GLOBAL – New technology isn’t just the preserve of high end devices. Often, finding ways of making lower end devices cheaper and more functional is as big a challenge as coming up with the next ground-breaking smartphone. Delivering genuinely practical features is key to making devices for emerging markets. That, and making devices affordable ($5 phone anyone?). Nokia’s success around the globe is founded not only on breaking new ground with technology, but delivering genuinely practical features to the mass market affordably and effectively. This week’s poll seeks your views on what the most important features are for an emerging market device. We’ve listed the key suspects in the poll below, but feel free to add your own in the “others” box and tell us why in the comments.
Yesterday saw the announcement of five new emerging market devices, including the most affordable phone Nokia has ever produced. The €20 Nokia 1280 doesn’t skimp on functionality and comes loaded with useful features for those who live in remote or rural areas, where a speaking clock and flashlight are far more useful than Bluetooth or GPS.
With a further four low-cost mobiles joining the 1280 in the new year, Nokia has drawn attention to the benefit of no-frills practicality like never before.
So we thought we’d ask you to tell us what you think is the single most important feature in these ultra-affordable phones.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – It’s almost a year to the day that we first reported on an intriguing new service called Nokia Life Tools. Piloted and then officially debuting in India, Life Tools was designed to help improve the livelihood and lives of farmers, students and many people in more remote and rural areas in emerging market countries. It does this by offering easily accessible and up-to-date crop prices, education tools and entertainment packages, delivering this valuable information on a simple SMS backbone. Hence we’re excited to see Nokia Life Tools announced for Indonesia, where it has been keenly tailored towards its people’s needs.
Read on to find out more, see photos of folk using the service, and as always, share your comments below.
GLOBAL – Battery life and phone charging remains one of those intriguing and forever passionate topics of chatter here on Conversations – over the past year we’ve set our brains buzzing with the big phone charger debate and been impressed by environment and sustainability announcements, security shake-ups, and explored how important long-lasting mobile power is for many groups with different unique requirements.
This week’s comment of the week winner responds to the results of our recent business phone reader poll, which saw long-haul battery life come out on top as the most important feature in an enterprise device. Read on to find out who has won a copy of Gravity for Twitter, and to join the discussion and share your thoughts.
ESPOO, Finland – The natural reaction at Nokia may be to blush coyly with news that it has today been named the world’s most sustainable technology company, according to the freshly released Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for 2009-10. However, here on Conversations we’re unabashedly proud to see Nokia earn the top slot as the most sustainable technology company in the world, because we’ve been keen followers, eagerly writing about many of the great stories, projects and initiatives that Nokia has been committed to in order to help get it to the position it has achieved today.
Of course, most of the folk directly involved with bringing the ethos of innovative sustainability to life at Nokia are indeed of the blushing breed, but as we’re not (remember Conversations is written by an Anglo-Brazilian, a couple of Americans and an Irishman!) we’ll happily shine a light on some of the smart projects and some lesser-read public Nokia documents that go some way to understanding how and why Nokia continues to be so focused on being a company actively in pursuit of employing great sustainability practices.
GLOBAL – Last week we talked about Nokia’s new Progress Project in collaboration with Lonely Planet. It encompasses a bunch of Nokia initiatives that see technology used to help improve the quality of life of people in emerging markets, and empower folk with valuable and often life-changing info and tools. Life Tools and Nokia Data gathering are two of the more talked-about projects. But we remain keen to find out what you want to know more about, so last week we posed that question in our latest poll.
We’re going to take your responses to David Mason, one of the guys responsible for the Progress Project, with an aim to bringing you more on these stories (we’ll keep you posted). Read on to find out what you collectively voted for after the break.
GLOBAL – Regular readers will be familiar with our coverage here on Conversations of Nokia solutions and initiatives taking place in emerging markets, and our keen interest in shining a spotlight on the activities in rural communities and areas where a service can be life changing. Such as the Life Tools and Data Gathering projects. Yesterday we brought you an update on the Progress Project (which includes these and number of other similar projects), and a bunch of videos highlighting a few of the initiatives currently being undertaken.
However, we’re aware that we’re relaying stories on these fascinating stories and important projects, but not necessarily asking you guys what you’d like us to explore on this topic and related matters. So we thought we’d run a poll to help us find out what’s of most interest and what you’d like to see more of. Let us know, and make suggestions by selecting the ‘other’ option in the poll below. And as ever, keep your comments and opinions flooding in.
GLOBAL – Nokia has long been working in emerging markets to bring new tools and devices to those who need them. We’ve written here before about Nokia Life Tools and Nokia Data Gathering, two such projects to be highlighted in video by a team from Lonely Planet. Revealed at last week’s Nokia World, the videos explore the work being done, and the direct impact it’s having on the local environments. Continue reading>>
GLOBAL – Nokia has partnered with Wild Wonders of Europe, an exciting pan-European photographic initiative, to help associated photographers tell and share their stories. The initiative brings together more than 66 of the best photographers in Europe. The photographers, who come from 18 different countries, will be embarking on over 100 assignments, across 48 European countries, with the aim of capturing and revealing Europe’s national heritage to the world. The initiative, which actually kicked off last year, is aiming to be the most spectacular nature and wildlife show ever seen. Continue reading>>
SENGAL – Nokia teamed up with children’s rights awareness raising organisation Plan to help boost an innovative music project called Tundu Joor. The objective is to bring poor children together with well known artists to create music. Behind the music is a key message, to promote child rights. 27 Senegalese artistes have taken part following a regional call out to kids who were interested in the project. Those involved created the album Tundu Joor after taking part in a series of workshops focused on music and getting involved.
GLOBAL – The N2Y4 NetSquared Conference was held last week in San Jose, California and comprised two days of meetings and seminars facilitated by leaders “working at the cross-roads of technology and social change”. One of the conference highlights was the announcement of the winners for the N2YR Mobile Challenge, which called for innovative mobile applications supporting social good. There was a raft of excellent entries for the challenge and picking winners couldn’t have been easy, but pick they must and we’ve got the list of winners, and featured projects after the jump.
GLOBAL – New technology isn’t just the preserve of high end devices. Often, finding ways of making lower end devices cheaper and more functional is as big a challenge as coming up with the next ground-breaking smartphone. Delivering genuinely practical features is key to making devices for emerging markets. That, and making devices affordable ($5 phone anyone?). Nokia’s success around the globe is founded not only on breaking new ground with technology, but delivering genuinely practical features to the mass market affordably and effectively. This week’s poll seeks your views on what the most important features are for an emerging market device. We’ve listed the key suspects in the poll below, but feel free to add your own in the “others” box and tell us why in the comments.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – It’s almost a year to the day that we 
GLOBAL – Battery life and phone charging remains one of those intriguing and forever passionate topics of chatter here on Conversations – over the past year we’ve set our brains buzzing with the big 
ESPOO, Finland – The natural reaction at Nokia may be to blush coyly with news that it has today been named the world’s most sustainable technology company, according to the freshly released Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for 2009-10. However, here on Conversations we’re unabashedly proud to see Nokia earn the top slot as the most sustainable technology company in the world, because we’ve been keen followers, eagerly writing about many of the great stories, projects and initiatives that Nokia has been committed to in order to help get it to the position it has achieved today.
GLOBAL – Last week we talked about Nokia’s new 
GLOBAL – Regular readers will be familiar with our coverage here on Conversations of Nokia solutions and initiatives taking place in emerging markets, and our keen interest in shining a spotlight on the activities in rural communities and areas where a service can be life changing. Such as the 
GLOBAL – Nokia has long been working in emerging markets to bring new tools and devices to those who need them. We’ve written here before about 
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