Back from Nokia World
by Volker Weber
Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Photo: vowe)
I am back from Nokia World, after two very energetic days. And yes, Sir Tim Berners-Lee was speaking this morning at Nokia World as a guest speaker, invited by Nokia to get people out of bed after a long party night, and back into the show.
Nokia World is an immersive event. While you are there, everything makes sense. Nokia makes great phones, Ovi Store is the best app store in the world, Nokia is the leader in navigation, Symbian is the best smartphone platform. You feel how Nokia's gravity pulls everybody inside that world into one direction. The whole event is on message. Nokia colors, Nokia fonts, Nokia design, Nokia people.
I am not making this up. The E7 is a great, biiiiig (as Anssi said) smartphone with a keyboard. The N8 might be one of the best portable multimedia devices - just plug it into HDMI and get a blast from videos with surround sound. The C7 is a very solid stainless steel touchscreen phone. And the C3 Touch&Type is one great small feature phone.
It's only when you step outside, like I did today for three hours, and visit the launch of the two new HTC Android phones Desire HD and Desire Z, you get second thoughts. Here, at the high end, where a single phone costs 600 Eur, Nokia is losing ground. In the US, where software is driving smartphone sales, Nokia hardly even exists. In India, where $15 phones make all the difference, Nokia is king of the hill. And inbetween, in the midrange market in Europe, Nokia is under heavy fire from Samsung and LG.
The CEO-elect Stephen Elop made a short appearance at Nokia World today and handed out one million dollar to a developer based in Kenia. While Nokia is one big and effective hardware manufacturer, Elop knows what Nokia needs: developers, developers, developers. His former boss told him.
Comments
See Gruber's article and Richardson's 12th Law.
Nokia has failed to notice that it's a hardware company in a software market. Prospect of a train-wreck — substantial.
Recent comments
Markus Dierker on Belkin WeMo gets full IFTTT treatment at 13:07
Karl Heindel on A week with the BlackBerry Q10 at 12:32
Volker Weber on A week with the BlackBerry Q10 at 09:54
Thomas Lang on A week with the BlackBerry Q10 at 09:52
Richard Schwartz on Think your Skype messages get end-to-end encryption? Think again! at 21:46
Volker Weber on Think your Skype messages get end-to-end encryption? Think again! at 21:22
Nick Daisley on Think your Skype messages get end-to-end encryption? Think again! at 21:15
Jan Lauer on No Apple vs. Samsung debate here at 20:07
Ingo Seifert on No Apple vs. Samsung debate here at 13:26
Volker Weber on A week with the Q10 at 20:00
Volker Weber on A week with the Q10 at 01:28
Torben Volkmann on A week with the Q10 at 21:01
Oscar Toft on Barracuda Networks launches a 'Dropbox Killer' at 01:08
Frank Moser on Fifty Five at 08:46
Tim Franz on Time for a new Lumia at 10:27
Andrew Magerman on Fifty Five at 09:55
Joris Bos on Time for a new Lumia at 09:34
Bob Balaban on Fifty Five at 17:04
Felix Binsack on Hallo Samsung at 10:49
Detlev Buschkamp on Fifty Five at 15:20
Joerg Hochwald on Fifty Five at 13:09
Wolfgang Hilpert on Fifty Five at 11:21
Karsten Ernst on Fifty Five at 11:12
Dirk Steins on Fifty Five at 10:45
Hans Bornich on Fifty Five at 07:48
Click here to subscribe
