Nokia is promising more influence in Windows Phone Apollo
Its fair to say that most pundits bloggers and journalists (us included) where pretty impressed with Nokia first offerings running Windows Phone but came away a little disappointed with the news that there aren’t that many Nokia exclusives apart from Nokia Drive, Nokia Music and an ESPN app (hardly anything to shout about). Techradar got an exclusive interview with Niklas Savander executive VP of Markets for Nokia who is promising some big changes in Windows Phone Apollo with more Nokia influences…….. YAY 
Some key point Niklas pointed out:
1. Nokia decided to go with Windows Phone when Mango was pretty much finished, so nothing could be done in terms of influencing it.
2. With the Lumia there are contractual agreements with Microsoft with the amount of engineering which Nokia can do for differentiation.
3. Nokia don’t want to go too far in terms of customisation as they don’t want to fragment the developer ecosystem…….*cough*….Android…*cough*
4. The fruits of what Nokia can do will be evident in Windows Phone Apollo…….yay 
5. He reiterated Nokia has enough tools to differentiate from Samsung and HTC
6. Nokia have contractual “wiggle room” with Micrsoft i.e. there are certain things Nokia are allowed to customise add etc.
7. Niklas finally reiterated they have more Windows Phone’s coming, two phones are not enough and the Lumia 800 and 710 are only the beginning.
Its pretty much what we expected to be honest they had 8 months so yeah some time has to allowed for more Nokia customisations. So the 900 is probably in the works, although there a lot of people saying its fake so we are not completely sure on that one, one thing is sure the 800 doesn’t feel like a flagship, we still think that one is coming……maybe CES I would imaging by Mobile World Congress definitely.
via Techradar
Category: Windows, Windows Phone
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- Szilárd-Erwin Szogyényi | October 27, 2011
What about Harmattan?
They promised an update with the white N9 but we haven’t heard anything new.
so why should anyone get the 800? Guess this is also the reason why the USA won’t get any Nokia WP devices this year. The countries that will get this mediocre first devices aren’t as important as the US market for Nokia, but are at least good enough to act as beta testers… And next year we will see the real Nokia WP launch for the USA
I am pretty sure you will be able to update the 800 you might not get all the features but the features that are compatible should be fine. Currently all Windows Phone launch devices from last year can be updated to Mango so I am expecting the same.
I´m not sure…perhaps Apollo will need specs with 1 gb of RAM…so the Lumia would be out of the game…512 mb does seem a bit low.
afaik, currently the min spec for WP is 384MB, and they are planning on getting it down to 256MB…
It is a beautiful phone, that has amazing performance “UX” with a great camera for a reasonable price.
Beautiful yes, since it’s N9 rip off.
Amazing performance UX definite no, since it doesn’t have MeeGo Harmattan in it, but that totally awful WP7.
And the “great” camera…won’t come close to N8′s camera. At best it’s the same quality as in N9. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same as in N9, as Flop already ripped the body from N9 why not rip something else too. Pathetic really.
Some call it pathetic, others might call it leveraging the investment you have already made, in a situation where you need to implement your strategy as quickly as possible. But I gather thats beyond the level of discussion here.
The UI and UX is beautiful and smooth. Saying it isn’t, doesn’t make what you said true! lol!
It’s been proven, go and test it on 1st generation hardware that came out last year when it was launched. You’ll find it smooth and differentiating from the Android/Meego/iOS clones.
Funny how the new Android phones coming out are still laggy! despite the amazing dual-core hardware!
Navigation and Camera are the two areas I really want them to lead in and I think they are off to a decent start! At least in Navigation, I haven’t really seen what they did with the camera but if they really allow manual exposures that alone will be enough to sell to me.
Will we going to see new devices 2morow? (eg 900…)
We honestly don’t know, it would be a nice surprised though.
VERY unlikely. I can’t recall any Nokia event where they would have announced devices in more than one go.
There is no 900, it was fake, and so was the Ace.
I’m sure there will be a 900, but one that’s designed and made by Nokia, not Compal. That takes time, more than a few months.
if they can make wp7 apollo to have unique symbian-metro-like interface, then maybe i might get a wp7 phone
What would you want from Symbian in UI?
From Harmattan I would like the task switcher and some of the swipe gestures. The app grid is frankly nothing special, and the notifications stuff is handled by the hubs and tiles on WP so probably the notificiations screen from Harmattan would not make much sense either. The camera UI yes, perhaps also the quick launch bar.
Agreed, the multitasking of N9 would be amazing on WP. The multitask cards will go well with the Tile theme of Metro.
It would certainly be nice to be able to just swipe from the edge and go to the multitasking cards. Would also be nice if Nokia let you customise how many cards there are, instead of the default 5, or do it N9 style with the grid. Not sure exactly how that’ll work with tombstoning, but even getting some swipe would be handy.
Two phones not enough? Here comes the usual Nokia model diarrhea… good camera in one, good screen in the other, and good speakers in yet another one and so on… no one perfect phone.
Nokia does not get it.
Also, more influence? Let me guess, they’ll be able to change the font and you’ll get the awesome new CNN app, LOL! Samsung and HTC can’t have that.
Hey guess what ??? there are different market segments for different consumer !!! and I am sure customisations are more than font changes, unless you knew better, which I bet you don’t know judging from your frankly boring comments
Exactly, the very reason Android is beating Apple. There is no perfect phone for all demographics.
While partially true, there is also the price aspect in Android vs. Apple.
Something Nokia is adressing pretty well with the 710 but not perfectly yet.
And you are a moron… But I guess you already knew that.
Not at all, the 800 has the better screen and the better camera. You really are trolling, sometimes you’re right about Nokia’s flaws, but that’s evidently only by accident.
Cod3rror, you need learn how to spell….. (diarrhoea)
what he’s saying is true people!
Like if iPhone is a perfect phone lol…
800 & 710 is a good start for Nokia with windows phone.
“Portfolio of Products in other market” (US?) with LTE & HSPA. so is this for US market in 2012?
Xenon flash
NFC
Front face camera
4″ CBD screen
Dual-core
Nokia need to ADD this features to their next windows phone. we need the real Nokia flagship phone!
Those are coming without doubt, most of the features you mentioned specifically NFC and Dual core for instance aren’t supported in Mango but Microsoft have said support is coming.
I really don’t want dual core until Windows Phone 8, which then makes sense as it is supposed to have the same code base as Windows 8. Everything else I agree with, but they’ve actually never jumped straight in. The 5800 came in first for touch screens.
Yes until its actually supported I don’t want it either its just a battery hog.
by the time nokia comes out with dual cores the comp will have quad cores! when they come out with a 4″ screen comp will have 720p hd screens! some already have. this 800 and 710 really dissapointed people after this long wait we get a mediocre phone while the likes of samsung, htc! the only plus point is the look of the 800. but for now nokia wont get any money from me unless they deserve it
Long wait? This is the fastest smartphone that Nokia has actually put into production.
I can see your disappointment but to be fair Nokia have had 8 months to develop a phone put an OS on that they have never used and ship it on the day the announce it, pretty impressive in my book.
Usually phones are in development between 12 to 18 months, Nokia had 8 !!! remember that
Yes I am a little disappointed myself, but Nokia simply had to release devices this year. Imagine the outrage if they hadn’t.
I am in no doubt devices like the rumoured Ace/900 are in the works as we speak they just take time to be developed.
what i dont like hearing is that there will be many more devices
i wish nokia would whittle down the differentiating devices to 3? unique units
A High End (with all the bells and whistles)
A Mid level device
And a hardware qwerty device
for Symbian/Maemo/WP7 (or whatever OS they decide to retain)
and then S40 for all their low end devices
i realy only want/care that the High end device includes everything; best camera; best speakers; best hardware; best screen; etc
I kinda understand that most Geeks are like that LOL
but devices like the 710 are the devices that will in the end make the difference IMO and ultimately fund the development of higher end devices.
All though I do agree Nokia should release less devices and focus a bit more.
From the keynote though it sounded like some of the planned devices with HSPA and LTE will be country and network exclusives. So we might see some device only coming out in America.
Exactly, you might dream of a high end device with everything, but you’ll settle with the 710 because of the price.
Well not exactly true because iPhones sell incredibly well and they are expensive as hell.
Due to a very usable phone and the image that is surrounding it. Not saying it is true, but with the 4S and iPhones becoming more mainstream it is losing a bit of its status according to some.
Going down because it succes is commonly known, could happen with the iPhone too.
Ok have to agree with u on this ..
Definitely agree!
By that, all the devices should be packed with more “complete” features and functionality, and consumers will more likely to get WOWed thus leading to sales increment.
Not to mention Nokia can save a lot of cost to produce sooooo much of phones yet so little of sales for each variants.
Nokia should make Android phones.
Android has become too fragmented and boring. It was good at first, something different. Now it’s old. It reminds me of something cheap (maybe because I see it way too much on low end handsets and Chinese imitations).
Nokia’s WP strategy (although not whole heartedly agreeing with it) is a good one. The UI looks good and looks professional. Sleek and efficiency is what drives sales IMO. Android looks very childish and cluttered, especially with it’s colourful interfaces and numerous homescreens filled to the max with widgets.(A lot like Symbian). I know I sound like a hypocrit because I do like Symbian and Widgets, but after experiencing the N9′s minimalism, I understand how you don’t need widgets.
The minimalistic approach introduced into the smartphone sector by the iPhone is something that people expect to be in their smartphones now. Sadly, Apple have made the world cater for them. In order to compete, you need to conform just enough while being unique and innovative. That’s what WP does. It brings a unique UX that doesn’t try to clutter the screen and overwhelm the user, but still packs a lot of features.
As for those that like widgets because with a quick glance, you stay up-to-date. That’s exactly the idea behind live tiles. News feeds, Facebook stream, sports etc. all fed to your device using live tiles.
By using your logic, one day Windows Phone will look old too and it will be replaced by something “cool” that will get old, and the cycle goes on
Exactly, that’s why there needs to be constant innovation in the market. From my interpretation of Elop’s speech, it seems as though Nokia realise this too.
Perhaps Nokia’s choice to not fully publicise the amazingness of swipe, is because they may use it in the future when all the other OS Paradigms have boring UI and UX, and the market needs to see innovation.
As we know from looking at Apple, their innovation is not so much innovation, more just clever marketing. That has always been Nokia’s downfall. They can never correctly market a product. Hopefully this will change with WP and the “disruption” to come in 2016.
They actually marketed the N9 very well. I had a friend check it out as she’s in the market for a new phone, she couldn’t figure out how to use it. As far as she was concerned the phone was mocking her that she wasn’t smart enough to use it. It seems baffling to us who see how simple it is, but we were all shown exactly how it works. Nobody told her that to get out of an app you have to swipe from the side of the screen.
Nokia released a ton of material showing exactly how to use it.
That’s exactly what Apple did with the iPhone, it’s not intuitive, just simple, and the instructions of how to use it are easy enough that you can explain it within the average person’s short attention span.
The trick is going to be to do that with Windows Phone, which does more and is more complex than the N9 or the iPhone.
I agree, N9 marketed well. Swipe, not so much. Like you said, your friend had no idea how to use it.
If it is marketed well, everyone will know how to use it without owning one. Like the iPhone. I don’t know anyone who cannot pick up an iPhone and not know what to do with it.
Swipe, or at least the version on the N9 is not logical or consistant, I don’t think it will ever catch on. It must work across the system. Basically right now it acts as a back button sort of but not even that, it acts as a back button for the three main screens. It is such a weird idea I am surprised it ever got out of the labs.
Developers want to use swiping gestures to move between data inside the app, not have users either accidentily close our apps or feel like that is what should happen.
There are basically two main functions when navigating any oS. You need a “home” and a way to go “back”. Swipe doesn’t do either of these functions well. You open an app and swipe and you go back, you open an app and then a dialog and swipe and accidently close the app. Instead devs need to use virtual back buttons, which is fine except the user is now confused.
Basically navigation should be simple and consistant above all. Swipe does not succeed in this.
Are you a joke?
Swipe gets you to the home menu. No matter where you are. A swipe and you are back to the start, the essence of a smart phone, the app launcher/multitasker.
As for back button, this is only needed in apps where you navigate through screens. Of course you can’t swipe to navigate inside an app. (Okay you can in feeds and mail, actually it is more of a flick.) This is why developers include the back button.
If it’s not simple then please tell me, how is it that no matter where I am, one gesture gets me to where I wanna go?
No, are you asshole? Open the facebook app from the launcher screen and go to the events screen.. Do it in one swipe/gesture? No es possible is it? Now navigate to the facebook app again, where do you go? Application launcher? Events? Multitasking? What state should the app open to from each? Do you go “”back”" when you swipe once it is open? Are you confused? Which launcher screen did you start from to begin with? Why does swiping navigate your launcher screens but closes your apps?
In Facebook click on someone and then swipe, where do you go? Open back up facebook where are you? Do you swipe to get home in facebook, do you click a back button?
You created an app and want to use swiping to navigate data? What does the user expect the swipe to do? How do you ensure they know that swiping now means something different? How do you ensure they don’t accidently swipe the app away?
Stop being so bitter… You’re just mad that nobody likes the Metro UI..
Haha, ssdh nailed it in one. Jesse’s comments are always the same… whenever the N9 is mentioned his Metro bitterness is evident!
I agree, you are entitled to your own opinion. And yes, swipe does not navigate internally in the app. IT’S NOT DESIGNED TO DO SO!
Swipe is an easy and fluid gesture designed to get you back to the heart of a smartphone, launching apps, multitasking and connecting with friends.
The difference is Android tries to be flashy, which looks old very quick. Metro is very minimalist, and that kind of style is timeless. You can never go wrong with a simple black, brown or blue suit. You can never go wrong with plain blue jeans. You can never go wrong with white sneakers. If the style is plain and unassuming, yet still attractive, it’ll last for ages.
Agreed, minimalism is best
But there can still be innovation 
agree in that minimal can last for years (I prefer Bauhaus)
But Metro UI is more like a book/magazine page
..”Next year” …So why did they destroy everything else they had this year? Well Mr. Totallynotatrojanhorse might have a “brilliant” answer to that.
“Wiggle room” **sigh** Once a proud company ….
This is even more confusing.. Nokia pays MS (at full price) for every WP device.. Nokia getting value (in Billions according to Steve Ballmer) for using MS services on WP.. Nokia was supposed to get paid when Nokia services are deployed on other WP devices but yesterday’s keynote said Nokia services will remain only on Nokia WP devices meaning Nokia won’t get a penny back for WP.
If Nokia develops part of WP, will MS pay Nokia for the changes (I haven’t read about this part before)?? Or else its all advantage MS with Nokia’s expenses growing with WP licensing fees and development costs…
When the deal was announced Elop mentioned money is going both ways i.e. Nokia pays and get money from Microsoft so in essence nobody loosed that much money in that regard. But of course the deal is so complex and we will never fully know the ins and outs. In fact i wouldn’t be surprised if Nokia payed no licensing money even though Microsoft said they would.
Nokia DOES pay full price for each WP license.. I remember this well because this was asked specially during the announcement.. What wasn’t announced was the money Nokia would get for its contribution. All I remember Ballmer and Elop saying were “Services Nokia would get would be worth Millions if not Billions”..
Nokia is ‘going’ to pay full price at some point. Initially a set number of devices is free and they don’t need to pay royalties for that.
That’s something I can remember as well. The services they get do amount to a pretty big sum I can imagine. It’s not just software but also hardware services like servers that handle push notifications etc. Keeping a serverpark running that can handle that will cost a pretty penny, let alone having to build one from scratch.
I think the problem now for Windows Phone is a question of availability.
Particularly for the U.S. market, none of the Mango phones will be on sale until next year; your only choice is to go for one of last year’s launch models, that are pretty close to on the way out from carrier store shelves. They’re old enough that they’re being offered in ‘buy one-get one free’ type deals, so clearly inventory is being cleared out.
The issue is, if you need a phone now, and you want a Windows Phone, what do you get? Something that probably won’t get the new updates after Mango, since it’s an old model? Or sit and wait until after Mobile World Congress, for U.S. availability, essentially late Winter to early Spring?