Nokia readies for a perfect Twango

We have heard about Google buying href="http://youtube.com">YouTube and News Corp buying MySpace, and this time another giant to snap up another social networking site is Nokia. The largest manufacturer of mobile phones has acquired the picture sharing site Twango. While the market speculates if Nokia would really do the popular dance with its new acquisition; Nokia striking a confident smile have announced, “ The Twango acquisition is a concrete step towards our Internet services vision of providing seamless access to information, entertainment, and social networks – at anytime, anywhere, from any connected device, in any way that you choose.”

Hmm ... so much so, seems like it makes some sense after all. Nokia has till date sold over 140 million connected cameras, and would further want to ensure that the users enjoy all that mobile multimedia goodness as much as possible.

The platter of Twango indeed comes with desirable goodies. The service allows users to share, organise, and republish photos, videos and audio clips easily. Unlike the popular photo-sharing site Flickr, Twango also supports multiple media types (110 file types in total). Further, the Twango platform allows developers to create companion applications, connect with mobile devices, and integrate with other Web services.

If the near future has any radical change in store for social networking services, and if mobile phones increasingly become the primary tool for accessing and sharing them – its sure a clap clap to the futuristic vision of Nokia.

Nokia N95 won TIPA award 2007: Hip, Hip, Hurrah!

After a hurly-burly marketing campaign, Nokia hit the Bull's eye with the right outcome. By raking up tremendous sales records, Nokia perfectly achieved it's first objective and now it's time to get its share of appreciation. So, the Nokia N95 finally impressed the techno-community to won the prestigious TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) award as the “Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe 2007.”

Every award matters and it gains more significance when you get it from the experts. Whether it would fortify Nokia's favourite notion about N-series (This is what computers have become!!) or raise the eyes of other big players (Samsung, Sony Ericsson and others), this is the right time to look at its major features:

1.Its camera artillery is loaded with a 5 megapixel camera and Carl Zeiss optics.

2.With its 2-way slide mechanism and dedicated media keys, you can easily access every desired function.

3.To get enough space, you can enhance its memory up to 2GB with microSD memory cards.

4.To optimise downloading speed, it supports HSDPA and LAN connectivity.

5.Acting as your perfect guide, it also comes with an inbuilt GPS system with various maps.

Now all these elements do add up for that unbeatable performance –so far, so good. Though, other major players are certainly not far behind and my follow up posts would dig out certain important details. Till then, it's Nokia N95 –all the way!

Nokia opens its first design studio in India

Source: Internet Press Release


Underlining the growing importance of India as a global design capital, the Finnish mobile giant partners with Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology thus signaling the increasing impact the country is having on the development of mobile phones. The two year partnership one believes would give Nokia designers and India's talented young designers the opportunity to work together on new design ideas for India and the global markets.

Choosing India as its satellite design hot spot, Alastair Curtis, Nokia's Chief Designer, said "India is a dynamic and inspiring place for designers with its diverse mix of cultures, traditions and color. The new satellite studio will help us further develop our understanding of this vibrant country and to work more closely with its extremely talented designers. Reflecting India's status as one of the hottest countries for design right now I expect our work here to influence not only our thinking on new design trends and ideas for India, but also for many other markets around the world."

He further added, “The satellite studio will explore a range of design trends and themes including detailed research into color and material trends in India, mobile use of the internet in India and its implications for design, and examining innovative new features and uses for mobiles. Run by a compact, dedicated team of Nokia designers working with students at the Srishti School and established designers across India, it will also be a key destination for Nokia's global team to visit to share ideas and be inspired”.

And about the deal Ms. Geetha Narayanan, Founder & Director, Srishti said, "Nokia's investment reflects the growing importance of India's designers and the wealth of new talent being developed here. This studio gives the talent of tomorrow the opportunity to work with experienced Nokia designers from around the world. This exposure to world class designers in one of the fastest growing product category in the world will be a huge opportunity for the students in India".

The Bangalore satellite studio is part of Nokia's ongoing investment in design. Earlier this year the company established a new design studio for its design team at its Global headquarters in Espoo, Finland and plan to open a similar studio for its design team in London later this year. Globally, it has grown its design team with 50 new hires in the last year.

Nokia has 300 designers in its global team representing 34 different nationalities. The unique group includes designers, psychologists, researchers, anthropologists, engineers, and technology specialists, based in major cities around the world. They explore new materials, colors, and broader design trends, and collaborate with other leading designers, students, artists, and manufacturers to push the boundaries of design.

Nokia 1100: Still going strong...

Before i was bitten by the bug of 'mobilism', every mobile handset was just another talking device. Bluetooth, Infrared, 3G,GPS, HSPDA were just another incomprehensible clutter of words for me. Yes, i had to make or receive calls and fortunately, i had my reliable companion – the Nokia 1100. Remember the popular advertisement ''Yeh raat ko bhi chalta hai” (It works at night too!)? If you are stranded somewhere, you can use its torch light to find your way. Who needs a GPS anyway! So while my friends were flaunting their ultra cool gadgets, i had one answer for them, my very own Nokia 1100. And now, after all this time, i still feel so nostalgic about the phone.

Now, see what this new sales record says: Nokia has already sold over 200 million Nokia 1100 handsets. Statstics speak for themselves & this sure is staggering!

Surely, you would not find any of those modern hi-tech tantrums in this basic phone, but it has done a lot to build the overwhelming image of Nokia. Now Nokia has phones they claim are what computers have metamorphosed into.

The urge to host a multitude of features on a single device has gone into an overdrive & perhaps Nokia needs the torch back to find its way!

After 3.5 G now Chatter-G enabled phone launched

By Falcon

New Delhi: Considered to be the giant leap in the world of mobile technology, the joint consortium of Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola launched NSSEM Leap series of mobile set, which would be compatible to the Chatter-G technology, an advancement of the 3.5 G.

Talking to the media persons present here, the director of the joint consortium, Dr. Debashish Chatterjee said, “the new model Nssem Leap is an ultra future mobile set, it will not only be compatible to the 0G, 1G, 2G, 3G and the latest 3.5G mobile technology, moreover it will go with the futuristic Chatter-G technology”. He said it could be used in the Neolithic age and Stone Age where there is no required infrastructure. Adding to it, he said that the NSSEM Leap could be used, operated in any time frame – backward or forward.

Explaining what the new technology is all about, Dr. Anirban Banerjee, Chief Technology Officer of the Joint Consortium said, “Chatter-G technology in the context of mobile phone standards is going to be the next upcoming revolution”. The services associated with Chatter-G include wide-area wireless voice telephony and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment.

Summing up the whole extravaganza, Dr Anirban said the Chatter-G technology with the help of high-end semiconductor chips fitted in it transmits and it is enabled to tell what the other person is thinking at any moment of time. It would enable the users to come to quick conclusion whether to call or receive any phone. With this technology in use it is understood it would wipe out misunderstanding, ill feelings and jealousy from the humanity especially from women that is eaten away from inside thus failing fully to exploit our human intellectual resource.

All national and international journalists present here were gifted with NSSEM Leap enabled Chatter-G technology phone. Within no time all were found busy calling their editor, and some calling their girlfriend, and best friends to know what do they think about them. There was an eerie silence persisting all over in the pressroom. All top honchos attending the functions were found carrying the surname Banerjee, Chatterjee, Mukhejee etc…..all Jee – G.

The MSSEM Leap is the acronym of Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

3GSM: Mapping the Asian market

When the big and the best of mobile telephony industry converged in Barcelona this year(12-15 February, 2007)- they meant business and it was as big as it gets. Around 55,000 people- the highest for a 3GSM congress -from across the globe gathered to confabulate and contemplate on the emerging trends in mobile communication. Here's a snapshot of the promises and predictions.

Manufacturers, operators, distributors, mobile content providers, industry experts- they all had their concerns and opinions to share on the future ahead. While manufacturers announced and launched a range of handsets, the operators stressed on enhanced coverage and cost cutting measures to sustain growth.

The marketing policy of Nokia seems to be focussed on business phones with the manufacturer unveiling the next genration of E-series devices. On the other end, Motorola is gearing up to lock horns in the smartphones category with an array of HSDPA-enabled handsets.

Instant messaging was the buzzword with fifteen operators agreeing on a joint mechanism to offer IM across networks. Mobile content and allied services also took centrestage with companies finding it difficult to retain and expand their base, particularly in the developing Asian markets. Mobile T.V and mobile music content featured as a promising business with a huge consumption potential.

Key speakers, noticeably among them, Vodafone chief Arun Sarin(charged up after acquiring the Hutch deal in India!) and Orange chief Sanjiv Ahuja put stress on exploring new revenue streams( like mobile content, sponsorships etc) to sustain profitability and growth. With call charges getting lower and lower, companies are looking for new areas for earnings in both developed and developing economies. With the news of major countries in Asia like India and China becoming 3G compatible, service providers expect a big upsurge in the demand for mobile content like sports updates, video clips, celebrity wallpapers etc., in the multi-billion market.

The next 3GSM congress is scheduled in November at Macau(Asia). With the Common Wealth games and Olympics to be held in the Asian countries, the mobile companies will get an ideal platform to test their business model and infrastructure to deliver news, sports and other mobile content to scores of sports lovers in the developing markets.

Summing up the spirit of the 3GSM, Motorola's new European sales chief, Stephen Nolan observed : 'The central theme of a lot of conversations happening at this show is 'How am I special?' We're moving away from a transactional spot relationship… to become more of a long-term partner.'