Disqus
When Nokia bought Chicago based Novarra, I was trying really hard to figure out what the company actually did. Yes, the press release was clear in saying that it helped web browsing speeds, but I’m a very stupid person. I need to see a product demo to register what exactly your product does. Reading a web page written by someone working for corporate communications is about as pleasurable as severing my left foot off with a dull butter knife.
In the video below you’re looking at a pair of T-Mobile MyTouch units, both running the native browser found in Google Android. One is connected to Novarra’s transcoding web server, similar to that found in Opera Mini, while the other does not. Guess which one loads faster?
Now the acquisition makes a hell of a lot more sense. If Nokia manages to “Novarra enable” their entire S40 (and maybe even S60 and Maemo) lineup, then they’ll have one of the richest collections of data about mobile web surfing that the world has ever seen. Combine this with the 2007 purchase of advertising firm Enpocket and you’re looking at Nokia becoming not only very viable player in the mobile advertising space, but the best option. Not only can Nokia go to advertisers and say “hey, our ad platform touches 40% of all mobile phones on the market”, but they can also go “we also know exactly what websites a user is visiting so you can highly target them”.
It’s why Opera bought AdMarvel earlier this year, it’s why Apple bought Quattro Wireless, it’s why Google bought AdMob. All of them are trying to get a foot in the door of the next wave of advertising.
Opera Mini is being used by over 50 million people, which is great, but Nokia ships more than 50 million S40 devices every 3 months. Apple iPhones and iPod Touches are being used by over 100 million people (correct me if I’m wrong) and those people generally fit in a higher income bracket, plus with Apple controlling the platform with such an iron fist, they can give advertisers highly advanced tools to track how their ads performing. Google … I don’t have to say anything about them. They’re the 800 pound Gorilla that everyone is trying to shoot with a tranquilizer gun so it can be caged, examined, and then dissected for the sake of science.
Nokia’s really got a shot, and the company is loaded with smart people, but will the execute this properly or muck it all up?
[Hat tip to DailyMobile for pointing to this video]
Update: Nokia’s recent hire of Mike Manos now also makes a lot of sense. He’s the guy who built Microsoft’s data centers. Know how many servers Nokia is going to need to transcode web page requests from several hundred million people? Hint: a lot.
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
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