When Google announced its plans in October to revolutionize the software of cellular phones, few were more eager to hear the details than the industry titans at Nokia. They still are.
“We’ve seen an announcement,” Nokia’s chief executive, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said with a spoonful of sarcasm. “Conceptually, we could have made that announcement a long time ago.”
That sarcasm is why I’m posting this. So, how does Nokia differ from any other dog-in-the-manger Telco? They say they’re as capable as anyone else [which means Google and Apple] of innovating, responding to consumers’ needs. But, they’ve rarely offered more than baby steps away from accepted design.
For Nokia, the sudden popularity of the mobile phone business is a double-edged sword. Its core product is emerging as the indispensable device in a wireless, Web-connected world. Nokia has 39 percent of the 1.1 billion-phone global cellular market, more than its next three largest rivals combined. It has half the market for so-called smartphones – Web-enabled devices like the iPhone, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, and Nokia’s N95.
But Apple and Google are going after Nokia’s franchise on two fronts: Apple as a trendsetter, redefining the look and feel of a cellphone; and Google as an Internet engine, seeking to develop a new software standard for cellphones as they become the principal portal to a mobile Web.
Detailed article has all the twists and turns of opportunity.
Looks like it weighs a pound-and-a-half.
dude, wht telcos let you choose what carrier you want line in england? uh.. Nokia. Who else? no one. thats right not apple who lpcks you into an at&t contract to use the coolest phone ever. the aspect of that contrct makes the phone the worst in my book. Go Nokia!!!
Cellphone can’t offer very much innovation or content growth, beyond what they have now. The whole DMR thing muzzles such technology. I can’t see what’s left, that they could provide, that hasn’t been copyrighted to death. Maybe the next model will give you a social disease.
That phone in the pic (the N95) is actually incredibly light. It is a bit thick tho but not too bad. The iPhone is much easier to use for web browsing, but I completely agree about the contract locking, although most of my friends with iPhones would disagree 😛
The whole cellphone industry will be turned on it’s head once wireless broadband becomes pervasive – WiMax, LTE, HSDPA,.. It will be about the mobile internet with voice as a mere token application.
Apple, Google – they will pave the way. In addition, the ARM architecture will die and x86 will win. No doubt.