The doors slamming shut on its flagship Regent Street store have rounded off a tough year for Nokia. The Finnish phone maker has seen its flagship N97 gazumped by a raft of Android-packing stunners, not to mention Comes With Music falling well short of expectations in the face of Spotify’s continued success. So what issues does Nokia face with 2010 round the corner? And how can it solve them and stay top dog?
Make Maemo mainstream
The Nokia N900’s Maemo 5 OS is a beauty. It’s far cleaner and less fusty than Symbian, but it’s not just not ready for the mainstream. Maemo 6 promises support for multitouch gestures, something sorely lacking on the N900. Plus it will continue Nokia’s push towards open source, letting devs create their own apps. It sounds ace, but Nokia will need to kick Maemo 6, and the rumoured N920 tablet, out of the door in early 2010 for it to really corner the headlines.
Nokia’s London flagship store to close
Slap a new UI on Symbian
There’s no denying Symbian S60 is a capable mobile OS. But it’s about as clunky as an oil-free bike chain. The interface is in desperate need of an overhaul. Nokia has already shown off its plans for the new Symbian but the Finns predilection for procrastination won’t do. It needs to get the all new Symbian onto devices stat, otherwise it’ll soon be languishing miles behind social networking skins already bedding down on Android, like Sony Ericsson’s Rachael UI and HTC Sense.
Overhaul Ovi’s marketing
Nokia’s been banging the drum about Ovi for years. And rightly so. It’s raft of stunning services, including Ovi Prime Place business listings, Mac support for Ovi files and the ace Ovi Store, are brilliant. The problem is, Joe Public hasn’t got a clue about them. Nokia needs to start bigging up Ovi in the same way Apple does the App Store, and tempting many more developers through the door if it wants to be the best.
Crunch time for Comes With Music
When it was revealed in October that Nokia Comes With Music only has 107,000 users worldwide, it wasn’t a huge shock. The unlimited tune service is a novel idea, but why bother when you can get Spotify on Symbian? Nokia has plenty of options for Comes With Music in 2010. It could make the devices cheaper or more pertinently, lop off the DRM that’s become a byword for stinginess. Alternatively, it could cut its losses and hop into bed with Spotify.
Nokia Locate Sensor: never lose anything again
Do something crazy
Not so long ago, Nokia was a bold trendsetter, with its excellent internet tablets and the game-changing N95. Then the iPhone came along, stole the limelight and the Finns seemed to panic. What it desperately needs in 2010 is a gadget that steals the show all over again. It could be RFID in Symbian for digital payments and a raft of new inter-device communications, or a roll out of the ingenious Nokia Locate Sensor. The latter would really cause a stir. So come on Nokia, let’s see it asap.
