Passing through Nokia's booth made it hard to watch the clock. The device giant may be having a rough year, but you'd never know it from its fab phone lounge

Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief

April 6, 2009

LAS VEGAS -- CTIA Wireless 2009 -- We'd already toured the Nokia Networks booth at Mobile World Congress and found that NSN had pretty much the same set-up at CTIA. (See MWC 2009: Nokia Siemens Booth Tour.)

So we were pleased to see Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) right next door. The booth was inviting: It was set up so you could really put a phone or music device through its paces without getting the stare-down from an anxious sales clerk.

Our 20-minute booth tour, chronicled in the slideshow below, took aim at the Ovi Store; Nokia's green obsession; and the E71x, Nokia's thin, $100 smartphone. Nokia's message of backing slick devices with convenient services would fall flat coming from any other firm. (See Nokia Jams With Music Phones.) But with more than 40 percent of the world's smartphone market share, Nokia the service provider is as interesting to watch as its infrastructure joint-venture, NSN.

Click on the photo below to start the slideshow.

5417.jpgAll photos by Dan Diaz/Filmsight. The captions aren't his fault.

— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

The Nokia Lounge5417.jpgNokia's booth was sleek, stylish, and inviting. The tour and the furniture were minimalist,
and the bouncy music and bright lights seemed more soothing than distracting.Ovi Means 'Hello' & 'Buy'5418.jpgWhen Nokia's N97 phone ships in June, it will come with the Ovi Store already loaded.
The store sports social networking features, should you care to alert others when you've added some funk to your phone.Green Is the Color5420.jpgNokia was also highlighting its Green Explorer, a content channel for bunny huggers.White Spaces5421.jpgAs our host, Nokia senior communications manager, Chris Morse, walked us around.
We saw lots of people, but the booth never felt overcrowded. The Thin Smartphone5422.jpgNokia's E71x was the star of the gadget tables. The phone ships soon and, like the iPhone, will be exclusive to AT&T.More Fun Than a Phone Store5423.jpgYou can't touch and test stuff for very long at the mall without being hassled.
But as our tour progressed, we noticed visitors looked and lingered at ease.Look Out, iTunes5424.jpgNokia says its "Comes With Music" phones are getting users hooked on its music store in the UK, Singapore, and Australia.
The store's far from comprehensive, but ridiculously handy.Click! Clack!5425.jpgThe slide keyboard on the E75 is pretty rugged. As smartphones go, Nokia tends to offer more choices than just about anyone.
In fact, there are almost too many phones that do the same six or seven things.Club Nokia5426.jpgOur tour ended right around the 20-minute mark. Our host Morse showed off the big picture and let us dig for details.
We conclude with a wide shot of the lounge, if only to remind vendors that nothing beats a place to rest tired feet.

About the Author(s)

Phil Harvey

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Phil Harvey has been a Light Reading writer and editor for more than 18 years combined. He began his second tour as the site's chief editor in April 2020.

His interest in speed and scale means he often covers optical networking and the foundational technologies powering the modern Internet.

Harvey covered networking, Internet infrastructure and dot-com mania in the late 90s for Silicon Valley magazines like UPSIDE and Red Herring before joining Light Reading (for the first time) in late 2000.

After moving to the Republic of Texas, Harvey spent eight years as a contributing tech writer for D CEO magazine, producing columns about tech advances in everything from supercomputing to cellphone recycling.

Harvey is an avid photographer and camera collector – if you accept that compulsive shopping and "collecting" are the same.

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