MOBILE INSIDER: End Of The Nokia Phone Brand - Android App Design - Smartphone Batteries
Jun 13, 2014, 17:15 IST
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MICROSOFT'S PLAN FOR THE NOKIA BRAND: Last April, Microsoft closed its acquisition of Nokia's handset division. Since then, questions have arisen about the fate of Nokia hardware, and whether Microsoft will keep the brand. The Nokia brand will be phased out, and replaced by the Microsoft brand, as part of the terms of the acquisition, according to a leaked document sent to then-Nokia, now-Microsoft employees (which was published by Evleaks). The document is centered on a "Brand FAQ," which sets the framework and timetables for the phasing out. The fade-out of the Nokia brand is going to happen in stages. Microsoft has 18 months to continue using the Nokia brand for Lumia devices, until the end of 2015 for Nokia X devices, and 10 years for other mobile phones (meaning Nokia's extensive line of feature phones).
In short, Nokia as a handset brand will slowly fade into the background. Microsoft said it would keep Nokia-branded retail stores and "Care Centres" for the time being. But the general takeaway is that a device brand once synonymous with mobile will eventually disappear. NOKIA'S MAPPING DIVISION MAKES A NEW ACQUISITION: What about Nokia's non-device divisions that were not sold to Microsoft? Two weeks ago we covered how Nokia's Here, the company's mapping division, had acquired Desti, an app built around natural language-processing and artificial intelligence. Desti could help the mapping service field user requests and answer them with location-based results. Now, Here has bought the predictive analytics startup Medio Systems. Nokia's Here is clearly trying to build out a robust mapping program. NOKIA WANTS TO CREATE PERSONALIZED MAPS: BI Intelligence talked with Here's VP of search and discovery, Don Zereski. The purpose of the Medio acquisition, he said, is to "generate personal maps," or maps custom-tailored to an individual's preferences and habits. Medio is able to analyze the types of locations a user likes, as well as other contextual information, and provide recommendations. For instance, it will know if there's a traffic jam and give an alternate route (much like Google Maps and its Waze-powered features). But, Zereski explained, it will also know personal information - for instance, if I like local coffee shops it will recommend those as opposed to large chains. Here is hoping to gain market share from other mapping companies, including Google. It's currently available as a Windows Phone app and built into car dashboard systems. Here also has licensing deals with large companies, including Amazon and Microsoft. It seems like a natural step for Here to become available as a stand-alone app on mobile operating systems other than Windows, which pales in market share compared to Android and iOS (see chart, below), but Zereski wouldn't give any concrete plans. He did admit "[we] certainly want to reach a large audience." BII GOOGLE'S NEW EFFORT TO MAKE ANDROID APPS MORE CONSISTENT: For those paying close attention, there have been a few hints of what may be announced at Google's I/O developers' conference later this month. One of these is a new "design paradigm," called Quantum, which is aimed at making Google apps' user interfaces more consistent. Android Police leaked some details. This program, it says, is meant to "unify and codify paradigms for visual, motion, and interactive design across all platforms, including web, Android, and iOS." It includes design guidelines for developers, as well as app-building tools, and would lead to a more a more unified appearance for Google's own apps and outside developers' apps. It's interesting that Google, long known for fostering an anything-goes atmosphere on Android, is now moving towards more uniformity and consistency. If this and the recently-leaked Nearby program prove to be true, this year's I/O should be quite an event. HUAWEI ANNOUNCES ONLINE STORE: Chinese hardware company Huawei has announced a new online store called GetHuawei in the U.S. The store will sell unlocked phones that can be purchased and sent directly to consumers. This is a big change compared to how most mobile device companies have been selling their equipment (through carrier-controlled retail outlets), rather than direct to consumers online. It's a real gamble since Huawei is not a well-known consumer brand in the U.S., but direct to consumer selling is precisely the way Xiaomi rose in the ranks in China to become the third-largest handset maker in shipment terms. STARBUCKS PHONE RECHARGE STATIONS: Starbucks has announced that it is going to install wireless charging stations, called "Powermat Spots," in its shops nationwide. The coffeehouse chain says it will begin installing these in West Coast locations over the rest of this year. "2015 will see expansions to major metropolises across the United States," Powermat president Daniel Schreiber told The Verge. Powermat uses a wireless charging standard called Rezence that, through magnetic technology, allows compatible devices to lay on the surface and charge. Many devices, however, won't work with the Rezence magnetic charging stations. Phones actually need to have special hardware in order to work with the platforms. (The company does sell cheap external adapters that can be plugged into phones in order for them to charge at the stations.) The Rezence charging standard competes directly with another called Qi. Rezence and Qi have been duking it out for the past year trying to get manufacturers to preinstall their charging technology in phones. Qi currently leads when it comes to devices with its technology preinstalled - these include the LG G3 and the Nexus 5. This Starbucks announcement is a major win for Rezence. THE SOLUTION TO SHORT BATTERY LIFE MIGHT BE SIMPLE - TWO BATTERIES: Battery life is the bane of mobile users' existence. Researchers have been working for decades on inventing longer-lasting batteries. This includes tweaking hardware to be more energy-efficient as well as tinkering with battery chemistry. But batteries have advanced at a very slow pace as compared with other technologies. One idea showcased by Microsoft researcher Ranveer Chandra is two smaller lithium batteries in lieu of one big one. MIT Technology Review writes, "One would be optimized to efficiently provide a large supply of current … The other would be designed to trickle out smaller currents." This could potentially increase a mobile device's life up to 50%. Of course, all of this is still in the research stages with no word on when and how it could be released commercially. Once a company comes up with a truly revolutionary answer to the battery life problem, it could give them a definite edge over competitors in the smartphone market. SAMSUNG MAKES KEY HIRES: Samsung has announced three new key hires, all of whom hail from large mobile and media companies.- Robin Bienfait, who served as BlackBerry's CIO, will join Samsung as its EVP and chief enterprise officer of the company's enterprise services unit.
- Mark Louison, formerly an executive at Nokia, has been named SVP of wireless network systems.
- And John Pleasants has been hired as EVP of the companies Media Solutions Center America. Previously, Pleasants worked at Disney's interactive media unit.
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