NEW YORK, United States – We’re not entirely sure what Niklas Savander, Nokia’s head of sales and marketing, was expecting when he agreed to answer your questions live on Twitter. But one thing’s definitely true: he certainly got stuck in. We registered 52 tweets from the big man over the course of the hour, against around 400 questions, and we’ve brought you the highlights here.
We’ve removed some of the banter to focus on the nuggets of new information, and re-arranged the discussion into topics. You can, of course, see everything in all its chaotic glory if you look at the @NiklasatNokia account or the #Niklas hashtag.
Also, Niklas has filmed a quick summary of some of the issues raised:
The Burning Questions: Products
These are the questions that we get asked every day in the comments on this blog, and so we’re delighted to be able to pass on the definitive answers.
@markguim I wish Nokia’s time between product announcement and actual launch was much shorter
@NiklasatNokia I agree a long delta between launch and shipment is not helping anyone
@ozozdil Mr. Niklas this question is very important, when is the exact release date for Nokia N8? I have been waiting for 2 months..
@NiklasatNokia there is no change of what we have been saying – end of Q3
@twittison When exactly you will bring 1st MeeGo? Plz answer.
@NiklasatNokia a major product milestone by the end of the year.
No Nokia Android
Anssi Vanjoki said last month that Nokia won’t be using Android. But the rumours continued. Savander is having none of it.
@diogonev why does Nokia refuse to use Android? It has the hype, good press and devs Nokia needs so bad!
@NiklasatNokia our platform choices (symbian and meego) gives us the best opp to deliver value and of course qt will play key role
@NiklasatNokia AMEN! RT @LessThanDoug Android is not the ans. We need Symbian to be cleaned up and given more power and better UI, now though
Nokia in North America
Perhaps it’s the nature of Twitter, but Nokia’s position and strategy in North America attracted its fair share of comment.
@palmsolo Nokia used to be known in US as freebie network phones. How do you change this perception without broad carrier support?
@NiklasatNokia one step at a time – 1st steps visible Nuron at @TmobileUSA w turn-by-turn nav, operator billing w store and more!
@FErNE3 Tmobile Verizon At&t all have Nokia phones will we ever see you guys team up with Sprint?
@NiklasatNokia We have no plans at this time
@karimyaghmour: NA market is very different beast from ROW. How does Nokia plan to get in a leadership position? Where does Meego fit?
@NiklasatNokia lots of NA questions we will address in a bit
And further afield
The US hosted this event, so they got their choice of its time. But other regions are by no means forgotten.
@AroundBrother hey here is S.korea and 2:00 AM!! because Q&A with you, I&my friend continue to ask about nokia’s support in s.korea.
@NiklasatNokia thanks for the message at 2 am – I will follow you and DM me to cont conversation
Symbian
This perception that Symbian is some sort of niche OS has to end, Savander reckons, and with good reason. [NB: Symbian announced yesterday that it ships more than three smartphones every second.]
@chayanin What’s plan with the existing S60 users? We feel like a minority in smartphone world now
@NiklasatNokia as an S60 user – you are in fact in the biggest smartphone user group with 41% share
@Sleipne Do you plan to communicate on #symbian brand name like Google do it with #Android ? Customers don’t know about it 🙁
@NiklasatNokia Hey @symbian – do you want to take this question?
For Developers
The conversation attracted a number of developers. The first interchange below came in response to the question: what do you want most from a mobile phone?
@netcrack2k a fast and reliable OS that I can develop for! Symbian is slow (at the latest after 1y of usage) and developer-hostile!
@NiklasatNokia Qt will give you the tools to develop and allow u to address both symbian and meego devices
@janole To attract more developers, could the OviStore waive all own revenues (-fees) for some period of time? Unrealistic?
@NiklasatNokia 1.7M downloads a day in Ovi Store (75% apps) we are creating better dialogue w devs & operators to address this
Social Media
Will Nokia continue to engage with social media, both as a company and on its devices? (Yes)
@janole: I really hope @NiklasatNokia will continue to tweet after today’s Q&A session….
@NiklasatNokia Yes – I intend to continue this conversation – but I will challenge my colleagues to do this as well
@markguim impressed that @niklasatnokia is selecting to answer the hard questions
@stuartdredge hey Niklas, hope you’re enjoying Twitter! What do you think of social location apps: check-ins, Foursquare etc?
@NiklasatNokia future of mobile Internet is location driven – we r in mile 1 of marathon & in front of the pack #navteq
And Also
@JamesAFry: What phone do you use? E71? N97? Blackberry?
@NiklasatNokia I’m rockin’ a @Nokia N8 prototype and I LOVE IT!
@NiklasatNokia THANKS! This is only the first hour – more to come. We are listening and learning! #niklas #nokia