ESPOO, Finland – Less than a week after delivering a keynote address at The Symbian Exchange & Exposition in London, the founder of Wikipedia and internet visionary Jimmy Wales landed in Helsinki Finland to receive the 2009 Nokia Foundation Award – and it couldn’t have been given to a nicer person. The online legend, who’s no stranger to journalists and cameras, was electrified and appreciative when we sat down together for a few minutes in Nokia’s Vision Vault near downtown Helsinki. Continue reading>>
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.
HELSINKI, Finland – Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is the 2009 recipient of the Nokia Foundation award. Wales, the man behind the community-driven encyclopedia that has become the web’s de facto reference site, was honoured for his contributions to the evolution of the World Wide Web as a participatory and truly democratic platform. In presenting the €10,000 award at the Nokia Foundation scholarship awards ceremony today, Henry Tirri, head of Nokia Research Centre and Nokia Foundation chairman, said the award was both deserved and timely.
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.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – The Nokia 1280 doesn’t look unusual, but it certainly is unique and quite special. This time last year we brought you news of the Nokia 1202 for India, a 25 Euro phone that sparked a heap of great comments when we first unveiled it at the tail end of 2008. Now, today sees the launch of a device that shaves 20 percent off that price tag, with the announcement of the first 20 Euro handset in the form of the Nokia 1280 – Nokia’s cheapest ever phone. One stride closer to the reality of a 5 Euro phone? The concept doesn’t seem so far fetched. Read on to find out more about the new 1280, and scribble down your thoughts in the comments section below.
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Five new devices launched today breaking new ground in ways you’d never have imagined. Coming in at just €20 comes Nokia’s most affordable device to date, the Nokia 1280. Alongside it, and launching in the new year, come four other devices designed to appeal to mobile users across the globe, but with emerging markets firmly within their sites. What’s more, these new devices boast an impressive range of features that not only make them appealing but deliver real relevance where it matters. MP3 grade ringtones, speaking clocks, flashlights, FM radio and hands free calling might sound like trivial features to those of us used to playing with high end smart phones, but in developing countries these things matter. Hugely. What’s more they’re appearing in a range of five new devices where the most expensive one will cross the tills for €54. Read on to find out what all the fuss is about. Continue reading>>
GLOBAL – He’s probably the busiest person at Nokia right now, but we managed to snatch a few minutes with the man responsible for games at Nokia yesterday. With the backdrop of last week’s news about the move for Ovi Store to become the new home for games at Nokia, Mark spoke quite candidly about the move, and let slip a couple of treats we have coming up – and no, the touch version of Dance Fabulous isn’t one of them (even though that is incoming on Ovi Store). Continue reading>>
ESPOO, Finland – Less than a week after delivering a keynote address at The Symbian Exchange & Exposition in London, the founder of Wikipedia and internet visionary Jimmy Wales landed in Helsinki Finland to receive the 2009 Nokia Foundation Award – and it couldn’t have been given to a nicer person. The online legend, who’s no stranger to journalists and cameras, was electrified and appreciative when we sat down together for a few minutes in Nokia’s Vision Vault near downtown Helsinki.
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 (
JAKARTA, Indonesia – It’s almost a year to the day that we 
JAKARTA, Indonesia – The Nokia 1280 doesn’t look unusual, but it certainly is unique and quite special. This time last year we brought you news of the 
JAKARTA, Indonesia – Five new devices launched today breaking new ground in ways you’d never have imagined. Coming in at just €20 comes Nokia’s most affordable device to date, the Nokia 1280. Alongside it, and launching in the new year, come four other devices designed to appeal to mobile users across the globe, but with emerging markets firmly within their sites. What’s more, these new devices boast an impressive range of features that not only make them appealing but deliver real relevance where it matters. MP3 grade ringtones, speaking clocks, flashlights, FM radio and hands free calling might sound like trivial features to those of us used to playing with high end smart phones, but in developing countries these things matter. Hugely. What’s more they’re appearing in a range of five new devices where the most expensive one will cross the tills for €54. Read on to find out what all the fuss is about.
GLOBAL – He’s probably the busiest person at Nokia right now, but we managed to snatch a few minutes with the man responsible for games at Nokia yesterday. With the backdrop of last week’s news about the move for 
Comments (2)