When we write stories here on Conversations, we do it to keep you informed of what’s happening in the world of Nokia. We also like to create debate and discussion within each article. During 2012, we’ve shared some amazing stories and you’ve been right there with us in the comments section. Thank you for that. Here are the 12 most talked about stories of 2012, split into months.
January
Nokia Lumia 900 – Born for the USA (update)
Comments – 231
At the very beginning of the year, we announced the Nokia Lumia 900 and that it would be released on AT&T in the USA. A lot of you took the time to share with us your thoughts about what you liked and didn’t like about the new Lumia smartphone.
Don Farmer said this about the Lumia 900:
“I went into my local ATT store, put down $200 and told them to order it as soon as they get the email that says they can. Love the phone and size. Great Job.”
On the contrary, Caprico wanted to see other non-Lumia news:
“If it’s born for the US it might not be good enough for Europe and the rest of the world…? Is there somewhere [on the] Nokia Conversation blog on the web which doesn’t only talk about Lumia and US?”
As we communicated last year, Nokia is focusing on the Windows Phone platform for its smartphones. It’s only natural we’d focus our stories on those products. Since this story was published, we’ve seen the Nokia Lumia family expand and grow, as we’ll see later on in this article.
February
Nokia Belle download begins today
Comments – 463
Nokia Belle was the update to Symbian Anna, and the new update delivered a lot of improvements and added features to devices such as the Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C7 and Nokia E6.
While this was welcome news for most, some people preferred some of the features of Symbian Anna.
James O’Donnell listed 9 things he didn’t like:
“No easy access to better meter. No widget for RSS reader. No easy access to all profiles” – to mention just a few.
Martin was a little more appreciative:
“Updated yesterday! Thank you for my nearly “new” phone! :-)”
March
All about Nokia Belle, Feature Pack 1
Comments – 178
The Nokia 808 PureView came preloaded with Nokia Belle Feature Pack 1. However, current Symbian smartphones needed to be updated to experience it. That’s why we wrote an article detailing everything you needed to know about Feature Pack 1.
Nearly all of the comments were people asking if their device would be eligible for the upgrade, eager to get hold of it.
April
Putting people first
Comments – 257
When Nokia makes a mistake, we like to acknowledge it. The Nokia Lumia 900 was launched in the US and soon after, people started experiencing some problems. As an apology, we published a story detailing that every person who had bought one would get a credit note on their AT&T bill, as well as a new Lumia, or an updated one – depending on the customer’s preference.
We did the right thing, as the comments show.
Sean M commented:
“Very generous. Props to Nokia, nice to see a company taking care of their customers.”
Also, Robert Shurtleff had this to say:
“Apple could sure use to learn a few lessons from this! THIS is how to treat your customers as intelligent human beings with honesty and respect!”
Another one sharing similar feeling, was Jim Lineham:
“This is beyond a gesture of good will…this is the kind of a response by a company that cements customers for life. I am amazed at how FAST Nokia looked into this, found the issue and made an official response on fixing it…and the 100 dollars back is unreal”
May
Nokia 808 PureView: new pics and initial availability
Comments – 107
Before the Nokia 808 PureView was publicly available, people could only experience the amazing photography skills from the photos that Nokia published from their pre-release units.
In our availability announcement post, we also published a handful of beautiful photos, taken from a Nokia 808 PureView.
Here’s what you thought of this article:
“Just amazing, I cant wait to have this phone on my hands, all the demo images are just wonderful and will be a beat to go better…I will try!”
Shared Christian VeVa.
Jorge Miguel had similar sentiments:
“Those pictures look amazing. That’s mobile phone innovation right there.”
June
Nokia at the Windows Phone 8 unveiling
Comments – 272
Before this story, we didn’t know much about the improvements that Windows Phone 8 would bring. That’s why brought you the information as soon as Microsoft announced it.
Windows Phone 8 brings NFC, customisable Live tiles, and a whole lot of apps and other functionality to our Nokia Lumia family. Additionally, due to the new hardware requirements from Windows Phone 8, it meant that some things wouldn’t be coming to Windows Phone 7.5 smartphones.
This left some people unhappy.
Muhammad Adzim wants to know why his recently purchased Nokia Lumia 900 won’t be receiving Windows Phone 8.
“Lumia 900 was just launched last week in my country and now it cannot be upgraded to WP8?”
Our Editor-in-chief at the time – Heidi Lemmetyinen – was on hand to respond:
“Relax; you’ll get a great visual refresh, WP8 start screen and loads of new apps and functionalities. The things you won’t be able to get are HW-dependent. At this stage it’s a bit difficult to deliver multi-core processors via SW updates…”
July
A smoother drive, one commute at a time
Comments – 155
Nokia Drive isn’t only just great for getting from A-to-B in your vehicle, it’s also great at deciding whether you need to deviate from you route, using something called My Commute.
My commute learns your regular journeys and the time you make them, and then tells you about local traffic along the way. So, if there’s a problem en route before you’ve even left the house, My Commute will let you know.
Of course, creating such a clever feature meant that you were full of questions and praise.
Collin5 pointed us in the direction of a story on another site:
“Congratulations on the great review over at Engadget! [Link]”
Thanks, Collin, we’re happy with it too.
Also, Richmond V. Baker asked:
“Can you save more than one commute destination and still leverage the My Commute features?”
Yes, there’s no limit, replied Pino.
August
With Welcome Home, moving to Lumia has never been easier
Comments – 42
When you buy a new phone, one of the first tasks you look to perform is to transfer your data from old phone to new. That’s why Nokia created Welcome Home for Windows Phone, an app that helps migrate everything over to your new Nokia Lumia.
This only works if your old phone is an iPhone, an Android or a Blackberry phone. This meant that a quite a few people were confused as to why it wouldn’t work if their old phone was a Nokia.
Alessandro Moraes asks:
“Nokia Belle and older Symbians? Why don’t they have Welcome Home, too!?”
Well, as Enrique Olorvida points out, you’re already home:
“Because you’re still with Nokia.”
That’s correct. Nokia Suite exists for this exact purpose.
Jeff Daly was looking forward to running Welcome Home:
“I’d love to see this help move from my WP7.5 Lumia 900 to my WP8 Lumia 9??, especially if it would mean that I don’t have to manually install each app.”
September
Benchmarking mobile maps
Comments – 269
When it comes to digital mapping, Nokia is king. Its navigational experience is second to none. Plus, it’s free to every Nokia smartphone owner.
That’s why when we posted a comparison of our maps against our competitors; you took to the comments section to show your support and your passion for Nokia Maps.
Rahul used Nokia Maps when traveling and shared with us his experience:
“I was travelling through Rome and Capri last week. I had no Internet connection and no roaming. I downloaded the maps for Italy before leaving home and I was able to use them without any problem whilst in Italy. GPS worked flawlessly and Nokia Maps ensured that I managed to squeeze in all the important destinations in the city. Friends using iPhones and Android felt thoroughly useless with their phones.”
And, Yousseph hamade says:
“I have tried both Nokia map Navteq and Google map in Android phone and I must say that Nokia sure is the winner’s on this field. This is one of the main reasons why I will buy Nokia Lumia 920. I missed Nokia maps with offline mode. Sorry Google map you lose in this one.”
October
Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 arriving in the US on AT&T
Comments – 165
The Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 have made it onto the shelves of AT&T stores in the United States, much to the delight of AT&T customers. However, there are obviously people not on AT&T who want a piece of the action.
It appears that iOhcidnal is on Verizon and wants one of the new Windows Phone 8 Lumia smartphones:
“Please come to Verizon too. As we all know, Verizon is the largest network here and has the most subscribers. So please come to Verizon.”
Rob just want’s to be in the position to upgrade:
“Beyond excited, just wish I had an upgrade.”
I think it’s clear what colour Jorge Miguel wants:
“The RED one makes me drool.”
November
iOS, Android, Firefox OS: HERE is available everywhere
Comments – 104
Nokia is proud of its mapping software, and so it should be. With over 20 years of experience in making digital maps, Nokia Maps has been an invaluable tool for people requiring some assistance to get from A-to-B with ease.
That’s why when we announced that Nokia HERE was coming to iOS, Android and Firefox OS users; it created quite a debate in the comments section.
LoyalNokiaFanboy fails to see how this will benefit Nokia:
“Please can you tell me what benefit does Nokia get by making HERE available for all OS???”
Our own Nokia Maps (HERE) guru – Pino – is as always on the scene to answer any questions you may have regarding this side of the business:
“In a nutshell, location services are a business and they are at the heart of Nokia’s strategy. By extending the number of people who can access our services, the business grows. On the other side, some of our services, like live traffic information, benefit from the number of people who use it: the more drivers we can anonymously track, the more precise these service get.”
December
The family is growing: Nokia Lumia 620
Comments – 167
When we announced our cheapest Windows Phone 8 smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 620, the comments showed that you really love this device. And what’s not to love? It’s full of specs and features, at a small price.
Kristijan Sašilo had this to say:
“Congratulations, Nokia, this is AN AWESOME phone! Very good price, amazing specs. Release it everywhere and dominate the market once more! :)”
Breakingillusions felt compelled to tell us that:
“You officially killed HTC 8S :D”
While Nelson Carrillo likes the look of the phone:
“Absolutely beautiful device. Rivals some high end handsets in aesthetics.”
Thanks for joining us and continuing the debate after we’ve published our stories. We hope you’ll continue to do the same in 2013 and beyond.
Image credit: Dano