Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Is 2012 the year of Nokia?
I am on the plane back to the Bay Area from CES. Las Vegas is always a cool place, even if you have a lingering jet-lag. Actually, in that case you might be able to experience the beautiful dawn in the desert while sober, which is not common in Sin City. I definitely recommend it.
CES was packed with people, but lacked exciting stuff, in my opinion. I traveled the show extensively and I can't say many booths impressed me because of new gadgets. I actually felt sad in the empty BlackBerry booth, looking at a new tablet OS whose top feature is email (really? It sounds like a joke ;-) Even TVs looked like TVs, just oversize and slim.
The only place where I saw something exciting is the Nokia booth (yep, they had a booth this year, pretty big and quite crowded). The Lumia 900 was in big display. It is the Windows Phone device coming out with AT&T.
In particular, what caught my eye was the blue model.
I know the sample of one is meaningless, but she is my wife so she must have good taste...
Jokes apart, the Lumia 900 is a big deal. The hardware looks different. The shape is cool, and it feels great in the hands. It is simply sexy. Even without turning it on.
Once it is on, Windows Phone shows up. It is a eye-catching OS. Nobody is taking it seriously, but with a sexy hardware and a massive marketing campaign (just wait, combine Microsoft and Nokia budgets, both at the last chance to make it in mobile...), I think it has a big chance.
Honestly, I believe there is a concrete possibility this device will finally spark adoption of Windows Phone.
That would be exciting. I do not like monopolies, and duopolies are not that much better (it is what Apple and Google are doing these days, with the variation that Amazon is creating a lot of trouble for Google). With Windows Phone in the middle, the competition will be even better.
I personally thought Nokia was done for good (same for RIM, but I have not changed my mind on that...). Instead, I am now convinced they have a winner in their hands, despite the crappy name (said the guy who came up with the name Funambol...). They have the big carrier behind them, which is not going to push the iPhone anymore (and has no reason to push Android much). That will help tremendously. If they execute the plan well, at the end of the year we could be looking at 2012 and realize it was the year of Nokia.
In any case, welcome back old friend.
Posted by Fabrizio Capobianco at 20:06
12 Comments:
Jwg said...
When Funambol is going to support WP???
Comment Posted at 22:11
Alessandro said...
Nokia N9 uses MeeGo not Maemo as OS (SOB!)
Comment Posted at 23:57
Fabrizio Capobianco said...
Thanks Alessandro, I fixed it. Dead for dead ;-)
Comment Posted at 06:21
Fabrizio Capobianco said...
Jwg, we are working on it but for now we are at square zero. It is very high in my priority list, though, for what it counts ;-)
Comment Posted at 06:22
Giorgio said...
Hello,
I was little be surprised by your winphone/lumia praise.
Habitually you have critized Microsoft and his propietary model, remember your post predicting Microsoft mobile OS becoming open source?
The explanation is perhaps on your decision to support WP on high priority? Over all business is business...
what is important is the use experience feed back from your wife.
She is happy?
She does'nt regret the iphone?
Kind regards
Giorgio
Comment Posted at 07:43
Fabrizio Capobianco said...
Hi Giorgio, I always criticize Microsoft and Apple because of their closed model, but I am always ready to say good things when I see them. I have done it with most of the Apple products, and this time with a Nokia device which sports Windows. I am balanced ;-) and I am still convinced that open source is the best model (with Android coming out as the winner eventually).
My wife is super-happy with her phone. No regrets, not even one, about the iPhone...
Ciao,
fabrizio
Comment Posted at 15:42
actually it's not clear to me what your *wife* actually thinks about the software on the N9. You're trashing Maemo-based Meego Harmattan, and it may well be the last of its kind - however, the N9 is a Qt phone (see https://flors.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/the-four-wheels-spinning-meego-1-2-harmattan/), and Qt is part of Nokia's next-billion strategy (keyword: Meltemi). So it's not quite a black-white issue to say whether the OS is dead or alive.
and something i'd be keen to see some data on: user satisfaction comparison between the N9 and lumia. it's such a delicate situation, because the hardware is so similar.
Comment Posted at 00:28
Fabrizio Capobianco said...
Well, she does not care about the OS. She loves the HW, and that is enough for her. She is not a heavy user or a geek, she needs to be able to call someone, send a text, take a good picture or video, send it to someone. That is it. Probably, any modern OS would do it. Clearly, she is more a target for Meltemi than for WP. I am really curious to see Meltemi, BTW ;-)
Comment Posted at 06:28
Fabrizio,
You know me - I have been on the "Windows Phone is really nice, just 5 years too late", since I got my phone November '10. Now, after the Mango upgrade in the fall, I must say it is by far the best OS I have used, and the interface is very easy to use and pleasurable.
With Nokia doing some excellent hardware, I'm with you, they have a real chance. Looking forward to starting to use my Nokia phone in the next few weeks...
Comment Posted at 08:59
Giorgio said...
Finally I've bought one for my wife too! If doesn't work for her, it will be your fault Fabrizio... ;-)
Ciao Giorgio
Comment Posted at 06:13
Andy Cavallini said...
...are we going to buy some Nokia stocks...?
Andy C. - http://www.gaia-matrix.com
Comment Posted at 01:51
Giorgio said...
perhaps Microsoft stocks... I confirm that also my wike like very much the interface simplicity and the photo quality of LUMIA 800.
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