Nokia » MobileInfoPlanet

Is Nokia in for a dilemma with the N9?

Jun 232011

At this point I don’t think anyone have not heard about the N9 that was presented by Nokia a couple of days ago. As expected, the excitement that was present at the N900′s presentation is still, if not more, very much alive and the general response has been thoroughly positive. In fact I think most people were surprised by the quality of MeeGo at this point after having read that article that contained the infamous “Oh shit”-moment and many are now asking themselves what that moment was all about. The overall impression after that article was that MeeGo is in an Alpha-stage, at best, but after having seen the N9 presentation many are genuinely perplexed about Elop’s decision to not pursue MeeGo more decisively.

But Nokia will of course eventually publish the number of N9/MeeGo units sold in a given quarter, so that begs the question, what will Nokia do if the new N9 sells by the millions? I.e. if the N9 sells well even without an ‘ecosystem’ what will that say about Elop’s decision to pursue WP7 instead of MeeGo and what would that mean for his argument that everything is about ecosystems these days? Obviously at this point it is all speculation, but if the reaction of the public is anything to go by then Nokia might very well be in for a surprise.

Now what constitutes good sales is obviously relative. If you compare it to Symbian volumes then the number will probably be “low”. But if, in absolute terms, the N9 sells better than, say, HP’s WebOS devices, what with all their ‘ecosystem’, then you really would not be able to talk about a MeeGo failure. Will that then be enough shift Nokia’s attention to MeeGo or will they continue to relegate it to that seemingly eternal beta status?

If the sales of the N9 closely correlates with the public’s reception of the device then I genuinely hope that Nokia will give MeeGo the time, attention, resources and money that the platform deserves. If not, then I might actually begin to believe all those conspiracy theories about MS and Stephen Elop in regards to Nokia….

UPDATE:
I just read Engadget’s editorial, stating exactly the same thing. I hadn’t come around to reading my RSS feeds before posting my own opinion only 3 hours earlier.

But, in the meantime, I also came across this news article from Finland, which claims that Elop is set on killing off MeeGo; if true then it is truly staggering and I think it raises several legitimate questions regarding Elop’s WP7 decision.

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"I don't want no friggin 'ecosystem'"

MeeGo, Misc

Jun 212011

I haven’t heard the term ‘ecosystem’ as many times in my whole life as I have since Elop’s announcement on February 11. All of sudden it is all about the ‘ecosystem’, everyone is attributing everything to the ‘ecosystem’ – even when your phone stops working because it got crushed by a bus it apparently has something to do with the ‘ecosystem’ these days.

But you know what? I could not care less about an ‘ecosystem’. Honestly I don’t. And I am getting bored hearing about it everywhere, even more so because everyone seem to take at face value that an ecosystem is the way to go in the future. I have argued before that the concept of an ecosystem doesn’t exists on your PC, so why do I need it on my phone? I don’t need it on my PC, and I don’t want nor need it on my smartphone/mobile computer; the more tied you are an ecosystem the less flexibility and freedom you have to use your phone the way you want to, and if you do not agree with that then just have a look at this – that is a direct consequence of your beloved ‘ecosystem’. And you can be sure that we will see more of that if everyone, manufacturers and consumers alike, is set on jumping on the ‘ecosystem’ bandwagon. (And no, an appstore is not an ‘ecosystem’, appstores existed long before the iPhone no matter how hard Steve Jobs is trying to sell you that they were first, eg. google ‘Handango’ and ‘Palmgear’, both existed years before Apple’s appstore).

I am certain that the future will be about openness, so that you can connect to any cloud that you wish, and the lock-ins that we are see now will seem antiquated. It will about open services and open APIs, and those manufacturers who chose to continue the current path of lock-ins will disappear or be marginalized.

So instead of an ‘ecosystem’ what I want instead is a true mobile computer. I want the full experience in my pocket, with no compromises. I want to be able to carry around my phone and use it just as I would use a laptop. I want access to the whole web, be able to download any file or media and then consume it directly on my phone or my TV, no matter what kind of media it might be.

So who will be the first to throw ‘ecosystem’ in the bin where it belongs and instead focus on what we should be striving for: true mobile computers with complete freedom and unrestricted access to everything in the cloud? That is why I have such high hopes for MeeGo, as I would like to see it as being the stepping stone to something greater and better beyond where everyone are rushing right now.

And if not MeeGo, there is always Canonical of course….

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What Nokia should learn from the N900

MeeGo, Nokia

Jun 172011

I remember when the N900 was released in late 2009. The blog sphere was abuzz and everyone was genuinely excited about this brand-new platform. The videos and published images were so cool. It had beautiful graphics and the multitasking was amazing, both as far as performance was concerned (i.e. the number of apps that you could run simultaneously) and the UI. Everyone wanted one even if it was being pitched primarily as a developer device. In fact, it seemed as if Nokia was taken by surprise by the interest that people were showing in their new device and platform, and as a result they repeatedly tried to downplay its relevance as a smartphone for the masses. I even recall one article saying so explicitly, that when they asked the Nokia sales rep about the N900 that it was quite odd and frustrating to see how the Nokia rep was trying to “cool down” the excitement of the article writer.

It was thus very clear that the N900 was not aimed at the masses, and as such that Nokia wasn’t prepared to completely back the phone up. It was as if they knew that the platform was not quite feature complete yet and as such would not be suited for everyone. Maybe it was because Nokia simply did not have the team in place that could fill the gaps in the platform and therefore did not want it to take off in a big way. I don’t know. But the fact is I have yet to read a single post by people who have owned the N900 that have not said that the N900 was a great device and that it is a shame and big mystery why Nokia did not put more effort into the trying to evolve the platform. Many of them still use it and I have read numerous times that the N900′s browser was the best mobile browser ever made so far. The opinions on the N900 make me regret that I didn’t pick one up when it was launched, even though I knew that certain features were missing.

I think everyone agrees that it could have been the next major mobile platform, that disruptive technology that Elop keeps referring to. So, given the rumors that Nokia will launch a MeeGo device on Tuesday the 21st, what can and should Nokia learn from the N900? It is very simple, really: if you see that people are genuinely excited about the it, if it receives a lot of press, if you see that it creates an group of devoted fans just like the N900 did, then back your phone and your device 110%! Don’t hold back, put any and all resources you have into the platform. Run with it as far as you can. And if it means that you have to steer away some resources from the Windows Phone 7 development, then do so, because at this point WP7 is just a plan, a wishful thinking, while the N9 is real and is here and is creating the buzz and the attention that you desperately need! Don’t downplay MeeGo only because you have bet all your chips on WP7 at this point. OK?

But to be honest, at this point my real and only wish is that, come Tuesday, that N9/MeeGo rumor turns out to be more than just a rumor!

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The 3 questions I would want to ask Anssi Vanjoki

Nokia

Jun 142011

1) What was your planned strategy for Nokia while you were expecting to be elected the new CEO?
2) What is your opinion regarding Elop’s decision and strategy to go with Windows Phone 7?
3) If you were to replace Elop as CEO as of tomorrow, what would you do going forward given everything that has been done and happened so far?

I can’t but envy the person who has the opportunity to chat with Anssi by the water cooler every day….

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Will Canonical be the next disruptive force in mobile?

MeeGo, Misc

Jun 132011

I wrote in another post that I think/hope that the new buzzword ‘ecosystem’ is a just fad that will eventually be replaced by largely platform-independent services and an open OS.

I am aware of that there is little economical incentive for the current big players to go down that path (with Google possibly being the least one to resist as long as it generates traffic for them), something that was also mentioned in the comments of that post. So I have was thinking about it when I came across this article at The Register about Canonical. Since I use Ubuntu it should immediately have occurred to me that Canonical is one of the obvious candidates for coming up with that open solution I am hoping for: if I am not tied to or need nor want any ‘ecosystem’ on my desktop then why would I want it on my smartphone/mobile computer?

In the meanwhile I am crossing my fingers for that rumored MeeGo announcement on June 21!

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Nokia's exclusive WP7 features: it doesn't add up

Nokia, Windows Phone 7

Jun 092011

Nokia has said that they will have some kind of VIP relationship with Microsoft, and as a result be able to tweak the OS and add their own exclusive features to the platform. That whole argument strikes me as odd for a couple of reasons.

1) Nokia looked for an OS outside the company in part because they supposedly wanted to be able to leave the OS development to someone else so that they could focus on other things they do better, such as hardware; unless adding Nokia’s own “flavor” to WP7 means simple tweaks like some exclusive live tiles or some skinning, it seems as if doing major changes/improvements to the platform (such as adding USB mass storage capability) would require much more of an effort on Nokia’s part and thus contradicting their stated goal.

Now it is fair to argue that adding a certain feature will probably take a significantly less effort than developing a complete OS, so there is nothing odd with that (if Nokia’s tweaks in fact will go that deep into WP7).

2) But assuming that Nokia actually will be allowed add significant, deep level features to the OS that they will not need to share with the other WP7 manufacturers, what is more difficult to grasp is why those other manufacturers (e.g. Samsung, HTC, LG) would want to continue to produce WP7 phones at all given that they would be in a permanent and default disadvantage against Nokia; for them it would be like being in an abusive relationship. I do not see any reason, no incentive, for them to license and manufacture WP7 phones under those conditions. For anyone wanting to buy a WP7 phone, and for the sellers, it would be a no-brainer: Nokia would be the brand to buy and recommend just for those added and exclusive features.

So again, why would the rest of the WP7 manufacturers bother at all with WP7 under that scenario? Obviously they wouldn’t.

And that could explain why both Microsoft and Nokia keep repeating that the other manufacturers are important in the WP ‘ecosystem’, i.e. it could be a false reassurance so that they stay in the game until Nokia starts producing their phones so that WP7 sales don’t stall completely in the meantime. It could also explain HTC’s recent announcement to wind down their WP7 efforts.

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Nokia E72: bugs, long term impressions and conclusions

Nokia, Symbian

Jun 082011

NOTE: this is an older post from my previous site which I disabled. But due to the interest and large amount of feedback I got I have republished it here again (though unfortunately I wasn’t able to migrate the comments).
If you want to give some feedback then please do so here.
—————————————————————————————————————————–

As I wrote a while back now, a firmware update was provided by Nokia for the E72, which was available to me only a few days later and which I then immediately installed.

I have used the phone now for several weeks with the updated firmware, and I think that I can safely draw some definitive conclusions not only about the bugs that I reported here and the firmware update, but also provide some overall impressions of the E72.

I will start with the bugs that I reported.

I’m happy to report that the A2DP bug has been completely solved. Since I installed the update I haven’t had *any* problems with listening to music both through my BT headset and my BT stereo headphones, including after a phone call.
Unfortunately the phone still disconnects from the BT headset for no apparent reason, though possibly with less frequency than before. However, the phone doesn’t hang anymore as a result of a disconnection as it did before, and “all it takes” is to toggle the BT off and on and reconnect the headset.

It is still very annoying, but a significant improvement over how it behaved before the update.
The speakerphone echo that I also reported has been resolved. I haven’t received any complaints of any kind since the update.
On a couple of occasions I have also discovered my BT headset to be completely out of battery only a few hours after a complete recharge, even though I’ve only used it briefly. It’s as if the phone leaves a connection open with the headset which consequently rapidly drains the battery.

That’s as far as the reported bugs goes.

Now for some general impressions of the phone.

I was on a business trip to London last week, as a result of which I put the E72 through its paces. During that trip I had several apps open constantly, including a large pdf file of the London tube network, Metro, the built in music player and CorePlayer. I would also use the GPS/Nokia maps and the camera extensively . With all these apps up and running, the limited RAM on the E72 reared its ugly head several times during my trip, silently closing apps in the background as a consequence. That, along with some hangups of the camera when I tried to take a “screen shot” of a computer display, made for a somewhat disappointing experience, and I was left with an overall impression of the phone not being entirely up to a “business critical” task.

With the exception of Nokia, I am not aware of any manufacturer that produces high-end smartphones with only 128 MB of RAM (of which only 45 MB is free after a reset). This fact alone makes the whole RAM issue particularly disappointing, especially since Nokia could and should have easily predicted the impact of this.
Though not strictly E72 related, I just can’t adapt to how poorly alarms are handled on the Nokia/Symbian(?). It’s something that keeps annoying me every time an alarm goes off. Heck, even my fiancée has started to complain about how tiresome they are.

So what’s the overall verdict?

On the one hand I love the efficiency of this device: the things it does well it does really well, and during those moments I love it. On the other hand you have the BT issues, the low RAM, the alarms.

If you use the E72 “lightly” and don’t depend on its bluetooth, then it is a cracking phone which there really isn’t anything to complain about. But this phone wasn’t made to be used that way, and it is marketed as a business device. As such, I feel that the negatives are simply too prominent for me to be able to use the E72 reliably and in a consistent manner.

As a result I have decided to get rid of it. I will give it to my fiancée who won’t have any of these problems precisely because she doesn’t depend on the bluetooth and won’t “push” the phone . In fact, though she is well aware of the issues I have with the phone she still can’t wait to inherit it, knowing that she won’t experience these problems (and she hardly uses alarms).

So what will I buy next then?
That will be the topic of my next post.

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Was Stephen Elop right to go with WP7?

MeeGo, Symbian, Windows Phone 7

Jun 052011

Tomi Ahonen has written an interesting post over at his blog – it is very long but relevant for anyone who is truly interested in smartphones, so much that it prompted me, after a looong break from posting (and after having moved to and back from abroad in the meantime), to start posting again and write about my own view of Elop’s decision to go with WP7.

Overall I agree with Tomi, though think that maybe he underestimates the perception of who are the market leaders. Also, one thing is units sold (where Nokia is still the undisputed champion), but another matter is the profit made regardless of the number units sold which (where Apple reigns), and I don’t think he gave that distinction any attention; at the end of the day, it is the profit that matters.

But one of my main issues with with Elop’s decision to go 100% with WP7, which he based on the term ‘ecosystem’ which he constantly keeps throwing around, is that I believe the idea of an ‘ecosystem’, and which obviously stems from Apple’s attempt to create one (i.e. “the walled garden“) is vastly overrated. It’s a buzzword, a fad, that will disappear.

Let me explain. On your PC you don’t have an ‘ecosystem’ nor does anyone think in those terms. What you do have is a platform (=OS) and all you want is simply the tools (=apps) that will allow you to do what you want/need, whether it be the browser or dedicated programs.

Why do people think that it is a good idea to treat smartphones any differently, and even more so when smartphones are becoming more like PCs? Why would I want to be tied to any ‘ecosystem’ to have access to and download my tools (=apps), or upload files, or participate in a social network?

What Apple got right, besides from the UI/usability, was the appstore, i.e. a simple way of finding and downloading the tools/apps that you want or need. But that is it. (Note that an appstore is not the same as an ‘ecosystem’).

Now some people make the case that people want to have a seamless experience on their phone, and that inevitably requires an ‘ecosystem’. But that is not true nor the solution, or at least not the ideal solution. What they *should* be focusing on instead is to create a solid API so that the app developers can provide that experience (if the platform creators haven’t already, that is).

Nokia had the clout to bring that open platform, with superior hardware, to the masses (probably in the shape of MeeGo) but, as Tomi notes, they failed miserably with the execution. But that doesn’t mean the idea was wrong.

So even though Elop is absolutely right about that drastic changes are needed in Nokia (especially note the last paragraph in the link), the solution is not to copy the other players, but rather to drastically change the organization in order to quickly get Nokia to execute on that broader, greater vision that goes beyond ‘ecosystems’ (think what Google did on the PC). Now that doesn’t happen overnight obviously and in the meantime they would have needed to do a lot of firefighting which could very well have included adopting WP7 or Android in some way, but certainly not to the extent and fashion that Elop executed it; e.g. imagine Nokia doing their very best to create the best speced Android phone on the market (aka. a Samsung G2 but with a better camera, perhaps a keyboard, etc.); Samsung will be selling millions of their high-end G2, with high profit margins, so why wouldn’t Nokia do equally well or better while they get their act together?

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Why I returned the Nokia C7

Symbian

Nov 132010

My fondness for Symbian is hardly a secret at this point, so when the Nokia C7 was announced I was looking forward to it more than the N8, so much in fact that I decided to wait for its release. I ordered the C7 as soon as it was available, but despite being excited to finally get my hands on a Symbian^3 device it was only with me for 24 hours before I returned it.

There were mainly three reasons for returning it.

Browser. If you have read any review of the N8 or C7 you will know that the browser has been widely criticized. To be honest, I think most reviewers have been too kind in their criticism because the browser is, by far, the worst browser on any smartphone platform out there right now. It is so bad it is borders on being unusable: it is extremely slow at loading pages, scrolling on desktop sites is choppy at best, it does not auto
fit the page to the screen width when you zoom in and it doesn’t have multiple tabs. In short, there is absolutely nothing positive that can be said about the browser.

Text input. With no portrait qwerty keyboard on board and the fact that entering text is done in “pop-up” mode, any text input is a chore.

Multitasking. No, it’s not what it sounds like. Rather, it’s a usability issue in S^3. The sliding of the horizontal list of open apps is fun for about oh 30 seconds. You then discover that you constantly overshoot the app you are looking for so you end up slowly dragging the list instead of swiping it. It’s definitely a step backward from the previous icon grid of open apps.

Then there were minor issues such as the threaded messaging: it looks nice but it’s rather slow, every time you send or receive a message it blacks out for second when it updates the list. And of course the old Symbian alarm “feature” is still there.

On a positive note though, the Bluetooth issue has been completely resolved.

In all the Nokia C7 was a rather disappointing experience, and one that left a dent in my faith in Symbian, not because Symbian doesn’t have the potential to be a great OS but rather because of Nokia and their inability for the last few years to rapidly execute plans. The next few months, what with Meego and the promised Symbian updates, will be crucial for Nokia.

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The Nokia N8, a prime example of what is wrong with Nokia

Symbian

Sep 202010

The Nokia N8 was finally supposed to be released at the end of this month, but now Unwiredview.com reports that it has been delayed, once again, until October.

The reason is apparently that they are still fixing bugs!

Now, the fact that Nokia wants to release a device that is bug-free is all good and well. But Nokia’s competitors also strive to release devices that are without issues, and not only are they arguably more successful in doing so, but they also A) do not need to make a big fuss about it, but also B) manage to do so, and C) without any delays.

Case in point, you have the HTC Desire HD and HTC Desire Z, which were announced only a few days ago and will be available in less than a month.

The difference in productivity between the two companies is staggering. How many sales will Nokia lose as a result of this? Unless one is specifically interested in Symbian^3, the average consumer is not going to hold out for the N8; instead they will walk into a store, see the excellent new HTC phones (among many other options) and get that instead. By all accounts, even Windows 7 will be available by then. In other words, Nokia had an excellent window of opportunity right after the summer which they will now miss.

You would expect certain basic processes to be in place at Nokia, the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Yet their absence is painfully obvious, once again, with this last delay.

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Nokia N8: Nokia's make or break

Symbian

Sep 032010

There is no doubt the Nokia N8 will be a very important device for Nokia, but not because of its specs and what it will bring to the smartphone market, not even because of Symbian^3, but because it will be Nokia’s opportunity to prove that they really can deliver when they set their mind to it. As such, it is arguably the most important device Nokia has ever released to date.

After the failure of Nokia’s last flagship device, the N97, (and to a lesser degree, and in my experience, the E72), they really need to show the world they can deliver a good user experience on a new device from day 1. This means making the right decisions in terms of hardware specs, software, and a thorough QA before the release.

Whether Nokia have learned from the past remains to be seen. On paper at least I would have liked to see more RAM than the announced 256MB. But regarding the software, Eldar Murtazin from Mobile-review.com doesn’t seem very optimistic, as evidenced in a very interesting interview with the Unwiredview.com.

The fact is that Nokia really will need to nail it this time in terms of user experience, otherwise they might very well permanently cement their reputation as the company that constantly “under-delivers” as a result of skimping on the hardware (CPU and/or RAM) and an awful (non-existent?) QA. I am sure the wish and the awareness of this is very present at Nokia; the question is if they can make necessary changes within the company and execute upon this awareness.

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MobileInfoPlanet

Is Nokia in for a dilemma with the N9?

"I don't want no friggin 'ecosystem'"

What Nokia should learn from the N900

The 3 questions I would want to ask Anssi Vanjoki

Will Canonical be the next disruptive force in mobile?

Nokia's exclusive WP7 features: it doesn't add up

Nokia E72: bugs, long term impressions and conclusions

Was Stephen Elop right to go with WP7?

Why I returned the Nokia C7

The Nokia N8, a prime example of what is wrong with Nokia

Nokia N8: Nokia's make or break

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