Today, at an event webcast around the world, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop demonstrated how the company is making progress on the new strategy it laid out earlier this year.
"Earlier this year, we outlined a comprehensive strategy to change our course,"
said Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia. "Innovation is at the heart of
our strategy, and today we took important steps to demonstrate a new pace of
innovation at Nokia. It's the beginning of a new era for Nokia."
Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop also unveiled that the company would launch
its first smartphone using Microsoft's Windows platform later this year.
"Our primary smartphone strategy is to focus on the Windows phone," said Elop,
who moved to Nokia from Microsoft last year.
"I have increased confidence that we will launch our first device based on the
Windows platform later this year and we will ship our product in volume in
2012," Elop said.
New Affordable
phones
In mobile phones, Nokia introduced three new affordable devices - the Nokia
C2-02, Nokia C2-03 and Nokia C2-06. The portfolio includes dual and single SIM
options, and all three models offer a new web and maps experience for
Series 40 phone users, as well as the choice of a touch screen or a keypad.
The Nokia C2-03, the third Dual SIM phone Nokia has brought to market in the
past month, comes with Nokia's Dual SIM capabilities. These include features
that allow the user to personalize up to five SIM cards with a dedicated look
and feel, and an Easy Swap option that lets users change SIM cards in seconds
without having to turn off the phone or remove the battery. The Nokia C2-02 is a
single SIM version with a similar feature set, as well as push messaging options
and a broad range of IM providers included, and the Nokia C2-06 comes in a range
of colors with a smooth finish.
The phones all ship with new Nokia Maps for Series 40, where local maps and
places of interest are pre-installed on the phone. This means users can view
maps and plan routes when the phone is in offline mode, thus saving on the costs
of downloading maps over the mobile network.
All three phones also deliver internet browsing through the data compression
technology of the Nokia Browser, which keeps the costs of surfing low and speeds
up page downloads. The browser loads with a localized start page, giving the
user instant access to the most relevant content, and is tabbed to give easy
access to favorite or previously viewed information.
The three phones also pack a stereo FM radio, media player and memory support
that can be expanded to a 32 GB.
The estimated retail price of the Nokia C2-02 and C2-03 is approximately EUR 75
(USD 105) and for the Nokia C2-06 it is EUR 80 (USD 112). All of the devices are
expected to hit the market in the third quarter of 2011.
New Symbian Anna
Nokia also restated its commitment to Symbian. This July, Nokia will start
shipping Nokia N8s, E7s, C7s and C6-01s with the new Symbian Anna software
update, which includes a number of user experience improvements. By the end of
August, existing owners of these devices can also download Symbian Anna. And
over the next 12 months Nokia plans to bring up to 10 new Symbian-based
smartphones to market.
Nokia N9
Nokia also revealed its latest smartphone: the Nokia N9 MeeGO phone, an
all-screen device with three home views and a new user interface navigated
through a simple swipe of the finger. The Nokia N9 comes in a polycarbonate
design that enables high antenna performance for better reception, better voice
quality and fewer dropped calls; and a smarter all-round experience with NFC for
sharing and pairing to accessories.
The MeeGo platform was born in February 2010 when Nokia and Intel unveiled a
merger of Nokia's Linux Maemo software platform with Intel's Moblin, which is
also based on Linux open-source software. After Nokia pulled back from the
project four months ago, other vendors have become more interested in the
technology as Nokia's dominant role in the project had held back others from
adopting it.
The Nokia N9 introduces a new design where the home key is replaced by a simple
gesture: a swipe. Whenever you're in an application, swiping from the edge of
the display takes you home.
The three home views of the user interface are designed to give fast access to
the most important things people do with a phone: using apps, staying up to date
with notifications and social networks, and switching between activities.
With no need for a home key, the all-screen Nokia N9 makes more room for apps to
shine. The 3.9-inch AMOLED screen is made from scratch-resistant curved glass.
The phone also features an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus sensor, wide-angle
lens, HD-quality video capture and large lens aperture.
The Nokia N9 offers free turn-by-turn drive and walk navigation with voice
guidance in Maps. With the new dedicated Drive app, you can get in your car and
start navigating to your destination right away.
You can watch videos in true 16:9 widescreen format. The Nokia N9 is also the
world's first smartphone with Dolby Digital Plus decoding and Dolby Headphone
post-processing technology.
Fitted with the latest in wireless technology, Near Field Communication (NFC),
the Nokia N9 allows you to share images and videos between devices by touching
them together. Pair it with Bluetooth accessories like the new NFC-enabled
Nokia Play 360° wireless music speaker only once, and you get a surround sound
music experience with just a tap.
The Nokia N9 will be available in three colors - black, cyan, and magenta with
storage options to accommodate plenty of content: 16GB and 64GB. It is
scheduled to be in stores later this year.
Nokia believes that the N9 will inspire developers to build more powerful Qt
applications. The Qt framework is at the core of Nokia's existing smartphone
product line, and today there are more than 100 million Nokia Qt devices
worldwide.