December 18, 2008, 8:18 AM — Karachi, 18th December 2008: Imagine a world where we can always connect to our friends and loved ones, where we can know what they’re doing, where they are and how they’re feeling. Imagine a world where we can know what’s going on around us, around the corner and even around the world.
This is the world that Nokia is building. Taking the next steps towards making this vision a reality, Nokia has introduced the Nokia N97 mobile computer and new Ovi services, including Maps on Ovi and Mail on Ovi.
“Today, we are at the threshold of another profound change in the way we connect and interact with each other and with our world,†President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said at the opening of Nokia World 2008. “We are, in fact, transforming the Internet … putting in your hands the power to be more in tune with the world around you.â€
“This is a world where you will have the power to tailor and personalize your Internet how and when you like, to make your day-to-day life easier and more fulfilling.†Kallasvuo noted that Nokia, with more than one billion customers globally, has the opportunity to put the power of the Internet into the hands of more people in more places than any other company, “and that’s what we intend to do.â€
Nokia’s global scope, assets such as NAVTEQ and a growing list of Ovi services, “uniquely position Nokia to transform the Internet to become a more personal and relevant part of our lives. And that’s a claim no legacy Internet company can make.â€
Nokia N97: Making the Internet Personal
The Nokia N97, unveiled at Nokia World 2008, is designed for Internet-savvy people. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the device intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving people the ability to update their ‘status’ and share their location as well as related pictures or videos with approved friends. Nokia’s flagship Nseries device packs a large 3.5†touch display, personalized homescreen and a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an ‘always open’ window to social networking sites and Internet destinations.
Maps on Ovi: More than Just a Mapping Tool
Maps on Ovi is the first free service that allows people to pre-plan their journey at home on their PC and synchronize with their mobile, giving access to pre-planned routes and favorite destinations while on the move. Over the coming months, Nokia Maps will become a destination for people to save and organize places, pre-plan trips and post-edit them. People can share their location and all their personally and socially meaningful content with friends, inviting them to join in activities.
Mail on Ovi and Nokia Messaging: Mobile Email for the Masses
Some 75% of the world’s population has not yet used email. Many of these people will have their first email experience on a mobile phone, not on a PC. Mail on Ovi, together with Nokia Messaging which mobilizes consumer email and instant messaging on Nokia devices, brings mobile email to everyone and not just for a privileged few. With Mail on Ovi, users will be able to create and access email online portal as well as on their mobile device. Nokia Messaging, on the other hand, will give consumers access to their existing email and instant messaging accounts from Yahoo! Mail® and Yahoo! Messenger®, Windows Live Hotmail, Gmail and Google Talk, and AOL Mail as well as email solutions from thousands of ISPs around the world on the majority of Nokia devices. Nokia has shipped about 200 million devices that immediately enable the launch of its messaging solutions, including Mail on Ovi, Nokia Messaging and corporate mobile email (Microsoft Exchange Activesync and Lotus Traveler).
Open for Innovation
A key element in making Nokia’s vision reality is openness. Increasing openness makes it easier for third parties to develop services and applications for Nokia’s solutions. For example, the planned Symbian Foundation will engage industry leaders in developing an open source platform for mobile computers and services, built on Symbian OS, already the most open and mature platform for mobile innovation. There are currently 3.5 million developers working on the S60 platform on Symbian OS, and more than 10,000 applications are available to date. Nokia is also creating new opportunities for third parties to develop innovative widgets and other Internet service applications for Nokia devices, like the social networking widgets seen on the new Nokia N97’s personalized homescreen. Over the course of the next year, Nokia will debut new and interesting opportunities to work together to create a highly personalized Internet experience on Nokia devices.
Media Enquiries:
Syntax Communications
Tel. +92 322 8288093
Email: dh@syntaxcommunications.com
