Here’s how Nokia describe the facility:

[Agora is] a Social Visualiser made up of six wide-screen LCD screens that brings together conversation, insight and consumer device activity about the Nokia brand in a real-time and easily digestible format.

The creation of Agora is the first time multiple listening systems have been brought together, implemented globally, and delivered in a visual format that makes content and data suitable for a wide range of diverse Nokia audiences. This allows Nokia to put social listening at the centre of its global business, with all of its workforce having access to this unique continuous insight so they can develop their brand and devices to fit in with the needs of its customers.

Have you seen anything similar in other mobile industry firms? I know many companies now have a “Situation Room” style social media monitoring centre where many of their outreach teams base themselves. I wonder how many companies are doing similar to Nokia and taking the product of these monitoring systems/centres and plotting it visually along the lines of Agora?

I had to check through the Mobile Industry Review archives just to be sure!

What a difference a year makes in the mobile industry, eh?

This time last year the market was reacting to the news that Nokia had dumped it’s “burning platform” and moved to Windows. There were lingering questions over Symbian and MeeGo (now effectively answered: No-go) but the dramatic move by Nokia silenced absolutely everybody, especially the uber-critical and highly influential Western Media.

The move bought Nokia a year’s worth of breathing space. Obviously the company couldn’t be expected to release a Windows Phone handset immediately. And the mobile world did — I think it’s fair to say — pull a rather thin smile at the promises from Nokia’s High Command relating to delivering their first Windows Phone within the year.

Fast forward a year — a year? I can’t quite believe it — and here is an astonishingly positive post about Nokia from the Western Media Imperial leader itself: TechCrunch. In fact the post is from the site’s Editor-in-Chief, Erick Schonfeld.

Here’s Schonfeld on the Lumia 800:

When you hold one in your hand, it’s clear that the smartphone wars are far from over. It is too easy to dismiss Windows Phone 7 as being too little, too late. That was our first reaction too. No, it’s clear that Windows Phone has more than a fighting chance. Microsoft will make sure that the economics are much more attractive to the carriers than the iPhone’s so that they push Windows Phone. If consumers bite, Windows Phone could emerge as a very strong smartphone platform.

via Fly Or Die: The Nokia Lumia 800 “Flagship” Windows Phone | TechCrunch.

This is the sort of rehabilitation of Nokia’s image that was a total pipe dream 12 months ago.

Finishing off his post, Erick points out that if he had to choose between a top of the range Android device or the Lumia 800, he’d have to think very, very carefully. That’s a huge, huge #win for Nokia given the positivity that continues to surround Android in the Valley.

By aligning itself so closely with Microsoft, Nokia has bought itself a ticket at the top table of the smartphone world. Critics might argue that Nokia has been pushed to the back standing behind Microsoft, however I think that’s been necessary. The company’s image was so bad that it was next to impossible for many in the Valley to take them seriously. So a Microsoft wing-man is proving thoroughly useful.

There’s a few caveats to this broad perspective on Nokia. Of course we need to see how consumers react to the Lumia devices. At the end of the day, it’s all about sales. Ideally we need to hear about millions of Lumias being placed into consumer hands this year. And then toward the end of this year, we need to see Nokia bring some of their own tricks to the fair — especially in the context of gorgeous hardware and magical mobilised services. I think they can deliver.

To answer my question then, is Nokia’s rehabilitation in the Western Media complete? Yes. I think it’s all about delivery now.

Now, all the iFans go absolutely nuts, there’s method in this apparent madness, especially given Apple has just completed yet another ridiculously amazing quarter.

If you recall, Nokia was swimming along knocking out millions of handsets a day before it reached what we might politely describe as a market-required-correction. Things got so bad in February last year that the company found itself in a seriously precarious ‘burning platform’ position.  It’s of platforms we wanted to talk, though.

In this week’s episode we discuss the ‘technology cycle’ and how the need to refresh a mobile platform every 5 years – something that is currently causing Nokia and RIM so much pain – will eventually come to Apple.

How will Apple handle that?

How will they navigate the treacherous waters? The mobile industry is moving faster and faster — and although Apple is easily knocking back billions in revenue at the moment, it’s conceivable that it could come unstuck rather fast.

We do think Apple is one of the few firms with the vision and experience to navigate this tricky process successfully. That didn’t stop us wargaming a host of scenarios though.

Have a listen and tell me what you think:

[ Direct MP3 download - 34MB ]

There are lots of ways to follow or subscribe to the Podcast using iTunes and other popular services.

I’m having a lot of fun with the Urtak ‘collaborative survey’ that I added early this morning. Some of the results are rather stimulating! What’s fascinating about the Urtak functionality is that readers can add their own questions at the end.

We started off with my generic 10 mobile ones and we’ve now got another 10. I added this one a little while ago:

Would you buy a totally updated Nokia N95? (e.g. 20 megapixel camera, Windows Phone, etc)

Right now the statistics say 38% of people say yes!

Heh! I still see the odd N95 or N95 8GB around the place when I’m out walking in London. The form factor was fantastic. More recently I really did enjoy the N86.

I’d *love* to see them updated for the next generation. Can you imagine an N86 or N95 style device rocking Windows Phone? Maybe. Maybe not.

What do you think? Are you in agreement with the 38% or are you siding with the NO camp? (62%)

You can find the survey here (and add your own questions at the end).

Have you been hearing about this deal from Orange? It’s been capturing the imaginations of quite a few normob (“normal mobile user”) friends and family. I’ve overheard people discussing it multiple times a day so — anecdotally at least — it’s certainly gathering a lot of attention.

Here’s the offer: If you upgrade to the new Nokia Lumia 800 (on £36/month), you’ll get an XBOX 360 absolutely free. For many, this is likely to be a huge, huge draw — and given the cross-platform fertilisation between Windows Phone and Microsoft’s XBOX (There’s a big green “XBOX LIVE” tile on every Windows Phone) — it does make a lot of sense.

I wonder how popular this offer is? I’ll see if I can find out. From the point of view of Nokia, it’s good to see these kind of offers from operators.

There’s more information on the Orange site. You’ll also see the posters advertising this in Orange Shops across the UK (if you haven’t already).

I’ve been using the Nokia Lumia 800 for just over a week, full time now. It has temporarily replaced the BlackBerry Curve I normally use for business work (I also use a Bold 9900 and an iPhone).

I most certainly miss the physical keyboard of the BlackBerry, however I have to say that the Nokia Lumia 800 does appear business-ready. I’ve been able to hit the ground running — I’ve even managed to use the “I’m going to be late” function in the Windows Phone calendar.

I like the fact that when I reach for the Lumia, I can easily feel it. This might sound silly, but I can discern the identity of the device from the feel of it. In my pocket there’s usually another phone so being able to quickly find the one I want is rather important. The Lumia does feel gorgeous in the hand.

I used the British Airways app on the Lumia to fly from London Heathrow to Dusseldorf and found the experience flawless. What’s more, I felt good using the Lumia. It may not be Nokia’s absolute tip-top super-smartphone (I suspect the 800 dollar Luma 1000 or something will be along soon) however it most certainly looks smart. Looks are important. There’s a reason I wear a particular suit, use a particular pen, carry a particular bag. They create a specific impression. The Lumia, I’m pleased to say, adds to this impression. It doesn’t detract. To be clear, a Nokia N97 did detract.

I talked recently about the Lumia 800′s battery life feeling very much like the rest of the smartphones I have. This is true. I haven’t found it astonishing in terms of capacity at all. However, I did discover a ‘battery save’ mode. That fixes everything for me. It doesn’t limit the capacity of the phone as far as my experience concerned. It just stops a lot of the background location and connectivity services from running unless you actually want them. That has moved my Lumia experience from “good” to “great”. I am delighted that I can get through the day (and thensome) with the Lumia in Battery Save mode.

The fact I even have to think about this is seriously annoying. It’s an industry-wide problem though. I would love to see Nokia come to market with a (thicker?) handset that genuinely DOES last 2-3 days with proper usage.

Here in Germany I’ve been using Nokia Maps a lot. And goodness me it’s fantastic. I’ve known this. I’ve seen this. It’s just been a dire experience on previous handsets. You’ve had to ignore quite a lot of glaring annoyances on previous models in order to get much in the way of value from Maps — this is, at least, my impression. I routinely used Google Maps on my Symbian devices because it felt so much better.

Nokia Maps on the Lumia is brilliant. It works nicely. The features are limited, yet precisely what you need to get through the day. For example, I used Nokia Maps to check the taxi was taking me the right way to the hotel. I looked up ‘Mercure Dusseldorf’ and located my hotel with the next tap. My location appeared along with the hotel’s location. I sensibly saved that location as a ‘favourite’ (which I subsequently used to check the taxi back to the hotel that evening was going the right way). Everything worked as I expected. I felt good. The only omission? I wanted to leave a review for the Mercure Hotel (pretty good, I thought) but I couldn’t do that through the app unfortunately. At least I couldn’t find a way to do so.

I just used Nokia Drive in the back of the taxi on the way to the airport to see how long it would take me to get to the terminal building. There was quite a lot of traffic in Dusseldorf when I left so the taxi driver was stressing — and I was too. Nokia Drive worked perfectly and gave me both a speed reading (99km per hour for much of the journey.. nice) and a time-to-arrival status. Again, it worked wonderfully.

I’ve been giving Nokia Music a bit of use now and again. I have to say that their curated channels/mixes are proving a hit with me and the wee man (toddler Archie). He invariably enjoys the pop mix channel.

Spotify is working nicely on Lumia. So is SoundHound. I’m delighted the British Airways app is working to my expectations too. I have to say that the ability to ‘pin’ my boarding pass to one of the phone’s live panels on the main menu was rather joyous. I’d seen it demonstrated, but never managed to use it in anger before. Very cool.

Now and again I’ve been prompted to upgrade Nokia Drive, Music, Maps — those updates have gone through without a hitch. Microsoft and Nokia have clearly delivered something that’s working very, very well.

Setting up email on the device is ridiculously simple. I’m sure many business people will be entirely delighted with the familiarity of Outlook. Everything seemed to be working fine — from the global address lookup to the integrated ‘people’ social media hub. Indeed, I have to say that I’ve found that highly useful too. For example I’ve created a ‘Family’ section within ‘People’ so I can see what crazy things my brothers have been up to. Or my wife’s latest Facebook status which, hitherto, I never saw.

The browser has been working nicely. I think it’s natural that I was moved to gag repeatedly for the first few times I ran “internet explorer”. That branding has such negative connotations for me. However the browser itself has worked nicely.

The camera has been super. I’ve really enjoyed the higher quality camera (compared to other smartphones I’m using). Using the nice Nokia hardware integrated with Windows Phone has been a real enjoyment for me. Sharing photos, for instance, is a total delight. One or two taps and you’re done. I like how it’s all completely and tightly connected.

What else? Well, I’ve touched on apps and Windows/Nokia are most certainly getting there. The Lumia has a rather nice App Highlights service (reachable by default from the Live Tiles). This is used to highlight new and potentially interesting apps. Ocado is currently at the top of the list, followed by MyFitnessPal (does what it says on the tin), Poynt (excellent) and Tesco’s Real Food app. In terms of an app economy, Windows Phone is most certainly getting there.

I’ve downloaded and paid for a few apps. I sat down and put my credit card details into the desktop version of Zune so that I could pay for stuff properly. Rail Planner gives me a nice quick interface into the National Rail directory. Sky News is working nicely. I’ve been using Seesmic to connect with Salesforce Chatter. Spotify as I’ve already said is working beautifully. Evernote is really nice. Amazon Kindle has helped me keep up with my books on the plane. I’m getting to the point where a lot of the key apps I rely upon every day are now available. This is good news.

(DropBox by the way is accessible through a third-party app called BoxFiles for Dropbox. Working nicely for me.)

I haven’t managed to check out the Sharepoint integration. I’ve had good success with the Office apps although I’ve been trying to find a reason to use them in anger — that hasn’t quite happened yet. They’re looking good.

Back to the keyboard. The on-screen keyboard is pretty good. It’s been very reliable in terms of correctly guessing what I’m trying to type. Indeed if you just trust in the engine and do a fairly good job of hitting the right keys (AND use familiar words) then there are next to no typos. Sometimes I’ve oriented the phone landscape for the bigger keyboard. Most times I just tap in portrait mode.

One of the most enjoyable functions of the Lumia 800 is the on/off button or the lock button. It’s brilliantly positioned just below the volume keys. I use it ALL the time. It’s so easy to locate when you’re grasping the phone. I very much appreciate the UI thought that went into this.

The one-click camera functionality is proving very nice on the Lumia too. I also love the fact everything is uploaded to Skydrive in the background (and shareable from there if necessary).

The combination of Nokia’s hardware and Microsoft’s Metro UI is really, really winning me over.

If you’re thinking about the Lumia 800, definitely go and get hands-on in one of the stores. Phones4U in the UK have got Lumia 800s available for inspection either on the shelves or as stand-alone handsets. Go and have a look. No longer do you need to take a huge, huge bet using up your operator’s subsidy on a Nokia that disappoints. I don’t think many people will be disappointed at all.

Anecdotally I’m meeting quite a few people who — interestingly — are aware of the Lumia brand. Nokia’s been making in-roads there over the last few weeks. For example, one of the chaps who cut my hair the other day in Richmond is “Definitely going to get a Lumia.”

“What about iPhone?” I asked, “Or Android?”

“Nah,” he said, making a disapproving face, “Everyone’s got iPhone and that Lumia is looking nice.”

When I took one out to show him he was significantly impressed. If anything, I’d go so far to say that he was finally sold, there-and-then.

There’s a lot of love in the room for Nokia, still. People still remember their old Nokias fondly. If those people begin to walk out and buy Lumia 800s over the next few months, it could very well herald the next wave in mobile.

We shall see.

I for one am delighted with the experience.

(Do consider a QWERTY keyboard, Nokia. Please!)

I’ve been using the Nokia Lumia 800 for almost 4 days now, full time. Two of those days have been weekends so I’m not quite ready to give a week’s full summary yet. However what I can tell you is to set your expectations on the Lumia 800′s battery.

This should be nothing new to you, or anyone else who’s been using smartphones for the last few years, especially Androids. However, if you’re accustomed to your Nokia N86 lasting for a good few days, or your old Nokia N95 getting you through 1.5 days on super-heavy-use, do stick those expectations into the gutter.

On a full charge, with a nigh-on-full-time usage model, I’ve had the phone quit on me completely at 11pm. This is a heck of a lot better than some other devices, but still. It’s a sign of the times.

It’s not a dig at Nokia. Indeed anyone reading this thinking carefully about buying the Lumia 800 will, I’m sure, nod quietly at this post. It’s what we all thought.

Unfortunately in today’s world, “smartphone” means “shit battery” (along with a qualifier, “If you actually use the phone”). The Lumia, like the iPhone and my Nexus S will happily sit for a full day doing nothing and retain a nigh-on full charge.

I think I’m not helping things by having a Google Mail account and an Outlook account activated. Plus I should probably stick the various location tools to the ‘off’ mode.

However this is not the answer.

No.

The answer is for smartphone vendors to stop the thin obsession and start the battery obsession.

You, dear vendor, might think that battery is no longer a key consideration for consumers. You’re wrong. Just because the Galaxy SII is being flogged in its millions and that users therefore need to start re-charging by lunchtime, this does not mean it’s not a problem.

At some point, a vendor will deliver a thicker handset to market that lasts for 1.5 days guaranteed, with heavy usage. Or 2 days. Or more. And at that point, it will make every other smartphone look lovely-but-impotent.

Worse, it will make the owners of all other smartphones look like tossers.

Tossers, because, at the end of the night, when you want to phone a taxi, your 800 Euro super-smartphone is useless if the battery has already gone through the ‘RED’ flashing panicky almost-out-of-power phase and into the dead phase.

The one argument that kills every other ‘my phone is better than yours’ argument is battery. When you’ve a reasonably level playing field like the Lumia, an iPhone, a recent Android (i.e. all fairly decent, all fairly good, all with nice UIs etc), then it’s all about battery. And no one wins, at the moment. Even the BlackBerry Bold 9900 doesn’t quite come up to scratch in the battery stakes.

So please, one of the vendors, please try this out. Can you imagine if Samsung released the following devices:

- Samsung Galaxy SIIIS (where the ‘S’ stands for standard battery) — less than 1cm thick
- Samsung Galaxy SIV EBL (where ‘EBL’ stands for extended battery life of 3 days minimum) — less than 1.5cm thick

Which would you pick? Well, you’d want someone to actually verify that ‘EBL’ actually means something. But very quickly I think a lot of people would be plumping for the second version.

You’d need your head examined to go for the thinner-but-shitter version.

We’ve got over the ‘my god it’s THIN’ experience, haven’t we?

Thin, for any sensible chap, now means ‘really shit battery’. Agree?

(Note: Or, could somebody please invent some proper mobile battery technology?)

Now, I was of course at Nokia World for much of the day where I couldn’t move for Lumias, but the reason I wanted to check out Phones4U was to get a real-world perspective from a retailer as soon as humanly possible.

I’m delighted to say that their representative, Cain (the deputy manager), didn’t disappoint.

To be clear, I wasn’t looking for a feature overview or an in-depth walk-through (although I appreciated the opportunity to sit and examine the device in the peace and quiet of their B2B room downstairs). I wanted their first impressions. I wanted to look in the eyes of a chap (or lady) who sells handsets daily and see what he made of the Lumia.

If you’re harbouring a bit of cynicism over Nokia’s entry into the Windows Phone world, prepare to be surprised. Cain lays it straight. He reckons they’ll sell very well. Indeed he pointed out that they’ve already had folk coming into the store today to have a look (driven, perhaps by the Phones4U social media outreach?).

Right, here’s the video:

[Note: I didn't take Cain's card so I'm really hoping that I've spelt his name correctly.]

[Further note: A geeky point -- I edited this video on the train. I imported the video from the Sanyo Xacti into my iPad 2, did the editing then published it via blip.tv's app when I got into WiFi. Love it!]

Do you like what you saw from today’s Nokia World show? Are you keen to get a look at the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone? Well then, do not pass Go. Head straight for your nearest Phones4U store across the United Kingdom.

*EACH* Phones4U store has a Nokia Lumia 800 on-site right now. Today. Ready for you to play with. I kid ye not. It’s a special promotion that the team there have created with Nokia.

I’m impressed with the ingenuity. What a super idea!

It’s going to result in a heck of a lot of foot traffic to Phones4U I’m sure.

But it’s not just about looking, oh no.

You can actually pre-order immediately.

And I’ve got prices too. You’ll be able to pick up the Lumia 800 from Phones4U from just £26 per month (I’m presuming that’s on a 24-month contract — I haven’t checked that precise stat as I got the £26 from the chap I interviewed today — more on that in a moment). If you’d like to push the boat out a bit, Phones4U are offering a little more for those on £31+ price plans:

In addition to being offered the chance to test drive the Nokia Lumia 800 FIRST in ANY Phones 4u store before deciding to preorder, customers will also receive a FREE accessories package when they preorder the Nokia Lumia 800 on £31 and above tariffs, exclusively from Phones 4u. The accessories package, worth £49.99 includes a Nokia BH-111 headset in white, for wireless music and calls in quality stereo sound, and a Nokia TPU silicone soft cover in white.

Yes please. I think that’s worth the extra.

The £31 price plan is available from either Orange or Vodafone, both on 24-month contracts. If you pre-order now (either in-store or online) you’ll get your brand new Lumia on the 16th of November.

We heard a lot about retail collaboration at today’s Nokia World. Phones4U are getting stuck-in dramatically, thus:

Four of Phones 4u’s ‘top’ UK stores – Oxford Street, Stratford Westfield, Birmingham High Street and Leeds Briggate – will receive full store takeovers that include Nokia demo hubs with live devices and plasma TVs, and 3D Vortex Windows, all showcasing the new Nokia Lumia 800. A dedicated hero pod with live demo device will also feature in ALL Phones 4u stores across the UK

I look forward to seeing that.

I was at the Phones4U Oxford Street store today — I filmed a hands-on there. Standby. I’m about to post it.

Competitive is not a word you’d use to describe Nokia’s line-up over the past 12-18 months, but a close partnership with Microsoft promises to change all that. Read on to find out what to expect, and why 2011 could well be the most important year for Nokia since it gave up making rubber boots.

via Nokia World 2011: Crunchtime – SlashGear.

The challenge then, with Nokia, is that since the products (or, actually the user experience) have been a bit iffy, the marketing has been rather questionable. Nokia has some of the finest marketing minds on hand. They also retain some of the best and most innovative agencies around. There’s not much they can do when they’re — if you excuse the vulgarity — polishing turds.

I’ve always maintained that once Nokia gets one or two decent handsets to crow about (with a nice or at least passable user experience), the marketing folks could go to town.

Well, they’re already doing so.

Kudos to the team at My Nokia Blog for picking this one up. In the UK at least, Nokia has begun trailing (what we presume to be) their 800 Windows Phone 7 handset. They’re doing it in a very smart fashion though.

Have a look at this video for an example. You’ll see it starts mid-way through an advert and then there’s an interstitial of the Nokia phone for perhaps 1-2 seconds and then another advert plays out. And so on. Very very smart:

However you’ll be wanting to see the whole thing patched together, right? Yes. They’ve been patched together by the My Nokia Blog team into this rather illuminating video:

From these videos the device is already looking smart. It appears to be a similar look and feel to the Nokia N9 which is simply gorgeous. So a Windows Phone version of this? Aimed at the mass consumer? Yes please.

The market is going to get rather interesting if we’re going to start seeing this level of marketing and ingenuity across the next few quarters.

Bring on Nokia World on Wednesday…

I’m surprised at the level of excitement brewing. Expectations are running high. Nokia has done a super job of setting expectations with the odd reveal now-and-again across the last few months.

The tech geeks I’ve been speaking to recently are positively fizzing. One meeting I had was interrupted whilst a chap spent two minutes showing the room off a video of combined clips of the “N800″. He was obsessed with it. Truly delighted at the prospect.

Interestingly, there’s been no talk of the operating system beyond a positive nod. The hardware has obviously been getting a lot of attention but without the usual “but, er, it will be running on Symbian” negativity.

I wonder if Nokia and Microsoft have got a sizzler on their hands?

All will be revealed officially on Wednesday when Nokia World begins.

In the meantime I’m going to try and find that video for you and see what you make of it.

Are you looking forward to seeing what Nokia has cooked up for us?

Find out more about Nokia World here.

Goodness me it is rare to see one of these around nowadays.

Have a read:

Nokia’s stock held up nicely last week on the news that it will slash 3,500 jobs in various facilities around the world. However, this week the stock is slumping, and the main reason for this could be Apple’s event.

In all probability, Apple could come out with a cheaper version of iPhone along with the iPhone 5. It could be an entirely new phone with different specifications or iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS could act as a cheaper iPhone.

Forbes: “Apple could eat Nokia’s lunch in emerging markets”

Ah dear.

Well it’s certainly possible.

If Apple release a £15 iPhone that doesn’t need a credit card or about £1,500 of surrounding ecosystem kit to make the whole thing work nicely, then yeah, I could see a problem for Nokia in the short term.

Meanwhile, life continues…

- – - – -

First, I thought Google. Now, I think Microsoft.

I was reading recently about Skype functionality being built into the forthcoming Mango release on Windows Phone (WP) and I started thinking: who is now moving forwards fastest in this whole ecosystem race?

At the turn of the year, I was part of a research panel discussion around the near future of mobile. The NDA I signed on the evening prevents me from disclosing what treats we were party to, however, what I can share is some of the thoughts we went in with.

Each of us was asked to present our ideas around future mobile technologies. My pitch was around, funnily enough, ecosystems:

“We’re already seeing mobile operating systems appearing in car dashboards. Soon they’ll be in our fridges, on our televisions, built into our coffee tables.. and, when that happens, purchasing decisions will also be made based upon these ecosystems. If your main technology at home is Android-based and you’re coming to buy something new for your household, you’re more likely to keep within the ecosystem that you’re used to. Both from a UI perspective and also from a service interaction ideal.”

This was at the end of last year. Rewind a few years, back when I was working at a certain voice to text company, and Google was talking about launching their own voice-to-text product through Google Voice – “They’ve parked their tanks on our lawn, we must be doing something right”.

At that time I was thinking about the different pieces being put in place by the big G:

GMail, GTalk, Google Maps and now, Google Voice.

Communications + presences + location? I remember saying to a French Googler whom I knew at the time “Man! I can totally see where you guys are going! Amazing. Android will be the glue to pull it together aaaand.. when you align the stars, it’ll be perfect!” – he smiled and bowed his head, knowingly.

The communication ideal behind these nodes, if you will, for me seemed like a major background strategy that was slowing falling into place. Alas, here we are several years later and – even with the likes of [the yet to be proven] Google Plus – all of these services are still yet to fully link up properly. But these things take time.

Fast forward back today and this piece on Engadget highlighting Skype integration in Mango hits. My brain clicks into gear.

Xbox, Windows, Windows Phone, Hotmail [yeah, I said it] and now Maps – the pieces are all there. But the key part here for me is Xbox. The one thing everyone seems to be overlooking: Xbox. There are 53.6million of these machines worldwide – already sat under televisions. Of those, 66% are connected [or at least registered] online via Xbox Live. Include in that another 10million Kinects [the fastest selling peripheral of all time] and you have one hell of a home entertainment system / internet ecosystem.

The Kinect already had video calling before Skype was announced for Windows Phone. Skype is also rumoured to be bundled in the next Xbox update. I’m not saying video calling is the future, not by any stretch. But a true and proper unified communications plan for consumers is the next big step. [Facebook is nearly there, but isn't interested in home or mobile hardware].

Windows 7(.5/Mango/Tango/Rango/Bingo/Bango – delete where appropriate) also promises gaming integration, amazing applications [like the mind-blowingly awesome British Airways app we saw demo'd earlier this year] and well, I can’t help thinking that a sleeping giant has been stirred.

I used to think that Google would be the one pulling this stuff together – the faster, more agile of the huge players in the world. They still could be. They still might be.

All I’m saying is, don’t forget about Microsoft and above all, don’t ignore the Xbox. I genuinely think it’s a trump card that Microsoft is yet to play.

Whatley out.

Anyway. Set this aside.

Your eyes do not deceive you.

TechCrunch is saying nice thinks about Nokia.

Ok.

Well, they’re not precisely doing that. They’re reporting news that will have the iOS fanbois spitting out their cornflakes tomorrow morning: Windows Phone will overtake iOS by 2015?

You what?

That’s apparently what IDC and Gartner reckon:

Based on its history, you probably wouldn’t expect to see Windows Phone take off like a rocket. But apparently that’s what it’s going to do. Research out of Gartner and IDC says that Mango may grab a whopping 20 percent of the market by 2015, with the help of hardware partners like HTC and a little extra effort in the marketing department.

via Gartner, IDC: Windows Phone To Steal Second Place From iOS By 2015 | TechCrunch.

This is what I’ve been banging on about in the context of Apple. I’ve been consistently pointing out that Apple is going to have to go on the offensive soon.

For some reason, most of the folk I speak to seem to think that for Apple, the next decade is steady-as-she-goes, that it’s all pre-written. iPhone 5 this year, iPhone 6 next year, iPhone 7 the year after — and at this point, the whole planet will be using iPhones.

This is the received wisdom. Oh, yeah, maybe there will be some Android users too — and one or two small platforms still limping along.

This post is a neat little wake up call to those who have been drinking a little too much koolaid — for whatever reason.

Apple has already been taking a battering (as we say in Scotland) from those deeply, deeply unimpressed at the fact the company is being nailed by Android.

Of course there’s a pricing issue. Apple can’t touch the wider markets with it’s products. The wider markets simply can’t afford them. There’s nothing you can do to fit a $500 value handset into the hands of someone who can ONLY afford $55.

A $55 Android handset, on the other hand? Definitely. A $55 Windows Phone? Well, that’s perhaps a bit of a stretch but eminently possible within a few product cycles.

I’m looking forward to seeing Apple’s response in this area. Will the company simply stick to doing what it’s comfortable with (i.e. highly profitable niche player?) or will they reach way beyond this?

With $80 billion in cash right now — and goodness knows how much by the end of the next 2 quarters — those investors are going to continue to get mighty demanding. The profits are going to have to keep coming. And if Windows Phone starts to make a dent — alongside Android — I’m excited to see what defensive and offensive strategies Apple will adopt.

Alas the opportunity has been snapped up by Canadian firm, Polar Mobile. Congratulations chaps.

The focus for Polar is obviously Windows Phone — and this news demonstrates Nokia isn’t hanging around. Microsoft has already made good progress getting content on their app stores, this will certainly keep things moving. There’s a lot more details via the link below.

Nokia Corp. is turning to Toronto-based app developer Polar Mobile Group Inc. to build more than 300 mobile apps for its current and future smart phones, as the world’s largest handset maker tries to regain relevance in the next-generation mobile device market.The deal, to be announced Wednesday, is one of the largest in Polar’s history. The first 50 apps, to be released in the next two months, will run on Nokia’s Symbian operating system, which powers several of its existing line of phones. Polar will also develop apps for the MeeGo platform.

via CTV News | Nokia picks Polar to build 300 mobile apps.

Nokia could stop selling phones now and it wouldn’t make any difference. It’s all about making 2012 enormous. Let’s hope they manage it. The Meego phone looked lovely – WP7 on something like that with the right marketing should be a winner. But there’s a nagging doubt that they will snatch failure from the jaws of success

I think he’s absolutely right.

Of course the revenue made on the boxes going out the factory door each day is still useful, even if it’s lowering every quarter.

But the fundamental point is WP7. It’s ALL about Windows for Nokia — and it’s all about 2012. Get it right and the company is #winning.

Get it wrong and it’s time to seek an equitable acquisition by an existing industry player. Or, perhaps more excitingly, a new entrant.

Heh. I do like Richard’s balls-out approach.

Try that on on Nokia..

They are not good. But I won’t bore you with anything beyond that.

There’s a lot of handwringing going on across the marketplace with people surprised that the figures don’t look good.

Well obviously.

The company is mid-way through changing strategies. This second quarter came more or less immediately after the now famous February ‘Windows Phone’ announcement. Indeed, for much of the second quarter, I imagine the majority of staff were wondering if they’d still have a part to play on-going.

When the company made their announcement in February, what they were effectively saying was, ‘expect NOTHING from us for ages’.

Yes. Pointing at their dire financial results is, well, pointless. The fact the company’s sales slipped in Q2? Foregone conclusion.

Guess what, they’ll be rubbish in Q3. And — NEWSLFASH — Q4 will be a shocker, too.

In fact, here we go — it’s time for an EXCLUSIVE NEWSLFASH LIVE PREDICTION: 2011 will be a rubbish year for Nokia.

Tah dah.

2012? I think the first half won’t look good financially either.

Nokia has a simple task ahead: Create brilliant Windows Phone handsets thereby delighting the consumer. Everything else — including Symbian, MeeGo and the like, it’s all a diversion at the moment. The company’s ability to survive the next 12 months depends on Windows Phone 7. Nothing else matters.

I know success with WP7 is a big ask. A very big ask. I think the company has got the wherewithal to deliver. Similarly, it’s highly possible that it’s game over already. We’ll just need to wait and see.

Now then, here’s what you need to do. Definitely watch the video. Keep the sound down low, there’s nothing interesting there. I’d like you to spend a bit of time admiring the device. Whether it’s official or not, this is a super exercise. I want you to have a close look and see if anything happens to your mindset.

For me, my mindset shifted slightly on Nokia. If they can provide an N9 (or, for that matter, an N8) running Windows Phone 7, with a brilliant, BRILLIANT camera experience, along with the usual Nokia gubbins (decent call quality, battery, machinery) then I’m interested. Very interested.

So whether it’s real or imagined, it’s rather exciting to explore the possibility of Nokia releasing a simply brilliant top-of-the-line device into the market.

Windows Phone 7 is good. It’s rather elegant. Evolve the experience to include Nokia’s historic device strengths and the offering becomes compelling.

My worry is that Nokia will actually ship a mid-level ‘meh’ device that plays well with the bottom end of the market but cannot be spoken of in the same breath as iPhone 5 or one of the HTC Android handsets. The media will bury Nokia. (Incidentally, this is an issue that Rafe Blandford and I almost came to blows over — in a constructive manner — on a recent 361 Degrees podcast. Do check it out!)

Here’s the embed video:

I think, at one point, I was screaming words to the effect of, “You’re completely WRONG” at Mr Blandford.

This is, you understand, all in the spirit of a healthy, robust debate.

I went off like a firecracker when Rafe reckoned that Nokia should hit the market with a boring mid-level Windows Phone handset that will (predictably) be torn apart by the media. I was explaining that I want Nokia to arrive with something that, at the very least, gives iPhone a run for it’s money. This is eminently possible.

Blandford was having none of it.

Neither was I.

And so we clashed. A lot.

If you haven’t taken the time to check out the joint podcast I do with Ben from WirelessWorker.net and Rafe from All About Symbian, this is the time to dive in.

Now it’s over to the standard introduction and description:

This week we talk about Nokia… How has it come to this and what next for the big firm?

We discuss:

• The history behind the current problems.
• How and why the firm has to change.
• Windows Phone, the new strategy… and the parts which are often forgotten.
• Whether Nokia can recover and what its first Windows Phone device will mean.

It all gets a bit heated this week… Ewan accuses Rafe of not seeing the warning signs and Rafe explains that the Silicon Valley view is too limited. Ben plays referee and offers some dire warnings about the short-term.

There are lots of ways to follow the podcast or you can subscribe using iTunes and other popular services.

Now then, this release is critical reading for anyone following the mobile industry.

This is the launch released regarding the Nokia N9 — in full.

First of all, read it.

Don’t read it critically. Don’t think about platforms, don’t think about brands, just try and ‘take it in’ without making the usual judgements we all do about Nokia at the moment.

Then I’ve got some comments below for your perusal.

Singapore – Nokia today announced the Nokia N9, built for people who appreciate a stunning blend of design and the latest smartphone technology. To learn more about the design of the Nokia N9 visit: http://swipe.nokia.com

One swipe and you’re home
The Nokia N9 introduces an innovative new design where the home key is replaced by a simple gesture: a swipe. Whenever you’re in an application, swiping from the edge of the display takes you home.

The three home views of the user interface are designed to give fast access to the most important things people do with a phone: using apps, staying up to date with notifications and social networks, and switching between activities.

The industrial design of the Nokia N9 is an example of extreme product making and craft. The body is precision-machined from a single piece of polycarbonate and flows seamlessly into beautiful curved glass. The laminated deep black display means that the user interface just floats on the surface of the product.

The Nokia N9 also packs the latest in camera, navigation and audio technology for a great all-round experience.

“With the Nokia N9, we wanted to design a better way to use a phone. To do this we innovated in the design of the hardware and software together. We reinvented the home key with a simple gesture: a swipe from the edge of the screen. The experience sets a new bar for how natural technology can feel,” said Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia’s head of Design. “And this is just the beginning. The details that make the Nokia N9 unique – the industrial design, the all-screen user experience, and the expressive Qt framework for developers – will evolve in future Nokia products.”

Innovative all-screen design
With no need for a home key, the all-screen Nokia N9 makes more room for apps to shine. The 3.9-inch AMOLED screen is made from scratch-resistant curved glass. The polycarbonate body enables superior antenna performance. This means better reception, better voice quality and fewer dropped calls.

Camera, maps and multimedia
The 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus sensor, wide-angle lens, HD-quality video capture and large lens aperture enable great camera performance even in lowlighting conditions. This makes the Nokia N9 one of the best camera-phones ever produced.

The Nokia N9 features free turn-by-turn drive and walk navigation with voice guidance in Maps. With the new dedicated Drive app, you can get in your car and start navigating to your destination right away.

You can watch videos in true 16:9 widescreen format. And because the Nokia N9 is also the world’s first smartphone with Dolby® Digital Plus decoding and Dolby Headphone post-processing technology, you get a surround sound experience with any set of headphones.

Touch just got better
Fitted with the latest in wireless technology, Near Field Communication (NFC), the Nokia N9 allows you to easily share images and videos between devices by touching them together. Pair it with Bluetooth accessories like the new NFC-enabled Nokia Play 360° wireless music speaker only once, and you get a great surround sound music experience with just a tap.

Colors and Memory
The Nokia N9 will be available in three colors – black, cyan, and magenta with storage options to accommodate plenty of content: 16GB and 64GB. The Nokia N9 is scheduled to be in stores later this year, with availability and local pricing to be announced closer to the sales start.

More information about the Nokia N9 can be found at: http://swipe.nokia.com.

Right.

Ok. If you read this release properly, chances are your attention was piqued.

The new ‘swipe’ concept is — at first glance — flipping hot. Or hawt, as people far cooler than me say. No home key? Finally. Love it.

A completely new user interface? Very cool.

Nokia’s famed — and I do mean, famed — robust industrial design team allowed to get stuck into their expertise? Anything with the words ‘polycarbonate’ and ‘curved glass screen’ deserves further investigation. Interesting.

A proper 8 megapixel camera? Yes — this is a reminder that whatever handset you’re currently using, unless it’s got a Carl Zeiss lens, it’s camera is shit. Especially if you’re using one of those top of the range Android or Windows Phone devices with ‘amazing cameras’ that seem to capture everything as though the lens is made out of dough. Yes, there’s one thing Nokia do really, really well: Imaging.

True 16:9 widescreen? Interesting. You know it does get rather annoying watching movies and TV shows back on my iPhone 4 and finding black bars all over the shop unless I ‘tap-tap’ to zoom in. In which case I feel like I’m missing out a bit.

Oh and it’s a Nokia, so the telephone gubbins actually works and I won’t sound like a muffled arse (hello iPhone!) speaking to folk? Well, that’s getting compelling.

But what’s missing from this press release?

If you’re anything like me, you were scanning ahead of each paragraph, hunting for the mention of the operating system, weren’t you?

Hunting!

I was.

I had to re-read the whole piece twice. Then — I kid you not — I actually did a ‘Ctrl-F’ (or, well, ‘Apple-F’) to find the word ‘MeeGo’.

Wasn’t there.

I also did ‘Symbian’, just to be sure. There were lots of can’t-tell-you-anything smiles at the Nokia UK Press Event last week. This device is probably what they were smiling about.

So it’s MeeGo.

Yes, it’s running on MeeGo. Or, as far as we’re concerned from a public perspective, it’s ‘MeeGo’.

It’s rather fascinating that all those executives in Nokia Central sent this release out to the marketplace without any mention whatsoever of the operating system. Are we getting to the point where the OS is becoming irrelevant and it’s all about the user interface? Maybe. Not quite — but that time is approaching, especially when the OS can properly retreat behind a veil, disassociated — finally — from the user interface. Indeed, I look forward to a time when the user can decide and dictate their own UI layer. Fancy the app-silo approach from Apple? You have it. Want to use a map-based next-generation UI from Nokia? Just click. Or do you like the HTC Sense concept with the nice clouds in the background? Just tap and it’s there.

I think it’s a smart exercise from Nokia, dropping or not mentioning the UI. The more cynical out there will assume or presume this is because the company is aiming to avoid OS attention. No. That conversation cannot be avoided.

The strategy forced a look at the other features first. You know what, when you’re down — as Nokia most certainly is — you can do this kind of thing. You can innovate. Indeed, things get highly exciting when you’re a down-and-out multi-billion dollar company filled with oodles of talented, passionate and super-engaged geniuses. You can start playing by your own rules. This is what I think we’re seeing.

The new UI looks rather swish. I am particular impressed at what I *think* I saw in the video — NFC-enabled touch-to-swap imagery. I think that’s what I saw. I’ll need to enquire.

Why release the N9?

Well, there’s a segment of the market that loves Nokia. That same segment will look fondly on the 16GB version but will obsess over the 64GB version. I don’t necessarily expect Nokia to start selling a-million-a-day but I think there’s sufficient fans out there who can seriously live without Angry Birds. Sorry, I mean ‘apps’. Oh you’ll still get apps on MeeGo. In fact given the inclusion and full support of Qt, it is a literal piece of simplicity to click-click-click and knock out an application for the N9. That will (more or less) also work on a billion other devices.

(‘Billion’ is a bit of dramatic license. But when you look at the possibilities with S40 and S60-Qt enabled devices, there are actually quite a lot of users out there.)

The company needs to keep it’s MeeGo muscles flexing. I’m expecting big things from them over the next few years.

Now watch this video of the N9 and ‘swipe’:

Did you see that NFC-image-swap thing? 45 seconds in? I’ll need to speak to The Blandford about it.

After watching the video — yes — I’d like an N9.

No word on costs as far as I’m aware yet. I’d expect — what — 600 pounds? Something like that.

Good work Nokia.

I’ll have more on this over the coming weeks.

More from Jeb

I do thoroughly recommend taking a bit of time out and watching this one, particularly — PARTICULARLY — the part where he gets to the ecosystem question.

Note first that RIM — one of the world’s top smartphone producers is totally wiped from reality in the Nokia ecosystem viewpoint. And second, watch how the company represents the ecosystems — Apple is a closed box, whilst Android is an open box, but with lids that could easily close. It’s a fantastic analogy and I think it was this point that I sensed a change in the braying masses.

“Nokia’s dead,” was the refrain I heard muttered around me as I sat in the Uplinq audience. The place was thronging with Android developers and supporters.

“He’s got a point,” said one chap behind me.

“Yeah, fragmentation is killing us on Android,” said another.

There were a lot of quietly nodding heads throughout the thousands watching this presentation.

I strongly encourage you to get a cup of coffee and watch this to see what you think.

This week we reminisce about the devices we’ve owned and loved over the years. We highlight a few we think were real ‘market changers’, a few lemons and speculate about who might make the next game-changer. Rafe also lets slip the secret of his magic drawers.

Amongst the devices we discuss this week are the:

• SonyEricsson P800
• Sony CMD Z5
• Nokia 6210
• O2 XDA (HTC)
• Nokia N95
• Nokia E61 and E61i
• Nokia N82
• Blackberry 7230
• iPhone 2G
• Orange SPV / HTC Canary
• Nokia 1011
• Motorola RAZR
• Nokia 5110 and 3210 with Xpress-on Covers
• Original Sidekick
• Treo 180

Episode 7 is also available on Soundcloud.

There are lots of ways to follow the podcast or you can subscribe using iTunes and other popular services.

Technical note: We’ve changed the way we serve downloads to podcast subscribers this week – this should address some recent feedback about tags and also improve audio quality. Please let us know in the comments if you have any questions or problems following the change.