Reuters is reporting that the Finnish handset manufacturing giant, Nokia, has pulled an about-face on their stance on touchscreens. The company has previously stated that they were not very interested in the touchscreen technology that the Apple iPhone made so popular. However, Nokia COO Tero Ojanpera, said that “Optical sensors and touch will be the next big things,” adding that “I believe there will be a lot of innovation around these.”
The change of mind is completely Nokia’s prerogative, but it’s funny how fast a company that has seemed set in their non-use of touchscreens could flip-flop. We’ve seen touchscreens being widely used in the Windows Mobile world (that’s for you, Dusan) for quite some time now – and with the upcoming iPhone release, it’s understandable that Nokia would come around and embrace the technology. This would finally help Nokia “multimedia computers” actually qualify as “smartphones.”
We can’t wait for touchscreens and movement sensors to hit our favorite Nokia devices. Imagine if the Nokia E61 had been endowed with a touchscreen? Or if the Nokia N95 featured movement sensors? Please, Nokia, give us the N98!
[Via: Reuters]