[bauchidgw]

at a conference i talked with some nokia devs, two funny stories.

1) the N9 (the meego phone) will never be released in an english speaking country as marketing fears the tech blogger will write even more crap about their strategy change - as it is a quiete decent phone

2) even though the code for the N9 they do not get any test devices, the code in a very rudimentary ide only, as there is a no Meego phone for devs anymore policy

on the other hamd, he was quiete drunk and frustrated so i do not know how mich of it is true

[somebear]

Pretty much nothing.

Disclaimer: I work as a software engineer at Nokia.

Australia is very much an English speaking country (although we are at the ass-end of the world), and the N9 is getting a lot of active marketing here [1, 2].

I have also been working on the software for the N9, but most of my development has been on device, either on the N950 or the N9. We always grumble that we don't get enough devices, but these guys must have been frustrated about something else to go that far out.

There were a lot of problems developing for the N9, don't get me wrong, but they were not endemic to MeeGo over Symbian or S40 where I've also worked.

[1] http://press.nokia.com.au/nokia-n9-%E2%80%9Call-screen%E2%80... [2] http://news.softpedia.com/news/Nokia-N9-in-Beautifully-Simpl...

[majika]

Just in case you miss it, I made a comment parallel to yours to the parent. (POV of an Australian on the N9 and Nokia)

[majika]

As somebear has said, the N9 is being heavily promoted in Australia at the moment. On my way to university every morning, I see about 2 or 3 bilboards or bus paintjobs advertising the N9.

The ad is just a white background, a big blue Nokia logo, a stack of different-coloured N9s, and the text "beautifully simple."

It's pretty obvious they're trying to break the perception (here, at least) of Nokia only offering cheap phones.

I currently own an N900, so (a) I know what it's like being on an unsupported and unpopular platform (it sucks hard), and (b) I would buy an N9 in a heartbeat if Nokia had decided to stick with Meego.

I'm a Linux user and use no Microsoft online services, so Windows Phones aren't attractive for me at all. By dropping Meego/Maemo (hacker types) and moving to WP, Nokia is dumping its last remaining fanbase. It's starting from zero, on an OS that's also starting from zero.

My next phone will almost certainly be the Galaxy Nexus.

WP will probably earn itself a small niche in the no-man's-land of smartphones between iOS' simplicity and Android's customisability and personalisation (WRT phone choice), but lacking the universality of both. I can't see it achieving wider adoption. Nokia will claim a slice of this small niche, but that's all it will have.

WP can't survive on off-the-side interest from HTC and Samsung. Microsoft needs Nokia for WP to survive, so I fully expect Microsoft to purchase Nokia within the next five years.

I think Nokia would've been able to survive on its own had it gone with Android (earning a smaller slice of the Android pie, but still much larger overall). I think most technical-oriented people recognise that Nokia's expertise is in hardware - a quality that the Android ecosystem is still lacking. Samsung is getting there, but the N9's build quality is generations ahead of any of the Galaxy phones.

Nokia would always be my first choice in choosing an Android phone. It's a real pity.

I think there's a strong point to be made that Elop's biases towards Microsoft have impacted Nokia for the worse.