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Tag: "Nokia"

By Yash Maheshwari on September 05th, 2009

Nokia Messaging Updated with Improved HTML Performance

This is surprising. Nokia Email or Nokia Messaging (somebody please decide the name!) has been quietly updated, bringing the version number up to v9.6.12. Although the details about what has been updated or fixed are not know, the HTML email view has been updated it seems. The performance is better and it is much snappier now. The Gmail icon has also been updated.

Oh and to complicating the naming mess even more, the application is now called Nokia Messaging email. Yeah, email doesn’t not start with a capital “e”.

Read the full story for the screenshots showing what has been updated.

News & Info • Social Networking
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By Payam Dastmalchi on July 16th, 2009

Nokia’s Q2 revenue numbers

Nokia has just released their Q2 revenue numbers and as many expected they are hurting to say the least. Nokia’s operating profit was down 66% to 380 million euros compared to 1.1 billion euros last year ( wow, imagine that) with net sales dropping 25 percent YoY to to 9.9 billion Euros. Ouch!

The good news for Nokia is that they seem to be still selling tons of smart phones with Nokia 5800 XpressMusic being the most popular phone with 3.7 million units being sold this quarter alone. Nokia’s E71 device has also received a great response with a total of 5 million units shipping out. Nokia said that its smartphone market share rose to 41%.

In a statement, Nokia also said that it expects mobile device volumes in the third quarter to be approximately at the same level or slightly sequentially. The company also said it expected some delays and shortage in the third-quarter launch of new smartphones due to supply constraints.

Nokia shares fell 12% in early trading Thursday.

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By Payam Dastmalchi on July 14th, 2009

Why American consumers don’t like Nokia phones

nokia-morph-concept-1

There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about the future of Nokia phones and Symbian OS. Many insiders believe that Nokia has missed number of trends in the last few years and it will be hard for them to catch up. A recent study done by Generator Research suggests that iPhone could surpass Nokia as the smart phone leader by 2013. The report predicts that Nokia will see its market share cut in half to just 20 percent by 2013 and names the rapid increase of the applications available for iPhone and price drop of 3G model to $99 as primary reasons for this.

This morning Wired magazine also published an article about why American consumers stay away from Nokia phones. This report is particularly interesting to me because in my previous job, I worked for one of the largest Mobile carriers in the US and I was part of Nokia’s “Retail Evangelist” team and we used to sit in focus groups and talk about this very specific issue and how Nokia can improve its market share in the US.

The article lists 7 items:

  1. Weak Brand and the fact that Nokia has stayed low key in their marketing efforts to compete with rivals.
  2. Lack of focus on CDMA handsets – believe it or not, many people in the US still use CDMA networks.
  3. Poor execution when launching the Ovi store or other high end phones.
  4. Lack of carrier relationships to subsidize handsets and put them in consumers hand.
  5. Unusual handset design- The article talks about the “American Standards of Beauty” which essentially means design values doesn’t matter in the US and consumers want something thin.
  6. Symbian OS.
  7. Lack of decent apps in the Ovi store.

Thinking back about my Nokia focus groups, this list is pretty legit and I think majority of consumers will agree that if Nokia plans to rival Apple or Palm then they have a bigger task of changing their overall culture and focusing on what matters the most to handset owners in the US.

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By Payam Dastmalchi on July 12th, 2009

Oviapplications Weekend Hits 7.12.09

  • Ovi store reports now available for publishers. This is great news for publishers as they can use these revenue reports to adjust their market strategies. [tamss60]
  • The Ovi store is now available in three new languages. Also look for the Chinese version coming at the end of this year. [Nokia Conversations]
  • Nokia will publish its second quarter earnings report on July 16. Many analysts believe the handset maker will see a decline in revenues and number of units sold. [istockAnalyst]
  • 1 out of every 3 phones to have accelerometers next year. This should make developers and gaming companies happy since it will make their content more fun and realistic. [iSuppli]
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By Payam Dastmalchi on June 17th, 2009

Nokia calling all developers to innovate!

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WOW! If you are a mobile developer and looking to get your hands dirty and try new platforms, then this might be it. Nokia is giving away a total of $250k in cash and prizes and inviting developers to submit applications for the 2009 Calling All Innovators contest.

There are total of three categories :

  • Internet innovation – Calling on web developers to transform consumer-focused ideas into real applications on Nokia devices using technologies that include Nokia Web Runtime, XHTML, CSS, Java Script, AJAX, widgets and other standards-based web technologies.
  • Flash – Challenging creative developers and designers to build compelling applications that expand the capabilities and user benefits of Flash Lite on Nokia devices.
  • Emerging Markets and Mobile Necessities – Urging developers to create innovative applications across mobile technology platforms – ranging from SMS through Series 40 and S60 device platforms. All applications will be considered, including those developed using Java, Python, or open source.

and what are the qualifications to get some of that $250k?

The top three submissions in each category will receive cash and prizes that include:

  • Grand Prize winner: $30,000 USD in cash; “Spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 4 weeks on the top page of Nokia’s newly announced Ovi Store, where consumers will find the best mobile applications and content for their Nokia devices; and paid travel to demo the winning application at a Nokia-specified event in the Fall 2009.
  • 2nd Place: $15,000 USD in cash; “Spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 3 weeks on a relevant category page in Nokia’s newly announced Ovi Store, where consumers will find the best mobile applications and content for their Nokia devices.
  • 3rd Place: $10,000 USD in cash; “Spotlight” placement featuring the winning application for 2 weeks on a relevant category page in Nokia’s newly announced Ovi Store, where consumers will find the best mobile applications and content for their Nokia devices.

In addition, the winning applications in all three categories will be reviewed by Nokia for possible preload on future Nokia devices.

Head on to Calling All Innovators to learn more about the contest and get your apps ready. I’ve spoken to many developers over the past few weeks and the number one complaint that I hear, is the lack of resources and support. I specifically think this is a great opportunity for iphone developers who’ve built great revenue producing apps and are now ready to expand and move on to other platforms.

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By Payam Dastmalchi on June 05th, 2009

NYTimes take on Nokia and Ovi Store

Bob Tedeschi of NYTimes has an interesting take on Nokia phone sales in North America and the overall quality of the newly launched Ovi store. I will let you guys read through his piece but I agree with most of the article. He makes few strong points:

  • In order for Nokia to dominate the smartphone market in NAM, they need more and better quality apps in OVI. They also need to re-work the distribution channell and make it easy for consumers to purchase apps on the fly.
  • Ovi apps are far more expensive than similar Iphone or Blackberry apps. Nokia has to start working with app developers to figure out how they can publish quality apps with the average consumer in mind.
  • Search functionality on the Ovi store is quit possibly the worst part of it. It demands some major attention.
  • We all are optimistic about Nokia coming through and improving the store. The global market share, loyal app developers and the fact that US carrier AT&T will intergrate its services with the Ovi store later this year are all good reasons for us to look forward to better days.
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By Payam Dastmalchi on May 27th, 2009

Let’s give OVI some time!

ovistore

A lot has been said about the launch of the OVI store today. With sites like TechCrunch , WashingtonPost , Venturebeat and others all weighing in on the store’s rather disappointment first day launch and the fact that Nokia didn’t take necessary measurements prior to the launch to ensure they can handle the server load and don’t pull a Twitter on 50 million Nokia phone owners :) .

As a long time Nokia phone owner, I am rather optimistic and I am actually looking forward to Nokia to continue to innovate the store and introduce new apps and process. Let’s give them few weeks to get a hang of things- Remember iphone also experienced several glitches when they first introduced their app store so let’s be fair.

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By Payam Dastmalchi on May 25th, 2009

What is your favourite Twitter app for S60?

I’ve been using Dabr as my primary Twitter app on my Nokia 5800 for the past several weeks and besides few hiccups here and there, I’ve been fairly happy with it. In a conversation with a fellow blogger this morning, he recommended I give Gravity a try

I am going to install Gravity as soon as I get back home after this weekend’s mini-vacation but for now I would love to know which one you guys prefer.

General • Polls
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By Payam Dastmalchi on May 22nd, 2009

Google Sync for Nokia S60 phones

For all you Google freaks, there is now an easy way to sync your Nokia S60 devices with Google contacts and Google Calendar. Google Sync is a Beta product and it essentially allows to get calendar events on your device and synchronize your contacts with Google. All changes will be pushed directly to your phone.

You will need to install the latest version of the Nokia mail for exchange application for this Sync process to work correctly.

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By Payam Dastmalchi on May 06th, 2009

Nokia Ovi Store To Debut With Thousands Of Applications

According to a recent comment by Nokia Officials at the Nokia Developers Summit, when Nokia opens up the doors to its Ovi application store , it will have “thousands” of applications ready for shoppers.

Eric John, director of marketing for Nokia, said there are thousands of applications in the pipeline being evaluated by Nokia, and that when the much-anticipated Ovi Store debuts in May it will have at least 1,000 or more applications on it.

The Ovi store is Nokia’s response to wildly popular Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry newly launched Application store. In the recent weeks, Nokia has been marketing their platform superior to the iphone store and has publicly asking iphone developers to try building applications for its platform. According to some reports many developers have been impressed with the platform and are expected to migrate their existing application over to Ovi. It remains secret to be seen how Nokia will monetize these apps and help developers make money.

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