Nokia announces Microsoft tie-up...

C

CreativeEye

Registered
Have Apple missed a trick here?

Nokia sell a huge amount of mobile fones and have a broad range - products aimed at young people, business professionals etc etc.

The Apple / Moto tie up is great - but should Apple have built on this faster? and got Nokia on board too?

I hope Apple are working with SonyErricson to get the same type of itunes software onto their fones like Motos'.

Article re the Microsoft / Nokia link is here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4264161.stm
 
Yeah, I really think Apple - from the beginning - should have partnered with Nokia instead of Motorola. Or at least have played with Motorola, Nokia and SonyEricsson at the same time. It'd have been a win-win situation for all of them, basically.
 
Pengu said:
Nokia make crappy phones anyway. they are the dell of mobile phone makers. they jam as many useless things into it as they can, and still charge double the competition.
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In some respect that's true (at least I agree on the many-useless-features part ;)), but Nokia does do a lot of usability research (a lot of it is done in the town where I live), and IMHO the results can be seen in the very consistent user interface Nokia phones tend to have. In that sense Apple and Nokia might have been a good combination. Nokia, on the other hand, is not known for supporting Macs in any way, until recently.
 
Pengu said:
Nokia make crappy phones anyway. they are the dell of mobile phone makers. they jam as many useless things into it as they can, and still charge double the competition.
Click to expand...

o_O I'm getting tired of these fan-boy statements... dell probably puts together the best PC out of the major PC manufacturers.

Anyways, I don't really see what the big deal with the phone companies are right now, I have yet to see anyone listen to music on their phone, or for that matter request it... but maybe that'll change *shrugs*
 
you sounded like a fanboy, of whichever football team or computer maker. but he probably meant 'Motorola'. ;)

well, well. guess that's a matter of opinion then. Tell you what: I've tried and tried to use mobile phones _not_ made by Nokia, but usability just lacks. Whenever I buy something else than Nokia, my next mobile is a Nokia again. Through about 10 mobile phones that's been true. And my very first one was a Motorola. There were _two_ mobile phones that were not as bad as the other non-Nokia contenders: One was the Sony CMD-1000, one was the Sony CMD-Z5. (Then Ericsson brought interface misconceptions to SonyEricsson.)

I can agree that Nokia isn't as good as it _could_ be, but interface-wise, they're doing a lot of things right where all the others just fail - including Motorola.

But this isn't just about whether you personally like or dislike Nokia, this is about whether Apple should have made the deal with Nokia about iTunes before Nokia partnered with Microsoft. And the combined marketing power of Nokia and Microsoft should not be ridiculed. And IF MP3/AAC on mobile phones is ever going to take off big-time, Nokia currently _is_ in the strongest position. And it doesn't look like users will have much choice. Got a Nokia? Get songs from Microsoft compatible stores. Got a Moto? Get iTMS songs. But I don't see many people choose mobile phones depending on which music store they go with, since music will still be a 'nice2have' feature, not the primary reason for choice.

So if Apple had a _choice_ in this, whether or not to partner with more than just Motorola, I think they've made a mistake. If, however, Nokia, Samsung, SonyEricsson, Panasonic, Siemens etc. didn't WANT to be on the iTMS bandwaggon, then Apple isn't at fault. It just doesn't sound very plausible. "Do you want to be part of our iPod success story?" - "Nah, we rather go with our smartphone enemy Microsoft." I don't think so... Either Apple's offer was just BAD for the mobile phone makers (whether that was just money or because Apple didn't understand how the _networks_ work outside of the USA) or Apple didn't even make an offer. Both ways: Bad, Apple.
 
I don't see MP3s in cellphones as being that big a deal (yet). The fact is that most phones don't come with enough built in storage or have long enough battery life to make them particularly useful MP3 players (esp. if you want to continue to use your phone by the end of the day).

Plus, now that people can get an iPod shuffle (i.e. cheap, weighs nothing, great battery life, always useful to have a USB stick in your pocket), I'm a bit mystified as to why anyone would care about having their phone play MP3s. :confused:

Kap

fryke said:
you sounded like a fanboy, of whichever football team or computer maker. but he probably meant 'Motorola'. ;)

well, well. guess that's a matter of opinion then. Tell you what: I've tried and tried to use mobile phones _not_ made by Nokia, but usability just lacks. Whenever I buy something else than Nokia, my next mobile is a Nokia again. Through about 10 mobile phones that's been true. And my very first one was a Motorola. There were _two_ mobile phones that were not as bad as the other non-Nokia contenders: One was the Sony CMD-1000, one was the Sony CMD-Z5. (Then Ericsson brought interface misconceptions to SonyEricsson.)

I can agree that Nokia isn't as good as it _could_ be, but interface-wise, they're doing a lot of things right where all the others just fail - including Motorola.

But this isn't just about whether you personally like or dislike Nokia, this is about whether Apple should have made the deal with Nokia about iTunes before Nokia partnered with Microsoft. And the combined marketing power of Nokia and Microsoft should not be ridiculed. And IF MP3/AAC on mobile phones is ever going to take off big-time, Nokia currently _is_ in the strongest position. And it doesn't look like users will have much choice. Got a Nokia? Get songs from Microsoft compatible stores. Got a Moto? Get iTMS songs. But I don't see many people choose mobile phones depending on which music store they go with, since music will still be a 'nice2have' feature, not the primary reason for choice.

So if Apple had a _choice_ in this, whether or not to partner with more than just Motorola, I think they've made a mistake. If, however, Nokia, Samsung, SonyEricsson, Panasonic, Siemens etc. didn't WANT to be on the iTMS bandwaggon, then Apple isn't at fault. It just doesn't sound very plausible. "Do you want to be part of our iPod success story?" - "Nah, we rather go with our smartphone enemy Microsoft." I don't think so... Either Apple's offer was just BAD for the mobile phone makers (whether that was just money or because Apple didn't understand how the _networks_ work outside of the USA) or Apple didn't even make an offer. Both ways: Bad, Apple.
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More likely ringtones. I had about a dozen tracks on my Nokia 6600 but I only have a few ringtones made from aac tracks as ringtones on my 6630.
 
Looks like sony are having their own ideas

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/15/sony_ericsson_walkman_phone/

I think music on mobile fones is important - it'll be the first step in real convergence of different devices. I'd love to be able to have an all in one iPod / Mobile - where both sides of the device are robust and easily used. Right now its iPod in pocket and mobile in hand - resulting in missed calls etc etc...

Convergence is key. Having different platforms with different fiel types etc will make it really tough to do properly - a company like Apple could make it happen really well. More and more with the new products Apple release I think that some smart partnering could really make great products and service into fantastic real world use products.
 
parb.johal@ante said:
Looks like sony are having their own ideas

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/15/sony_ericsson_walkman_phone/

I think music on mobile fones is important - it'll be the first step in real convergence of different devices. I'd love to be able to have an all in one iPod / Mobile - where both sides of the device are robust and easily used. Right now its iPod in pocket and mobile in hand - resulting in missed calls etc etc...

Convergence is key. Having different platforms with different fiel types etc will make it really tough to do properly - a company like Apple could make it happen really well. More and more with the new products Apple release I think that some smart partnering could really make great products and service into fantastic real world use products.
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly! If Apple were to bring out such a product I would buy one for every Mac user I know (and/or care about) = that's a quick 12 sales!
 
exactly!

and you'd think that steve jobs understood the concept of strong partnerships with his experience at pixar.

sure, that relationship is now falling by the wayside - but - look at the state of pixar today. with that disney distribution etc deal, pixar are now able to tell one of the biggest companies - we dont need you anymore! we can do it alone.

now - read the next paragraph but replace 'pixar' with 'apple' and 'disney' with the likes of 'nokia' 'hp' etc etc

pixar has the talent, the ideas, the innovations to put together a great, long lasting product. by making a deal with disney, pixar were able to take that product and get it infront of a wider target audience than if they had done it alone. the strength of pixars continuing successes and innovation now means that pixar have such a strong foothold in the marketplace - they no longer need disney. pixar can go it alone, they have a better understanding of a wider target, and how to get their product in front of them better. all without pixar ever having to compromise their original ideals.
 
I think the true reason behind the Nokia deal with Microsoft is their ongoing problems with the Symbian Series60 operating system and the high cost of developing the platform further. They had no choice but to abandon the platform, and MS has the only other system ready for mainstream use.

Since Microsoft would practically be begging Nokia for the chance to get their software onto one of the most recognised mobile phone vendors around, they'll be happy to develop whatever software capabilities Nokia ask for fully at MS's expense.

The other thing I think you're forgetting is that you're already talking about Apple "missing the boat" on something, when the product hasn't even been announced yet. Even though we already know that Apple has a partnership with Motorola.

I will agree on one point, though. Nokia make crappy phones.
 
Randman said:
Nokia 6630 is the best phone of the market, bar none.
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Does that mean they released 6629 "crappy" phones before making one work? Gosh, thats more releases than ms-windows!

::ha:: just joking ::ha::
 
Woah. Let's take it easy now. Randman was voicing his opinion that the 6630 was the best, and this means the best for him and users like him. This is HIS opinion. You may not think it's the best, I may not think it's the best, and your neighbor may not think it's the best. The bottom line of this thread is that Nokia is still leading the way in sales of mobile phones and that Apple should've probably engaged earlier with the market leader such as Nokia, or maybe should've been a little more open on their mobile phone partnering.
 
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