All About Symbian - Symbian, Nokia and S60 unwrapped.
Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki says 'the fightback starts now', champions both Symbian and MeeGo
Published by Rafe Blandford at 11:38 UTC, July 2nd 2010
Anssi Vanjoki, marking his first day as Nokia's Head of Mobile Solutions, and in the face of recent widespread criticism of Nokia's high end device performance and strategy, has come out with some hard hitting statements in a feature on Nokia's Conversations blog. He underlines the importance of Symbian for Nokia, suggests that a Symbian^4 powered Nseries device is 'a very strong possibility', says that, for consumers, MeeGo will mean having 'true computing power in your pocket' and that MeeGo gives Nokia the ability 'to take mobile technology beyond the smartphone'. Read on for further details.
It's fair to say that Vanjoki and Nokia are in the smartphone and mobile computing world for the long haul, for a battle in the markets that will range from sub-£100 devices to £500 flagships.
Here Anssi Vanjoki, quoted from the Conversations piece, talks about the role of Symbian and MeeGo as Nokia software platforms of choice:
Symbian and MeeGo are the best software for our smartest devices. As such, we have no plans to use any other software. Despite rumors to the contrary, there are no plans to introduce an Android device from Nokia. There has also been some confusion about Symbian and Nseries. The Nokia N8 will be our only Nseries devices on Symbian^3. Of course, we ‘never comment on future products’, but a Symbian^4 Nseries device is a strong possibility. A very strong possibility.
As the new chief of Nokia's Mobile Solutions division, Vanjoki is the man in charge of delivering and shaping the future direction and classification of Nseries as well as the top half (index numbers 5 and upwards) of the Xseries, Eseries and Cseries. He makes it very clear that these devices will run on Symbian or MeeGo and explicitly rules out Android as a software platform for Nokia.
His comment on the future of Nseries does contrast somewhat with earlier statements from Nokia on this subject, although the addition of the Symbian^3 caveat perhaps offers an explanation.
It is reasonable to assume that Vanjoki, on the first day in his position, is seeking to keep his options open, with regards to future Nseries devices, by leaving the door open for a future Symbian^4 powered Nseries device. Vanjoki clearly sees Symbian^4 as a capable platform able to run high-end devices. While writing about 'a very strong possibility' does leave some wiggle room, it does now appear that is fair to say there is an excellent chance we will see a Symbian^4 powered Nseries devices in 2011.
It is worth noting that the series branding labels of Nokia's devices is, in large part, a marketing label. The boundaries between them have evolved and will continue to evolve as technology, market conditions and user expectations change. Moreover, is not unusual for a device to change its model number or even series branding during the development phase.
Vanjoki is clearly aware of the criticism that Nokia and the Symbian platform has faced:
Symbian is our platform of choice for Nokia smartphones. Symbian has taken a lot of criticism lately – some of it fair, some not. But what is consistently overlooked is that Symbian still accounts for more than two-fifths of the global smartphone market. We believe the Nokia N8 will have great appeal. People want a smartphone that is familiar, packed with features, offers great performance. With products like the N8 and others to follow, we have preserved the best and most familiar parts of Symbian, making it effortless for the largest population of smartphone users to upgrade. We are determined to win back supporters, including Ricky, our favourite Symbian Guru.
Unsurprisingly, there's a reminder of Symbian's dominant market share, but there's a clear contention that familiarity, together with features and performance, are key ingredients in Nokia's Symbian devices going forward.
A nod towards our friends at the Symbian-Guru blog is indicative of the scale of the challenge that Nokia faces at the high end of the market, but also suggests that, at the very highest levels, Nokia listens to the conversations of its community more closely than many people may realise.
Vanjoki goes on to explain Nokia's ambition for MeeGo:
MeeGo offers us an opportunity to take mobile technology beyond the smartphone, and into a new world of connected devices. As Symbian gears up to compete with the likes of iPhone and Android, MeeGo is taking clear aim at the computing space. The current phase of MeeGo development is looking awesome. We believe it will power the computers of the future. And the computers of the future will not be tied to a desk or even a lap – they will fit in your pocket.
MeeGo is a keystone technology for Nokia's aspirations in mobile technology. As we outlined in our recent article on the changing shape of Nseries, it is clear that Nokia sees MeeGo as a platform to build products beyond smartphones.
Just as notable is the idea that Nokia's vision for mobile computing is about devices that will fit in the pocket; a position that Nokia have long maintained. While the company has experimented with netbooks and will likely do so with tablets, there is a continuing vision of the pocketable mobile computer (with the physical size constraints that that implies), standing in contrast with some of Nokia's major competitors.
From the ground up, MeeGo is a computer operating system. Working with Intel, we’ve combined our assets to create a software platform that completely integrates mobile elements such as GPS, Bluetooth, NFC and more. This will offer developers a rich environment to create new possibilities for users. For consumers, it will mean true computing power in your pocket. Something that can deliver everything you want, but be with you all the time.
Again the potential for new possibilities is flagged as well as the importance of developers in Nokia's MeeGo vision. It is interesting to see NFC (a short range wireless communication standard) name checked, suggesting it will be integrated in MeeGo devices in 2011.
The full article from Anssi Vanjoki can be read on Nokia Conversations blog.
News Discussion
Lets hope Anssi Vanjoki turns out to be better.
After reading this article my decision has been made I think. Why get a N8 only to get a phone that the market AND Nokia won't support?! Only NSeries to have Symbian^3? Then why install S^3 on it????
Time for me to move on. I am leaning towards the htc EVO.
android is now a consolidated platform, developers and users love this os, android is used by all the big company (samsung, htc, motorola etc..) each company built various models with this os and developers are so good to develop for android...else megoo will be used only from nokia that will build only 1 or 2 devices with this os at year developers so not very attracted to develop for it...and i don't hope too much in the qt's...
Android 3 this december will kill meego i'm a nokia fan but the true is that!
And about symbian? Symbian is a good os but as declared by nokia will be used only for x and c series in other words only for the mid-range smartphone
maemo = meego = not success (see the bad n900 story..)
nokia will back the queen of the smartphone market (as 2007 with n95 remeber?) only when its nseries adopting android as primary os..
Megoo symbian and other stuff just not hi end just middle range..
Just too late nokia :(
"But what is consistently overlooked is that Symbian still accounts for more than two-fifths of the global smartphone market. We believe the Nokia N8 will have great appeal"
a phone with a small ecosystem is not a smartphone, it's a featurephone so drop the smartphone market share please :-(
It's very very sad for me to see Nokia in this terrible state and in hindsight adopting Android temporarily would have done less damage to the brand that this enormous whole in the portfolio.
If the right people in the right place inside the company really care about this company, I'm sure they will make the right decision...
Thank God Nokia aren't going to use Android, that would have been an almighty mistake. It's nowhere near as mature or capable as Symbian and those asking for it (or jumping ship to it) are judging a book badly by it's cover and will regret their move.
Wait and see - all this talk about Nokia and Symbian being on the way out was the most utter piece of total rubbish, is a storm in a teacup, and shows the people who spout it to be ignorant in the extreme.
Nokia and Symbian will rule over the mobile market for a long time to come.
So far N8, Symbian^3, Symbian^4, MeeGo are just vapourware, years late vs. competition.
I have briefly used Samsung Wave with Bada OS yesterday and could not believe how nice it was vs Symbian^1. How is it possible for a newcomer to leap frog Nokia so quickly?
Anyway, it's too late for me, after terrible experience with 5800 I am just waiting for iPhone 4.
- It's good that he mentions that Nokia needs to get back to number one on high-end devices. It's hidden recognition that Symbian is really not the future in that market and where Nokia needs work
- The fact that he still mentions Symbian on the N-series that contradict their own statement a few days ago just shows how all over the map Nokia still is on mobile product strategy
- The fact that he refuses to mention iOS and Android in this mobile pocket computer space he proclaims with Meego also shows the denial on how Nokia is behind, since there are cross-market products based on unified OS strategies already from Apple and on the way from Android/Google. Android Linux came from a computer OS. iOS came from OS X. He really needs to show that Nokia recognizes that there's already competition in that space, and that they will try their best to take the lead there. Powerful devices in our pocket? Apple is already moving there with huge hardware in miniature form. Android is already making the leap from phone to tablets. Why not recognize the value of a Meego tablet? Is putting a size emphasis really necessary?
- there's no doubt that N8 will be a massive hit, but that's mainly due to price point, seems like. If this was priced anywhere near Android or Apple devices, I doubt it will ever fly. And I doubt that the HW enhancements will be enough to compensate for the sub-par user experience and justify a premium. They've stated 500USD/370EUR. I'm sure that will drop, and quickly, like most other Symbian devices in the past. It's just another sign that the definition of smartphone is changing. Else why have this new "mobile pocket computing" space that Symbian is not a part of?
- It's good that Android will not come out Nokia. That means certain death to all the Ovi services they've built so far if they've adopted that strategy.
Gene
So just please stop painting gloomy images based on a number, there's going to be version after version 6 months apart so if you continue thinking like that you'll turn into madness in couple of years.
Also putting Android into Nokia phones is madness, pure madness. How is Android better than Symbian or MeeGo/Maemo? In some odd way Android that has even smaller market share than iPhone for example is considered already like a huge threat. The already sold Symbian devices don't disappear overnight, and new ones are still sold almost more than rest of the OS's combined etc. Android can gain market share, it can be even bigger than Symbian or MeeGo (or both), but there are countless of manufacturers, currently dividing the Android market share quite evenly. Where's the profits in that?
Who suggests Android for Nokia doesn't really understand mobile devices, the market and economy at all.
|
Originally Posted by Nörde
There's S^3 now
|
|
Originally Posted by carman58
we really need to wait and see
|
Presumably you won't bother registering there either, Mr Unregistered??
What I need is a plug-in for my browser that strips out anything 'Unregistered'!! 8-)
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
The loss of Symbian-Guru is pretty meaningless.
|
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Thank God Nokia aren't going to use Android, that would have been an almighty mistake. It's nowhere near as mature or capable as Symbian and those asking for it (or jumping ship to it) are judging a book badly by it's cover and will regret their move.
|
Why do you think Apple have sold over 2m iPhone 4's (flawed at that!) in a week? Apps.
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Nokia and Symbian will rule over the mobile market for a long time to come.
|
Regards
Kev
Interesting to read some of the criticism in this thread. Yes it is talk, but isn't it a good thing that this is being talked about? Action comes after while - today was only Vanjoki's second day in the new position after all... It sometimes feels like Nokia is criticised if they don't and criticised if they do.
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
i do find it crazy some of the rubbish that is posted on these threads. its so hard to read i think i may have to find another site for my symbian/meego info.
|
On All About Meego we are using disqus for comments and its my intention to switch over here too. I think that will help with the issue. Be interested to hear your opinion on this.
For the time being please stick with us and, if necessary, ignore the comments.
| Wait and see - all this talk about Nokia and Symbian being on the way out was the most utter piece of total rubbish, is a storm in a teacup, and shows the people who spout it to be ignorant in the extreme. |
Of course in a growing market there is still space for some players so we'll keep listening to the nice story about the 40% "smartphone" market share, 30% "smartphone" market share and 20% "smartphone" market share.
| A good example of this is the comments which say 'go to Android'. This is something Nokia aren't going to do simply because it would concede way too much (even leaving aside technical issues). Doing it temporarily as some suggest is even more unrealistic - it simply does not work that way (thinking about the way products are produced, support chains, logistics etc.). |
I'm just curious to see how many "smartphone users" nokia is able to convert to meego once the brand is damaged completely (and that applies to featurephone upgrades as well) :-(
i forgot to log so i apologise for my unregistered post.
It's also stupid because you can't chop and change every 5 minutes, you can't retrain hundreds of people suddenly and you can't take your eye off the main goal. Symbian ^3 and ^4 have been under development for a long time already - the choice to develop them was taken long ago and Nokia is sticking to them.
The delay is an excellent sign of the determination not to repeat past mistakes and people who complain about it really are the kind of people who cause quality problems inside companies.
The interesting point is that Symbian^3 is the first new OS version that will have been produced since the integration of Symbian Software Ltd that Nokia acquired. In the past Nokia was far behind the versions of the OS that were being released by Symbian. It is likely that they have done a massive catch-up and that the company works a lot better with the barriers taken down between the os provider and the UI/environment.
What people are going to get from this is going to be like the difference between a rose and a plastic flower. Android buys people off with how easy it is to write Java apps, Apple with the UI but both try to get you to use lots of data which is expensive. On a Nokia I can use GPS and maps anywhere and without paying a penny in roaming charges or needing a connection i.e. your device really has something inside it that can be counted on. This is just my example but it is how I see Finns coming out as they change their game plan.
And finally, given the need to compete and their skill at managing the Bill of Materials for all their phones, they'll find ways to bring all this good stuff to hundreds of millions more people than anyone else.
Search
Navigation
Social
Advert