites load more quickly. It is reported that in the newer version, the applications and the websites load faster and the 3-D games appear more detailed. Apple IPAD 2 These few important factors are the one which make the tablet a perfect use in his or her professional field, especially those people who are constantly moving around. The gadget can become a replacement kit as against X-rays for doctors, an interactive blueprint for or architects and a text-book, note-taker and daily planner for students. The more light and thin the gadget is the more useful is it for professional purposes. While we have mentioned a few of the pointers above, a product review would be incomplete without entailing some more details of the product for the users. We have compiled some of the features in the thumbs up and the thumbs down format. The thumbs up format are a notification of those key features which gel which the critic favorites while thumbs down comprises of those features which the critics. The factors are as under:
Thumbs up: ü Applications: The first thing about any smart gadget which comes up in mind these days are the applications. The new Apple IPad 2 has around 65,000 applications, which gives it a perfect head start against its competitors. Stars: 3 Pros: Extra surfing options. Constructive utilization of time. Cons: Sometimes too much is a problem! ü Smart Cover: Who wouldn’t wan`t to protect their gadgets from the smudges and fingerprints which is a general phenomena that arises in touch screen gadgets these days? Apple IPad 2’s smart cover micro fiber lining boasts of boasts of keeping your gadget clean and users have well rated this feature of their instrument. Stars: 4 Pros: Helps the gadget last longer : Protection is always better than cure! Cons: Can`t really think of any! Apple IPAD 2 ü Battery Life: When it comes to battery, one can only think of one slogan last long really long! Surely, Apple IPad 2 lives up to it. The battery approximately lasts around 2-3 days. Do you really want more? Stars: 4 Pros: More battery = More Power = More Surfing! Cons: Beware – it`s harming your eyes! Thumbs down: While the new gadget is really an eye candy for the go getters and technology lovers, it does have some of its own pitfalls which wouldn’t put them off. Nevertheless, we have taken pains to highlight a few of the factors which are likely to put off the users. û Games up gradation: While the IPad 2 offers a vast collection of games, the manufacturers have forgotten to upgrade them! Stars: 2 Pros: The new collection offers a great variety Cons: The X factor taken for a toss û Resolution: Apple IPAD 2 While the critics expected a higher screen resolution, the IPad 2 has retained its original resolution viz.9.7 in 1,024 X 768. Stars: 2 P.S: We would prefer giving a miss to this feature of the gadget! Conclusion: While the new Apple Ipad2 surely does have it’s own pitfalls – at the end of the day, it is a gadget which is surely going to find place in the hands of youth!