Nokia Dealer Night 2010 Experience

I'm a software developer, been that for a long time. So when I got an invitation to "Nokia Dealer Night 2010", I didn't even think about it. Nokia means software to me, even thought I've heard rumors they might make some hardware, too. That's ok, been using Nokia devices for a long time. Latest and greatest Nokia N8 is an exceptionally fine device for software development.

You can imagine my surprise, when I got on the event location.

Didn't recognize any faces on queue, not even the types of persons. First of all, people were dressed in strange ways: no over expensive business suits nor "just out from basement" garments. Then there were far too many women. Never seen that many female software developers, even when counting all together. Didn't recognize what people were talking about, didn't really get the jokes. Still there was lots of Nokia banners, so obviously I was in the right place. Lots of Nokia N8 everywhere.

Nokia Dealer Night is a get-together for people who sell Nokia mobile phones and accessories. It's a training session, expo, party and team spirit raising event for those hard working women and men who are on the frontline on field, actually meeting those troublesome customers day in and day out. These are the people who sell all the devices for which we software developers write software for.

Why did a software person receive invitation for hardware event?

There was a short "business seminar" before the main event, for business seminar participants. Presentations about success stories on Nokia devices, available services, sharing experiences and showing demos. That's what I was invited for, but unfortunately the last confirmation email I received didn't mention B2B seminar - and so I missed it!

Not complaining at all, Nokia Dealer Night was a very useful reality check. Got to meet people I'd never meet otherwise, learned what kind of issues are important for them, got to see how Nokia markets hardware for hardware people, got to see how Nokia markets software for hardware people. There was about 20 demo spots crowded with people - most were about software. OVI Store in general, several Nokia services, games running on N8 (Angry Birds is everybody's favorite), Yle Areena (web TV service), mapping services, wine guide etc. Was happy to meet a few fellow developers, too.

What I liked best?

Main speaker didn't shout "Developers, developers, developers", but "when you sell a device, sell a service too"! Got a warm feeling that Nokia really does care about software developers. It's not just the recent Ovi Store announcements (individuals as Ovi Publishers, free signing), but they are also asking hardware sellers to push software, too! That's thousands of new market points!

Fragmented Java - Finally!

Nokia has announced that it will version "Java Runtime for S60" separately from the underlying S60 platform starting with S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. This will increase java fragmentation. It's about time!

Java fragmentation is a huge problem. Instead of "write once, run anywhere", you need to test separately on hundreds of devices. Sometimes you have to choose features on certain devices in certain operator network or just the lowest common denominators. Either way, this has given java a bad name. Android suddenly looks very attractive, even with just one device out.

Nokia decision means offering Java Runtime updates outside firmware upgrades. This does increase fragmentation between and inside platforms, even within one device. True. On the other hand it increases device lifetime. Fragmentation can be partially fixed by individual updates. If this can be automated, situation improves!

Instead of fighting a lost war, Nokia turns the situation upside down and makes the best of it. New cool features, not supported by your device? Just update Java Runtime! Brave move, wise move, good for customers, good for marketing. Wonder what Sun will say about it? Or maybe IBM?

Can Business (Card) Be Beautiful?

The basic purpose of business card is to give information. Name, company, ways to contact. Ideally it would also be a reminder about location, time and event. Hopefully it's an advertisement, reminder of possibilities, promises, opportunities. Business card should have a story to tell.

Would it hurt, if it was also beautiful? Would it help, if your business card was fit for framing? Something people would save not only because of you and the shared moment, but because they would like to look at it? Because it would inspire them to be better beings, more creative, look outside the old box?

Here's some inspiration, "60+ Most Beautiful and Creative Business Cards Designs". Next time you update your cards, take a moment to think about it. May your next card be a Better Card!

Nokia MVNO in India Still Possible

Week ago Rethink Wireless speculated whether Nokia would become MVNO in India (which I commented here).

This week Indian operator statistics show how newcomers are struggling to gain any foothold. Over a year HFCL (Punjab) and Shyam (Rajasthan) managed to gather 300000+ users each. Since Rajasthan has 56,6 million and Punjab 24,3 million population, the market must be extremely tough.

Nokia's luxury brand Vertu MVNO should focus into wealthy areas, like Mumbai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Kolkata. Ultra high density urban areas with enough people, enough money, enough socializing, enough personal interest. Obviously.

Would Indian operators allow that? Nokia partnered in Japan with NTT Docomo for "Vertu Club" starting Q2 2009. NTT Docomo owns 26% of Tata Teleservices, which has almost 32 million subscribers. Tata has a joint venture with Virgin Mobile, which is positive sign.

Things look good for Vertu Club India. Vertu users have "enough" money and care more about value service than price. Furthermore Vertu MVNO is hosted by NSN in Singapore, having natural close ties to Nokia handset manufacturer. This is not only business, but also marketing. Nokia handsets, NSN hardware, Nokia services, NSN services. No need to worry about profit.

Nokia 5030 - with Internal Radio Antenna

Both extremely fascinating and extremely silly "Nokia 5030" video, released by Nokia Conversations. Could be Nokia "techno marketing" department, great blog anyway.

Video storyboard:

• 30 secs technology
  
• 25 secs usability
• 20 secs market research
• Last minute ridiculous use case how The Lonely Hero goes on Deserted Sunny Beach, sends text message to His Friends, who immediately arrive and setup a Spontaneous Party - because the radio "sound quality is so great".
  

Got to love that stuff! Hats of to the lady, who had the guts to present the last minute!

Finally a mobile phone radio with internal antenna! I used to be active DXer (shortware listening), when I had more time. This is a feature I would like to see in smartphones.