NOKIA UNVEILS ITS first Windows Phone shortly and enjoys a sliver of light in a market spoiled by the surprise of "one more thing". For years, Apple delivered that new thing in yearly cycles but this year's iPhone is not a game changer.
The market likes new things and from what's leaking in buzz-filled London hotels, the webcast audience will get to see some clever uses of mobile technology at Nokia World 2011.
My last trip into Nokia World was in 2007 when the iPhone had a lot to prove. History shows the result in the exceptional valuation of Apple and the dramatic fall of Nokia's stock. But under the rubble of its past dominance lies a customer base that remembers how Nokia powered a generation into personal mobile communications. That slice of the population would be thirtysomethings and older. At upgrade time, they might have opted for a touchscreen phone alongside a healthy app store. For years, Nokia could not compete in this space. Now there's a sliver of opportunity.
Nokia's Ovi client is better than iTunes for keeping things in sync. It converts music and videos faster than iTunes. And it does not drain a laptop's processor like iTunes often does.
The Nokia Store experience is quick and cheerful for me. I can pay for apps directly from my phone bill. My Nokia handsets let me move content on and off with USB cable or via Bluetooth--to any laptop, not just me, the authorised user.
I know what works for me isn't the same buzz factor as hundreds of Irish who have jumped into Apple or Android products. But I do think there's a sliver of opportunity ahead for Nokia.
Photo of Hore Abbey snapped and sent from my Nokia E7 while waiting for http://events.nokia.com/nokiaworld
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