SRK launches Symbian Belle smartphones for Nokia

Mumbai: Nokia India today announced the launch of its Symbian Belle loaded and near field communications (NFC) enabled smartphones, associating itself with the promotion of actor Shah Rukh Khan’s forthcoming movie Ra.One. Nokia India’s Managing Director D Shivakumar also announced that its Windows 7-based smartphone is already being tested for a 2012 launch. Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and Nokia 701 which are priced at Rs 12,999, Rs 18,099 and Rs 18,999 respectively will be available all across the country. [caption id=“attachment_95198” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“SRK with the new Nokia phones. PTI”]  [/caption] “With our latest range of smartphones on Symbian Belle, we are introducing a path-breaking technology in the form of ‘Just Tap’ with NFC. Today, our association with Ra.One brings alive an exciting set of experiences on NFC with Symbian Belle for our consumers,” Nokia India’s Managing Director D Shivakumar said. NFC allows data exchange through wireless connection between two enabled devices located in proximity. The ‘Just Tap’ feature of these smart phones will allow transfer with a tap of one device on the other, or from a phone to another NFC-device, like a speaker. “We believe the next big wave in the category will be NFC on Symbian Belle. NFC has been used for identification and data transfer; and in India, we are starting off with entertainment,” he said. At over 400 Nokia priority outlets and partner multiplexes, NFC-tagged movie posters which can be programmed to deliver any kind of content, will offer content from Ra.One including the songs. Though Ra.One content via the NFC technology is being offered free through NFC technology initially, a business model would come into play eventually to leverage the vast content pool available in India, Shivakumar said . Nokia has enabled Ra.One NFC zones at 400 Nokia priority partner outlets, as well as multiplexes and will engage consumers across retail, its own Ovi online store, TV and print. Special screening tickets will be available for consumers through NFC, and Nokia consumers can watch the movie a day before its release. H owever, Nokia’s eventual objective is to create a monetisable NFC eco-system to launch other services like its Nokia Mobile Money platform for which it has already tied up with Yes Bank and Union Bank. “We are in the process of talking to other banks as well. The service is available in 50 cities. Nokia Mobile Money will be compatible with any ATM. All our Series 40 operating system loaded phones would have Nokia Mobile Money, which is a platform agnostic software application,” Shivakumar said. Refusing to reveal anything about Nokia’s shrinking market share in India, he claimed that Nokia’s recently launched dual-SIM card phones have produced “good results” in fighting competitors in the low-end segment. He also said that he expects to see sales pick up during the festive season, when those looking for a replacement are expected to purchase low-end to mid-end phones. PTI