Rafe posts some excellent 2007 predictions

While not 100% Nokia (NYSE: NOK) related, it does tie into Symbian, which is highly relevant to any Nokia phone worth over $200 right now … that’s a lot of phones.

Here are some highlights:

• As with 2006, S60 still needs to prove that it can be successful for licensees outside of Nokia. Announcements from LG, Samsung and a number of manufacturers are encouraging, but the proof is in the pudding. S60 faces its most significant challenge in ensuring that it provides a compelling and usable experience across an ever increasing range of devices and target segments. With as many as 40 applications available out of the box, S60 should be wary of the danger of confusing and driving away novice users. At the same time, high end users will continue to demand more functionality and a refresh of (and addition to) the feature set. A tricky balance to get right. The trend to educate users about their devices must continue, there is a disconnect between what the devices can do and what people use them for.
• We will see more diverged-converged devices. That is to say devices that have a primary task at which they excel, at a design cost to other features. Current examples of this include the Nokia N91 (music) and N93 (video). However such devices will not lose functionality since the majority of functionality is within the software platform and as such they will still be converged devices. This trend is driven by marketing and the need to create products attractive to specific user segments. There will, of course, still be devices that are marketed as ‘do it all’ in the vein of the Nokia N73 or (more sexily) the Nokia N95.

Source: All About Symbian