Tag: Nokia

Nokia is Buying Withings for US $191 million

One would imagine that not a lot of strength is left in the once smartphone giant, Nokia. However, that clearly is not the case. The french health company Withings will become a part of Nokia technologies according to reports.

The acquisition will happen over the year for a total cost of US $191 million. The company looks at re-emrging as a consumer favorite brand after major demise and offloading of its smartphone division to Microsoft.

“Withings shares our vision for the future of digital health and their products are smart, well designed and already helping people live healthier lives,” said Ramzi Haidamus, president of Nokia Technologies. “Combining their award-winning products and talented people with the world-class expertise and innovation of Nokia Technologies uniquely positions us to lead the next wave of innovation in digital health.”

Source

April 26, 2016
Nokia 1100 is Still the Biggest Selling Handset in the World

How surprised would you be if we told you that the world’s best selling phone is not the iPhone but something very old and not a smartphone at all? Remember the classic old Nokia 1100, the phone we all perhaps began with? While the iPhone 6 may have sold 71 million units in about three months, the numbers have nothing on the Nokia 1100.

The Nokia 1100 was an entry-level handset that came out in 2003. At the time it was perhaps the best thing to ever hit the mobile market. Lets consider this a 2003 post and talk of the specs that makes the phone a true badass. The handset does not come with two cameras, a curved screen or a snapdragon processor. What it does feature is a torch-light, a pair of no-slip grips, dust-proof case, monochrome graphic with, wait for it, 96 x 65 pixels, monophonic ringtones (36 pre-installed, 7 user-made), interchangeable covers, and an unbreakable will (we mean it).

This smooth handset can also store up to 50 contacts and 50 messages (25 sent, 25 received) and gives a whopping 400 hours standby time between charges. But the one thing that really tied this phone together was Snakes II and Space Impact – those 8-bit games that were played by 250 million people around the world.

We say 250 million because that’s how many units of the Nokia 1100 were sold by 2008, becoming not only the world’s best selling phone, but also the best selling consumer electronics device. There are many reasons behind why the 1100 was the craze at the time. For one thing, the phone was highly affordable at about $100 with all the features mentioned above, which were all that one needed at the time.

The phone was discontinued in 2008 because of the next wave of phones that were coming in, However, in 2009, the obsolete device became something of a collectors item as they were being sold for obscene amounts of money – say $32,000 a piece.

But if you thought you had seen the last of the Nokia 1100, think again. There are rumors that the classic handset might come back with a technological makeover. In March this year, the Nokia 1100 was seen in a GeekBench’s database and suggested that the 2016 Nokia 1100 will feature a quad-core 1.3GHz MediaTek MT-6582 processor and will reportedly run on Android 5.0. However, this could all be an elaborate ruse by Nokia to use an old model since under the terms of its deal with Microsoft, Nokia cannot offer a new smartphone under the last quarter of 2016. It would be fun, though, to see what the 1100 would look like fitted with all the new toys today.

Would you like to see the classic Nokia 1100 back in the market? Let us know in the comments below.

October 5, 2015
These Ultra Cheap Feature Phones Are Still Worth Every Penny
With all the news of smartphones getting bigger, costlier, and more tech-savy, we tend to forget about the good old feature phones that remind us of a simpler time. Though companies like Samsung are working on the next flagship smartphones, they still make time out to focus on ultra low budget phones so that everyone’s happy.

Here’s a list of some popular feature phones under Rs. 4000 for those in the market looking for something cheap and good. We’ve steered clear of Chinese companies offering substandard products and brought you a list of the best:

Nokia 105

We start the list with a brand we know and (used) to love before it went extinct. The Microsoft-owned Nokia 105 was launched in 2013 and got an upgrade in 2015, with a little more internal storage, a rounder shape, and better audio. You also get 15 hours of talk-time, which is an improvement over its 2013 model that gave 12.5 hours. The phone is priced at Rs. 1495 on Snapdeal and Rs. 1249 on Amazon. It is available in Red and Cyan colours. The Nokia 105 is one of the best feature phones in this range and is a favorite amongst many.

Specs
- 1.45-inch LCD screen, 16-bit, 64k colors
- Dimensions: 108.5 x 45.5 x 14.1mm
- 800mAh removable battery
- Micro-USB charger
- Dual SIM card
Karbonn K22 Plus

When it comes to low budget phones, both feature and smartphones, Karbonn leads the pack. The Karbonn K22 Plus is an ultra low budget feature phone that looks sleek and stylish, and packs in a lot for less. It comes with FM Radio, USB connectivity and up to 8 GB expandable memory slot. It features a 1.3-megapixel camera. With a 1050mAh lithium-ion battery, the phone provides only 5 hours of talk time on a full charge.

With a 2.4-inch scree, the phone provides great colours and and a clean display. It is available in Black, Grey and White and you can find it on Amazon (Rs. 1290), Snapdeal (Rs. 1099) and Flipkart (Rs. 1190).

Specs
- 2.4-inch TFT display
- Dimensions: 15.5 x 8.1 x 4.8 cm
- 1050mAh lithium-ion battery
- 1.3 MP Camera
- 8GB Expandable Memory
Samsung Guru Music 2

The Samsung Guru Music 2 emphases music for a reason. The phone gives a loud and clear sound quality and comes with an FM and MP3 player. Other features also include dual-sim, 800mAh lithium-ion battery providing talk-time of 11 hours, and an expandable memory up to 16 GB. Go for this if you want a phone that can store all your favorite music and still gives you enough space for everything else.

The Samsung Music 2 is available in Amazon and Flipkart for Rs. 1698 and Rs. 1599, respectively.

Specs
- 2 inch TFT Display
- FM radio
- 800mAH lithium-ion battery
- Up to 16 GB expandability
Samsung Metro Duos 360

This phone falls in the 3k range and with that you get some neat features that include a 2.4-inch screen with 3.1-megapixel camera. The 312 MHz Single Core processor lets your phone run smoothly without lags. and a 1000mAH lithium-ion battery providing a talk-time of about 12 hours.

The handset is available in Amazon and Snapdeal.

Specs
- 3.1MP primary camera
- 2.4-inch (6.12 centimeters) TFT display with 240 x 320 pixels resolution
- 1000 mAh battery
- 312 MHz Single Core processor
- USB version 2.0 and Bluetooth version 3.0
Panasonic GD22

The Panasonic GD22 falls just below the 2k mark and perhaps the best feature about this phone is a 1800mAh lithium-ion battery that gives a talk-time of 15 hour. Other features are standard for a phone in this range. The 2.4-inch TFT display offers a comfortable viewing with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels and a pixel density of 167 ppi,

The phone is available in Amazon and Snapdeal and is offered in Black, Grey, Red and White.

Specs
- 1.3MP primary camera
- 2.4-inch (6.0 centimeters) QVGA TFT display
- Memory expandable up to 16GB
- 1800mAh lithium-ion battery
Nokia 225

Another great Nokia device under the 4k range is the Nokia 225. The handset boasts of great features that make it worth buying if you have a budget between Rs. 3000 – Rs. 4000. The phone’s main attraction is its sharp 2.8-inch LCD display that brightens everything up. It also comes with a powerful 1200 mAh battery that will give you a whopping 21 hours of talk-time which is the highest in this list.

Nokia 225 can be found on Amazon and Snapdeal for Rs. 3055 and is available in Black, White, Yellow, and Red.

Specs
- 2MP primary camera
- 2.8-inch QVGA LCD display with 320 x 240 pixels resolution
- 1200mAh battery
- 32 GB Expandable Memory
- Dual SIM
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September 26, 2015
Nokia Bids Farewell to Its Here Maps Unit For $3 Billion

We know that Nokia has been away from the limelight of smartphones and is no longer considered the competition it used to be. Now, another field that they will be stepping away from completely, is the area of maps. Nokia sold its Here unit to the parent company, Daimler that has German carmakers like Mercedes, BMW and Audi, under it.

“High-precision digital maps are a crucial component of the mobility of the future. With the joint acquisition of Here, we want to secure the independence of this central service for all vehicle manufacturers, suppliers and customers in other industries,” said Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of Daimler.

The price that it was sold at was $3 billion dollars and each partner i.e., each of the car companies will own an equal stake in Here maps. The deal is supposed to officially close in the first quarter of 2016.

August 3, 2015
Huawei Replaces Microsoft as the Third Largest Smartphone Vendor

Microsoft may be riding high on the Windows 10 rollout but it still feels the sting of the loss caused by the purchase of Nokia a few years back. Microsoft’s acquisition of the Finnish company was speculated to be a sure hit, only it didn’t. The Lumia devices never performed as expected and neither did Nokia’s Android devices. And just last week, Microsoft wrote off Nokia $7.5 billions on Nokia, considering the company brought the once-smartphone major for $9.5 billions. Thus, what was Microsoft’s loss became Huawei’s gain as the Chinese company became the third largest mobile phone vendor, displacing Microsoft without breaking a sweat.

According to Strategy Analytics, Huawei sold 30.6 million mobile phones and gained a record 7 percent market share worldwide. The report notes that Huawei is rising in all regions of the world and it gaining stronger foothold in China, thanks to the 4G handsets such as Mate7.

Microsoft sold 27.8 million units this year, with a 50% drop in sales compared to last year. Microsoft’s plan for cross platform OS never gained major traction, nor did the fact that Apple and Samsung scooped up most of the market share due to iOS and low-budget Android smartphones respectively, helped.

According to the report, Samsung is still the largest mobile phone vendor, with Apple coming in at second position. Here is the twist though: Samsung’s share dropped from last year while the opposite happened for Apple. Apple’s quarterly report shows its growth in China while Samsung’s downfall may have resulted from the increasing popularity of Xiaomi and OnePlus in the past year.

Source: [tw-button size=”small” background=”” color=”” target=”_blank” link=”https://www.strategyanalytics.com/strategy-analytics/news/strategy-analytics-press-releases/strategy-analytics-press-release/2015/07/30/huawei-becomes-world’s-3rd-largest-mobile-phone-vendor-in-q2-2015#.VbtcN26qqkp”]Strategy Analytics[/tw-button]

Via: [tw-button size=”small” background=”” color=”” target=”_blank” link=”http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/31/huawei-microsoft-smartphone-sales/”]Engadget[/tw-button]

July 31, 2015
5 Tech Patents that Thankfully Never Worked Out

In the world of technology, there is no space for redundancy. Technology is getting updated time after time since tech fanatics are always carving out the next great gadget. The major number of brains swell up for innovating and creating such devices. Gadgets are continuously upgraded and tweaked, but some do not turn out as planned.

We will see some of the weirdest patents filed by the biggest tech powerhouses today:

Nokia’s Vibrating Tattoos

In 2011, Nokia signed a patent for the first vibrating tattoo. Yes, a vibrating tattoo that alerts users when their phone is ringing. According to the official patent, the apparatus would be able to detect a magnetic field and transfer a ‘percievable stimulus’ to alert its users about an incoming call, text ot dead battery.

But for some people, getting inked for the sake of technology was too much. People said the device plunges into a ‘creepy territory’. In an era of iPhones and Android devices, what would be the cost of unplugging a permanent tattoo?

Nokia never discussed anything about the tattoo including the potential health risks.

Google Background Advertising

Google, in 2012, signed a patent that would enable the search giant to base advertisements on background noise. According to the patents, Google would install sensors on handsets that would detect temperature, humidity, sound, light or air distribution near a device and ads would be served accordingly.

For example, if you are at the gym and make a call, Google will be able to catch the gym machinery in the background and then serve up adverts for home gym equipment. If it is 30 degrees or more outside, Google will throw in adverts for sun cream, air conditioning units or ice creams.

But it raised the question of privacy. People were not pleased with the idea of Google tracking down their location wherever they went. Although from the use and productivity aspect, this patent was quite useless.

Amazon Airbag

Amazon came up with this idea in 2012 for a protective system for mobile phones. The patent describes a system that utilizes a gadget’s built-in gyroscope, camera, accelerometers and other onboard sensors to decide if the device has entered an airborne state. If it has, the technology will release airbags to decrease potential damage – or possibly even alter the trajectory of its fall by firing jets of air.

But this idea gathered much criticism like ‘What’s next, smartphones with built-in parachutes? Or maybe handsets with wings and propellers?’ and ‘From a logistical point of view, the handset would have to be rather big to hide an airbag.’

There has been no track of progress regarding this airbag. Let’s wait and find out!

Microsoft Remote Control Charging Patent

Imagine a situation where you have to pay more for skipping an ad while watching a movie or watching a sporting event and you have to pay extra for accessing the replay. Luckily, this patent did not fly off as imagined by Microsoft when they filed this patent back in 2004. This wasn’t very welcomed by the masses because these charges would be on top of the base price as a way to boost up profits.

Apple Air Jet Keyboard Patent

It isn’t too hard to imagine a flat keyboard without keys- we don’t really look at our fingers when we type, ourselves. But, it’s still a little hard to imagine actually using one. In 2011, Apple patented a unique keyboard design that uses micro-perforations to shoot air at the user’s fingers upon touch, giving tactile feedback to whoever is. One of the biggest objections about virtual keyboards is the lack of tactile feedback, making it much laborious to touch-type at any speed, with much accuracy.

June 11, 2015
Facebook Includes Nokia HERE Maps on Messenger, Instagram Ahead of Official Buyout

HERE maps, previously known as Ovi Maps or Nokia Maps, is an alternative of Google Maps and Apple Maps service. Nokia was in talks with buyers to sell out its maps unit, but seems like Facebook has inked a deal to power maps on its various platforms.

The social networking site is presently using Here maps on the mobile version of its website, and on other applications like Facebook Messenger and Instagram. The Facebook spokesperson confirmed the same through statement –

We are testing Nokia HERE maps across Facebook to give us more control and flexibility in delivering a consistent maps experience.

Nokia confirmed that it is seeking buyers to sell out its $2 billion Here map. The Finnish tech brand spent $8.1 billion to buy Chicago-based digital map maker, Navteq, in an effort to capitalize its market for mobile search, but the buy-out deemed unprofitable. Hence, in April, Nokia roped in the heavyweights of technology including Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba Group, etc. to sell its maps business. According to Techcrunch, one of those potential buyers has already sealed a deal with Nokia.

For now, Facebook has not given any details about its availability on iOS.

May 5, 2015
Why Has Smartphone Design Reached a Standstill?

In the early days of the mobile phone revolution, designing a phone required equal consideration for the insides as well as the outsides. Most of us have lived through the era of mobile phones and seen the ecosystem transition into smartphones. During the early developmental stages, we were offered amazing form factors by companies. But since the arrival of the first smartphone (the Apple iPhone), things have gone vanilla. Now we have a massive market for smartphones but apart from a few tweaks and touch-ups, the base form factor has remained the same for the past eight years.

The Nokia N-Gage

One of the most prominent examples of the awe-inspiring design innovations were the Nokia N-series of devices. These devices came in all shapes and sizes, and their maneuverable designs made them a treat worth flaunting. Sony is also remembered for bringing some innovative and audacious form factors in the market, and their Walkman series is remembered for some unique design features. One of the first Android phones, the HTC G1 or the HTC Dream that came out in 2008 had an amazing form factor.

Sony Ericsson W550i

Nokia 5300 Xpressmusic

Nokia E Series

Communicator

The arrival of the first iPhone in 2007 and its success revolutionised as well as standardised the smartphone form factor. Now every company was running to replicate the bar shaped device as the industry had found a direction. Apple still leads the design innovations for the industry which became evident when the Samsung Galaxy S6 was introduced with iPhone 6-esqe speakerphone design. Samsung announced a focus on design for its new flagship and unveiled a glass and metal based bar design. The unique offering in this flagship launch was the S6 Edge which had dual curved edges. The curved edges don’t have any specific utility as of now and it’s there just because Samsung could do it.

For the moment, the device makers seem content with their offerings and haven’t pushed any major boundaries in terms of designer form factors. The rectangular bar shape has now become boring and uninspired in all its present iterations across the varied handsets.

Monohn Runcible prototype is the most unique smartphone form factor currently.

We have seen some audacious concept devices, most of which usually arrive around the time a new iPhone is about to be launched. As of now, the only notable smartphone that is not bar-snapped is the Monohm Runcible, which was showcased at the MWC 2015. The round shape device runs of Firefox OS and is expected to come out by late this year. The device is also unique as it is designed as a lifelong device; you can easily update the specs and pass it on to the next generation as a family heirloom. This kind of device will be valued more than the device that are meant to become outdated in a few months.

motorola piccolo

LG Traveler Concept Phone

Jakub Lekeš Multimedia Concept Phone

Some interesting concept design includes Motorola’s Piccolo Concept, Designer Jakub Lekeš Multimedia Concept Phone, and the LG Traveler Concept Phone. Samsung tried to introduce a new form factor with the Galaxy Golden, but its steep price ensured that it won’t have a long stint at the stores.

There is a space in the market for something unique. As the specifications across the various devices are reaching a point of plateau, some eye-catching design elements can help the companies to reinvigorate the competition in the segment. LG’S Traveller concept looks like something that can be implemented right away.

Innovative new designs will definitely be appreciated amongst the young. Hopefully smartphone makers will take this into account and take up the challenge to introduce something different. While we get flaunt-worthy devices, the companies will get to rake in the profits; a renewed focus on design is a definite win-win for all.

May 2, 2015
Nokia May Make a Comeback in the Smartphone Market Next Year

Microsoft acquired Nokia’s devices and services business for a heavy sum of $7.2 billion last year. The Finnish company can no longer use the Nokia brand name on smartphones till Q4 2016, and on feature phones for ten years. Once the biggest smartphone maker in the world failed to catch up with the fast-growing market trends set by Apple and Google. But, as most of us considered, it was not the demise of the titan.

Nokia is planning to bounce back to the smartphone business sometime next year. Reports by online publishing daily Recode suggest that Nokia is gearing to make a comeback in the mobile business, and is working on several new ambitious projects including virtual reality. The company has so far released only two products – an Android app called Z Launcher and the Nokia N1, also dubbed as the first Nokia-branded Android tablet.

The 6600 was one of the most popular devices by Nokia and was almost the star of the movie, Cellular.

It is expected that Nokia will employ the same strategy for the new device as it used for the N1 tablet. The device was launched last year along with a brand licensing agreement with Foxconn. The Finnish company hopes to find a similar brand licensing agreement partner for its next release.

There has been reports that Nokia has “a lot of great stuff in development’, but there is no certainty about the upcoming Nokia product or if the company is making a comeback by 2016. Therefore, the news should be taken with a pinch of salt.

With its latest acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent for $16.5 billion, together as Nokia Corporation, the company has set its sights on Virtual Reality, Internet of Things and Cloud Computing, and is ready to greet the world with brand new treats.

April 21, 2015
After Selling its Mobile Unit, Nokia is Now Seeking Buyers for its Maps Business

Nokia, the Finnish equipment maker who recently sold its mobile business unit to Microsoft, is reportedly considering selling its maps business HERE. The move reflects its plan to boost the company’s core wireless network unit and push up the shares rating.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the company is in talks with potential buyers such as Uber Technologies and a number of private-equity firms, as stated by people familiar with the matter. The source revealed that some German carmakers have reached Nokia for the same and will bid for its maps service, expected to take place as soon as this month.

As per the source, Nokia has hired a finance adviser to explore the sale of the maps business. The official financial reports suggest that HERE (Nokia’s Map Business) is 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) worth, while Inderes Equity Research made different estimations about its current price. “We have estimated that HERE’s value is around EUR 3.3-4.8 billion, and in a possible deal the price should be more than that,” stated the research firm on Twitter.

If we evaluate Nokia’s mapping assets with the official report as a base, its value has seen a steep fall since its buyout in 2008, which cost the company a hefty $8.1 billion. The company might drop the plan to sell out its unit if they don’t get a price deemed sufficient.

Nokia’s HERE unit provides data to many tech and e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, along with some renowned names in the car manufacturing business. The maps division reported a net sale of 970 million euros and an operating loss of 1.24 billion euros, as per the report. In January, the company made public the Q4 results of its net income and sale, which were 443 million euros and 3.8 billion euros respectively.

Nokia presently holds three divisions; first one is the maps units, the other is research and development that licenses its patents, and the third one is the networks division that makes 90 percent of the total revenue.

Meanwhile, Nokia spokesperson has declined to comment on the report and there is no official word on the news. But it would be interesting to see if Nokia sells out its second major unit and becomes an entity focusing solely on network services.

April 11, 2015
Revenge of the Fallen : Nokia Expected to Make a Comeback in 2015

Nokia has been missing in the manufacturing game lately because it has been in Microsoft’s shackles for some time. Nokia’s Devices and Services business were sold to Microsoft which was deemed as Noika’s end. But that wasn’t the case.

Nokia N1

Nokia surprised us with the announcement of its tablet last year, the Nokia N1. As per the Microsoft contract, the Finnish company is not allowed to manufacture smart devices until 2016. However, the company found a loop hole in the contract and hired Foxconn to manufacture. The Nokia N1 tablet was launched in China which has been successful till now with two batches of the devices already sold out.

The company sold out everything they had, twice in China; the third batch is set to arrive soon. The company is taking baby steps to get grip of their market, with China as their main market. Till now, we have seen only one device from the revived company but it is said that Nokia is working on other smart devices as well.

Nokia C1 had been major news in past with handful of leaks suggesting it to be real. Recently, another Nokia-branded product has been leaked via images. Even though there are no specifications and other hardware details leaked, the leak suggested this laptop will launch along side Nokia C1, sometime this year.

The leaked image shows the alleged Nokia Laptop along with Nokia C1 smartphone and N1 tablet. The Nokia N1 also saw some similar leaks before it was officially launched.

Watch our exclusive video on Nokia below.

January 21, 2015
Microsoft Launches the 4G-Capable Nokia Lumia 638 at an Affordable Price

Redmond giant Microsoft has launched its budget 4G compatible smartphone, called the Nokia Lumia 638. The phone will be available exclusively at the company’s new Microsoft Brand store on Amazon India and is priced at Rs. 8,299. Pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 638 will kick-ff from tomorrow.

Specs on the smartphone include a 4.5 inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) ClearBlack LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3, a 1.2 Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 400 SOC chipset along with 1 GB of RAM. Optics will just include a 5 MP rear auto focus camera. On the memory front, there’s an 8GB of internal storage with microSD card compatibility (up to 128GB). Powering the smartphone would be a 1830 mAh battery while the OS on board would be Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim update.

Commenting on the launch, Raghuvesh Sarup, Director – Marketing, Nokia India Sales Pvt. Ltd. (a subsidiary of Microsoft Mobile Oy), said, “With the Lumia range we have always focused on delivering new experiences and features to our consumers at affordable price points. Now, we are introducing Lumia 638 which is the most affordable 4G smartphone on Windows Phone 8.1. It builds on the success of the Lumia range in the fast growing affordable smartphone segment and aims to address the consumers’ demand for a device that lets them enjoy uninterrupted video content. We are confident of the success of the Lumia 638 as a comprehensive package and are certain that the device will help us consolidate our position in the affordable smartphones segment further.”

In addition, consumers on Airtel postpaid in Bengaluru can avail upto 5GB of free data on 4G for 2 months. The offer will be valid until 31st March 2015. The Nokia Lumia 638 is being touted as the most affordable 4G compatible smartphone yet.

December 16, 2014
Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

On 4th February 2014 Satya Nadella was announced the Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft Corporation. He joined Microsoft in 1992 and served leadership roles in both enterprise and consumer businesses across Microsoft for over 22 years. He served as Executive Vice President of Cloud & Enterprise Group and President of Server & Tools at Microsoft Corporation until 4th February, 2014. He led the transformation to the cloud infrastructure and services business. Satya Nadella joined the growing list of India-born executives heading major global corporations. The list already includes PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi and Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain.

We are listing 8 facts about Satya Nadella you ought to know:

1. Love for Cricket

[quote text_size=”small” author=”Satya Nadella”]

I think playing cricket taught me more about working in teams and leadership that has stayed with me throughout my career.

[/quote]

He has grown up as a passionate cricketer and has played for his school and college teams.

2. He was Initially Against the Nokia-Microsoft Collaboration

Some reports say that during the on going talks about the deal had hinted that Microsoft founder Bill Gates and new CEO Satya Nadella were against the Nokia buyout, as was Skype founder Tony Bates and many other unnamed board members. Later, Nadella changed his stance and supported the deal.

3. Love for Poetry

Nadella says he loves to sit back and read poetry, which, according to him, is like a code.

[quote text_size=”small”]

You’re trying to take something that can be described in many, many sentences and pages of prose, but you can convert it into a couple lines of poetry and you still get the essence, so it’s that compression. The best code is poetry.

[/quote]

4. Microsoft’s 3rd CEO

In the 38 years of Microsoft’s history, only three people have held the position of CEO and Nadella is one of them. Former CEOs were Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

5. An Engineer by Education

Unlike Steve Ballmer, who comes from a managing background and had served as an Assistant Product Manager at Procter & Gamble before joining Microsoft in 1980, Nadella started out as an engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics & Communications Engineering from Manipal University and a master’s in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin.

6. Roots and Wings

Nadella’s hometown Hyderabad is a technology hub and houses one of the biggest Microsoft Research and Development Centres outside of the United States. His father, B.N. Yugandhar, still lives in Hyderabad. Nadella’s father has been a member of the elite Indian Administrative Service and a member of the Planning Commission during 2004-2009 under the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

7. His major role in Microsoft’s transition to cloud

Before becoming the CEO of Microsoft, he was Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group and was responsible for building and running the company’s Computing Platforms, Developer Tools and Cloud Computing Services. Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft is on its way to become as good at web-based services as it ever was at PC software.

8. One of the most promoted employees in Microsoft

Among his other high-level positions before he served as the Executive Vice President for the Cloud and Enterprise Group last year are President of the Server and Tools Business, Senior VP of R&D for the Online Services Division, VP of the Business Division, Corporate VP of Business Solutions and Search & Advertising Platform Group, Executive VP of Development of Cloud and Enterprise Group.

December 3, 2014
Nokia Gets Overwhelming Response on Play Store for The Z Launcher

Nokia may be down but in no way out. After announcing its upcoming N1 tablet, the Finnish giant has now declared its Z launcher on the Google Play Store. Originally announced earlier this summer with a limited beta program, Z launcher is a third-party Android home screen and launcher for Android. The app has received an overwhelming response from its users. It has been downloaded over half a million times within few hours of its announcement.

The Z launcher has an entirely different take on the home screen. It removes the hassle of multiple home screens and provides users with one single page. The new launcher can analyse users’ habits and displays apps that they need most depending on the time of the day. It also allows users to search apps quickly on the surface of the screen; for instance, an F shape will pop up Facebook and other apps that start with the letter F.

Nokia has done some fine-tuning with the Z launcher with improvements to speed and performance, scribble recognition and better prediction algorithm. The app is available for devices running on Android 4.1 to Android 4.4. As of now, the Lollipop version has not been rolled out, but we can expect Nokia to release a compatible version very soon.

November 19, 2014
A Day After Discussing a Possible Comeback, Nokia Teases a Mysterious Black Box

While the world was grieving the demise of Nokia as a mobile phone brand, seems like it was business as usual at Nokia’s office. The company is trending now because of a tweet which shows a mystery device with just the tagline that says “18.11.14 We’re up To Something.”

Guess what? We’re up to something. http://t.co/AFq4dUFI9S #thinkingahead #Slush14 pic.twitter.com/sqERYpz0Vc

— Nokia (@nokia) November 17, 2014

We had heard yesterday that Nokia’s new chief was telling investors that the company might make a comeback to the consumer electronics market. He said the company can pursue brand licensing. He also said that this was a thought for a long term plan. But guess that wasn’t going to be so far of in the future after all.

Considering the device is going to be unveiled today, we will have all the juicy bits by the end of the day, but that hasn’t stopped social media speculators from doing their job. There are many thoughts about what the device could actually be. The most prominent opinion seems to be that it’s a set top box based on Android TV, like the recently launched Nexus Player.

Nokia has come a long way and has a solid reputation and goodwill in the market. Looks like Nokia is ready to utilize its most important resource, its faithful consumers. Nokia cannot get back into the handset business for quite a while so it’s important that it have a good device in its kitty to return back the consumer market with a warm welcome. We just have to wait till the end of the day to know what all the fuss is about.

November 18, 2014