Nokia N1 keynote at Slush: NOKIA ALIVE AND KICKING! Nokia N1 just the beginning…

 For those of us that missed Nokia’s keynote, here it is again. It thrills me to think that we’re seeing a Nokia consumer product/device launch keynote once more after all those speculations that it is now a thing of the past. We had mourned, reminisced and was getting over the losses.

But they had not died. They did not go anywhere.

The keynote begins with addressing the posts that were reflecting back on the Finnish mobile giant as if it had permanently gone and died.

NOKIA wants us to know they’re still alive.

The Conference was about Nokia’s new beginnings. Possibly best known at the time for being Head of MeeGo, now Head of Development of Nokia Products, Sebastian Nyström was part of a group of people that sat down to define Nokia’s position in the consumer space.

Would there be any Nokia branded products.

After what Nokia had gone through, divesting their devices segment to MS, would they even want to?

In the end, many felt really strongly that at heart, NOKIA is about bringing the magic of technology to real people.

Nokia is about technology and innovation with a larger purpose; making the sophisticated simple and bringing it to every day life.

Nokia WAS and STILL is about great technology, NOKIA was and still is about great engineering, Nokia was and still is about great design that makes things better for everyone wherever they are in the world today.

The truth is, people need better products. The world isn’t done yet and Nokia can design those products. That is why NOKIA is here.

Nokia rolled up their sleeves and went to work. They looked at the digital lives today and one thing stood out. We’re using our devices for more and more and we have incredible apps to do so. But the problem is we end up spending more time and more energy managing and searching for those app icons across those home screens, or buried deep in a folder. There must be a better, simpler, human way.

And there is:

The Nokia Z Launcher. This is an Android homescreen. You just scribble a letter of two and get instant access. You have what you need at your finger tips. Boom, really really fast. Z launcher learns and adapts. Based on where and where you use your apps, it can predict what you want and surfaces them for immediate access. In the morning giving twitter, facebook, mail, at noon in the office, giving VoIP client (Skype), Calendar, People they frequently contact in the evening, spotify, maybe netflix.

Each time you scribble it becomes more accurate and over time becomes the fastest way to use the phone. It thinks ahead and removes complexity. It’s delightfully simple to use. We love it and think it’s great.

We put it out to get feedback.

We got amazing feedback. They say it’s smart, simple, shockingly innovative, pure, SO NOKIA.

In fact, world got out and as we put up the app on our website for download, we hit our target within the hour without marketing. The next day when we decided to cut downloads, we hit the 100,000 mark. The evidence is clear. We are onto something. There’s a market for this.

Today, we’d like to announce making Z launcher available for free. We’ve published it at the Google playstore to download onto your SMARTPHONES.

That;s a great start. A great small step.

But we are NOKIA. What else is there that only we can do?

We thought an interface this innovative needs something to match it. Something that is deliberately designed to match the elegance of the interface.

*Look, there it is!*

Check it out, the Nokia N1 Android tablet.

It’s been carefully crafted, beautifully balanced. Every detail has been thought through.

It’s a beautiful one piece aluminium body that’s been sandblasted for satin smooth finish.

It comes in natural aluminium and lava grey colours. They’re both great, I love them both.

It is thin and light and there are no sharp edges so it’s really pleasant to hold for extended periods of time.

The 7.9″ laminated screen brings the content closer to you so you get a better viewing experience. Vibrant. Rich.  Less glare.

And it’s lightning fast!

It comes with a 2.3GHz quadcore processor. And of course, it’s loaded with an updated Z launcher on top of Android lollipop.

And we matched the beauty, we have designed accessories to go.

And last but not least, we are expecting this tablet to retail at $249 + tax.

This beauty is second to none. And we’re doing things a little differently this time too.

We have a lean model and we have consistently said we are no longer in the business of manufacturing and selling these kind of devices.

Therefore we have selected a partner for sales and manufacturing that will bring this device out in China for Chinese new year and then roll out to select European and other countries.

It’s the new Simple. It’s the Nokia N1. It’s the tablet that thinks ahead.

<Z*launcher N1 promo>

So FOR ALL OF YOU NOKIA FANS OUT THERE and for those of you who just haven’t found the right Android tablet, the Nokia N1 is for you.

Don’t forget, you can get a glimpse of this experience on your Android smartphone by downloading the Z launcher.

We didn’t set out to build yet another homescreen. We didn’t set out to build yet another tablet.

The world doesn’t need that.

People need better products and better experiences and that is what we are about.  Here is one of the things we are doing, the start of something new.

A small new beginning. It’s the Nokia N1!

Wooo!

Category: Nokia