Ask questions for Nokia to answer about Wednesday's big announcement&#3

[John Callaham Reporter]

Howdy guys

Neowin is heading to New York City on Wednesday to attend the big Nokia-Microsoft press event, where the companies will officially reveal the details about its Windows Phone 8 products. We plan to do an interview with a Nokia representative at the event and we want to hear what you want to ask Nokia.

Simply post your questions in this forum post and we will select a few to ask to the Nokia rep at the event on Wednesday. Make them good because we will only pick a few and we will have a limited time to chat with our Nokia representative at the event.

Many thanks in advance...

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I have a decent question. Will there be a bluetooth API that developers/programs will be able to access in WP8 so that hardware such as the Pebble watch will be able to interact with WP8 devices?

[George P Global Moderator]

I think since developers do get access to the NFC API which they talked about back in July that bluetooth should also be open to them. Besides, I'd think that's more of a question for MS to answer.

Anyways, simple question on my part, are they going to ramp up production of newer devices like they originally talked about? There was the whole thing about having a new device every 3 months or something that I remember hearing about.

Next up, their free services, we just saw Nokia Music expand to the US what about other countries and do they have some sort of time table on this or other new services in the works? Guess that's sorta 2 questions in one though, heh.

[metsfan421]

When will we actually see the Nokia Music app available in the marketplace. They said it was released today, but I see nothing in the marketplace when searching for it?

[Vice]

Ask them why they are sacrificing their company on a platform that only captured 1.3% of the market in just under 2 years when they still have a viable chance to launch some Android phones that consumers are actually buying in droves?

If you wan't to ask them a hard question with an answer that will bring people here to read it that is the one I think you should ask and in the way I did with the market share numbers of Windows Phone 7 somewhere in the question.

[pwgarner]

Ask them why they are sacrificing their company on a platform that only captured 1.3% of the market in just under 2 years when they still have a viable chance to launch some Android phones that consumers are actually buying in droves?

If you wan't to ask them a hard question with an answer that will bring people here to read it that is the one I think you should ask and in the way I did with the market share numbers of Windows Phone 7 somewhere in the question.

I think they answered that question when they first announced why they were going with MS.

[Vice]

I think they answered that question when they first announced why they were going with MS.

That was a long time ago. I'd like to know what they think now, after their phones sit in warehouses unsold.

[pwgarner]

The one question I would like answered but may be answered during the event but if it is not, Will Nokia make a Windows branded Tablet either in the Lumia line or some other name?

[efjay]

That was a long time ago. I'd like to know what they think now, after their phones sit in warehouses unsold.

Maybe that is a question better directed at HTC who has seen their profits plummet using android as their main OS.

[pwgarner]

One more question I would like to see answered is will there be a more sustained advertising effort from Nokia this time in the US. The last attempt seemed half-hearted at best. Especially compared to the adverts we saw from other countries. I like those commercials better than the ones we saw here on TV.

[Vice]

Maybe that is a question better directed at HTC who has seen their profits plummet using android as their main OS.

You make it sound like that is Androids fault. When in fact it is HTC's fault. Samsung out-innovates HTC. Something you don't believe Nokia capable of doing? Because I sure believe they can.

Nokia need to have more faith in themselves, as do you.

[pwgarner]

That was a long time ago. I'd like to know what they think now, after their phones sit in warehouses unsold.

I'm not sure that they have phones sitting in a warehouse. Remember they had a spell when the Cyan model was sold out. The black was always selling well, so maybe they just did not make many at the beginning.

[margrave]

Will there be one available unlocked without contract?

[George P Global Moderator]

Will there be one available unlocked without contract?

I don't see why not? There's always the option to buy the phone itself without a contract, that's how I got my first WP7 2 years ago and it's how I'll probably get a new Nokia soon. If you're willing to pay the high upfront cost that is.

[Salem874]

My question...

Why are Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive & Nokia Transport three separate apps on Windows Phone? Nokia Maps on Windows Phone now allows you to sync your favourites with those backed up on (what was) Ovi Maps from the Symbian days, but if one wants to recall one of these favourites, it can only be done from Nokia Maps. Doing this means you cannot use Turn-by-Turn navigation as this is only available in Nokia Drive, which in-turn doesn't share favourites with Nokia Maps.

I seriously think Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive & Nokia Transport should be one app (as it was on Symbian) but possible with separate live tiles to access the Drive or Transport portion.

Also, why is Nokia Transport USA only when Nokia clearly has transport/traffic information for other countries?

[pLUSpISTOL]

This isn't a joke: but why can't Nokia be helpful regarding Lumia 800/900 charging problems. There is a large majority of units which are faulty and even people with contracts are being told it won't be covered under warranty by Nokia care points. Utterly terrible customer service.

[Figure 8 Dash]

Questions for Nokia:

You recently announced plans to become the ?where? company, a field dominated by Google. How do you plan to challenge Google?s stranglehold on mobile search?

Do you foresee any future integration between Bing?s online search and Navteq?s mapping services? Perhaps making Nokia synonymous with ?search? and not just ?where.?

Do you have any products or services planned to attack the business sector?

(assuming a successor to the Lumia 610 is not announced tomorrow)

Do you plan to continue using Windows Phone 7.8 to build low-end devices or do you believe that Windows Phone 8 can be scaled down fast enough to make a significant dent in emerging markets?

Regarding your philosophy on app development? How much does backward compatibility factor into the development process?

While Nokia Drive becoming the default GPS system on Windows Phone 8 is huge, it does de-value your own products just a little. How will Nokia differentiate themselves without the advantage of being the only OEM that offers free voice guided turn-by-turn?

Any chance of a Nokia Windows Phone with a physical keyboard?

[scumdogmillionaire]

Why do you feel the need to replace the Windows Phone Marketplace icon? It's obnoxious. The default looks better.

[Auroka]

Is Nokia Drive going to be available on all WP7.8 devices or only WP8 devices?

[daCrazyDude]

One question. Will the Nokia WP8 devices be arriving to Japanese carriers?

[Toink]

Will there be WP8 iterations of Nokia Business Phones (E-series) with native SIP clients and other business centric features?

[cut]

Will Nokia push the MeeGo platform further?

[McCrazieGoalz]

Hi there Neowin crew.

Here is my question - it is more of a request though.

Here in South Africa, the stats currently bode very well for Nokia to remain in control of the market. Nevertheless, the focus here has been on the low end of the market. South Africa is a burgeoning market and I feel that Nokia should put its efforts into expanding its range of smartphone WP (7.8 and 8) devices here because there is clearly an opportunity for growth.

The following are the smartphone and overall mobile device stats in the country:

- There are currently 15.9m people in South Africa with a Nokia cell phone. The next most popular is Samsung, with 6.2m users. Just less than 50,000 have an iPhone. Eighty20.co.za (03/09/2012).

- Nokia and BlackBerry dominate SA smartphone market. Out of the 10million smartphones in SA, just over 4million are Nokias while 4.8million are BlackBerrys. Android runs on just about 800,000 devices while iPhones? well see fact above. MyBroadband (14/08/2012)

As you can see, we are a Nokia country.

My problem is that, as a current Symbian S60 device owner wanting to see and have a feel of the new OS that Nokia is now using, I do not see anywhere where I can experience it before I buy. Therefore my question is, why is it that Nokia is not exposing WP OS to the public here through live devices. All I see are dummy Lumia 800/900s and no one can experience the awesomeness of the new OS.

My request therefore is, please Nokia, encourage distributors (resell outlets) to display live devices so that people see and feel how good the OS is particularly the in coming version (WP8 and Win8). Everywhere there are Android devices that people can test out but none of this is available for WP7.x Nokia devices.

In short - Are we going to (or can we) see more live WP Nokia devices at retail stores (network operator and other resell shops) in South Africa?

P.S. There are iStores with at least 20 live iDevices at almost every major mall in Johannesburg.

[TakeNothingBack]

My question...

Will Windows Phone 8 include the ability to sync calendar, tasks, contacts, etc. directly with desktop applications, like Outlook? If not, what are Nokia's thoughts on the absence of this feature and it's importance?

[Aman K Gupta]

My Question - Does Nokia plans to develop a Windows Phone with physical QWERTY keyboard like Nokia E7 ? If yes, When can we expect it ?