Thank you for 2014. Happy New Year and Welcome to 2015 from MNB!

Hello and Happy New Year from all of us here at MyNokiaBlog!

Yes, we’re still here! As always I want to extend my thanks to all of you who are still here too, helping MNB keep going. Thank you all, so, so much. We seriously would not be here without the help of everyone on the site. Our behind the scenes team, our commenters, our readers, our tippers, those who share our posts, all you peeps. We had some awful site issues in April which reoccured in August. So, if you’re reading this, thanks even more for sticking around! It’s not been easy, both as a Nokia fan and as part of MNB. Thanks a million to all those who helped rescue us. There were a lot of great minds helping out at the time. Kiitos! Please know that we really appreciate you all being here.  Thanks!

Jetpack shared some stats with us.

Note Jetpack was only switched on for about half of the year because it was having some issues with the site so it might not be entirely accurate – plus there was some database issues that caused all comments prior to the disqus installation to disappear, but the gist is there.

What a year for Nokia fans, huh? The Nokia Devices and Services is now totally within Microsoft. Whilst the Nokia name isn’t present in these devices, the people behind that Nokia spirit are making their magic happen with the new Lumias. We’re eager for a new flagship, and rumours suggest we might see them windows 10 for phones handset, perhaps in the second half of 2015.

It seemed a sign to many that Nokia in consumer devices was to be no more. Microsoft were cutting the name out early and Nokia said they wouldn’t be making a phone. Many mourned and paid homage to the awesomeness that Nokia had brought, some wondered if things could be different were certain events played out differently. Boy, were we so ecstatic to hear.

Guess what? We’re up to something. http://t.co/AFq4dUFI9S #thinkingahead #Slush14 pic.twitter.com/sqERYpz0Vc

— Nokia (@nokia) November 17, 2014

The Nokia N1! Nseries reborn! A Nokia device! It’s a tablet, a pretty high end one that’s coming at a great price. Yes, there are quite a few similarities to the iPad Mini but the main point for most of us was that Nokia’s not giving up on the consumer devices just yet. Who knows, 2016 might see them bring back a Nokia Nseries smartphone. That’s partly why I’ve made a move to try out Android properly  – as a learning job. See: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. The summary for me so far is that I appreciate Nokia Lumia hardware and Windows Phone a lot more. There’s a few things I’d like to see incorporated into WP and Lumia but overall, there’s even more things to like on the WP side. But hey, that’s just me. I didn’t expect the appreciation for what I had before to be that profound.

Other neat news included new CEOs at Microsoft and Nokia, both with Indian roots replacing the two CEO Steves. Elop stepped aside and Rajiv Suri from the Networks side took charge. Cloud maestro, Satya Nadella took over from Steve Ballmer.

Nokia’s first Android device was also launched in 2014 – the Nokia X family of entry level Android phones. I forgot it was only that recent. Seems that was a signal that with or without MS, Nokia would be with Android.

Something else that feels like it’s been around even longer too is Cortana, Microsoft’s awesome voice assistant. On a few select devices, she’s always listening with Lumia Denim. Fingers crossed she’ll reach even greater heights.

We love Nokia and Nokia related projects too. There were quite a few new start ups, but the one we’ve been following launched a successful first ever crowd-funded tablet. Yes, Jolla! We’re eagerly awaiting to see how their 2015 pans out too. N1 vs Jolla Tablet!

As well as MNB there was also our side project, the sibling GeekOnGadgets, spearheaded by Ali. Speaking of Ali, congratulations to our newly qualified dentist, Dr Ali who got engaged yesterday!

I think I look pretty good in a suit, also @Raya_jd doesn't look too bad either 😉 pic.twitter.com/mrru7MtFsZ

— Ali Al-Qudsi (@AliQudsi) December 31, 2014

I was busy putting a ring on this beautiful girl yesterday. 💍

A photo posted by Ali Al-Qudsi (@aliqudsi) on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:33am PST

The next few weeks (well January) will be super busy for me exams wise as some rather important ones are coming up to put it mildly. You know the usual drill with the ebbs and flows of my free time with uni (and as it goes on, it gets more demanding). But if all goes to plan, 2015 should also be the final year. In February and March, I’d hopefully be having my elective placement taking place in The Philippines! I’ll make sure I sort out my data plans because I’d obviously be carving some free time out whilst I’m out there to carry on with the blog :).

I forgot to share this when I got to it. It was sent to my house in Wales so I only got it on my Christmas ‘break’.

My uni house and my home in Wales both have the same house number. Somehow part of each address was placed on the post card (thus a non existent address), but Royal Mail got it to me eventually.

Thanks Connects team ^_^ What an appropriate twitter name for 2015. Trust in miracles. BTW, 1520 is also 2015 so I’m seeing this as a nice sign about some awesome things happening for next year!

With uni exams hopefully rearing their final head in 2015, I’ll definitely be feeling a lot of weight off my back. That’s not to say that actual medical work won’t be hard and that the perpetual exams won’t stop – no, but the whole scenario is just a bit different. For one, I get to fully enjoy the work with my colleagues and patients.

I’ll still be finding a way to keep the site going, time permitting – that’s always on my ‘to do’ list for new year. Thinking about it in the #MakeItHappen resolution way of thinking: Other things planned include getting Lumia Denim and then Lumia Emerald (E something) with Windows 10, getting more time again for healthy eating and keeping fit (piled on some wrong sort of pounds. Perhaps some fitness band or clever watch might help :p).

Well enough rambling. Hopefully your 2014 was a year to remember and that there’ll be more brilliant memories made for our community to enjoy together.

What were your 2014 moments? What are you looking forward to for 2015?

Cheers and thanks again and wherever you’ll be in 2015, we hope you have a truly spectacular year!

Category: Nokia