Scobleizer and our own Scott Merrill are both in Barcelona this week to see the latest from Nokia in the upcoming year. The promise, according to Scoble, is a device that will be a game changer for Nokia. Here’s what he heard:
When we got here a Nokia executive met me and bragged that the Internet has no clue what they will announce this week. I asked “what about the touch screen cell phone that I’ve seen rumors about?” He said that no one had gotten it right yet. The announcements are on Wednesday morning (it’s early Monday morning as I post this) so we’ll have to wait to see what they announce. He told me this is one of the only times he can remember when a big announcement has not leaked.
I don’t know much about leaks, but they usually happen when an interested party outside of the company pressures an interested party inside the company. This would require, obviously, someone outside of the Nokia to care about anything Nokia was launching, especially in the wake of the Storm and the Bold that launched a few weeks ago. That’s right: I posit that no one cared enough to sexually blackmail a Nokia employee for details on the new phones.
I may be reading this wrong. Perhaps the internal seals are strong and no amount of Dom Perignon and truffles could prise the information out of Nokia’s core leadership. I’m also willing to accept that Nokia is a leader in this business. Their phones are popular because they work in a multitude of environments and their name is synonymous with quality. But the days of Nokia’s leadership in mobile technology - at least in the war of ideas - are probably numbered unless something amazing happens between now and Wednesday.
As Scoble writes, the iPhone has more apps, business types still love them some RIM, and emerging middle classes know they don’t want a blocky handset once they make their first few thousand.
Symbian needs to leave. It is a strong platform that saw its day but now it is a major hindrance to the growth of the Nokia platform. “But what about old apps!” you cry. What about them? Recompile them under the new platform. What about my comfort level with the OS? When you picked up an iPhone there were no cues as to what to press to get your email. You just pressed the little email button. Try getting to an application in Symbian in one click if you’ve never used the OS.
My hope is this: Nokia did it right. They sat all of their best engineers in a room with pizza and coffee and told them to make a better phone. I hope they asked them to throw away everything they knew about phone making and just built something great. If they didn’t, if they made about XPressMusic 5300 with touchscreen and very little else to recommend it, I’m worried.
thanks for the info.
I am amazed which old and crappy pic you are using for this headline
I think we need to all chip in and do a New Year’s make over for Robert Scoble. He travels like a Rock Star he needs to dress like one.
Maybe it could be an interactive live call in show sponsored by Oakley or Hugo Boss?
We all hope that Nokia gets something great out of the door this time. I still remember my first phone was a mochrome Nokia 3315. Loved it and it worked like charm.
Nokia has produced too high quality a product in the past for me to completely lose hope. Perhaps the very reason that no one cared about Nokia in the wake of all the pretty touch screens is what allowed them to do something amazing under the radar.
Guess I’m crossing my fingers with you.
I would agree that Nokia need to ditch Symbian but from what I know its an s60 powered smart device using firefox. Yes it will have the same touch software thats in the 5800 which I hope is better than the version in that phone cause its a bit flakey.
It needs to be in a case like the e71 because that is the niceest feeling phone that nokia have ever made and most of the nokia management carry them :p
You know nothing, idiot.
linux based phone
I mostly agree, except the whole throwing Symbian out completely. Nokia needs a killer new phone/UI. But it’s the UI that’s the Achilles heel of Symbian, not the OS itself. What you described about the iPhone was a UI issue that the iPhone did right, and that Nokia engineers should be paying attention to.
It’s much easier said than done to “recompile the apps onto a new platform”. MUCH easier said than done. It would probably be extremely irresponsible to just get rid of a powerful OS that has a clunky UI. I say just give it a mega facelift, that’s all it really needs.
couldn’t have said it better.
Maybe an Nseries touchscreen model? Anyway, now you don’t have to guess when: http://events.nokia.com/countdown/
Scoble didn’t report on everything. Only ONE of the Nokia PR reps managing us blogger types at the event knows what is being announced on Tuesday. The other four have no idea. That tells us a lot. Also, according to the Nokia PR guy, Nokia staffers are not allowed to email any pictures of the device or details of the device INTERNALLY. That also tells us a lot. He said it is easily the most well-kept secret within Nokia.
Speculation among everyone on site is that it will be an N Series touch phone. If you think they’re going to ditch Symbian or S60, think again. We can only hope that Nokia chooses touch capacitive technology for this new device rather than touch resistive technology (as on the 5800). Capacitive touch will improve the experience a lot.
Nokia needs to embrace the Android platform.
Nokia has been introducing some good mobile phones like music express and others. They have really taking their product up a notch. On my website I have a mobile search for anyone to use. It very helpful to search for any phone rec ads and info on the particular phone you are insterested in seeing. Just click on my name to see.
Its not that big of an announcement. Trust me.
Yasser.
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that the Internet has no clue what they will announce this week lol
a mochrome Nokia 3315 cell phone keypads nokia
Nokia rulezz forever!!
I thought Information Week is one of the most reliable sources of information. Thanks :)