Finland's Ovi

Nokia cuts the price of one of its top-selling phones in anticipation of the holiday shopping season.

HELSINKI — Nokia slashed this week around 15 percent off from the price of its 3G phone model E65, one of the top sales and profit generators for the world’s largest cellphone maker, market data showed on Friday.

Analysts said the price cut was deeper than usual, but they were not surprised by the timing as handset vendors are setting up their offerings for the upcoming Christmas sales season.

Nokia sold more than one million E65’s in the second quarter, making it one of the top three products for the firm. It will report July-September results on October 18, but analysts said all signs showed that good sales of the phone have continued.

Nokia said E65 price cut was part of its normal price adjustments after the phone has been on the market for more than 6 months. Its success helped to pull Nokia’s ailing enterprise unit to the black in the second quarter after years of losses.

“This is normal for any product, the price varies at different stages of the product life cycle,” said a Nokia spokeswoman.

After the price cut E65 competes in the same price category with rivals hit phones Samsung’s U600 and Sony Ericsson’s K810i.

Apple cut its iPhone price by one third just two months after it launched the phone, but later offered some rebates after phone owners’ uproar. Price cuts of up to 10 percent are normal in the industry after first few months of sales.

Nokia has also clearly lowered prices for its E61i, N73 and N73 Music phones this month, but not as sharply as E65.

“Nokia has been very aggressive with its pricing strategy during 2007,” said Ben Wood, head of research at consultancy CCS.

Source: Reuters

Known for its high featured mobile phones, Nokia, is coming with its ovi web portal – The new Ovi, making foray into web services market. The Finland based company has designed Ovi to run music download services, games, maps and other online applications.

Nokia says that Ovi, which means ‘door’ in Finnish or is known as a nickname for Oliver, will open new market possibilities for the Finnish mobile handset manufacturer. The company is keen to start generating revenues from services like sale of games, music over mobile Internet with its innovating Ovi.

The company has also launched variety of new phones in the market, including the Nokia 81, a flagship music phone to give competition to Apple’s iPhone. These phones would be available on its new website.

As a part of its Ovi brand of Internet Services, Nokia is reviving N-gage platform in a new way. The new portal allows you to browse a wide selection of game titles, download free trails and purchase the games directly from Nokia. You can either purchase the game over the air or directly download on your PC first. You can buy game titles, including EA Sports’ FIFA 08, The Sims 2 Pets, Tetris, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and Crash Bandicoot, directly from Nokia.

The new Nokia Music store is ‘dual download’, allowing download over the air or through ’sideloading’ of music from a PC. Tracks are delivered in WMA format with Windows DRM protection, and cost €1 with entire albums starting at €10. The company announced that some 3m tracks will be available, including music “from major labels”. However, whether or not Nokia had deals with all four major labels was not disclosed.

The N-Gage platform will ultimately run on all Series 60 (smartphone) devices but is limited to a handful of handsets at launch. N-Gage games are C++ based, which allows for better performance than J2ME, the current programming language used for the majority of mobile games.

Nokia will also run and manage an online store which allows users to download free trial versions of games, and like the music store is ‘dual download’. The store allows payment by credit card and also integrates with the billing systems of over 80 mobile operators. The N-Gage Arena, a multiplayer and community platform, will allow developers to create multiplayer games.

Mail, messaging and search applications are provided through partnerships with both Yahoo! and Microsoft, as well as Nokia’s own messaging application, Gizmo. The Nokia Maps application allows free downloads of maps and sale of additional content such as city guides. The photo sharing application is based on the technology of Twango, which Nokia acquired in July 2007.

Also…
Historically, Nokia’s attempts to move into mobile content have not met with success and the launch of these new services immediately attracted criticism from Nokia’s biggest customers, the network operators. Orange threatened to cancel its order for handsets integrated with the Music Store until it had assessed the impact this service could have on its own mobile music sales. 3 UK, which accounts for 75 per cent of the UK’s mobile music sales, reportedly followed suit.

In contrast, the relaunched N-Gage has received a warm welcome from the mobile games industry. Network operators seem unconcerned about the impact on games revenues, even though Screen Digest predicts that the market for mobile games in 2007 will be more than four times larger than that for mobile music.

Around 10 mobile games publishers have agreed to support the platform, including the top three companies (Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Glu). Nokia’s previous iteration of the N-Gage was released as a hardware platform in October 2003 but design problems and consumer disinterest in such a niche device led to very low market penetration and subsequently publishers hastily withdrew support.

In contrast, 16m Series 60 devices were sold last year, device volumes which should lead to significantly greater penetration and more extended publisher support.

Nokia has introduced Ovi, its new Internet service, expanding from a focus on mobile devices to offering a range of Internet services.

Ovi, means ‘door’ in Finnish and looks to enable consumers to access their existing social network, communities and content, as well as act as a gateway to Nokia services.
 
As part of Ovi, Nokia announced the Nokia Music Store and N-Gage, two services that make it easy for people to discover, try and buy music and games from a range of artists and publishers, including exclusive content only available through Nokia.

Also under the Ovi umbrella is Nokia Maps, a navigation service that offers maps, city guides and more directly to compatible mobile devices.
 
Ovi is the gateway to Nokia’s Internet services, including the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and N-Gage games. It will also be an open door to web communities, enabling people to access their content, communities and contacts from a single place, either directly from a compatible Nokia device or from a PC. The first version of Ovi.com is scheduled to go live in English during the fourth quarter of 2007 and additional features and languages expected to go live during the first half of 2008.
 
The Nokia Music Store offers millions of tracks from major artists, independent labels as well as a broad range of local artists from around the world. The store is accessible via a desktop computer or directly from a compatible Nokia device, such as the Nokia N81 or Nokia N95 8GB multimedia computer. Users can browse for new music, buy what they like or add a song to their wishlist to download later. Users can also transfer purchased songs to your mobile device and with the built-in music player, create playlists on the go.
 
The Nokia Music Store offers full track streaming on PCs as well as individual track and album purchase. The store opens across key European markets this fall with additional stores in Europe and Asia opening over the coming months. In Europe, individual tracks cost EUR 1.00 and albums from EUR 10.00, with a monthly subscription for PC streaming for EUR 10.00.
 
N-Gage allows users to find, try and buy games directly from compatible Nokia devices. By selecting the N-Gage application on compatible Nokia devices, users can preview available games, connect with friends, read reviews or download a free demo. They can buy games either with a credit card or by charging it to their monthly phone bill. The application is expected to be available for download from here in November 2007.

Also:

Along with announcing a brand-new lineup of handsets, Nokia is also venturing into the brave new world of Internet services. It’s called Ovi, which is “door” in Finnish, and it signifies Ovi’s open access to existing social networks like MySpace, Flickr, and Facebook right from a compatible Nokia phone.

But the big news here is that Ovi will also be a gateway to Nokia’s newly launched Internet services, which include the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and N-Gage games. Though Ovi can work on any personal computer, it is really designed for the mobile experience. It will go live in English in late 2007, while additional features and languages are expected next year.

The Nokia Music Store will have millions of tracks from a variety of music sources that include everything from major artists to independent labels. You can browse for music, buy the song directly over the air to your phone, or add a song to a wish list for later download.

If you like, you may also download the song to your PC and later load it onto the phone. The Nokia Music Store also supports full track streaming on the PC. Another neat thing about the Music Store is there will be a music recommendation engine based on songs you have purchased.

Songs are available in 192kbps WMA files, and can be managed either via Windows Media Player or Nokia’s own Music PC client. As for pricing, a song will cost one euro each, while a whole album will go for 10 euros. But the interesting part here is that Nokia will also allow you to have a subscription for PC streaming for 10 euros a month.

Right now, compatible Nokia phones include the following: Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5610 XpressMusic, Nokia 5700 XpressMusic, Nokia 6267, Nokia 6500 Classic, Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia 6555, Nokia 7500 Prism, Nokia 7900 Prism, Nokia N75, Nokia N76, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N91 8GB, Nokia N95, and Nokia N95 8GB.

Music Store will open in certain European markets later this year, with additional stores opening next year.

When people think of Finland, they usually think of the aurora borealis, reindeer, the arts and good design (Alvar Aalto, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Iittala, Marimekko, Esa-Pekka Salonen).
They may also think about technology – particularly if they use a Nokia cellular phone.

But Finland also is renowned for its knowledge-based economy, engineering, machinery and advancements in wireless technology, too.

Finland, with its population of more than 5.2 million and its 10 universities, is positioned well to be an exchange partner in education and technology with ASU and the state of Arizona.

ASU and Finland took the first step toward a multipronged relationship with the visit in April of Marilyn Ware, U.S. ambassador to Finland .

Ware, accompanied by Brian McCleary, head of the commercial section of the U.S. Embassy in Finland, made a one-day visit to the Tempe campus that was packed with information.

The whirlwind tour of ASU started with a welcome by Anthony “Bud” Rock, vice president for Global Engagement, and Gary Waissi, dean of the School of Global Management and Leadership.

Ware was impressed by the comprehensive presentations from the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering, Mary Lou Fulton College of Education and Applied Learning Technologies Institute, Sky Song, and the Office of Sustainability Initiatives.

The ambassador also was treated to tours of Decision Theater and the ASU Art Museum , and presentations by the Herberger College of the Arts and the College of Design , where Ware exchanged views with the deans on the progressive styles of Finnish culture and design. The day ended with a meeting with representatives of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

Dawn Kallestad, director of the Office of Global Engagement, says Ware’s visit set the tone for partnerships between the university and Finland.

“Ambassador Ware was extremely impressed with ASU,” Kallestad says. “The ambassador was delighted with her stay in Arizona, and believes the potential for U.S.-Finnish cooperation is enormous.”

ASU chose to explore a Finnish connection for several reasons, Rock says.

“Given the quality of the Finnish education system, several unique capabilities of Finland’s technology-based industry, and our relationship with Finland through Gary Waissi, we reached out to Ambassador Ware to explore possible collaborative opportunities, such as student opportunities with Finnish universities and opportunities to engage Finnish corporations in economic cooperation with industries and SkySong,” he says.

Julia Rosen, assistant vice president for research and economic development, presented the university’s entrepreneurial portfolio, focusing on SkySong, the ASU Scottsdale Center for Innovation.

“SkySong is designed as a two-way global portal – both serving as a ‘soft landing’ for firms from outside the United States who seek to enter the American marketplace, and as a gathering place for innovators and entrepreneurs already operating in Arizona and the United States,” Rosen says. “ Finland is a country rich in technological innovation. By briefing the U.S. ambassador to Finland on ASU’s assets, we hope to raise ASU’s profile as a potential partner for dynamic Finnish enterprises.”

The ambassador commented that the collective offering of space, services and university connections would be very well received by innovation-based firms in Finland, Rosen says.

The next step in the ASU-Finland connection is for Rock and Waissi to visit Finland “to expand on the relationship established with the Embassy and to meet with universities and companies to determine areas of collaboration, particularly with the schools of engineering, education, design, and also with SkySong,” says Kallestad, who adds that ASU also is pursuing student exchange opportunities.

People live well in the North, close to nature, but not in some backwoods backwater. Children are red-hot at texting on their Nokia mobiles, even when they are out picking lingonberries amongst the bears somewhere. Some of them even ski to school - at least if you believe what they tell you at the Foreign Ministry.

The Finnish Embassy in London has opened a web portal for British schoolchildren under the name “Kidzone Finland”. The intention is to provide a broader picture of what Finland is like, through information and quizzes, explaining how life is in a country that is a blank spot for most British kids, who know little more than Tove Jansson’s Moomins, if even that.
Birdsong twitters in the background as Kidzone tells us that Finns send gazillions of SMS messages each year.

Older technology is also featured prominently: a massive icebreaker is pictured to show how Finland copes with its chilly winter.

Finnish design is not forgotten, either. “Finland is a very stylish country”, we are told, “When Emilia turned nine, her aunt sent her a Marimekko T-shirt”.
Emilia is one of three Finnish children with whom the English kids can play and interact in the pages.

One trick to pull in and hold the readers is a series of quizzes, and the winner of a competition can get a trip to Finland. The British children’s author Michael Morpurgo has agreed to serve as the jury for the competition. The writer has not visited Finland himself, but nevertheless believes that the Finns have a direct and caring attitude to their natural surroundings that the British kids could learn from.

As Kidzone reports: “Forests are well cared for in Finland, using a way that copies the forests’ natural life-cycle… If looked after properly and wisely, forests will always grow new trees. This makes them an important ‘renewable resource’”.

The British attitude to their natural surroundings is “more sentimental” in the view of Morpurgo. Cute domestic animals are cosseted like members of the family, but nobody has any qualms about slaughtering foxes, regarded as vermine.

“The same goes for children. If they are cute, they are spoiled rotten, but throughout history children have been treated in the most horrible fashion - enslaved, abandoned, beaten up.”
Morpurgo remembers well the furore that emerged at the beginning of the year over a European survey of children’s well-being. The Dutch won it, the Finns were on the podium or thereabouts, while the British children came at the bottom of the heap. As Morpurgo notes: “I guess the Finns are doing something right.”

The writer hazards a guess that unlike in the stiff and hierarchical British school system, Finns perhaps pay more attention to the main event - children’s wellbeing. In Britain, school classes can also be excessively large, at worst well over 30 pupils to a class.

The desks at the back in these giant classes in large faceless schools are occupied by pupils who cannot master the basics of English or of mathematics. Often they are not seen in class anyway, as it is relatively easy for the marginalised to vote with their feet and play truant.
As for Finland, Kidzone reports once again that: “Finland has come up with a system called the Welfare Society that means the government cares for people who most need it. This gives kids lots of rights!”

Michael Morpurgo does offer the reminder that Finnish kids and British children do have much in common, too, including the fact that in both countries many teenagers are regular and enthusiastic binge-drinkers.
The best idea of what Kidzone is about can be gained from visiting the site and logging in. It does not appear to require the sort of registration that will fill your e-mail inbox. The format is to provide information, and then to check understanding by a series of multiple-choice questions. Users can gain badges for their “backpack”, and by answering bonus questions they can get to see Moomin video-clips. It works quite smoothly. The venture is a British localisation of “Project Finland”, which was presented by the Finnish Embassy in Washington DC some years ago.

HELSINKI (Reuters)—New Zealand-based company Michael S Sutton Ltd. has filed a complaint against Nokia in the United States for infringing a data packaging technology patent and is seeking damages, court documents showed. 

The complaint—which says the world’s top cellphone maker is using in its messaging applications technology patented by Sutton—was filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on April 30.

Nokia said it would actively defend its rights in the case.

“This case was previously filed against Nokia and then voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff. We will analyze the details of the new case which was filed on 30 April, 2007 and actively defend the rights of Nokia,” a spokeswoman said.

Legal rows in the wireless industry have increased as the complexity of technologies in phones grows.

Nokia is currently in a major dispute with U.S. Qualcomm on a cross-licensing agreement between the two firms.

UPDATE:

Nokia CEO says Qualcomm can’t set industry rules

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world’s top handset maker Nokia Oyj said on Thursday its talks with Qualcomm over technology patents were continuing, but the U.S. chip maker shouldn’t be allowed to dictate rules to the industry.

“Talks are ongoing, the situation is open, and I have to say, the agreement cannot be reached before both parties have agreed,” Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said at the annual shareholders’ meeting.

“It’s completely clear that we cannot give one company, in this case Qualcomm, a chance to dictate rules for the whole industry. The issue is not Qualcomm versus Nokia, it’s more about Qualcomm versus the rest of the industry,” he said.

A major cross-licensing agreement over technology patents between Qualcomm and Nokia expired partly last month, and their increasingly bitter battle is worrying investors and the industry on both sides of the Atlantic.

The legal dispute between the two centers on Nokia’s use of Qualcomm patents for high-speed wireless technology, but it also has a bearing on Qualcomm’s chips business, which according to Nokia uses many Nokia-patented technologies.

The world’s top wireless network maker Ericsson said last month it hopes to see a quick solution in the technology license dispute before it hurts the whole wireless industry.

Ericsson is part of a group of six companies including Nokia that have complained to the European Commission about how much Qualcomm charges in royalties for use of its technologies.

Shares in Nokia were 0.8 percent lower in Helsinki, in line with weaker DJ Stoxx European technology index, while Qualcomm shares were 0.5 percent weaker.

Also:  Ovi Nokia

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will be very selective in choosing new markets for its mobile phones and will not take on handset leader Nokia in the cheapest models, Samsung Chief Executive Yun Jong-yong said in an interview published on Sunday.

“Nokia is very strong as a maker of cheap phones. We cannot compete against it in those (models). That’s why we are very choosy,” Yun told Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat. He said the South Korean group, the world’s third-largest maker of mobile handsets, only chose markets and customer segments where it believed it could succeed.Focusing on cheap phones would not fit its brand image, but with 60-70 percent of future mobile handset sales forecast to be in developing markets, Samsung could not ignore them, he said.“We aim in these countries for high low-end products,” he told the paper, referring to “luxury versions” of cheap phones.

Finnish-based Nokia and Motorola of the United States benefit from economies of scale by making large quantities of each model, Yun said, but Samsung had the advantage of making its own screens and memories, so did not lose profits to subcontractors, he said.

Samsung reported on Friday that it sold 34.8 million mobile phones in the first quarter, helped by stronger sales of lower-end models in China and other new markets. Its mobile phone margins rose to 13 percent from a revised 7 percent in the fourth quarter, though average selling prices fell by 8 percent.

Also:  Ovi Nokia