Nokia Exec Aims To Regain Position In High-End Devices
Nokia use to be a key player in the mobile market. While the Symbian platform still accounts for more than two-fifths of the global smartphone market, Nokia hasn't enjoyed the same success that it once did. In hopes of fixing this, Nokia is shaking things up a bit. Anssi Vanjoki is Nokia's new head of Mobile Solutions, and he's ready to get to work. He's already set some high goals for himself and his company in this position. For starters, Vanjoki aims to get Nokia back to being number one in high-end devices. Having just recently been appointed to this position, Vanjoki realizes this will not be easy. "I’m under no illusions; it’s no small task," he wrote on the company's blog.
To begin with, Vanjoki said the company will begin by advancing current projects and working to simplify its processes in order to deliver products and services faster. He also promised that quality would not suffer.
Certainly Nokia has the tools it needs to rise to stardom once again—it has plenty of R&D and product development assets at hand. Vanjoki's plan involves the upcoming release of the Nokia N8 smartphone. This is the first Symbian^3 phone from Nokia. It features a 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash. It can also record HD video. In addition to plenty of multimedia features, the N8 offers 16GB of built-in storage as well as a microSD expansion slot, social networking tools, location based services, customizable home screens, and more.
Nokia also plans to ship its first MeeGo device this year. Vanjoki further explained that the company plans to stick with Symbian and MeeGo. Despite rumors to the contrary, Nokia has no plans to offer an Android device. Nokia doesn't comment on future products, but Vanjoki did say there's a very strong possibility of a Symbian^4 Nseries device in the future.
According to Vanjoki, Nokia will focus on the Symbian platform for Nokia smartphones. Nokia realizes that people want a smartphone that is familiar, has plenty of features, and offers great performance. Vanjoki believes products such as the upcoming N8 and others that are in the pipes will deliver the best and most familiar parts of Symbian and therefore make it easy for users to upgrade.
While Symbian will compete against the likes of the iPhone and Android, MeeGo is aimed at taking mobile technology beyond the smartphone to the computing space and to a new world of connected devices. MeeGo is a computer operating system that was developed in partnership with Intel. The platform integrates GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, and more.
With many good operating systems and smartphones already on the market, the return to stardom will be challenging for Nokia. Vanjoki says he and the entire Nokia team are ready to take on this challenge. Here's hoping their efforts pay off and we see great products from Nokia in the not-too-distant future.
