What exactly is Nokia’s problem?

What the hell is happening at Nokia?

They have been in a real decline with no sign of change which is just ridiculous considering their global share of mobile. I’m glad I’m not a shareholder, but if I was I would be freaking out and calling for change … Instead i will just use my iPad.

When Nokia forced the N97 out of the gate early it was, in my opinion, a move made of ignorance. While it is typical for them to release a hardware product that requires firmware to smooth things out, consumer experience had substantially changed since that proactive started. The initial N95 was the same actually. It took a big software update to deliver on the multitasking promise as it shipped without the ability to page memory and therefore needed to close apps constantly as you moved through the device. The N97 continued that tradition and actually shipped with crappy hardware hardware as well. It was barely tolerable with the N97 but people were far more aware of their options (iPhone, Android etc) when the N97 arrived. As a result sales suffered and consumer demand is low … Outside of course of the carrier based low cost phone channel. A place all flagship devices seek …

Now the N8, next flagship is due to arrive and according to aEldar’s review at Mobile Review is yet another disappointment. I’m sure Nokia will make it up by only charging $600 instead of $700 as with the N97.

Nokia’s device strategy is allegedly based on solutions, but their goal of integrating software through Ovi remains another empty promise. The lack of a core suite of reliable services is ridiculous given the amount of time that has passed. I’m not saying this is easy to do, but the company line has been “it’s coming” for far too long … As in years.

Perhaps you think Maemo, oh I mean Meego is the solution? Let’s just look at the stellar track record there. The N900 is the 4th device on the 4th version of the maemo platform. Maemo 6 is DOA and instead Meego will replace. Let’s see how that goes … I won’t be holding my breath. Even if Nokia and Intel pull off a reasonable UX, the services won’t be in place, nor will the apps. Maemo haas been the red headed stepchild within Nokia through each phase it has existed. Instead of creating a dual OS strategy and giving Maemo some real resources, Nokia instead has played it coy and left a lot of the work on the community, which while enthusiastic, remains more hobbyist than anything else. Instead the “effort” has gone towards S60 and Symbian.

I’ve used countless Nokia devices since the launch of Nseries back in 2005. I have loved and actively promoted the brand. I’ve even worked for Nokia in that time through the digital agency I still work for today. Through all that time Nokia has made many broken promises but because they have also stuck to the old game no one else is playing they are losing and badly. It’s great that manufacturing excellence leads to global efficiencies and reduced costs for emerging markets, but where’s the innovation?? Where’s the passion for mobile?

It’s time for a real change.

Symbian Foundation confirms Nokia’s focus

I just caught a very interesting and revealing post over on the Symbian Foundation’s Blog … The key quote for me was the following:

Nokia’s endorsement of Symbian specifically marks out our future as a mobile computing and communications platform for the masses, globally marketed in smartphones costing $150 and under, and being an essential ingredient for helping others embrace the power of new types of communication.

Symbian will maintain it’s role as the smartphone for the masses which is where such a powerful, flexible platform belongs. An exciting aspect of this is that it also means that the offering will continue to have a huge impact on the lifestyles of people around the world.

This essentially confirms Nokia is done with the high end market for Symbian and I don’t care what the public talking heads keep saying about Symbian being their core smartphone OS.  The cues have all been there, but now stated publicaly, we see that Nokia’s smartphone for the masses truly does indicate a focus on mid-tier products given the price points and certainly retains Nokia’s focus on emerging markets as well.

It’s great to see that what we currently define as smartphones will be moving downstream to offer more capabilities to more people.  It’s also quite sad though that Nokia has yet to make a real move on the upper end to attract and retain interest in both developer and prosumer markets.

Before anyone jumps all over me for not bringing up Maemo

The N900 is a nice device, but it’s still way to hyper focused on the geek, and not ready for a mass market audience.  I’m sure there are more steps in the master plan for how Maemo will evolve, but they have yet to be revealed on any level  and whatever rumors have trickled out have yet to be stated boldly enough to instill confidence.  Nokia did not even have the courage to market it against the N97 (a vastly inferior S60 product) last year.  All the current efforts for Maemo are still largely based in WOM … no real push upstream to a broader market.

What a difference a year makes!  Last year, I carried two Symbian devices, had my N810 in my travel bag and regularly rotated through devices as the situation warranted.  I probably had between 3-5 additional Nokia devices within an arm’s reach.  Today, I am not carrying any Symbian devices and there is no Nokia gear in my bag either.  I’ve got an iPhone 3GS and a Blackberry Bold 9700.  I don’t feel like I’m missing anything … in fact just the opposite.  While I was so hyper focused on supporting Nokia, I failed to notice how quickly the Blackberry platform had evolved and though I tried to ignore it, was all to aware of what was happening with the iPhone.

Nokia has yet to actually change their game though we all know the rules changed a few years ago.  Perhaps there’s still a surprise waiting, though it looks like the same show has simply traveled to a new town.

Where are the updates to the S60 Browser?

Every day I read about new services and ways to use the Android and iPhone webkit browsers, yet there’s been no change to make some of these tools work well with the s60 software.  I can’t even open a new tab without a silly bookmark hack, and it seems there’s been little to no change in the S60 browser for a very long time.

By now, I would expect (and I don’t even think it’s that big a deal really) to be able to launch a new tab from within the browser yet there is NO way to do this.  It should be a menu item!  Once you have a few tabs open there is also NO tab management system – they can only be displayed in the order in which they’ve been opened.

I originally blogged about this in the fall of 2007.  Since that time, we’ve seen a number of new devices, a revised OS and yet the browser is still the exact same thing.  I’m sure someone will correct me that the actual version number (undetectable to users) has changed, but there is nothing new here.  I asked about this feature at Nokia World and did not see it in the N97 prototype shared with us over dinner either unfortunately.

My initial hack involves using a start page that forces new windows to spawn (like m.twitter.com) though today I use a homescreen shortcut to a bookmark of about:blank.  If you drop to either your multimedia menu or the homescreen and use that, it will force a new windows to open.

If you are going to talk about the full internet in a pocketable mobile computer, we should also recognize that it’s quite likely you’ll be multitasking across several web sites at once and need a simple (and standard!) way to open a new tab.  Why is the Nokia Internet Tablet the only device that does this?

Single or Multiple Device?

I’m clearly in the two piece camp at this stage of my mobile life.  Andy talks about the Camps of One or Many today  and links to another post written by Alan Reiter on the same topic.  Today I use the N95 with the N800.  I recognize the benefits of each as well as the overlaps but choose to use one of the other to maximize my enjoyment or enhance the experience across the two.  I’ve tried all in one with the iPhone and lasted a few months … A few years ago, I was a heavy Treo user and pushed that to the limits as well.

While I really see the enhanced benefits of browsing, reading and viewing photos and video on a larger screen, I also use my devices so heavily that having a second thing ready to back me up when the battery in one fades is quite helpful.  As we see the release of MIDs with embedded WWAN like the WiMax units shown at CES or the alluded to but not yet seen WiMax N810 from Nokia things will get even more interesting.

My normal day works something like this:

  • Wake up with the N95 alarm, and then check email and Jaiku on the phone right out of bed.
  • On the one hourtrain into NYC, I fire of the N95’s music player and listen to music or podcasts (which I update over the air through the day)
  • The N800 usually then slides out of my pocket and I tether to the N95 to start diving into my feed reading.  I usually also fire up IM, Email and Mauku, a Jaiku client.
  • Depending on which device happens to be capturing my attention at the time, I check in with Jaiku, Gmail, Twitter and Google Reader.
  • During the day I swap the N800 for a work issued blackberry as the second device in my pocket but really only use it for email as it actually sucks (yes sucks) at most other things.
  • My return trip is pretty similar to the morning though I’ve watching a fair bit of video over the past few months instead of feed reading on the N800.  I do multi-task with the N95 and find myself staying connected with Jaiku and email.

I also sporadically snap photos, shoot video (which upload or stream as they are captured).  3G service (ATT) kicks in after about 20 minutes in my ride towards NYC and substantially enhances the overall online experience…

I could probably do all of this on the N95, though it is actually more convenient to have two, in the same way it’s more ideal to work on two monitors.

When I had the N810, I was actually writing posts on the go, not just consuming them and that’s purely a factor of having a built in keyboard and the availability of applications like Maemo WordPy which is offline blog editor for the tablet.

Maybe it’s that I miss my Nokia N810 (still waiting to get a release version swapped with the proto I tested) or maybe it’s the sheer lack of excitement from this year’s CES, but now I really want to get a MID.  The Intel booth showed off all kinds of cool devices and for me this really is a category of interest.  I know MIDs are not likely to become mainstream in the next year (or two) but for the power user, they really fill a beautiful spot in my mobile life.

Typically  a MID is pocketable vs. a UMPC which is something you need a bag to carry.  This distinction is something that makes the experience for a mobile power user like myself.  I can’t see going to a single device anytime soon.  I think the SDK and pending apps for the iPhone are a very interesting thing to watch here, but more interesting to me would actually be a slightly larger connected tablet from Apple