Wow, no prices or dates? Fail.
(Guess they just wanted to announce/show off the devices before the iPhone5 announcement ... but without prices or dates, the hype is going to fade into non-existence).
(Guess they just wanted to announce/show off the devices before the iPhone5 announcement ... but without prices or dates, the hype is going to fade into non-existence).
Smacks of desperation if you ask me.
If Nokia goes out of business and its patent portfolio ends up in the hands of a patent troll, there will be an effective entry barrier in the smartphone market (because every current smartphone maker probably has a cross-licensing agreement in place, only new players will be affected).
My bet is Microsoft will acquire what's left of Nokia and use patents offensively against competitors where the CLA's don't cover them, but, even if they decide not to do so, life will get a lot more dangerous in this space.
If that's the case, I hope Google acquires them. The peace of mind not to have that IP in Microsoft's hands is worth a lot of money.
Amazon originally had Sept 5 for their announce, and Nokia scheduled over it because if they didn't announce before Apple it would be a lost cause. But they needed price. Price is what's going to make this year interesting. Coincidentally, Steve's letter about from a few years ago today said the same thing: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/