Mobile Royale TechBlog

N9 To Be The Last MeeGo Ever, and Everything You Wanted To Know About It

K FLYER — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:20:13 +0000

The blogosphere has been abuzz with rave reviews about the Nokia N9. Even Engadget loves it! And among all this, there have been rumours that the Nokia N9 will be the last ever MeeGo device to be built by Nokia, no matter how successful it will be.

We were curious, and wanted the answers. Nokia CEO Mr. Stephen Elop was kind enough to respond to our burning questions, and given below are his answers to our questions. We are very thankful to Mr. Elop for being so responsive, and it was interesting to know that he even replies to emails at 4am!

Q:Is there any plan of unifying the UI along all Symbian and S40 to look similar to MeeGo?

Mr. Stephen Elop (SE):
You will see some commonalities emerge (already with Symbian Anna, and more to come), however there are limitations to what can be fully accomplished on different platforms with different degrees of underlying technology (e.g., the chipsets on S40 devices, for cost reasons, are capable of less than on more expensive devices).

Q: Is it true that the N9 will only be available in 23 countries ?

SE: There will also be availability through online resellers.

Q: Was the article on that Finnish website true? Will N9 be the last MeeGo device by Nokia?

SE: Underlying platforms will change, but many innovations in the N9 (e.g., development platform for applications) will continue.

Q: So the N9 is the final MeeGo device we will see, but Qt will continue
to live on ?

SE: Yes.

[Mr. Elop noted that Qt will be the focus of application development for the Next Billion, ie Series 40]

Q: But whhy provide developers with free N950s if the N9 will be the last ever MeeGo?

SE: Because the development platform – Qt – is something that has widespread opportunities today and in the future.

We did not forget to ask him about a timeframe for Symbian Belle’s release, however he declined to comment stating that Nokia is not yet ready to share those information publicly.

Mr. Stephen is a very hard working executive and we thank him for the time he spent for us.

Hopefully this article answered some of your burning (platform) questions.

Make sure that you share this article with your friends right away, as we are not sure if we will be required by Nokia to remove this article from the website soon.

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Nokia N9 Announced

K FLYER — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:46:12 +0000

Nokia today announced the Nokia N9, a bold, beautiful and simple unibody device that brings Nokia back into the mobile trend in a great way. The key feature of the MeeGo/Harmattan based device is its swipe gesture based interaction that is not found in any other mobile device on the planet. This unique device runs on a 1GB RAM with a 8MP AF camera.

All that you need to know about the N9 is in Nokia’s slick microsite about the device, swipe.nokia.comSimilar Posts:

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Making Symbian Sane

K FLYER — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:55:34 +0000

Everybody hates Symbian. At sometimes, even Nokia seem to be hating Symbian. But at distant parts of world, there still is a large crowd – millions of people – who still use Symbian everyday. And preserving this market would be critical to Nokia’s success in transitioning to Windows Phone 7 devices.

This brief proposal talks about some ideas, that Nokia can ( and should ) use to bring back Symbian to the top spot in these markets.

Users do not like to be laughed at, by users who use shiny new Androids and iPhones – the majority of whom bash Symbian. And this Symbian bashing comes to them from the tech savvy power users who read the tech blogs. The tech blogs, and the power users are influential enough to portray an image in average Joe’s mind, that Symbian is inferior to the ‘cool’ Androids they use. We’ll come back to talk about this in detail later, but on one hand – this inferior treatment has a ground too. The Symbian UI indeed is low on usability compared to their competitors. But in reality, deep beneath, the core of this issue is not the UI – but Symbian’s inconsistency. What I am going to do, is to detail some simple steps that Nokia can follow to sort out this inconsistency and make Symbian ‘sane’ and clean. These steps will not cost Nokia much ( in fact almost next to nothing compared to their revenues ) and will not take any long time to execute either. These are simple fixes, that Nokia can follow in no time, without spending much.

SOFTWARE

1. Built-in Apps

In power usage, Symbian in fact has a lot more to offer, than Android and iOS. But this is overshadowed by one factor – discoverability. Let’s face the truth – not every user uses App Stores. The key reason the likes of HTC lead, is this. For example, let’s take the case of Wi-Fi tethering.

Symbian has long supported Wi-Fi tethering – even since before Android was ever born – but a majority of Symbian users do not know this. In comparison, almost all HTC Android users know that their device supports Wi-Fi tethering. How? HTC has bundled in “HTC Portable Hotspot”, a Wi-Fi tethering app – as an official tool for their Android devices. There are a number of other similar features too. The simple things like these matter – because these are what the average Joe will touch – not an app purchased from the Ovi Store. The answer, start offering Nokia’s own apps for these kind of features.

The solution is simple – buy JoikuSoft’s JoikuSpot Wi-Fi tethering app and rename it as something like “Nokia Hotspot On The Go” and bundle it with new devices. Or simply offer it with the device, like Nokia used to have F-Secure built-in. Make the Nokia Play To app built-in, and tout the DLNA features. The list can go on, for a range of other features – where Symbian is capable but is not known for.

2. Branding

Nokia recently announced that they will be phasing out the Ovi brand and replacing it with the parent Nokia brand. This is a very good move and will help increase the brand recognition. But Nokia’s execution on this has been so far very poor.

Replacing everything Ovi, with Nokia, sure takes time. But replacing the word Ovi on a 3.5″ screen should not be that hard. Simply replace the Qt based Ovi startup screen with a blue coloured Nokia one (so that it will keep a familiarity with WP7′s blue colour too). Rename the widgets and services from Ovi to Nokia. Simply release a new Ovi Suite version with just the Ovi name replaced by Nokia. This will go a long way in bringing to Symbian, the simplicity and consistency that it presently lacks, rather desperately.

3. Update often, update right

Nokia has been touting a 50+ feature update for its existing Symbian^3 devices since late 2010. The update, then known as PR2.0, was originally promised to be delivered in early 2010. It was then renamed as Symbian Anna, and has now been pushed back to late Q3 for the existing devices. The result of all this has ben that, Nokia teased the users too much, so much so that they fed up of it, and have now lost all trust about Nokia’s “ability to deliver”. Now whenever a blog post about something with a planned release date comes up on Nokia Conversations, the most frequent comment that you see is “It is Nokia. They never deliver.”

This timeframe between announcement and delivery has been something which the present CEO Stepehen Elop was bullish about earlier. But it, unfortunately, has now been beaten by financial reasons. The harsh truth about the Anna update is, it seems, that Nokia willingly pushed back its delivery for existing devices, hoping to increase the sales of Nokia E6 and X7, that came with Anna in-built. A company with a profit warning cannot be blamed for a such move. But there is a lesson, that Nokia should learn from all this, teasing the users too much hurts the brand. Either never promise any updates, or deliver when you promise it.

IMAGE

Nokia back in February, gifted Symbian with its death certificate. I appreciate Mr. Elop being a transparent personality, but that shelf life period is something I still wish if Nokia had kept secret. What happened was that the sales channels got the word, and now indeed are persuading users to buy other brands. This cannot be blamed on the sales channels. The salesman is a human and it is a human instinct to whenever share with others what you have heard. Imagine what would have happened if Nokia instead said in February, that they are adopting WP7 as the primary smartphone OS, but that Symbian would still be supported. You may still have all those shelf life targets for Symbian, but would instead show them only to the investors – not to the media. That could have saved Nokia from a catastrophe. The outcome was that, almost all tech blogs started bashing Nokia, and the fanboys started leaving Nokia. In this internet age, word of mouth is critical for any tech gadget’s success and good PR is invaluable. Both of those would be critical, if Nokia is to make their WP7 plans a success.

Having said that, all is not over. Nokia can still regain what it lost. I would like to invite Mr. Stepehn Elop to write a blog post on Nokia Conversations addressing the fans’ concerns. And better yet, why not start a new blog that will be contributed by everyone in Nokia’s management team ? This would be a radical move that will bring back Nokia the control of its publicity. This will make Nokia a company closer to the heart of its consumers. What else better could happen to a consumer brand? The key is to make the users feel that Nokia is not ignoring them.

MARKETING

Symbian might not be as ‘cool’ as iOS or Android, but Nokia still is a great maker of hardware. The key to Apple’s success is nothing, but great marketing. There is no reason why Nokia cannot do the same. Nokia should star touting its hardware features. For example, penta-band 3G and Bluetooth file-transfer. Nokia can call the E7 as a device that you can use from anywhere in the world. This would neatly fit a lot of globe-trotting executives, businessmen and employees. Nokia should use the marketing effectively to show the world that it still leads.

These small steps are not that hard, will not cost much, and will not take much time. But they will matter a lot to the end-user – the group that ultimately decides Nokia’s fate. And a group which Nokia has been almost ignoring for sometime. I’m sure that these steps will help Nokia to make the situation better and I really hope that Nokia has some ideas to learn from this post. It is high time that they made a move.

I wish Nokia and Mr. Elop all the best!Similar Posts:

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The New Symbian UI, Revealed

K FLYER — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:20:29 +0000

Despite the delays in delivery of the new firmware, the new Symbian UI is something that the users of the legendary OS are awaiting for with excitement. And Mobile Royale is proud to present to you today, what could probably be the first major set-in-concrete revelation about the proposed new UI.
The details about the new proposed UI were posted as part of Forum Nokia’s application style guidelines. Have a look at these brand new images showcasing the redefined Symbian experience.

Forum Nokia has already defined a list of new icons and examples on how to create your application icons, as well as the above showcased toolbar icons, that will form the new style guidelines.

The new UI will take forward the icons introduced in PR2.0. The new iconography is called Nokia Surround.

The new navigation architecture is displayed below.

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K FLYER — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:19:20 +0000

Forum Nokia has already defined a list of new icons and examples on how to create your application icons, as well as the above showcased toolbar icons, that will form the new style guidelines.

The new UI will take forward the icons introduced in PR2.0. The new iconography is called Nokia Surround.

The new navigation architecture is displayed below.

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Nokia Introduces New Typeface : Nokia Pure

K FLYER — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:12:40 +0000

In a welcome change, Nokia has introduced its new typeface ( or font: as many know it ) called Nokia Pure.

The new font, created by Dalton Maag, will ultimately replace Nokia’s present Nokia Sans font on Nokia’s corporate communications. While it has been said that the font will make it to device screens, this is still an uncertainity as has been most of Nokia’s recent Symbian related upgrade decisions. However, I hope that they will indeed update the existing Symbian lineup with this font. More photos after the break, all courtesy of Dalton Maag.

Excellent font, Dalton. Of course, I believe the resemblance of 7 was a requirement.

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Opera Mini 6, 4.3 and Opera Mobile 11 now available

K FLYER — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:18:03 +0000

Opera Software has today made available Opera Mini 6 and Opera Mobile 11 for a number of mobile OSes, including Android, Symbian, Blackberry, WP7, MeeGo, iPhone and Java. The company has also made available a new version of its legacy Opera Mini 4.2 browser, numbered 4.3, for low memory devices.
Opera has also unveiled a new microsite dedicated to its mobile browsers called The Biggest Brand on Earth.
Opera has also been able to nicely implement a split-screen keyboard on Symbian^3 ( as seen below ) – a feature that Nokia has pushed back from making available. The new Opera Mobile also brings up pinch-to-zoom.

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Gravity Adds Push Notifications, Shows What Symbian is Truly Capable of

K FLYER — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:10:06 +0000

Gravity, the popular social networking client for Symbian has added Push notifications to its wide range of features, demonstrating what Symbian is truly capable of.

The notifications work anywhere in the UI and currently shows up for replies and DMs ( obviously!) on Twitter. Two options, namely Mute and Close, are present to either shut off Push notifications or Close to hide the presently visible notification.

While your device is locked, it displays the last reply on the screensaver ( and also in Bubbles view).

To use Push, and to help the developer beta test the feature, head over to http://bit.ly/6698ALL and download the new release. To enable Push notices, go to your Twitter Account Settings tab on Gravity once you are connected. To unmute push notifications, you can either wait till the screensaver is activated or simply lock and unlock your device touchscreen. Landscape mode is supported too.

The release works on all Symbian versions from S60 3rd Edition onwards, although S60 3rd Edition may not support all of the push UI elements. The new version also improves Facebook Messaging support but does not currently feature push for Facebook as Facebook APIs currently do not support this. The developer is considering adding push support for all Tweets too, if battery tests prove power efficient enough.

Symbian as an OS has always supported push notifications, but only a few developers have made use of it.Similar Posts:

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Nokia Also Talked to RIM

K FLYER — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:56:02 +0000

Nokia also talked to RIM, to try to license Blackberry software, reports TechCrunch. The report says that the issue was about licensing Ovi Maps etc, to which only Microsoft agreed, which should hopefully clear out the “commoditization risk” Mr. Elop stated – we hope he was more clearer.Similar Posts:

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Verizon Hesitates to have Nokia – Microsoft

K FLYER — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 10:28:15 +0000

Verizon CTO Tony Melone has gone on record at the MWC saying that he does not see any neeed for Nokia WP7 phones at Verizon and that he prefers the “third ecosystem” to be a strong ecosystem and not one like the Nokia – Microsoft alliance.

“I don’t think Verizon needs the Nokia and Microsoft relationship,” he said. “Right now the three OS players we see for our network are Android, Apple, and RIM. “