Analysts on Nokia-Microsoft Strategy

Background: Nokia Industry Analyst Relations met with 150+ industry analysts at Mobile World Congress (Barcelona) and Nokia Strategy and Financial briefing (London).
Here is a summary of analysts’ first feedback on the new Nokia strategy and recommendations to Nokia:
Overall:
Move to Windows Phone bold and necessary move – and analysts overwhelmingly agree that it was the best option available
‘Nokia had to do something – it was going backwards in relation to the rest of the market and needed to make some tough decisions.’
‘Symbian couldn't possibly be successful, and MeeGo was taking far, far too long to bring to market’.
‘Without such a radical but decisive change in direction Nokia would have died a slow and painful death over the next 5 years.’
Most analysts think that Microsoft is the bigger winner
‘Huge win for Microsoft. WP had a slow start with none of the vendors giving it priority. So from Microsoft's perspective this is fantastic.’
‘It seems lopsided in Microsoft’s favor. The challenge will be to gain some balance’.
although there are also opposite views
‘Perhaps more strategically vital to Nokia than to Microsoft’.
Success or failure depends on how two different corporate cultures are able to work together
‘You made the leap, but that just buys you a few seconds. Now you have to decide what happens when you hit the water.’
‘Partnerships like this usually fail to accomplish anything. This one, however, has much better than usual odds because both companies desperately need this to work.’
Execution on a licensed model is key
‘What exactly is going to be different this time and why should we believe that you can execute this time around as you haven’t been able to do it in years?’
And now it’s critical to get a ‘WOW’ WP device out as fast as possible.
‘The very first phone is critical. A great WP device would build confidence both externally and internally.’
‘It must be dazzling, a clearly competitive experience to iPhone and Galaxy (best of Android), and preferably with some unique LBS features.’
‘A beautiful flagship smartphone in the US during Q4 2011 will put Nokia right back in the game. But a dud design for the very first model will heap huge pressure on Nokia.’
In Mobile Phones you must maintain leadership in emerging markets against Chinese challengers, preferably through services - so that customers can be migrated to smartphones as incomes rise and prices fall.
‘Also, for emerging markets it is important to explain how the new strategy will positively impact their countries.’
Future Disruption perceived to be the weakest pillar of the strategy.
‘It was not well articulated, and relegating MeeGo to this category makes it seem even less "mission critical". It feels like it got thrown in so that you could point to a forward looking strategy while trying to right the ship.’
Concerns
Differentiation from other Windows Phone manufacturers
Analysts eager to hear how Nokia plans to differentiate.
Developer alienation
Nokia risks alienating application developers who had been working on Symbian and MeeGo
‘Developers view themselves as ‘outlaws’ and Microsoft is the ultimate establishment. You are at great risk of losing a significant part of your FN developer base. The natural tendency will be to move to Apple and Android rather than shift to Silverlight.’
For existing Symbian developers, you have to urgently communicate that Symbian and Qt are not dead!’
‘You also risk alienating the application developers who had been working on apps for Symbian. You have to convince all those developers to stay put and it may not work.’
‘Developers have already stopped working w/ Symbian.’
Transition period related challenges
Challenges with retention of current consumer base
‘Hundreds of millions of Symbian users feel left alone and will look elsewhere when looking for replacement.’
‘If Nokia cannot introduce a range of nice Symbian products by 2011 end to compete with iPhone and Android, you risk losing these customers. This is the second attack to the Symbian user base, after the first wave of high-end users defaulted to iPhone.’
Symbian will be increasingly hard to sell to operators.
‘You will see a lot of bargaining. Symbian likely to be positioned as talk & text devices w/o data plan, and no impact on ARPU. Therefore you will be penalized on price.’
Employee buy-in will be crucial
‘This will be a significant emotional journey to all your troops’.
‘ If senior management is committed and the employees are not, then there is greater risk of failure. It is crucial to get the whole company onboard ASAP.’

Nokia makes world’s biggest cinema screen [video]

Last week, the Nokia N8 broke a world record for the world’s smallest stop motion animation, named Dot. Then on Saturday, the folks at Nokia Sweden decided to go the other way, erecting what must count as one of the world’s biggest cinema screens. Residents of the city district of Rosengård were treated to a movie night they will never forget, powered by a Nokia N8 through it’s HDMI port in stunning high-definition.

Creating the world’s biggest cinema screen is no easy task, as it takes a lot of planning, teams of people and specialised equipment to make sure it all comes together. The 1,428 square metre (that’s 51 metres x 28 metres) cinema screen is so large that it had to be assembled, and watched, outside. The screen was hoisted up in front of a tower block, and held in place by two giant cranes while four XLM HD30 projectors, each weighing 140 kilos, projected the Prince of Persia movie onto it. Onlookers were amazed and delighted to witness this world record happening in their own district.

Day

Night

About 1,500 people turned up to see this massive movie and it’s estimated that another 1,000 local people simply watched it from their apartments or balconies. The previous world record was held by Pinewood Studios in Middlesex, Great Britain, with a cinema screen measuring 73.1 metres wide and 18.3 metres high and with a total area of 1,338 square metres.

Microsoft's President will be Nokia's new CEO

Nokia has just gotten hold of soon-to-be ex-Microsoft employee, Stephen Elop, to be their new CEO as well as President from September 21st onwards. Currently, Elop heads Microsoft's Business Division and has had stints with Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems, and Macromedia. Hailing from the Great White North, we do hope that the leadership transition for the Finnish company will help them get back into the smartphone game.

Finally Nokia got what it was looking for ...American (Canadian) CEO!

Elop commented on his new Nokia position: "I am extremely excited to become part of a team dedicated to strengthening Nokia's position as the undisputed leader of the mobile communications industry, with a relentless focus on meeting the needs and expectations of customers. Nokia has a unique global position as well as a great brand upon which we can build. The company has deeply talented and dedicated people, and I am confident that together we can continue to deliver innovative products that meet the needs of consumers. The Nokia slogan clearly states our key mission: Connecting People, which will acquire new dimensions as we build our portfolio of products, solutions and services."


Let's finger-cross and hope he will shut critic's mouth and will able to reply straight to Apple and Android. For me, it means I won't need to leave always dream company :-)

Nokia Press Release
Microsoft Press Release
Stepen Elop Linkedln Profile

Nokia's hat-trick for Most Trusted Brand in India

Nokia has again ranked as India's Most Trusted Brand :)



Reference:

• http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6469107.cms
• 2008

Nokia signs agreement to sell security appliance business to Check Point Software Technologies

Nokia announced today that it has signed an agreement for Check Point Software Technologies to acquire Nokia’s security appliance business. The companies signed the deal on December 21, 2008. The two businesses have collaborated for over a decade to deliver industry-leading enterprise security solutions, and this agreement is the natural culmination of that long-standing collaboration.

This deal is one of the actions to focus the Services and Software unit’s portfolio on five core consumer internet services with the best consumer appeal and financial viability. Nokia announced on September 29, 2008 that it was in advanced stages to sell the security appliance business to a financial investor. However, unprecedented financial market conditions in recent months extended those negotiations, during which time Nokia actively evaluated other options for the business.

“The strong fundamentals of the business have always made it an attractive target for a number of buyers. The announcement today represents the fact that multiple and complex negotiations have culminated in a successful agreement with Check Point, the natural home for this business and a great option for moving the business forward,” says Tom Furlong, head of Consumer Messaging at Nokia.

“Check Point and Nokia form a natural combination, which will provide a great path forward for the thousands of customers who depend on Nokia security solutions today,” says Greg Podshadley, head of the security appliance business at Nokia. “For employees, it means an opportunity to be a part of one of the industry leading brands in security solutions.

Carbide.C++ goes FREE

Nokia has released Carbide.c++ Version 2.0. In addition to new features and improvements, Carbide.c++ will have an entirely new licensing model - All Carbide.c++ 2.0 Editions (Developer, Professional and OEM) and licenses are now available for FREE!

This new distribution model supports our commitment to enable free and easy access to development tools for all Symbian developers. With the release of version 2.0 there are also several new features and improvements:

* Support for S60 5th Edition (in particular Touch UI and Platform Services).
* Addition of several Touch design components to the UI Designer tool. Users can touch-enable basic user interface applications using this graphical tool.
* Support for Qt development tools for S60 (expect updated Qt SDK’s next year)
* Improved connection and reporting for On-Device Debugging.
* Knowledgebase Scanner is a new addition to the CodeScanner static analysis tool. Knowledgebase Scanner scans the user’s code and provides advice for adding touch capabilities to existing applications.
* Improved speed and accuracy of code completion aids.
* Improved rendering for the Performance Investigator tool (Available in PRO and OEM Editions).

Carbide.c++ v2.0 is available for download on Forum Nokia. The download can install either Carbide edition and includes the appropriate product license. Application developers are encouraged to install the Developer or Professional Edition. The OEM Edition is recommended for device manufacturers.

Nokia, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson phones get Street View

Motorola, Nokia and Sony-Ericsson phones running the Symbian S60 OS can now access the local version of Google's Street View. The new service is also now available for Windows Mobile handsets.

Last week, Google launched desktop version of its street-level photo service, plus support for iPhones and BlackBerries.

The mobile version of Street View requires Google Maps Version 2.3, which can be downloaded from google.com/gmm using your cellphone's browser.


Video is available here.

">

Nokia acquires Symbian Limited

Nokia announced that it has completed its offer to acquire Symbian Limited. All
conditions to Nokia’s offer to acquire Symbian Limited have been satisfied and it has received valid acceptance
of greater than 99.9% of the total Symbian shares that Nokia did not already own.

The closing of the offer is a fundamental step in the establishment of the Symbian Foundation, announced on
June 24, 2008 by Nokia, together with AT&T, LG Electronics, Motorola, NTT DOCOMO, Samsung, Sony Ericsson,
ST-NXP Wireless, Texas Instruments and Vodafone. More information about the planned foundation can be
found at www.symbianfoundation.org.

All Symbian employees are planned to become Nokia employees on February 1, 2009.

Check N97 video

N97 is Nokia's first phone which has hardware keyboard as well as touch screen support.

Launched :Nokia's XpressMusic 5800 Touch Phone

Nokia announced its first touch screen-based phone, the XpressMusic 5800.

Specifications:
It has a 3.2-inch touch resistance screen. It packs in a massive number of pixels (640 x 360), giving it HD resolution. It is bright, and looks fantastic. Movies looked crystal clear, as did video shot with the 5800 itself. Speaking of video, it can record at 30 frames per second. The camera itself rates 3.2 megapixels and includes a Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus, and dual-LED flash. The on-screen user interface for the camera is actually quite nice, and makes some improvements that all touch-based phones should add to their camera software, such as quick access to most of the camera's settings.

The phone has tons of radios. It will come in two basic flavors, with one supporting European and Asian 3G networks, and another supporting North American 3G networks. Both versions also include Bluetooth 2.0 with stereo support, Wi-Fi, and a GPS. These specs are pretty much standard on most of Nokia's media-based phones these days.

You want media playback? The 5800 can handle it. Music, video, you name it, the 5800 will do it, and it even has a TV out jack for sending video signals to a TV or monitor. At the top, you'll find a full 3.5-mm headset jack so it can be used with most stereo.

Will the XpressMusic 5800 reap in huge sales figures?

Navigation and Location Europe 2008

Join Forum Nokia 4-5 June in Amsterdam to learn the latest technologies and opportunities for Location Based Services on Nokia Platforms during the Navigation and Location Europe 2008.

4 June 12:15 PM PANEL: Mobile navigation:The shift from guiding to exploring
Jure Sustersic, Business Development Manager, Forum Nokia, joins industry colleagues to discuss technology, economics, distribution, and the role of network operators in LBS success.
4 June 16:15 Workshop
Petro Soininen, Senior Technical Consultant, Forum Nokia, will cover the location enabling technologies in Nokia platforms, including the Location Framework, runtime options, and how to integrate location information in mobile services and applications. Petro will also discuss new positioning support coming to Nokia maps.
5 June 9:30 AM PANEL: Perfect Partners wanted: How to ensure your navigation and LBS applications go mass market
Christof Hellmis, Director of Navigation, Nokia, joins industry colleagues to discuss how to find the right partners to ensure your product reaches the widest audience possible.

Game Emulators on Symbian S60 3rd Edition devices

If you are old console game fan, you can emulate all of the systems below on your Symbian S60 3rd Edition phone, so you can enjoy your own golden age of gaming and computing whenever the urge to travel back in time strikes you.

Commodore 64
Sinclair ZX Spectrum
MSX
Amstrad CPC
NES
SNES
ColecoVision
Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance
Sega Master System
Game Gear
MAME arcade

Reference:
Console Games Emulator for S60 Devices

Microsoft Vista support temporarily removed

In a shocknig move, support for Microsoft Vista has temporarily been removed from the Nokia Software Updater. This is due to recent changes in certain Microsoft Vista configurations that cause the Nokia Software Updater to become unstable.

Nokia Software Updater can run on other Windows operating systems.

People First - Concept phone by Nokia

Nokia's fired out some interesting concept phones this year, but this newest "People First" design centers more on the functionality of the device than its physical shape. The idea is based around what Nokia calls "three human universals of the way people think about communication" which are time, lists and people. So instead of being the standard pile of multi-option menus, the UI relies on a scrolling history list, with the most relevant and recent things popping onto the top.Content comes first, navigation is shallow, and there are no metaphors or abstractions to confuse. New content is generated at the top of a singular vertical list settling over time into a personal history of events.

A dual layer display allows the user to balance energy efficiency with rich visuals. The user interface graphics are optimized for low-power and high-contrast B&W graphics. When an item is highlighted, a second full color display is partially activated in lieu of, or in combination with the first.


References:
Nokia
gizmodo
behance

Join Forum Nokia India & win N95 8GB!!

Forum Nokia (FN) has launched forumnokia-india ..... Nokia forum (FN) for Indians.
Site is still in infant stage and we hope that lot of India specific stuff will be available on the site. It seems Nokia believes that there are many potential mobile developers in India.
In later stage, we may see Nokia along with reputed education institutes in India teaching Symbian, organizing competitions, events

Even to get quick huge response to site, Nokia is offering a chance to win N95 8GB on registration!!

Launched Nokia 6212 classic with NFC

3 days back, Nokia announced 6621 device in <NFC capability. Though 6621 is not first NFC enabled phone present in market, Nokia is aggressively marketing 6621 as NFC device.The 3G handset allows consumers to conveniently share content, access services and information as well as conduct payments and ticketing with one tap of the device. The Nokia 6212 classic is expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2008 in select markets in Europe and Asia with an estimated retail price of EUR 200 before taxes and subsidies.

N96 launch date for UK: Aug 2008

Nokia is going to launch N96 in August 2008 in Europe region. N96 is considered to be combination of N81 and N95. It has 5 MP camera with 16 GB internal flash memory. It also has support for 'Live TV'.
The battery is still restricted to 950 mAh :(

The detail specifications are available here.


Can't wait to view this mobile...here is the promotional advertizement.

Morph phone..........not just a phone

Few days back, I posted an article about armband shaped Nokia phones. Today, one of my friend working in Nokia(India) has given me a video link showing demo of morph phones. Well, I just can't wait to get such a phone. I hope Nokia is not fooling people by showing these dream phones.

Few features of morph phones:

• The phone is ultra-transparent.
• Its battery is charged by solar energy. So you don't need to carry charger with you.
• It is stretchable.
• It has dirt repellent surface.

Morph References:
Concept
Demo

Armband shaped Nokia phone

The main idea behind Nokia Morph concept phone is the use of nanotechnology based flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. These materials should enable Nokia to produce a mobile device that “…might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into radically different shapes”.

Different shaped devices you see in the picture, is actually the same one mobile handset, that transforms itself into the concrete shape according to the user needs.

The concept was developed by Nokia research center in cooperation with Cambridge University and is on display at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.

Reference:
Nokia Morph Phone Concept