Nokia has just announced that Nokia Transport, think turn by turn navigation for those who rely on public transportation, is now out of beta. The video below demos how the app works, and it looks amazing, but, and this is a big but, it only works on Nokia’s Windows Phones. According to data from Nielsen, Windows Phone powers 1.3% of the smartphones currently in use in the United States. That’s small, but things get worse: Just 0.3% of those devices are actually Nokia Windows Phones, the rest are made by Samsung and HTC. It’s always frustrating to write about Nokia’s applications, which only work on Nokia’s phones, when the CEO of the company, Stephen Elop, keeps on going and on about how the company is in a “war of ecosystems”, not a “battle of devices”. If that’s the case, then why not make Nokia Transport, which is a brilliant application, available for the other Windows Phones on the market?
Taking this discussion one step further, look at how Google or Facebook operates. They’re service providers, so it’s in their best interest to make sure that their service works on anything that’s powered by electricity. Why isn’t Nokia positioning themselves as one of the best Windows Phone app developers on the planet? We all know that the success of a platform is in part determined by the quality of the applications on said platform, so why create an artificial restriction? And hey, why not get the Nokia brand out there by making iOS and Android applications?
Even Microsoft has created applications for iOS, and there are rumors that they’re going to release Office for the iPad either in late 2012 or early 2013. When that happens, will Nokia still be stubborn and insist that their apps only be compatible with their devices?
Something tells us they will.