Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Nokia offers vision for services, applications

news
Nov 21, 20082 mins

Focus on Internet services, next-gen wireless technology, and mobile app dev

Seeking to bridge “the now to the next,” Nokia has set its sights on Internet services, next-generation wireless technology, and mobile application development.

Among the company’s efforts include the impending beta release of Point & Find, a technology for finding information and services on the Internet by pointing a camera at real-world objects. The upcoming beta release lets users watch a film trailer, read a film review, or find a nearby cinema to buy tickets by pointing a camera phone at a movie poster.

In the wireless radio technology space, the company is focused on LTE (Long Term Evolution of Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network), said Jim Harper, a Nokia senior technology marketing manager. LTE requires fewer network elements than earlier-generation networks, and it requires no circuit-switching, he said. It’s being proposed as a competitor to WiMax, a technology that Sprint has begun rolling out in the United States this fall.

[ Does WiMax deliver? Find out in the InfoWorld Test Center’s road test: “Does WiMax work in the real world?” ]

In the development tools space, Nokia is positioning its Qt (pronounced “cute”) application development framework as a platform for building applications to run on different types of systems. Applications also can be developed once and run across various desktop OSes, said Dilip Kenchammana, a Nokia product line manager.

Nokia has also previewed several research projects, including:

* A videoconferencing pet, which features a mobile unit that can, for example, let grandparents catch a glimpse of their far-away grandchildren. It acts as a physical avatar of the caller.

* Mobile 3-D video, which provides immersive video experiences and rich communication.

* Mobile Millennium, which offers a next-generation real-time traffic data platform that uses GPS-enabled phones to gather data on traffic.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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