You have to hand it to the Finnish team at Nokia.

When they need to, they can seriously compete with style with their mobile devices.

Nokia N9 Manufacturing:

This video showing the manufacturing process of the Nokia N9 running Meego (shame that this O/S is likely to slowly die before really showing us it’s capabilities) allows us all to see where the new Windows Nokia marriage may well be going.

The link above suggests that the new Nokia Sea Ray running windows phone 7 will use pretty much the same shell as the N9 so we can not wait to see what this will feel and run like with an operating system that is aiming a little higher than Meego ever was.

It would appear, according to Nokia’s twitter account, that the arrival of the much anticipated Nokia/Windows phones will be sometime around Q4 2011 with the main bulk of arrival due in 2012.

With noise from the Nokia camp being suspiciously low in the last few weeks, anticipation is high and a feeling is in the air that something is about to be announced of some magnitude.

Nokia tweeted the following:

“We cannot confirm local availability but the 1st Nokia w/ WP devices will ship in Q4 and with volumes in 2012,”

The new Nokia codenamed Sea Ray was first shown on video by our good selves back in June, when it was “leaked” in a rather contrived way to the blogosphere, since then things have gone a little quiet.

I suspect that a first round of releases could be with us in late October, so stay peeled for further news.

This is a major step for Stephen Elop and will be his crowning or damning in terms of how he will be judged as the relatively new CEO of Nokia.

Windows 8 – A trick in the back pocket?

If all fails with the release of the new Windows 7 phones from Nokia and Microsoft, there is still one last hope left, and that is the arrival of Windows 8 as an operating system with the new “Metro” style interface designed to be PC, tablet and smartphone capable.

Nokia senior vice president Marco Argenti has recently said this in relation to Windows 8 O/S:

“Personally, I’m most excited about what’s new with Metro, and how much momentum Nokia and Microsoft are building together, creating an opportunity for you, here and now,”

With the release of Windows 8 O/S due soon and tests being run in Beta as we speak. Nokia are hoping that the new “Metro” style interface will be perfectly suited for running smartphones and that applications will be developed in the magnitude that they are for Apple and Android. If this comes true it could signal the start of an exciting new dawn for both Microsoft and Nokia, though it is very much make or break for the two technology Goliath’s in my opinion.

Apple and Samsung have leapfrogged Nokia to become the Worlds largest manufactures of smartphones.

The findings only go to show just how much Nokia has fallen from grace in the last few months and years.

Apple has had a quite remarkable rise from being a one time PC manufacturer to becoming a global leader in modern mobile communication devices.

“Just four years after the release of the original iPhone, Apple has become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume,”

Apple consolidates a healthy 2010 smartphone market share:

Apple now has a market share of some 18.5% this is up from 13.5% last year and is the reason that Apple are now sitting at the top of the Global smartphone market.

The continued rise is not looking likely t abate for some time as analysts have shown that Apple has remained string in the emerging markets of China and Asia, a key territory for any smartphone manufacturer to conquer if they are to remain in the number one spot and something Nokia failed to capitalise after disappointing smartphone product lines were eclipsed by Apple and Samsung offerings.

Samsung sees biggest smartphone rise in market share in 2011:

Samsung saw a huge rise of 12.5& from last years market share and sees them sit pretty with on 17.5% of teh global smartphone market by volume of sales, managing to shift some 19.2 million units compared to Apples 20.3 million units and Nokia’s 16.7 million units.

Nokia slump to third place with 15.2% market share:

Nokia have seen their market share fall from a lofty 38.1% in Q2 2010 to a 3rd ranking 15.2% as we see the smartphone market become dominated in almost equal terms by the power three of Apple, Samsung and Nokia.

Nokia spokesman Doug Dawson spoke recently stating:

“This is a tough year for the company,”

Samsung saw an increase of 520% in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 2010 and with the release of the Samsung S2 eagerly anticipated in the US in August, the likelihood is that Apple and Samsung are going to be at each others ankles for the rest of the year.

Nokia meanwhile need to prey that the marketing budget they are putting behind the release of a new line of Windows enabled phones, is going to be enough to turn peoples heads and more importantly live up to the hype!

Nokia report only second quarterly loss since 1998

The figures right now just do not add up for Nokia, as they recently posted a shortfall of some 368 million euros down from a paltry 227 million operating profit last year, times are not rosy in the Finnish land of Nokia.

Moody’s downgrade Nokia debt

It would seem that more people are paying attention to Nokia’s current woes than just their accountants and shareholders as Moody’s the rating agency downgraded Nokia’s debt by a factor of two notches this month, with the loss in market share being the main reason behind the move, they also stated that this might not be the only move that happens if things do not improve at the firm.

Doug Dawson – Nokia spokesman said:

“We’re in a transition, but it’s a necessary one to put down the foundation for a stronger Nokia,”

Nokia’s Trojan Horse?

With the recent arrival of Stephen Elop as new CEO of Nokia from Microsoft, a shock decision to abandon Nokia’s Symbian operating system for a Windows/Microsoft collaboration had many people wondering what the future was going to hold for Nokia.

The truth is know one is quite sure just yet. But the arrival of Windows Sea Ray could see Nokia really start to claw back the market share that they have lost by shear virtue of having a second class operating system eclipsed by Android and Apple iOS and also Apple and Samsung phones.

Windows “Sea Ray” and “Mango” to the rescue?

Nokia will eventually release their Windows based phone running a Windows 7 Mango update. The phone will be codenamed Sea Ray and will look virtually identical to the N9 , and it is likely to be a success, the only worry I have is that Nokia have confused people so much over the last few years that they will not fully understand that their new O/S of choice (Windows Phone 7/8) will be a worthwhile look in when they are already very happy with Apple and Android O/S.

I think they need to move fast to catch current mobile device drifters, as once a few (three or so) O/S’s enter the market I am unsure there will be room for many more once people get settled with the new options that smartphones offer (apps, video, location based services), so Nokia need to be involved now….and while I am no Microsoft lover, they do have a beast of a games console in the Xbox that could be a great selling point for the new Nokia Windows enabled mobile devices.

So keep your eyes peeled for more news on Nokia’s current ups and downs!

Nokia N9 – The Last Hope?

In a recent article I talked about Nokia’s new collaboration with Microsoft (Windows 7) and went on to say that it was make or break for the mobile stalwart of old.

Despite the size and brand name associated with the Finnish Giant, the truth is, no one is too large to fail in the modern world of technology and commerce.

Apps make smartphones…smart:

When all said and done a smartphone without apps is pretty dumb, they are the same as the phones that ruled the day only two+ years ago.

Call, text, take a picture and maybe some video.

What applications offer is to customise the phone and enhance its functionality so it becomes your personal smart device.

We all know that customisation is a prized holy grail of any manufacturers especially when it makes you more money, so why have Nokia taken so bloody long to realise that having control of all parts of the production and consumption chain aka “vertical integration” is the way to make the dollars!…see Apple for tips.

Maybe they operate too closely to the PirateBay guys and still feel that there is no money in software or digital assets….wake up!

With the slow and scheduled demise of the Symbian OS, app developers have all but abandoned ship for the Symbian OS as a developers platform for obvious reasons.

With the arrival of the Nokia N9 we see two things happen at Nokia that concern me:

1st – Is the arrival of a “new” operating system for Nokia devices called “Meego”

2nd – We see Nokia team up with Microsoft and produce an even newer operating system for the new Windows/Nokia devices due out soon. Watch exclusive video here of the new Nokia Windows Sea Ray

The question I have for Nokia is what are you going to do about making sure that developers make quality apps for your operating system?

Yes Nokia will include the Apps compliant Qt 4.7 which should allow developers to knock out applications swiftly enough, but as with the Android marketplace (which is in another league to Nokia’s own current equivalent app marketplace) a serious issue of quality and quantity arises.

A lack of Apps is the one big gripe I have over my old iPhone after a recent switch to the Samsung S2, and believe me it is a serious gripe, though I suspect one that will be overcome soon enough given the ubiquity of the Android O/S but will this be the same for Meego or indeed Windows 7?

Lets go back to 1984

It reminds me of a time back in the early 1980’s.

In the UK you had four main choices for a home computer (PC) depending on your budget.

1, Sinclair ZX Spectrum

2, Commodore 64

3, Amstrad CPC

4, Acorn Electron

Now the geeks in the house would tell you that the Acorn Electron was vastly superior in many aspects but vitally missed the extra RAM that the Commodore and Spectrum offered.

But the real issue that faced the Acorn Electron was that they released their hardware too late for the Christmas period even when orders were already in the shops.

As a result, people cancelled and bought something else.

Over a short period of time, games developers/publishers started to work more on the larger selling Sinclair, Amstrad And Commodore PC….this slowed sales of Acorn Electrons as word got out that titles were not being released and eventually the Acorn simply stopped growing and died as it was caught in a vicious circle. Ironic considering the status of the humble Acorn in most peoples mind.

Developers make or break your market:

With Apples app market providing a record 15 billion app downloads as of mid 2011, and Nokia yet to really get going in this space, we worry that it may be too little too late.

Without developers creating quality applications for a smart phone, there is no way that that device will either sell or grow.

Now this kind of situation is deeply hurtful to a manufacturer (BETAMAX v VHS) so it is in Nokia’s best interest to make sure that developers of apps are not messed about too much and that they can EASILY port applications made for the iPhone O/S and Android O/S easily to both MeeGo, and variations of the Symbian O/S and now the Windows 7 operating system.

Damn!! Talk about making everyone confused!…..seriously not the best idea for a manufacturer who is still on the back foot in this brave new world.

And while many will say that the average person in the street will not care about the confusing operating system issue, my own response would be that times are changing, and if bad press or lack of press due to lack of understanding prevails, then Nokia will have a challenge to convince people through the blogosphere that they are worth looking at again, after being so noticeably absent for so long.

If Nokia feel they can just mess around until it suits them then they have seriously misjudged the way things are moving in the smart phone arena.

Now is the time to get a firm position in the high end smart phone arena:

We know that Symbian is still technically the worlds number 2 smart phone O/S but only on technicalities. It’s power and appeal is nowhere near as far ranging as Apples iOS or the Android O/S.

Here is a cool video we produced showing some great smart phone statistics please do tweet and share!

Meego Stay Or Me Go Home Now? The issue of working with two operating systems at once:

So what exactly is MeeGo and is it going to disappear quicker than Symbian now that Microsoft are fully in bed with Nokia?

MeeGo is essentially a combination of two Linux based operating systems, namely Nokia’s Debian-based Maemo and Intel’s Fedora-based Moblin operating systems.

With the departure of the MeeGo team manager for Nokia, Alberto Torres, after the news that Nokia was hooking up with Microsoft, many wondered just how focused Nokia are on keeping the Meego operating system going for future devices.

We know that the Nokia N9 release will utilise the MeeGo O/S but no news has emerged to say if this will be a one off or will continue as a line of phones separate to the ones offered via the windows phone 7 and future 8 operating systems.

And what will happen to support for the O/S in all eventualities?

Well news on the grapevine:

Actually from Twitter and Nokia’s Head of Portfolio Management, Klas Strom who assures us all that support for the Meego O/S will be provided in the future…we hope this is true.

With all this talk of apps, I am at a loss to see why Nokia are being so damn shy about which operating system will stand the test of time now they have hooked up with Windows 7.

Nokia N9 Styling:

Without sounding too harsh on our Finnish friends, Nokia have fallen wayside of the style radar for some time. That is not to say they have become un-stylish per se, but simply because the phones that have been released have all been eclipsed by something sexier or more functional that has caught the eye quicker and for longer, examples include most of the recent Samsung’s, HTC’s Sony’s and of course the iPhone range, we would even say that LG have a smart phone that beats the Nokia N8 both for looks and usability and more importantly would appear to be future proof enough for now, even if users of the LG Optimus complain of a huge lack of updates.

With Nokia’s N9 they have kept the sleek styling we have come to expect of Nokia and design houses of the Northern regions of Europe, utilising the old “form follows function” mentality preferred and originated by the modernist movement of designers and architects of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s that fits so well with items that are used daily and need a smooth functional interface.

Apple have made a success of this with the functionality of the iPhone, copied by competing manufacturers in their droves. Nokia’s method with the N9 is to try to bring something unique to the table with a system they are terming “swipe”….”all it takes is a swipe”….“We wanted to design a better way to use a phone, and it comes down to one simple gesture – a swipe.”

Forgive me but I have basically been doing this with my iPhone and Samsung S2 for 2 years or more.

Ah well, welcome to the new world Nokia, glad to see you back, now take a seat down over there while we get you a stiff f*****g drink, we have a few things to talk about.

The problem with Nokia:

The problem with Nokia and the N9 is that its release comes about at just the time when the Global population has woken up and said, you know what, where have Nokia gone?

People in the know have asked this for ages, and it is only the emerging (less profitable) markets who have kept Nokia phones to their ears for the last two or so years.

So what do Nokia go and do….release another phone with a new operating system that no one has heard of and is more than likely going to go down the pan pretty soon.

Nokia listen up:

Style will usually get you anywhere, but seriously if you dont have any friends in the club in the first place, your fancy new jacket might make you look more of a knob than you intended and while being different is usually cool, if your actually a one trick pony when scratched, your time away from being trendy will become all too apparen’t and you will be laughed back out onto the cold damp street you came in from with a black eye before you can say “swipppppeeeee! that hurt!”.

Seriously, what did you guys do that made you feel like the best way to win over an already happy customer base (with other manufacturers) was to go and confuse them even more?

Personal opinion on Nokia:

I feel that the N9 may well be a bit of a botched effort even though it looks fantastic on paper and that teaming up with Microsoft could put them in a great position with the potential for Xbox integration and the social aspect that can come from this partnership, plus Windows 7 actually looks pretty cool.

We know Nokia can make the best quality phones in the world and the N9 is proof of this on many counts, just ask Apple. Apple have been stealing Nokia’s trademark secrets for ages now.

Though I did pose a question earlier in the article above; Have Nokia missed the boat? Are they better placed to be a world wide R&D centre and sell patents and licenses for new technologies developed?

Well if the next phone (Windows Sea Ray) launched after the much anticipated Nokia N9 does not work financially for Microsoft and Nokia, then it is surely game over for the company in terms of gaining any significant foothold in the smartphone arena any time soon and many will ask why they did not just go for an Android O/S device and get a quality phone out to market way back in 2010 or earlier.

Ah Nokia, who once ruled the mobile device market….surely it’s not game over yet?

We have an almost World exclusive video of the new child of Nokia and Microsoft code named “Sea Ray” it actually looks pretty swish I must say.

Here is the video showing the full leaked video and read our report below:

Sea Ray did you say? I seem to have lost him?

So what has been let out of the bag?

A cat or a……… “Sea Ray!!!”, “Sea Ray!!!” dah dah dah da da da!!….not sure about the name I must say, especially when your Northern European colleague finds it very tough to pronounce…but apparently there are 500 new features!

Nokia starting to get open about their technology:

In a display of openness that you can only give credit to, Stephen Elop – Nokia’s CEO called for an open dialogue within the company, gong on to ask for employees to share experiences and be honest about the products they are developing even if that news may not sit well with everyone.

Adding:

“It is OK to give us the bad news. The pain we suffered just a few weeks ago about the earnings release would not have happened if the people in this company had shared the bad news earlier.”

Look and feel:

On look and feel it seems to resemble a newly released Nokia N9 although it has one tell tale sign that it is a superior model by having another button on its side….assuming that more is better!

Windows 7 Mango

It is also currently running Windows 7 Mango, a nice looking interface that works on the premise that we all want to use “tiles” and not pinch our devices bottoms quite as much.

We have done a report on Windows and Nokia releasing a tablet with Windows 8 as the OS for future Windows devices this is really quite intriguing having only just written that report the other day, it would appear that Windows 7 will be a stop gap before the Windows 8 beast that should tie up all Windows based devices with one OS that integrates better between desktop, laptop, Xbox, smartphone and tablet….time will tell.

Lets take a look at the User Interface an apps that were shown in the “leaked” video:

Xbox integration

Appealing to gamers worldwide, the expected Xbox integration looks OK, nothing to really see from the video, though I personally except this to be a major selling point assuming it is done as well as the actual big daddy Xbox, this I expect to be a given considering what is at stake.

Microsoft Office For Windows 7 Mobile

We can also see that Microsoft have ported their Office suite onto the phone which we hear Microsoft believe is a missing market for Tablet owners….the higher end business user….and assume this will also be a feature on the tablet version running (we assume) Windows 8 in the not too distant future.

British Airways App For Windows 7

Quite a nice little app here and something in deep contrast to its Xbox integration, here Microsoft are trying to widen their appeal by showing off a high end app such as the British Airways app where you can take a virtual tour of your flight and pick your seat…nifty!

We will leave the rest up to you.

Are you looking forward to Nokia and Windows finally entering the Smart Phone market properly; perhaps feeling a little sad that they missed the first real excursion into a truly useful mobile phone experience enjoyed by the likes of Apple, Samsung, HTC, Android, Motorola, RIM etc?

And do you think they will muscle their way in with a unique product and operating system such as Windows 7 on mobile?

Or too little too late?