Emma Okonji writes that the relaunch of the ever-resilient Nokia 3310 into the mobile phone market, will further deepen competition and innovation
This week, HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, unveiled a new generation of Nokia smartphones, setting a new standard in design, quality and user experience throughout the range, a move, which most analysts said, would deepen competition and innovation in the mobile phone market, giving the antecedents of Nokia.
Aside the Nokia 3310, Nokia also launched three new smartphones – the new Nokia 6, delivering performance and immersive entertainment in a premium and extremely robust design; Nokia 5, an elegant smartphone that fits perfectly in the hands of consumers; and Nokia 3, which delivers an unprecedented quality at an affordable price point.
The new range of Nokia smartphones all run Android™ Nougat and offer a pure, secure and up to date experience and will all feature Google Assistant. Today also sees the return of a modern classic – the iconic Nokia 3310, reborn with a modern twist on design.
The family of products announced demonstrates a belief that every consumer should have access to premium quality, not just those with high end flagship devices. Combined with a thoughtful design philosophy that focuses on improving the smartphone experience at every level, each technical component has been carefully considered and integrated into the phone design to have the biggest benefit on consumers’ daily lives.
The return do Nokia 3310
The re-launch of Nokia 3310 on Sunday, marked a historic return of strong and rugged mobile phone, after Nokia rested the brand 12 years ago.
Many consider the original handset iconic because of its popularity and sturdiness. More than 126 million were produced before it was phased out in 2005.
The Nokia brand of mobile phones were the best sell in the market both in Europe and Africa, because of the strong nature of the phones which remain functional even after it accidentally dropped from a high level. But suddenly, the brand went through restructuring and in the process, the mobile arm of Nokia was sold to Microsoft.
On completion of the acquisition process, Microsoft decided to operate the mobile phone division on windows operating system and gave it a new brand name as Lumia phones, operating on Windows OS. Although Microsoft came up with several models of Lumia phones, but it could not cope with competition, as most consumers were already in tune with Android phones from different phone makers like Samsung, Tecno, Konka, InJoo, Gionee, Huawei among others.
Its inability to survive the market, made Nokia to reclaim its patent right and bought over the mobile phone arm from Nokia that was willing to let go since it could not break even.
The revamped Nokia 3310
The revamped version of Nokia 3310 will be sold under licence by the Finnish start-up HMD Global, which also unveiled several Nokia-branded Android smartphones.
According to expert view, it was a fantastic way to re-launch Nokia’s phone brand.
“The 3310 was the first mass-market mobile and there’s a massive amount of nostalgia and affection for it,” commented Ben Wood from the technology consultancy CCS Insight.
“If HMD had just announced three Android devices they would have barely got a couple of column inches in the press. So, the 3310 is a very clever move and we expect it will sell in significant volumes,” Wood said.
The announcement was made ahead of the start of the Mobile World Congress tech show in Barcelona. LG, Huawei and Lenovo are among others to have unveiled new devices.
Before now, Nokia no longer makes phones itself, but manufactures telecoms equipment, Ozo virtual reality cameras, and health kit under the Withings brand.
Features
The new Nokia smartphones feature Google’s most recent innovation, the Google Assistant, building further on a great Android experience. The teams have worked together to ensure the Google Assistant is integrated, allowing for conversations with the Google Assistant to take place easily on Nokia smartphones.
It was also announced that the world-renowned game Snake will be snaking its way back into people’s hearts with a new version available to play on Messenger, part of Facebook’s Instant Games cross platform experience. The new free Snake game is designed to be played with groups of friends making it even more playable than the first time around.
Other models
At the re-launch of Nokia 3310, Nokia also rolled out three brands of mobile phones, the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3.
While Nokia 6 is going global, and combining superior craftsmanship and distinctive design with immersive audio and an impressive bright and colourful 5.5” full HD screen, and delivers a truly premium smartphone experience, with dual speakers that allow consumers to experience a deeper bass and unmatched clarity, and sells for an average global retail price of €229, the Nokia 5 is a sleek and compact smartphone that nestles in the hands of consumers.
The Nokia 5 has been precision engineered out of a single block of 6000 series aluminium to create a perfect pillowed body that flows seamlessly into the sculpted Corning Gorilla Glass laminated 5.2” IPS HD display. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 mobile platform and the Qualcomm Adreno 505 graphics processor. The Nokia 5 brings robust structural integrity, attention to detail and the quality of a high-end flagship to everyone. Available in four colours, such as Matte Black, Silver, Tempered Blue and Copper. The Nokia 5 will retail at an average global retail price of €189.
Nokia 3 – a stunning new smartphone designed to deliver an outstanding experience with unprecedented value. With a precision machined aluminium frame forged out of a single piece of aluminium, a sculpted Corning Gorilla Glass laminated 5” display and seamlessly integrated 8MP wide aperture cameras (front and back), the Nokia 3 packs a truly premium quality smartphone experience into its compact and elegant form. Available in four distinctive colours – Silver White, Matte Black, Tempered Blue and Copper White. The Nokia 3 will retail at an average global retail price of €139.
About Nokia 3310
Nokia 3310 is a modern classic reborn. Thin, light and incredibly durable, the Nokia 3310 is a head turning modern twist on one of the best-selling feature phones of all time. Boasting an incredible 22-hour talk-time and month long stand-by, the Nokia 3310’s fresh, colourful, modern design brings it bang up to date. The Nokia 3310 is available in four distinctive colours – Warm Red and Yellow, both with a gloss finish, and Dark Blue and Grey both with a matte finish. The Nokia 3310 will retail at an average global retail price of €49.
Accessories that were also introduced were a portfolio of Nokia accessories that follows iconic design philosophy. As perfect companions to these smartphones, the full Nokia accessories portfolio includes a range of headsets, portable and Bluetooth speakers, in-car chargers, cases and screen protectors.
According to the CEO of HMD Global, Arto Nummela, “Nokia has been one of the most iconic and recognisable phone brands globally for decades. In the short time since HMD was launched into the market, the positive reception we have had has been overwhelming; it seems everyone shares our excitement for this next chapter. Today’s consumers are more discerning and demanding than ever before and for us they will always come first. Our efforts in bringing together world class manufacturers, operating systems and technology partners sees us proudly unveiling our first global portfolio of smartphones with a Nokia soul, delivering the very best experience to everyone.”