Nokia World 2011 preview

I have been looking forward to Nokia World 2011 ever since the end of Nokia World 2010, particularly more so after the huge bombshell in February. You know, the one where Nokia ditched Symbian and go all Redmond. Well, it pleases me to say that I have finally received an email last week confirming my registration to this year's event at London ExCel on 26 and 27 October. :D

As we have been told many times, this year is a transition period for Nokia. They have announced (and practically killed off) a single Meego device, spinned off their development of Symbian to Accenture, placed more emphasis on Series 40 as a long-term replacement to Symbian and committed to Windows Phone 7 ecosystem as their primary smartphone strategy.
Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's unique take on mobile OS with a new grid-less based GUI. When I the OS last year I cautioned against the lack of features expected from a modern smartphone. I was however very impressed by the UI and UX and noted that given time, Microsoft can turn Windows Phone 7 into a compelling OS for both power and mainstream users. And with the upcoming Mango update, it seems Microsoft has succeeded. The only question is convincing smartphone users to ditch their Androids and iPhones for one.

Nokia World this year doesn't look to be as massive in scale as last year's, but it is still early days to know what to expect. What is probably true is that the event will definitely be a very Windows Phone 7 focused event. We can expect Nokia to announce their first ever Windows Phone 7 smartphone, the already leaked Nokia codenamed Sea Ray device, and probably a couple more other devices, including none-Windows Phone phones with enhanced Microsoft applications.

Follow me on @jonchoo and the #NokiaWorld hashtag for updates.