Featured Story
A Nokia sale of mobile, especially to the US, would be nuts
Nokia's hiring of Intel's Justin Hotard to be its new CEO has set tongues wagging again about a mobile exit, but it would look counterintuitive and inadvisable.
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
Already have an account?
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.All photos by Dan Diaz/Filmsight. The captions aren't his fault.
— Phil Harvey, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading
The Nokia LoungeNokia'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'When 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 ColorNokia was also highlighting its Green Explorer, a content channel for bunny huggers.White Spaces
As our host, Nokia senior communications manager, Chris Morse, walked us around.
We saw lots of people, but the booth never felt overcrowded. The Thin SmartphoneNokia'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 Store
You 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, iTunesNokia 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!The 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 NokiaOur 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.
You May Also Like