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Engadget visits Nokia House wrap-up: Stephen Elop Q&A, Lumia 920 camera tests and more
It's been a whirlwind week of all things Nokia for our Engadget crew here in Helsinki, Finland. With a (nearly) all access pass to the company's glass House in Espoo, we brought you a very candid, very live Q&A with CEO Stephen Elop -- recorded for posterity with the Lumia 920 -- as well as in-depth proofs of that handset's game-changing rear camera module. From side-by-side low light comparison shots with other leading smartphones to optical image stabilization tests and even a peek behind the Finnish outfit's R&D practices, we've got it all. So, if you haven't had time to catch up with this flurry of pre-launch news from behind the blue velvet rope, now's your chance. Just click on past the break for the full recap.
The Engadget Interview (captured with Lumia 920): Nokia CEO Stephen Elop on WP8 and beyond
Do you know what's better than one interview with Stephen Elop? Two interviews in one month. We'd barely recovered from yesterday's bout of nostalgia when we were given the opportunity to sit down with Nokia's CEO in his office at the company's HQ. Better yet, we were allowed to record the discussion with a hand-held Lumia 920 prototype. The resulting video is remarkably stable. Full disclosure: the audio was recorded with a shotgun mic mounted on a Sony NEX-C3 camera. We talked about HTC's colorful "signature" Windows Phone 8X and 8S and what that means for the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. Next we asked if Nokia is planning to work with carriers to offer incentives for existing Lumia owners to upgrade to the company's 920 and 820 handsets. Finally, we discussed the evolution of PureView imaging technology from the 808 to the 920 and how Nokia plans to combine these building blocks in the future. Hit the break for our video interview.
'Ask me anything' Q&A with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop
It's time to open the book! We're live from Nokia's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, with Stephen Elop. The smartphone maker's CEO has set aside 30 minutes to answer your questions about anything and everything Nokia. If you haven't already submitted your questions, it's not too late! Head over to Twitter and give us a shout @EngadgetLive -- we'll be pulling our questions directly from there, along with the comments section of yesterday's post. Unfortunately we won't be able to get to everyone, but we will be setting aside the second half of the session to respond to your follow-ups, so keep an eye on the Q&A and fire off your queries. Click the image above to get started -- this page will go live just before the clock strikes 4AM ET.
Join us at 4AM ET for an 'ask me anything' Q&A with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop!
You may have since forgotten, but today was the original kick-off day for Nokia World 2012. With the big show canceled and the devices already launched, we instead opted to drop by the smartphone maker's headquarters just outside Helsinki. We're spending three days here in Finland, meeting with executives to get an inside look at the company's next-generation smartphone lineup. Our first face-to-face is with Nokia's chief executive himself, Stephen Elop, who has generously offered up 30 minutes to answer your questions. Because of the time constraints, we won't be able to accommodate every request, but we'll certainly do our best. There are two ways to submit your questions: leave a comment below, or you can send us a tweet @EngadgetLive -- once the session begins, we'll only be able to accept messages through Twitter, and you're welcome to ask questions before we start and as a follow-up to Stephen's responses, as well. In order to accommodate the largest possible audience, we'll be using our liveblog tool to post both questions and answers, so bookmark this page and hop on over there at 4AM Eastern tomorrow. As always, you'll also find the local time just below. Now about those questions... September 25, 2012 4:00 AM EDT
Nokia's Damian Dinning goes in-depth on phase two of PureView for the Lumia 920 (video)
Nokia's imaging chief Damian Dinning has released a paper explaining the "second phase" of PureView technology that's included in the new Lumia 920. Charged with improving low-light photography and eliminating camera shake, the experimental 808 handset was developed with a 41-megapixel sensor that oversampled images down to 5-megapixels. However, such equipment is bulky and expensive, so it changed tack for its second crack at the whip, which you can find out about if you join us after the break.
The Engadget Interview: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop
It's been nearly a year since we spoke with Stephen Elop in New York City for the launch of the Lumia 800, a year that hasn't exactly been full of success on the financials front. But, forget all that, because the new devices are here! We had the chance to chat with Stephen about the new Lumia 820 and 920 and ask him what he thinks the chances are of this version of Windows Phone will be the one that finally gains some traction in the market.
Vringo buys small Nokia patent portfolio as asset sell-off continues
Nokia's sale of the century hour continues, selling off a small intellectual property portfolio to Vringo. The little-known app maker has snapped up a bundle of 500 patents and applications from the Finnish phone maker, including 109 issued US Patents. The collection mostly concerns backbone tech, including communication management, signal transmission and cellular infrastructure. Neither company mentioned a figure, but Vringo revealed that Nokia's getting a chunk of any future profits made. There's PR after the break if you're curious enough to wonder if Stephen Elop's planning the mobile phone equivalent of a yard sale.
Nokia's Q2 2012 financials: 4 million Lumias sold, $1.01 billion dollar loss
The past three months haven't been the best for Finland's former world number one. It hasn't been helped by the three biggest credit agencies lowering the company's bond rating to "junk," and the Lumia 900's violently slashed price. Unfortunately the latest results reveal continuing gloom: the manufacturer made an operating loss of $1.01 billion dollars for the quarter. The company managed to make €7.5 billion in sales ($9.2 billion, down .5 billion since the last quarter), shifting four million Lumia handsets in the process. In fact, the only cause for optimism is that sales of the Lumia range have roughly doubled each quarter. The number of handsets pushed out the door increased (thanks to the Asha range of budget phones) with the company selling 73 million phones. That said, the company has clearly failed to crack America, selling a paltry 600,000 handsets in the States. The cash pile has also continued to dwindle, with the piggybank currently standing at €4.1 billion ($5.1 billion), down from $6.3 billion in Q1, despite getting a further $250 million in kickbacks from Microsoft. Unsurprisingly, the prediction for the third quarter of the year was similarly dour, summed up rather euphemistically as "difficult."
How would you change the Nokia Lumia 710?
While Nokia's Lumia 710 may have been imagined as the Jan Brady of the Lumia line, this supposedly awkward middle child does plenty of things right. In fact, for everyone outside of the smartphone hardcore, it'll serve you very well at a far lower price than the better-looking (yet similarly specced) 800. That said, does it really need to exist? Would you pick this over the cheaper 610, the better designed 800 or the LTE-packing 900? That's the question we're asking you today -- if you were bending Stephen Elop's ear off about his trials and triumphs, what would you say about the 710, and more importantly, what would you change?
Nokia chairman says company has a Windows Phone 'contingency plan' after all
So much for no plan B. A little less than a year after Nokia US' Chris Weber proclaimed rather bluntly, "the reality is if we are not successful with Windows Phone, it doesn't matter what we do," Nokia's chairman Risto Siilasmaa reportedly said in an interview that the company does, indeed, have a "contingency plan," should Windows Phone 8 falter. What precisely such a plan might entail, however, we're not really sure. Still, the F-Secure founder naturally remains positive about the future of Microsoft's mobile operating -- and Nokia head honcho Stephen Elop, whose leadership has been "good and transparent," according to Siilasmaa.
Lumia 900 owner vents Windows Phone 8 frustrations, Stephen Elop responds
If you've been following our Windows Phone 8 coverage today, you know that anybody who buys a Windows Phone today will not be able to upgrade to WP8 when it ships this fall. If you were an early adopter that's not such a bad deal, but if you bought a Lumia 900 oh, say, three weeks ago you might be upset -- and rightly so. And rightfully angry is Luke, who sent us an email he fired off to Nokia's Stephen Elop and AT&T's Ralph de la Vega in which he asks why he shouldn't, right now, turn around and return his phone. I just watched the Windows Phone 8 announcement and learned that the Lumia will not be upgradeable to WP8, it will more or less get a skin with the new live tiles and a few other features... at the end of the day unless one of you responds and convinces me to stay with Microsoft Windows Phone, Nokia Lumia or Att wireless I will just wash my hands of all three companies and move over to Verizon. Surprise surprise, Elop responded very promptly, stating: We have a lot of exciting capabilities coming as part of a pattern of updates for the existing Lumia products. This includes some of the most significant visual elements of WP8 – for example, the new start screen. As we have always been, Nokia is committed to delivering a long term experience to any purchasers of our products. Granted, Nokia is bringing some nice updates to current Lumias, like some Scalado-augmented photo magic, but Elop's mention of "significant visual elements" leaves us wanting. We're waiting to hear what Luke's going to do, but here's your chance to weigh in. What do you think he should do? Full emails are after the break.%Poll-75904%
Nokia Lumia 610 coming to China Unicom, Elop slips details in conference call
Chinese residents not willing to fork out for Nokia's flagship just got another option, the Lumia 610. China Unicom will be offering the littlest (and most recent) Lumia device, according to Stephen Elop, who managed to sneak the announcement into an at-times grim conference call held yesterday. While we knew the device was headed to all places Pacific, the device now looks set to join existing smartphone options on 3G (presumably low-price) plans. Interested? Then you may want to revisit our review for our thoughts on Nokia's humbly-priced handset.
Nokia reportedly scraps Meltemi, decides it's Series 40 or bust in basic phones
O Meltemi, we hardly knew ye. In fact, we didn't know ye much at all, since Nokia never made the OS official. Nonetheless, claimed insiders have told AllThingsD that the reputed Linux-running alternative to S30 and S40 won't ever see the light of day. Nokia's deep structural cuts are to blame, and we imagine Nokia's previous drive to whittle down its OS portfolio will have come into play. CEO Stephen Elop and other executives never directly acknowledged Meltemi's existence during the cutback-related conference call, although Elop did admit that some projects were screeching to a halt behind the scenes -- possibly the closest Espoo will come to saying that the platform was ever real. Sad, to be sure, but between the new Asha Touch line and ever-cheaper Lumia models, we're not too worried about whether or not Nokia has the low end covered.
Former Nokia Exec: Elop is struggling, shouldn't focus so heavily on Windows Phone
Former Nokia executive Lee Williams admits that he's a bit of an "arm chair quarterback," but won't let such labels stop him from offering up some seriously pointed criticism of Stephen Elop, telling CNET that the CEO is "struggling," due in part to a lack of "overarching vision." Williams cites the company's shift in focus to Windows Phone as a cause of the companies woes, adding, It might have made sense to introduce a product or two into the portfolio based on Windows Phone. What I do not think they should have done is pretend it is a one horse race, and that one software system is all you need. They have executed in this fashion, and are paying for it. Not that Williams is advocating backing just Symbian either. "One size does not fit all," he explains, "and I think technology religion is dangerous in a good products company. You cannot marry yourself to any one technology or way of doing something." More furniture football in the source link below.
Nokia's Q1 2012 financials: $9 billion in sales can't stop a $1.7 billion loss
Nokia's released the bundle of spreadsheets that comprise its 2012 Q1 financials, just a week after it acknowledged that it would make a loss, despite bullish sales of the new Lumia 900. The numbers reveal that the company had net sales of €7.4 billion ($9.7 billion), down from €10.4 billion ($13.6 billion) at the start of last year. Net sales are down 30 percent year-on-year, which means the company's posting a loss of €1.3 billion ($1.7 billion) for the first three months of 2012. That loss is broken down as €772 million to restructure Nokia Siemens Networks, €101 million to restructure the Devices & Services and Location & Commerce departments, principally in shedding employees and relocating its factories to Asia. It had forecasted an operating margin of three percent below "break even," and says it's likely to remain that way well into the second quarter. Stephen Elop pointed out that much of the loss is due to both increased competition and the costs of restructuring, but also seemed to tacitly confirm rumors we'd heard that UK carriers have been resistant to Nokia's new direction, saying that establishing momentum in the country has been "challenging." However, it's still promising to arrest the slump and in a statement to Moody's on Monday, the company pledged that it was prioritizing "cash conservation" exercises, although its liquid cash reserves have fallen 24% in a year, meaning that the company's only got €4.8 billion ($6.3 billion) put aside for a rainy day.
Nokia: Two million Lumia phones sold in Q1 but profits still falling
Nokia's announced preliminary information on its forthcoming Q1 results due on April 19th. It's reportedly sold €4.2 billion worth of phones, €2.3 billion coming from the sale of 71 million dumbphones and €1.7 billion coming from smart devices. On the upside, sales of the Lumia handsets are still growing, selling two million of the series in the last three months alone. However, "competitive industry dynamics" and the cost of its painful transition into a modern smartphone player have meant the numbers aren't too pleasing. The figures mean that the company will make a loss of around three percent below "break even," but Stephen Elop remains bullish, saying that his team is "continuing to increase the clock speed of the company" and that "the change is tangible."
Stephen Elop: Nokia Lumia coming to China on March 28th
China recently greeted its first Windows Phone (on pre-order, anyway), but if Stephen Elop has his way, Nokia will be hot on HTC's heels. The company's CEO has revealed that Nokia will unleash its Lumia handsets upon the People's Republic on March 28th. While Elop offered no clues to suggest which models will be available, recent regulatory approvals hint that the Lumia 800 and 710 are both top candidates -- though personally, we'd be shocked if the Lumia 610 didn't rear its head sooner rather than later. Both China Telecom and China Unicom are said to be partners with Nokia, which is undoubtedly eager to offer something other than Symbian to its Chinese fan base.
The Engadget Interview: Nokia CEO Stephen Elop at MWC 2012 (video)
Not one, not two, but three Nokia interviews at Mobile World Congress? Yes, we were lucky to catch up with CEO Stephen Elop -- whom we last saw at CES -- and chat about the Lumia 610, the white Lumia 900, the 808 PureView imaging flagship, and a hint at what kind of cameras we can expect in the company's future Windows Phone handsets. Just hit the break to watch our video interview.
Nokia releases Q4 2011 earnings report: operating profits drop, Lumia sales break one million
Nokia released its latest quarterly earnings report today, following up on a somewhat disappointing Q3 with a similarly bleak Q4. The Finnish manufacturer finished 2011 with a little more than €10 billion ($13.1 billion) in net sales -- 11 percent higher than Q3, but 21 percent lower than 2010, when Nokia raked in about €12.7 billion (approximately $16.7 billion). Operating profit, meanwhile, rose by 90 percent over Q3, but is still down on the year by a whopping 56 percent; this quarter, in fact, saw an operating loss of €954 million (about $1.3 billion). Its net cash and liquid assets also dropped by €1.4 billion over the year, marking a 20 percent decline. The general takeaway, then, is that things are looking better than they were last quarter, but worse than they were last year. To date, the company has sold "well over" one million Lumia devices, but this Windows Phone surge has apparently come at Symbian's expense. "In certain markets, there has been an acceleration of the anticipated trend towards lower-priced smartphones with specifications that are different from Symbian's traditional strengths," CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement. "As a result of the changing market conditions, combined with our increased focus on Lumia, we now believe that we will sell fewer Symbian devices than we previously anticipated." Looking forward, Nokia expects to break even during the first quarter of 2012, due in part to lower than expected seasonal sales and what it calls "competitive industry dynamics." For the full report, check out the source link below.
CES 2012: interview roundup (video)
The Engadget stage was home to many an interview at this year's CES. Many, many interviews. Given the deluge of guests we hosted in Las Vegas this year, you could be forgiven for not keeping up -- for throwing up your hands in exasperation and making a sandwich to heal the hurt. You could, but you won't. That's because this year, we thought it'd be a good idea to corral all of our CES 2012 interviews into one big metallic box, and hand-pick only the plumpest, juiciest and most eyebrow-arching ones for your enjoyment. We then took those select few and put them in a smaller, spotlit box, which was affixed atop the aforementioned metallic box with a butterfly shaped bow and maybe some duck fat. Add some mood lighting, a splash of bourbon, and voilà. It's the CES 2012 interview roundup, and it's after the break.
