Nokia readies iPhone killer

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 09 April 2008 02:30

Your IT - Mobility

Nokia has revealed the first details of its response to the hugely successful iPhone, code named Tube. How the pre-launch hype is managed from here on will likely be as important as what Tube has to offer.

It must have been galling over the past two years for Nokia - the world's leading cellphone maker with a 40 percent market share - to watch the iPhone gather enormous momentum, without Apple having to raise finger.

First there was the amount of free publicity Apple garnered in the months leading up to the launch of the iPhone in January 2007 as the Internet buzzed with speculation about the existence of the product, the form it would likely take and the expected launch date.

Then when the phone finally appeared Nokia had to watch as the buzz continued unabated and the iPhone became not only the centre of attention for its features but for its flaws: its hackability enabling it to be used on networks other than that of AT&T which had, initially, the exclusive rights to the product.

Now, it has to watch while the pundits pour praise on the product, claiming that it has no equal in market. Take for example these comments from Ovum analyst Jan Dawson written in the aftermath of the big US mobile show CTIA Wireless 2008 - an event second only in size and significance to the GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

"It's been interesting to see the shadow the iPhone casts over everything even though Apple isn't visibly present at the show," Dawson wrote. "Sprint's big announcement was around the Samsung Instinct, which is a clear iPhone competitor. But the devices on display at Sprint's launch event were running beta software which was glitchy and slow, and it was clear that - though they have some nifty features - these devices are not a match for the iPhone ... The LG Vu...is another poor match for the device on everyone's minds."

Dawson concluded: "Of all the things that people love about the iPhone - the design, the UI, the browser, the ease of use - none of them were matched by most of the devices on display at CTIA, even though the manufacturers of those devices have been making phones for far longer than Apple. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 showed the most promise of any device I saw at CTIA, but it won't be launched for several months." Nokia didn't even rate a mention!

As sure as night follows day the Finnish giant will be planning a response, and it has started dropping the first hints. The device has been code named Tube and Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia, was giving out the first teasers at a recent Evans Data developer conference in the US. CONTINUED