What has Nokia been up to: 20 press releases in 3 days

3GSM is over. The lunacy can finally stop! I should’ve blogged more but I had some pretty important personal matters to address. Apparently I’m doing a lousy job with time management, spending more of my waking hours with this blog then with my classes.

What can I say? Do what you love!

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has been rather busy. They published 20 press releases in the past 72 hours. Instead of creating 20 separate blog posts, let’s handle everything in one swoop.

Everything in bold is a personal comment of mine:

1. Nokia Growth Partners Fund increased with 100 Million USD:

   "Nokia Growth Partners, a global private equity and venture capital management firm backed by Nokia, today announced a significant expansion of the group’s investment plans providing an additional $100million investment into a Fund of Funds program with a special focus on emerging technology markets, including India and China. The firm also announced that John Gardner and Paul Asel, two industry veterans, will lead the expansion effort.

   Launched in 2004, Nokia Growth Partners’ inaugural $100 million Venture Capital Fund invests directly into growth stage technology companies that share an alignment of business interests with Nokia.

   Nokia Growth Partners has now created a Fund of Funds program targeting an additional $100 million of investments in top tier venture funds that offer access to emerging markets and/or exposure to innovative technologies in domain areas beyond the scope of Nokia’s traditional core businesses."

   Nokia is essentially pouring money in to what will help them make money in the future. That’s a lot of VC money when you think about it. I wonder how much of that money is allocated for mergers and acquisitions?

2. Nokia builds on vision of mobilizing the internet to transform mobile communication:

   Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo reinforced the company’s commitment to lead the next phase of mobility and unveiled a new line up of devices and services that harness internet connectivity and will begin to transform how people use mobility in their professional and personal lives.

   Speaking at the Nokia Press Conference at the show, Kallasvuo said "The worlds of mobility and the internet are merging, but as an industry we are still only scratching the surface of the possibilities this offers. Nokia is driving the change, taking a lead in harnessing this new connectivity in ways that will transform how we use mobile devices for work and in our personal lives. The products we are launching today reflect some key areas that we believe will become part of this new connected life and where we will start to see much more widespread adoption."

   If you’re not in the mood to watch Nokia’s 3GSM press conference then all you have to do is read this press release. It is a blow by blow account of the important announcements and devices shown off.

   I got it in my inbox 5 minutes before Olli even got on stage. Talk about a party killer.

3. Nokia and Telecom Italia work together to boost mobile service innovation:

   
   "Nokia today announced a software collaboration with Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI) to further strengthen Telecom Italia’s innovative service portfolio. The collaboration aims to simplify service deployment through the platform-based model, help Telecom Italia in implementing their service convergence strategy and increase the amount of S60 devices in Telecom Italia’s portfolio.

   "The market leading smartphone software S60 on Symbian OS enables Telecom Italia to implement their pioneering service concepts consistently," said Matti Vänskä, Vice President, Mobile Software Sales and Marketing, Nokia. "With the S60 platform, service innovation can be separated from handset development and operators are able to bring their unique service offering faster to the market. Telecom Italia is breaking new ground for service convergence and S60 fits perfectlywith their needs. ""

   Nokia landed a contract with an Italian operator that will help increase S60 recognition. I wonder how they will take on such design styles as the 6300, N77 and N93i?

   I know they’re picky.

4. The Nokia 3110 classic: Straight forward technology in a reliable package:

   
   ""The Nokia 3110 classic delivers on the promise of honest performance, dependability over time and up to date styling," says John Barry, Director, Mobile Phones, Nokia. "The Nokia 3110 classic has several little crafted details that most people will not notice, like thicker plastic and a larger antenna to make the phone more dependable. To keep up with the latest trends in mobile phones, the Nokia 3110 classic also has a 1.3 megapixel camera, music player with expandable memory and an FM stereo radio. Our newest addition to Nokia’s mid-range selection offers a wide range of conventional features at an accessible price.""

   All I want to know is what OS does it run and is there a 3.5 mm headphone jack built in.

   Little factoid: Here is the original 3110 from 1997

5. Nokia 6110 Navigator hits the road (map included):

   
   "Key features of the Nokia 6110 Navigator include:
   - Fully integrated GPS Navigation with one touch Navigator key
   - Local map pre-installed on the memory card for immediate navigation
   - HSDPA for fast web browsing and downloading
   - WCDMA 2100 HSDPA, GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
   - 2 megapixel camera with integrated flash, 4x digital zoom and panorama mode
   - Real-time video sharing and video calling
   - ~40 MB free internal memory
   - Support of microSD memory card up to 2 GB

   The Nokia 6110 Navigator phone offers a talk-time of up to 3.5 h (GSM) and 2.5 h (WCDMA), and a standby time of up to 11 days (GSM and WCDMA)."

   First step in the right direction. My definition of "mainstream" is when people stop bothering to even look up a specification.

   Do you ever check to see if the phone you’re about to buy has Bluetooth?

   It’s assumed. When will we reach that point with GPS?

6. Contact in color – Introducing the Nokia Bluetooth Display Car Kit CK-15W:

   
   "Nokia today announced the Nokia Bluetooth Display Car Kit CK-15W, a revolutionary car kit to ease your communications on the road. The bright 2.2 inch color display provides a convenient backdrop for easily viewing and controlling your call functions while the separate input device provides controls for volume adjustment and accepting or ending calls.  Once paired with a compatible phone, the Nokia Bluetooth Display Car Kit CK-15W enables you to make phone calls and browse the contact list even when having the phone in your pocket.  The car kit’s display includes adjustable background colours and themes for personalizing it to suit the lighting on your car dashboard.

   "We are committed to providing convenient communication solutions that are easy to use inside the car," said Wolfgang Gärtner, senior category manager, Nokia Automotive. "The Nokia Bluetooth Display Car Kit CK-15W is intuitive in its functionality, so you don’t need to waste your time fiddling around every time you get in the car. The large color display is based on the familiar Nokia user interface which makes it easy for people to take the product into use.""

   I have such a large idea I need to put down on paper (keyboard?) concerning this very same technology. It has nothing to do with cars however.

   I don’t care what the research says: using a mobile phone, even if it’s a hands free system, impairs your ability to drive at your fullest potential.

   Then again people like to choose the laws they break. Some like to talk and drive while I just like to drive … at over 177 km/h (110 mph for my ever shrinking amount of American readers).

7. Nokia unveils new mobile internet video experience:

   
   "Nokia today announced a new mobile internet video experience which enables enhanced internet video consumption by bringing YouTube videos into the hands of Nokia Nseries multimedia computer owners.  YouTube videos are accessible with Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map through the new YouTube mobile site to be launched shortly.  Also, YouTube video RSS feeds can now be consumed through the new Nokia Video Center application.

   "We are thrilled to be giving users easy access to entertaining YouTube videos anytime and anywhere. By partnering with an industry leader like Nokia, we’re able to bring YouTube videos to mobile phone users worldwide," said Steve Chen, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer for YouTube.

   "We are extremely excited to be able to announce YouTube as one of our first global partners in bringing internet videos easily to our Nokia Nseries owners," said Harri Männistö, Director, Multimedia, Nokia. "The addition of the enhanced internet video experience is a logical continuation of the wide range of internet experiences available on Nokia Nseries multimedia computers covering already for example photo and video uploading and sharing, music discovery as well as search and navigation.""

   I can’t say anything until I try out Youtube’s mobile site. It has yet to launch.

8. Nokia N77: Live TV when you want it:

   
   "Nokia today introduced the Nokia N77 multimedia computer offering an optimized mobile TV experience in a compelling and compact form factor with complete Nokia Nseries functionalities. With the Nokia N77, the latest integrated DVB-H device in the Nokia Nseries range, operators now have greater choice of devices as they further develop their broadcast mobile TV platform to launch and attract more subscribers. The Nokia N77 enables living room TV as viewers have come to know and understand, but is now available in a small and beautifully designed package to take on the go.

   "TV is the biggest media in the world and we are mobilizing it with the Nokia N77. The pocketable and affordable Nokia N77 further drives broadcast mobile TV based on DVB-H technology towards the mainstream market phase. The ability to watch live television on a mobile device has never been so easy," said Jonas Geust, head of Nokia Nseries Players Category, Multimedia, Nokia. "The wide 2.4" flat screen with up to 16 million colors and high quality stereo sound makes it the ideal personal mobile device for enjoying live TV and music on the move.""

   How is DVB-H doing in other countries? I stopped watching TV a long time ago. Any shows I do consume are via torrent sites.

   You simply can’t find Top Gear in America!
   
   I discover new shows from my friends and amazon.com, Netflix does a pretty good job recommending me stuff as well.

9. Nokia expands the opportunity for business mobility beyond the executive suite:

   
   "Nokia today announced Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite 8.0, the industry’s most comprehensive platform for business mobility.  A new software release, Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite 8.0 combines a comprehensive platform of wireless email, file synchronization and application synchronization, with the robust security, asset collection and reporting of fully integrated device management.

   With this new release, Nokia responds to customer feedback by delivering an uncompromised approach to both flexibility and support for today’s business demands.  By offering an increased array of deployment options — behind the firewall, hosted or white-label — with an increased choice of supported devices and platforms from virtually every vendor, covering S60 and UIQ on Symbian OS, Palm (NSDQ: PALM), Windows Mobile, Pocket PC and more, the flexibility on how and to whom mobility can be delivered has been given back to businesses and operators. Furthermore the combination of a two-tier licensing model and support for Java-based J2ME(TM) phones, such as Nokia Series40, lowers the barrier associated with widespread mobility.  Combining this with an already comprehensive suite, Nokia is able to provide a solution for the market that can grow as the mobility requirements of an organization or operator evolve and further address the needs of a previously overlooked market segment."

   What I do know from all my friends in corporate environments is that the only reason they chose Windows Mobile smart phones to deploy to their employee’s was Exchange.

   I’m still living in 1995, I check my email by launching the Gmail application. I get too many messages a day to have my N93i buzzing every 20 minutes.

10. Nokia unleashes second wave of Nokia Eseries business devices:

    "Nokia today introduced the second wave of the Nokia Eseries portfolio with a trio of feature-packed, design-rich devices – the all-inclusive Nokia E90 Communicator, the stylish slider Nokia E65 device, and the slim email-optimized Nokia E61i device. Each new Nokia Eseries device features a combination of advanced technologies that will enhance the way people experience work in a mobile world, by allowing faster and better quality access to important information for greater collaboration and productivity.

    The Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia E65, and Nokia E61i support the most popular email and business voice and other productivity and leisure time solutions, operate across different continents using the quadband GSM and 3G network frequencies, provide fast broadband data connectivity with 3G WCDMA and WLAN. In addition, Nokia E90 Communicator is now High Speed Download Packet Access (HSDPA) enabled and can reach data transfer speeds comparable to those traditionally achieved only in the office. The speed, processing power, and superb screens of the devices coupled with the flexibility of the S60 software open up opportunities for completely new mobile experiences in and out of the office. With the introduction of the new Nokia Eseries devices, Nokia continues to knock down the barriers to widespread adoption and unleash the true potential of business mobility for business customers and operators."

    

    So let me get this straight. The N77, 6110, and 3110 get their own press releases … yet Nokia chose to lump the E61i, E65, and E90 all in to one?

    I don’t get it.

    This is the definitive press release you want to read if you want to know more about the smart phones unveiled at 3GSM.

    Note to the PR guy who wrote this: Stop using the word unleash.

11. Nokia Siemens Networks: Preparing to Connect the World:

    
    "At the 3GSM World Congress 2007 in Barcelona, Nokia and Siemens will join together to present the future Nokia Siemens Networks.  Nokia Siemens Networks will be a world leader in telecommunications, with strong positions in the fastest-growing market segments and regions.  Driven by a desire to connect the world, the new company will have an unparalleled capability to deliver ‘end-to-end’ convergent solutions based on a broad portfolio of fixed and mobile infrastructure products, services and devices.  The planned merger to create Nokia Siemens Networks is expected to close in the first quarter 2007.

    "Nokia Siemens Networks will be ideally positioned to help our customers capture opportunities that will arise as the connected community swells to around five billion by 2015.  In 2015, we will live in a broadband-IP world, in which five billion people in practice will be ‘always on’, connected to the Internet, rich content, services and of course each other," said Simon Beresford-Wylie, designated Chief Executive Officer for the future Nokia Siemens Networks. "While Nokia Siemens Networks will have the scale to compete, we know that is just a starting point.  As the world of telecommunications changes, we will also create customer value through innovation, speed and deep end-user insight.""

    Two words: New logo.

    Sony has that little ball. LG incorporated a tiny man in to their logo. Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has that star trek looking symbol. The only two people still rocking text on their phones are Nokia and Samsung.

12. Future Nokia Siemens Networks takes shape with unveiling of portfolio plan:

    "Nokia and Siemens today unveiled the proposed product portfolio plan of their future 50:50 joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks, strongly underlining their intent to create an industry leader that will meet the needs of customers in the converging telecommunications industry. The planned merger to create Nokia Siemens Networks is expected to close in the first quarter 2007.

    Speaking at the 3GSM World Congress, Nokia Siemens Networks COO-designate Mika Vehviläinen said: "Our customers have responded positively to the proposed merger, and with this announcement we aim to justify their faith in us. Our customers have crucial decisions to make about their business going forward, therefore clarity for them about our planned portfolio is a key strategic priority."

    He continued: "Nokia Siemens Networks will be ready to serve customers with a best-in-class portfolio that comprehensively covers both the mobile and fixed markets. It will be underpinned by a strong presence in the growing services market, a very powerful global R&D team, and a huge global installed base."

    The proposed portfolio plan covers the six future business units for Nokia Siemens Networks: Radio Access, Service Core and Applications, Operation Support Systems, Broadband Access, IP/Transport, and Services."

    No comment.

    Seriously, the network is something that we just rely on to be there. We don’t think anything of it. Of course now that 3G is out and about we all want operators to upgrade their base stations.

    There is money to be made here. What interests me however is what these two companies will accomplish together in the labs.

    Too bad Siemens sold their mobile phone group to BenQ. Could’ve used some extra talent. Not to say Nokia isn’t doing OK, some fresh ideas would’ve been nice to bring in to the office.

13. Nokia and Siemens demonstrate how to bring networks to life at 3GSM:

    "Visitors to the Nokia Siemens Networks stand can experience for themselves a wide variety of music and video Personal Infotainment services, including:

    - Mobile TV, using both broadcast (DVB-H) and unicast media-on-demand technologies to deliver TV programming to mobile devices.
    - IPTV, which makes it easy for consumers to enjoy IP-based real-time home entertainment and communication services, including integrated video telephony and video sharing based on the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and Service Delivery Framework (SDF).
    - Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), showing a more efficient future for services such as podcasting and TV streaming using cellular access and mobile devices.
    - Music solution providing a piracy-proof online boutique for music downloading, streaming and ring-back tones, available regardless of access method used."

    Piracy proof! Brilliant!

    I thought companies would learn by now not to announce how secure their DRM is. Guess I was wrong.

    What I want to see happen is our phones becoming podcasting devices, and instead of using an intermediary like Flickr or a blogging engine, we can just subscribe to each others phones.

    That’s a good idea for a blog post actually …

14. Nokia and Siemens Networks to co-operate with NEC Corporation in the area of WCDMA radio networks:

    
    "At the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona today, Nokia and Siemens Networks and NEC Corporation (NEC) announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the co-operation in the area of WCDMA radio networks.

    The co-operation consists of continued support and development for the installed base of Siemens Networks and NEC WCDMA base stations and radio networks controllers.  The agreement is a logical continuation to the successful NEC and Siemens Networks WCDMA collaboration, which has been carried out through their joint venture company Mobisphere. Mobisphere is expected to continue as a joint venture of NEC and the future Nokia Siemens Networks after the creation of Nokia Siemens Networks.

    In addition to the support and development for WCDMA radio access network installed base, NEC, Nokia and Siemens Networks will cooperate in further enhancing 3G/WCDMA businesses. The companies also will continue to discuss the possible cooperation beyond 3G areas like LTE."

    A press release saying how the big boys in the playground are going to play nice together.

    What caught my eye was this term "LTE," I never heard of it.

    I found this snippet on 3G.co.uk:
    

    HSPA (high-speed packet access) and MBMS (multimedia broadcast and multicast service) bring important capability enhancements to W-CDMA. However, they do not match broadcasting technologies (such as DVB-H) or broadband wireless access (such as WiMAX) for delivering mobile TV, Internet access and other important services. 3G may need a major leap forward in capabilities to remain competitive. The relatively little-known 3G LTE (Long-Term Evolution) standard, often termed ‘Super 3G’, may provide the necessary breakthrough, to support a range of new services from 2009.

    By adopting many of the same techniques as alternative wireless technologies, such as WiMAX, 3G LTE is aiming to achieve a peak downlink data rate of 100Mbit/s, an increase in capacity of three to five times compared to HSPA (in the same bandwidth) and latency as low as 20ms. While its performance in a real network implementation remains to be seen, such capabilities have the potential to enable some significant new service opportunities.

    WOW! Let’s pretend it is a year late. 2010 is going to be VERY interesting indeed.

15. Nokia and 3GIS extend their managed services and 3G network equipment contract in Sweden:

    
    "Nokia and Swedish mobile operator 3G Infrastructure Services AB (3GIS), a joint venture between Telenor and Hi3G, have extended their managed services contract. The renewal of the contract enables 3GIS to gain cost savings and a possibility to focus on the main areas of their expertise, while Nokia can further advance the development of its operational processes, tools, skills and competencies.

    In providing managed and support services, Nokia takes full responsibility for alarm monitoring, performance and configuration management, preventive maintenance, site and line maintenance, spare part management, emergency and help desk services, and software maintenance allowing 3GIS to concentrate on its clients. The network will continue to be supported by the multivendor, multitechnology Nokia NetAct(TM) network and service management system, including Nokia NetAct(TM) Traffica and Service Quality Manager."

    Good stuff. Nokia makes a company happy, company extends their contract, makes big news. All I know is this can mean only one thing: profit!

16. Someone at Nokia made a mistake.

    Two URL’s:

    1. http://www.nokia.com/A4136002?newsid=1104334
    2. http://www.nokia.com/A4136002?newsid=1104272

    
    Same press release!

17. Nokia to expand its 3G radio access network sharing solution for up to four operators:

    "Nokia’s enhanced multi-operator RAN sharing solution for three to four operators will be available with Nokia Flexi WCDMA and UltraSite WCDMA base stations in the second half of 2007. The multi-operator RAN feature is implemented with a software upgrade to the radio network controller and is compatible with any core network.

    A leader in network sharing, Nokia is the only network vendor who has references globally for shared commercial WCDMA networks between two operators. "We have already several years of experience with RAN sharing between two operators. This unique Nokia solution will now allow network sharing between three or even four operators and give additional opportunities to significantly reduce the costs of WCDMA rollout and operation, enabling over 40% savings in initial RAN network investments," says Ari Lehtoranta, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Radio Networks, Nokia."

    Give more people 3G and they will rejoice!

18. Nokia and Vodafone announce key milestones in S60 software collaboration:

    "Nokia and Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) today announced a significant milestone in their collaboration on the development of S60 software on Symbian OS(TM), with the release of the first Vodafone specific software package to all S60 licensees.

    The S60 platform and the Vodafone specific software offer an integrated reference implementation that enables Vodafone to roll out innovative new services to customers across a range of different handsets without having to develop a range of different software designs. Samsung and Nokia are expected to be the first handset vendors to ship devices incorporating this software in 2007."

    Operators differentiating themselves based on the services they can offer. S60 is helping Vodafone accomplish that. Happy story.

19. Run on Nokia’s mapping and navigation application smart2go:

    
    "Nokia announced that its smart2go mapping and
    navigation platform has been downloaded around 30.000 times during the
    first two days of being made available. The application is a free
    download that enables people to use the most comprehensive map coverage
    offered on a mobile device. The downloadable application was held back
    three days so that Nokia could make sure that the first experience with
    the application, even in its beta form, was a positive experience. Now
    the beta application can be downloaded from two locations;
    www.smart2go.com and www.nokia.com\maps.

     
    "We
    regret that we had to disappoint even one person, but holding back the
    beta application a few days let us make sure that most people received
    a very good first impression of the application itself," said Ralph
    Eric Kunz, vice-president, Nokia, Multimedia. "We were very thrilled to
    see the demand for the product over the weekend, and after seeing the
    number of downloads for just the PC map loader, decided that we needed
    to put more capacity when we launched the actual mobile application.""

    Thanks you for admitting you delayed the release and apologizing for it.

    Do you honestly think that a press release was the best method to release that sort of statement? An official (or unofficial) company blog would be better suited for such a task.

20. Nokia balances workforce to better meet changing business demands and dynamics:

    "The communications industry is undergoing a transformation, driven by convergence, increased complexity, and strong growth in emerging markets and segments. Nokia is committed to continuously renewing itself and improving its operations to meet the demands these developments present.

    Accordingly, the company is now taking proactive steps to improve the focus and efficiency of some of its R&D and related sales and marketing activities and internal IT operations, and plans to adjust its workforce within these functions to reflect business needs and the geographical shift in business growth. Over the course of the next few months, the company estimates that a maximum of 700 employees globally, approximately 340 of them in Finland, will be affected by these adjustments."

    What a blow. After announcing an amazing 4Q06 there are now job cuts. According to the press release the breakdown is 360 people from Enterprise Solutions, 30 people in Customer and Market Operations, 130 IT employees, and 140 people involved with Software platform activities.

    Ouch! This probably stems from the fact that some of the things Nokia and Siemens are working one overlap. I’d like to personally know more about this.
    

If you’ve reached the bottom of this blog post then you must love Nokia as much as I do. Welcome to the club.