maramine blog

One of these screen captures is Apple’s App Store. The other, is not.

Click the image above to enlarge.

I’ve been noticing more and more lately that even the most dedicated Nokia/Symbian fanboys seem to be going out of their way to berate Nokia handsets. The same people who blog about Nokia, comment on tech blogs all day about how great S60 is, recommend Nokia handsets above all others and so on, spend nearly as much time within Twitter, IMs, emails, etc complaining about their favorite Finnish phone maker. Should Nokia be troubled by this? Troubled by the fact that even it’s most staunch supporters seem to be growing tired of its products? Or do fanboys make up such a small portion of it’s business that they just don’t matter?

Me? I’d be worried. Handing out free phones just doesn’t seem to be cutting it anymore.

Nokia’s upcoming 6212 Classic handset was press-released yesterday and while the overall specs might not knock you out of your seat, the presence of Near Field Communication (NFC) couldn’t be more exciting. With a Q3 release, the 6212 won’t be the first NFC-equipped device but it will likely be the first to be widely marketed by a top company. What is NFC? The press release illustrates usage cases well:

Near Field Communication is designed for intuitive, simple and safe interaction between electronic devices. By tapping an NFC-enabled tag, consumers can receive new content such as weblinks, audio files or contact data directly to their phone. They can activate a profile in their handset or open applications such as FM radio or web browser. Photos and videos can be easily shared by tapping another NFC-capable phone and pairing with a Bluetooth NFC-enabled device, like the new NFC variant of the Nokia BH-210 headset, happens with just one touch.

Of course the applications of NFC are essentially limitless. Mobile handset-invoked payment remittance for example, would be infinitely more secure as compared to current methods. In fact the technology is so exciting that perhaps it will spark some advancement here in the US where we are lagging at best with like technology. I’d love to be able to tap my handset against an ATM to withdraw cash from my checking account or tap it against a gas pump to fund my fuel purchase.

Back to the now however, we can expect to see light uses come into play as 2008 fades into 2009. Parrot for one, has just today announced a pair of NFC-equipped portable speakers that will be available for around $150 this summer. If the 6212 Classic was being issued with AT&T-compatible UMTS I’d likely snag both of the aforementioned toys. Alas…

I could not be more happy about this. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me about a project currently underway behind the scenes at Nokia that really sounded exciting. “We all know and love S60’s blogs,” he said. “What if Nokia had a similar site that touched upon all of the major areas relating to Nokia?”

Our conversation ended and since then I’ve heard nothing about the project - until last night. An email found its way into my inbox containing access information for a special preview of Nokia’s upcoming site: Nokia Conversations (link not yet live). I finally had some time to browse through it a few moments ago and thusfar I’m very, very happy. Despite the fact that SiMo isn’t one of the blogs they follow (nor is maramine of course, it just launched!), the team behind Nokia Conversations has done a fantastic job putting this site together. Headed by the ever-popular Charlie Schick, Conversations is just what my friend said it would be; the S60 blogs of Nokia.

Company insights, business insights, strategic insights, environmental insights, personal insight; it’s all there. No other handset manufacturer (or internet company) comes close to delivering customer relations experience that Nokia has in place today, and Nokia Conversations is a big step beyond anything we’ve seen before. I’m really not sure how much I’m supposed to reveal at this point, but I will say that the site is currently separated into six main categories:

• Products & Services
• Design
• Future Technologies
• Environment
• Ideas & Opinions
• Our Business

This will give you a good idea as to the content to be expected from Nokia Conversations. Once launched, the site will give visitors a unique opportunity to interact with many of the minds behind the products and services we all know and love so much. One of the aspects that I’m looking forward to most is the reactive side of the blogs. I hope many of the contributors take some time to give their input with regards to “current events” as they are reported on within the media and blogosphere.

Not all of the links on the site are live yet, but the email I received stated the site would “go live shortly”. Get ready…