Nokia: What we are looking for in services and handsets

While the Nokia services can work autonomously (see the different portals like Nokia Music Store, Nokia N-Gage, Files on Ovi…), it is obvious that partnerships with carriers are also highly desired.

The possibility of counting data traffic generated in “unlimited” subscriptions is an essential element in the strategy of these services. For example, the Nokia N-Gage games come in at tens of megabytes which means they cant be distributed in the same was as traditional Java game, which are only 300 to 700 Kb.

While this quantity of data is manageable when connected to a fixed line internet connection with a computer, a mobile user will encounter more problems without the cooperation of carriers. Nokia must therefore continually provide new innovations and think up new uses so that they can differentiate and capture the attention of users and, perhaps over time, interest the carriers.

The company is also launching a new application, Nokia Vines, combining the production of mobile content (UGC or user generated content) by the users, community networks and localisation. This mix of genres, with the Nokia mobile being at the centre, should generalise into other fields.

These experiments, initially free, are good ways of testing different concepts and gauging the interest of users, before general deployment at which point it will become a pay service.


Comes with Music, an audacious bet
Concerning the Ovi strategy, it seems that the music and GPS are currently the services that are being really pushed. Nokia has launched numerous GPS handsets (and not just the top of the line ones), and continues to define its Nokia Maps application which now has a pedestrian mode in version 2.0, preparing the groundwork for other associated services.

Besides this, the offer Comes with Music will finally open in the United Kingdom in October, working in conjunction with Nokia Music Store. This is an offer of unlimited access to 2.5 million songs with the purchase of a dedicated mobile (a Nokia 5310 XpressMusic to start with) with the goal being to get users used to this kind of service.

For games from Nokia N-Gage, the platform is active but the offensive hasn’t yet really started. Open since April 2008, it only has twenty or so games available for a dozen handsets.

This is relatively few but the visibility of the service is not yet its priority. Nokia is adjusting different pieces (notes, recommendations, comments, network games…) before pushing it for commercial gain.

There was also a rumour about a Comes with Games offer, comparable to that now available for music, circulating the Games Convention in Leipzig, and while there has been no official confirmation, the fact that the idea is floating around means that there is a certain potential. Something to be followed…