PanicCode

Last week Nokia announced Qt as “its sole application development framework” for Symbian and Meego platforms.
As you can read in this thread, last week Nokia cancelled Orbit, the new Symbian^4 User Interface, and MeeGo Touch, the new MeeGo UI, is in a similar situation: “Qt is the Queen, Qt Quick is the King and Qt Mobility is the Wizard.”. Meego and Symbian^4 devices will be delayed (probably until 2nd or 3rd quarter 2011), cause they will have a new UI created with Qt Quick and QML, a Javascript like language that allows to build intuitive and modern-looking applications rapidly. The system applications bundled with the new devices, will be also created through Qt Quick.

This decision involves a new strategy:

• Nokia makes a very big bet on Qt: it should be good enough to develop the new UI’s for Symbian and Meego. Moreover, it will have to handle also the default applications. Nokia starts to eat its own dog food.
• Third party development will be in a similar level to Nokia rivals. Developers won’t deal directly with the mobile operative system but through Qt api’s.
• Nokia lowers the entry level barrier. QML is similar to Javascript, so it’s simple and fast to start to program with it.

There are a lot of things that could go wrong with this new strategy, but on paper it looks very good. Developers will have one SDK, working over Linux, Mac or Windows, to make desktop or mobile apps with a Javascript like language.

One more thing. If Nokia accomplish these tasks over Symbian and Meego, if they can execute properly, Nokia has a weapon of mass destruction. It’s easy to picture a Qt Quick port for iOS, Android or Windows Mobile. Qt already supports WindowsCE, and there have been individual projects to port Qt to Apple iOS and Android. By next year, Nokia could have on the street a more attractive tool, a better SDK than any of its competitors. None of Nokia rivals is doing anything like this, and only HP/Palm WebOS will have a similar entry level for developers. Even if you are a developer targeting Android only, it could be easier and faster to use Nokia Qt Quick than any other tool. With last week decisions, maybe Nokia has already won the developers battle.

I work as a fisherman in a small town. I am not a mobile analyst or an industry consultant, but I have a blog, so I can tell you exactly what Nokia should do to be the number one.

• Change the company name. If they want to gain hearts and minds they have to change the name. NokiUS is a good one.
• Use a modern mobile operative system. Like Linux or BSD. Well it doesn’t need to be modern, but it has to look like. You have to use a lot of effects and transitions, and transparencies. It’s hard to notice it on small screens, so you have to use a LOT.
• Use intuitive software. The operative system has to be intuitive, the phone is supposed to be smart, but the user is stupid for sure. Don’t use notifications or any warnings, the average user is not going to read them, and it’s too hard to choose between ‘accept’ or ‘cancel’. Use a generic fail message with cool words like ‘force close’. The force is good, use the force.
• Don’t care about developers. They are not wealthy people so they are not going to buy any phones from you. It’s worse, they will ask you for free phones. Create some wonderful success stories and they will come. From time to time, you have to treat them badly. Everybody knows mobile developers are masochist, that’s why they are mobile developers.
• Fix Ovi Store. You need hundred thousand apps or more to be considered a modern company. You don’t need good apps, so you can create a few simple apps and make 4 or 5 different versions changing the icons and the screens colours. People won’t notice, and this way you can grow the app number easily.
• Make compelling devices. Use lots of RAM and the fastest chips available, don’t care about the price or energy consumption. You can use the same design forever, but every new model needs to be faster and with more memory than the previous one. Do something modern like restrict the apps installation to the internal memory.
• Use proper batteries. Use 600 or 800 mAh non replaceable batteries. Every modern smartphone has to shut down before the end of the day. That way the user feels it’s been a productive day. If your phone lasts for two days or more it’s because is slow and old fashioned, and because you are not working enough to drain it.
• Forget the sub $100 smartphone. Close the mid and low ranges, the whole series 40 and everything cheaper than 400$. Forget about developing countries: they are still developing. Focus only on wealthy people who can pay 1000$ or more, over two years contracts. Make agreements or just bribe the networks operators to reach the market fully subsidized, that way the customer doesn’t notice is being ripped off.
• Link the phone to services. First thing the user needs to do before using your phone is to give his credit card number, otherwise the phone doesn’t work. Second, he has to authenticate online against all Ovi services, otherwise the phone self-destroys. Operators will love the bundled data service part.