Info Tech
Nokia succumbs to Android appeal in low-cost phone battle
BARCELONA – Nokia, soon to be acquired by Microsoft Corp, is turning to software created by arch-rival Google for a new line of phones it hopes will make it a late contender in the dynamic low-cost smartphone market.
Its first models, Nokia X, X+ and XL, rely upon an open version of the Android mobile software system created by Google that has become the world’s most popular software used in smartphones.
The release of the phones just days before Nokia sells its handset business to Microsoft in a $7.2 billion deal, is an attempt to stay relevant in emerging markets, where low-cost Android phones are being snapped up by hundreds of millions of buyers.
Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop said the market had “shifted dramatically”, and the group needed to address a sub-$100 segment that is set to grow four times faster than more expensive phones.
He told a crowded press conference at the Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona that rather than being an 180-degree turn in its strategy of using Microsoft’s Windows Phone for smartphones, it was a move that introduces the “next billion” users to Nokia’s hardware and Microsoft’s services.
“We see the X family being complementary to (Windows Phone) Lumia at lower price points,” he said. “Even as you see Lumia push lower and lower, you will see us push lower with Nokia X below that.”
But the strategy shift underlines the many missteps made by the Finnish company since Apple launched its ground-breaking iPhone in 2007.
Nokia was caught between a rock and a hard place – committed to using Microsoft’s Windows Phone software but needing Android software to reach more cost-sensitive customers, CCS Insight’s head of research Ben Wood said.
“That a company soon-to-be owned by Microsoft, the creator of the original operating system, is moving to Android is almost an “admission of failure”, he said.
Global smartphone shipments grew 41 percent annually to reach nearly 1 billion units in 2013, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. Android phones from dozens of handset makers accounted for almost four out of every five smartphones sold, or 781.2 million units.
In the past year, Apple shipped 153.4 million smartphones worldwide for a 15 percent share of the market, making it the second largest smartphone platform after Android.
Microsoft was a distant third in market-share terms, shipping 35.7 million units worldwide with its Windows mobile software platform, but still struggling to gain traction in the low-tier and premium-tier smartphone categories, Strategy Analytics said.
WINDOWS SHUT OUT
In February 2011, Elop famously compared Nokia’s failing smartphone strategy – based on multiple software platforms of its own making – to a man on a burning platform.
He chose to jump into the arms of Microsoft, producing high-end Lumia-branded smartphones that have been well received by critics, but less popular with customers and app developers, the people who make the software that turns phones into multi-purpose tools.
Elop said on Monday he had not jumped the wrong way.
“There’s quite a lot of vendors … who made the Android decision but couldn’t differentiate,” he said. “We wanted to build with Microsoft a third ecosystem, and that’s what we are doing while others fall by the wayside.”
But the Microsoft technology does not work on the chip sets found in cheaper smartphones, the fast-growing market crowding out Nokia’s Asha feature phones, which lack the full Internet capabilities of smartphones.
The company rejected Android three years ago, when it tied its fortunes to Microsoft’s Windows Phone. But Monday’s announcement shows it has quietly been working on an open Android device for months.
Product Marketing Vice President Jussi Nevanlinna told Reuters the number one requirement from customers was access to Android apps.
“Our fans oftentimes tell us ‘We love your hardware, we love your products, but we also love our Android apps’,” he said. “Can you make something happen so the Android apps magically run here?'”
IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo said Nokia had a made a “rational move” that allowed it to address a much bigger market, but it should have been made three years ago. “It would have given Nokia a complete different position from where it stands today, under Microsoft’s control,” he said.
CCS Insight’s Wood also said Nokia needed to do something dramatic in low-cost smartphones: “Asha has failed to deliver the volumes they needed to be competitive in the low-cost smartphone space, while Android remains completely rampant.”
The Nokia X family uses the open source version of Android, which runs most apps without the right to customize Google’s basic software.
For Nokia, it was a question of making this humiliating reversal in its strategy or facing irrelevance in this category of phones, Wood said.
NOKIA SERVICES
The open version of Android software means that the new Nokia phone does not have rely on Google’s services and access to the Google Play app store. Instead, Nokia is bundling it with its own music and map offers, and Microsoft’s email, cloud, messaging and search services.
Apps will be available in Nokia’s own app store, as well as a host of other app stores, Elop said.
The look of the Nokia X devices is starkly different from the usual Android phone, with nods to Lumia and Asha interfaces.
Elop said rather than confusing customers, Nokia X – where X indicates a cross between Nokia hardware, Android apps and Microsoft services – will be a stepping stone to Lumia, and will share the same cloud services.
“Lumia continues to be our primary smartphone strategy,” Elop said. “Lumia is where we will continue to introduce the greatest innovation.
Wood said Nokia and Microsoft had an advantage over other users of open Android, such as some Chinese manufacturers, in that they had a ready-made set of services that they could slot into the phone.
“It means Nokia is able to participate in that entry-level space, but our view is they will try to push Windows Phone down into that space as quickly as possible,” he said.
Nonetheless, devices running an open Android operating system will not sit easily within Microsoft, whose fortune is founded on the core belief that software should be paid for.
The Nokia X, which has a four-inch screen, will be available immediately, Nokia said. The X+, with more memory and storage, and XR, which has a five-inch display, will be on sale early next quarter priced at 99 euros and 109 euros, respectively.
They will be on sale in all markets apart from Japan and Korea, where Nokia is not present, and North America.
– REUTERS
In efforts at spicing up the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, the management of ITREALMS Media has partnered with E-waste Producer Responsibility Organization of Nigeria (EPRON) membership organisations for a day-long collection scheme of small electronic waste on Friday, December 15, 2023.
The EPRON members aligning their partnership with 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue are EL-AS Tech Enterprises Limited and WEEE Eco-Friendly.
ITREALMS’ day-long collection scheme is part of the commemoration of 2023 international E-Waste Day (IEWD) within the ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue with the theme “You Can Recycle Anything with a plug, battery or cable” at Welcome Centre Hotels, International Airport Road, Lagos.
Revealing this collaboration, the Group Executive Editor, ITREALMS Media, the organisers of the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue, Sir. Remmy Nweke, urged mobile device enthusiasts to come along with their devices that have reached their end-of-life to the venue for proper disposition by professionals who would also be on grounds to address some topical issues.
The collection of small electronic wastes especially mobile phones and like-devices, would be carried out by EPRON member organisation, EL-AS Tech Enterprises Limited as facilitated by ITREALMS Media group as part of this year’s ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue on Friday, December 15, he added.
He disclosed that the exercise would commence at Welcome Centre Hotel by 9am till close of work hours the same day.
Nweke pointed out that the collection of small e-waste items would include mobile phones, pointers mouse, earpieces, rechargeable torches, phone chargers, to name a few.
Further, he said, that this initiative has become time-serving because some people may have missed any other opportunity before now for the year-long campaign, hence this awareness on e-Waste has to be continuous, “ITREALMS came up with this scheme.”
Nweke beckoned on Nigerians, especially mobile phone users, to leverage the opportunity in disposing of their mobile devices they no longer use, of course in exchange for a voucher or gift item.
In her reaction to this year’s day-long small waste collection, EPRON Executive Secretary, Mrs. Ibukun Faluyi, described the initiative as commendable, expressing confidence it would intensify the collection of end-of-life devices for proper disposition.
Mrs. Faluyi, also urged Nigerians to take advantage of this day-long collection of small wastes courtesy of ITREALMS Media.
Recalling for instance that in October 2022, EPRON had partnered SLOT alongside some UN agencies for collection of small e-waste items in Lagos, including the United Nations Information Centres (UNIC), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Labour Organisation (ILO), Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) and Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA).
This is even as the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Dr. Aminu Maida and Director-General, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Prof. Aliyu Jauro, would both lead speakers at the 2023 ITREALMS E-Waste Dialogue slated for this Friday, December 15, in Lagos.
Today, September 12, the tech corporation Apple will introduce the iPhone 15, their newest iPhone model.
According to a Forbes story, this model, which will be introduced at the company’s “Wanderlust” event in Cupertino, California, will be available in four variations: the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Here are five things you should know about the new iPhone 15 model.
1. The new model is made of titaniu, not stainless steel as some other Apple smartphone models, Senior research analyst at DIGITIMES, Luke Lin reports.
2. The Pro Max model will feature double the optical zoom on the iPhone 14 as it comes with a newly-introduced ‘periscope lens upgrade, performing 5-6x optical zoom.’
3. The Pro models will carry an A17 bionic chip expected to make it perform faster.
4. The iPhone 15 model will feature a USB-C charging port, the same port featured on some Android phone models.
5. Due to its titanium shell, the new model is anticipated to be more expensive to purchase. The following is the speculated price list, as reported by Forbes:
The iPhone 15 starts at $799, the iPhone 15 Plus at $899, the iPhone 15 Pro at $1,099 ($100 increase), and the iPhone 15 Pro Max at $1,299 ($200 increase).
In an effort to reduce the exorbitant cost of Premium Motor Spirit, better known as petrol, the Infrastructure Bank Plc announced its collaboration with FEMADEC Group on Monday to offer 500 buses powered by autogas (Compressed Natural Gas).
Partners in the agreement claimed that the project was created to provide citizens with dependable, affordable, and environmentally friendly travel options, taking into account the negative effects of the nationwide increase in PMS costs.
Under Decree No. 51 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1992 Constitution, the Infrastructure Bank, originally known as the Urban Development Bank of Nigeria Plc, was founded in 1992 to promote the quick development of infrastructure throughout the nation.
In a statement issued in Abuja on its partnership with FEMADEC, the bank said, “The preliminary offer extended by TIB lays a solid foundation for the expansion of FEMADEC Group’s CNG bus fleet.
“With plans to introduce 500 CNG buses within the next five years, commencing with an initial batch of 50 buses in the forthcoming year, this proposal stands poised to instigate significant change.
“The acceptance of this proposition by FEMADEC Group, notably championed by Fola Akinnola, the Group Chief Executive Officer, is a testament to their zeal and dedication to this alliance.”
The bank described the partnership as a “pivotal endeavour that is primed to redefine Nigeria’s public transportation landscape, offering dependable, cost-effective, and ecologically conscious travel alternatives for citizens, while harmonising with the nation’s broader sustainability ambitions.”
“This partnership represents a remarkable stride towards a more ecologically aware future for Nigeria’s transportation sector, highlighting the shared commitment of both TIB and FEMADEC Group to sustainable advancement and progress.”
It said FEMADEC Group’s strides in operating Compressed Natural Gas buses, including the existing fleet of 20 CNG buses under LAMATA, underscored their unwavering dedication to ecologically sound solutions, a commitment predating the fuel subsidy removal.
“Their leadership within the CNG value chain is undeniable, and the new alliance with TIB underscores their foresight.
“This partnership seamlessly aligns with TIB’s sustainability objectives, echoing their resolute endorsement of the government’s net-zero and climate change agenda.
“The bank’s aspiration to champion Nigeria’s infrastructure progress is evident in its endorsement of pivotal initiatives like this, yielding expansive positive impacts on both the environment and society,” the bank stated.
The bank added that it would continue to make a significant contribution to the country’s growth as a leading financial institution committed to advancing effective and long-lasting infrastructure projects.
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