A company whose brand is known for great design and ruggedness has just been scratched off any upcoming Lumia phones. As part of
Microsoft's deal for Nokia's devices and services division, the Redmond giant has picked up the Lumia brand, but Nokia as an entity and brand will continue to focus on its "advanced technologies".
Ask folks about their feelings toward Nokia, and they will be of praise and nostalgia. For many people, Nokia was one of the first mobile phones that they owned, and although they were
sometimes a little quirky, they had a well-earned reputation for being indestructible, having an amazing battery life, and being very good at what they did.
They may have been merely feature phones, but the Nokia brand has the sort of goodwill that few mobile brands are able to engender. BlackBerry/RIM used to have it, Apple has had it ever since it entered the market, and Nokia possessed it.
One company that doesn't have it is Nokia's suitor: Microsoft.
Remember the short-lived
Microsoft Kin?
What about Microsoft's
courier tablet concept?
Perhaps you had yourself
a Zune?
Or, in the past year, you may have acquired an underpowered tablet called the
Surface RT.
For every Xbox that Microsoft has in its portfolio in recent history, there's a Kin or a Surface RT lurking on the next page.