Fellow Nestorphiles,
I’m very pleased that today we kick off the 2010 Nestoria interview series by speaking with Josh Devins, Software Architect in Nokia’s Map and Explore group, part of the team that is responsible for Ovi Maps. For those of you new to the blog, about once a month we try to put a few questions to a thought leader in the online geography or real estate space. Given the huge growth in mobile internet usage in the last year I’m particularly pleased that our first interview of the year is with someone from one of the biggest players in the “location” space. Josh joined Nokia Berlin in 2008 from Vancouver, Canada where he worked at a number of internet companies. He holds a BSc in Computer Science from Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. Nokia in Berlin is focused primarily on location-based services. Josh, great that we get the chance to speak with you about the innovation happening at Nokia. 1. Over the last few years, Nokia has moved aggressively into the mapping space, acquiring Navteq, launching Ovi Maps, and basically redefining itself from the traditional role of handset manufacturer. Tell us a bit about the transition. About two years ago, Nokia set about creating the Services unit, providing value-added services to consumers. Making the move from being the leading handset maker to a service provider is, of course, a big transition, however Nokia is a company that thrives on reinventing itself. Once upon a time, Nokia even made rubber boots, so it knows a thing or two about transition. The acquisition of Navteq and the push into mapping have been reactions to the role that mobile devices are starting to have in people’s day-to-day lives. More and more, the device is becoming a gateway to a much broader world and we are pushing hard to be at the forefront of where the virtual world meets the physical world. Mapping and location in general are really the the ultimate realizations of a person in their world. It’s about bringing devices, mobility, and relationships back into peoples’ physical world. 2. We recently saw you speak at UK’s first Scale Camp. You mentioned that one of the hardest parts of building Ovi Maps is not technical but rather the internal transition to a new way of working. Can you explain? While there are definitely a lot of technical issues that are very non-trivial, one of the things that people notice about our group is that it is very atypical from what most people see as a device manufacturer. We try to run a very Agile shop with Scrum teams, a very flat hierarchy and openness with the rest of Nokia as well as the developer community as a whole. Being one of the newest “server side” groups in Nokia, we approach the situation by attempting to lead by example. Traditionally the device manufacturing process requires a high level of very strict control, process, planning, investment and foresight. On the services side, we need to live to the same exacting quality standards, but also live in the world of Internet-pace, frequent releases and delivery of functionality. This type of shift is something that happens organically from the inside out. However being who we are, we also have very urgent need to scale teams and functionality up and out fast. These sometimes opposing forces prove to be a huge challenge just to orchestrate and to find the right balance. 3. A few months ago Nokia acquired fellow London-based and geography focused start-up Dopplr, and some members of the team are now joining the Ovi Maps project. Can you give us any details? What I can tell you is that we are really excited to have this talented team joining us! I’ve been working with some of them daily for the past couple of months and they’re full of great ideas. Acquiring small companies like this with resourceful, inventive and outgoing people brings a very valuable, fresh look into what we do. We are obviously trying to leverage those talents as best we can. Luring them to Berlin was pretty easy too! 4. One thing we often mention here on the blog, yet are still continually amazed by, is the phenomenal pace of innovation in online cartography. Between Google Maps, Bing, Cloudmade, OpenStreetMap, and now Ovi more and more is being offered to users and developers. What do you think we’ll see in the coming years? I think we’re just hitting the tip of the iceberg and there’s two things that I see as leading the way forward. First, there is such a phenomenal amount of information out there that nobody has really figured out what to do with. From addresses, POI data, journey and routes to social context and community commentary. Some products take the grab-bag approach and throw everything at the user and let them figure it out. The acquisition of Navteq really shot us into the information race, allowing us to work very closely with a company that has people on the ground to verify POIs and provide very accurate data. When it comes to cartography and mapping on the device, simplicity and accuracy are paramount. If we can nail services that provide the consumer with the most accurate information then we become the go-to source on the device. With open APIs for devices and services we believe we can build and propagate the most usable location information anywhere and build a location-centric ecosystem around that. Second part I believe is discovery. We have pretty clear traditional ways to find places in the world — addresses, geo-coordinates, regions, etc. — but people need more. Whether it be “find me interesting new places that I might like” or location based games, we need to find a way to bring the fun and adventure back into place discovery. Services like Dopplr are really pushing people to get out there, share their lives and explore the world to discover new places. We’re doing our best to continue and build on these ideas and give people something that is both valuable and fun. Thanks Josh – great to see another big player innovating in the online cartography game. To learn more follow Josh on twitter @joshdevins. past Nestoria interviews: Stoycho Vlaykov, Mark Keating, and Jason TrostTag Archive for 'nokia'
For our April Nestoria interview we have the pleasure of interviewing Lance Johnson, Global Head of Sales for Nokia Interactive Advertising. Nokia Interactive Advertising allows brands to create more valuable relationships with the world’s four billions mobile consumers.
A regular speaker at industry events, Lance worked as a consultant for numerous startups before joining Nokia. Before that he was GM of Mobile Media for Yahoo!, rising through the ranks there from his original role in Yahoo!’s Munich office where he was responsible for various media products. Orignially from Colorado in the US, Lance was a Fulbright Scholar studying economics in Freiburg, Germany. Lance, thanks for speaking with us. A few questions: 1. The one area the economic downturn doesn’t seem to have dented is innovation in the mobile space. The last few years have seen an amazing amount of new development, from the traditional heavyweights like Nokia but also new entrants like Apple and Google. For those of us not in the industry, can you briefly summarise the current state of affairs in the mobile world? Services are really what’s driving innovation in mobile at the moment, with the top end devices but also with low and mid range devices. Nokia has a 37% market share globally and we’re really looking to create sticky services and content that consumers love as it helps us to strengthen our connection to the consumer. This is the reason we’ve launched Ovi, which includes services such as Nokia Maps that come bundled on device. If services are what’s driving innovation, then advertising is what’s going to drive revenues. Increasingly consumers want something for nothing (or not much), and they have high expectations. By linking up with brands, we’re ensuring quality content for consumers through a sustainable business model, and matching up brands with consumers that are likely to be interested in their products. What I think is interesting for mobile advertising and for digital advertising in general is that the lines between advertising and good service are blurring. When an ad campaign is executed well, it can be indistinguishable from direct customer communication. 2. Mobile advertising has long been heralded as “the next big thing”. How will the current economic climate effect that? What are some of the innovations you’re seeing (or even developing). The advertising industry is undoubtedly having a difficult year. Most analysts see advertising spend shrinking by 15-25% this year. The fact that mobile and likely interactive are predicted to grow (if only slightly) is testament to their effectiveness, and to the growing importance of the mobile device to the consumer. Technology that ensures relevance of marketing is key, not only for better brand returns, but also for the future of advertising. We’ve lived in a world where the amount of noise from different media channels has continued to grow. Digital mediums can reverse this trend and put the consumer back in control. If you’re a brand and you want to engage a target demographic you need to meet consumers on their turf. Mobile advertising that uses location data is going to be a really interesting play. 3. Here at Nestoria we love all things geo. Nokia recently dove headfirst into the mapping game with the acquisition of major geo datasource and technology firm NAVTEQ. Likewise we’ve seen the big online players maneuver into the location space, be it Googe’s Latitude or Yahoo!’s FireEagle (to name just a few of many). Why’s everyone so hot on location? Despite the many advances we’ve made at Nokia and as an industry, we firmly believe that the mobile phone can still be far more useful. By leveraging data based on your past behaviour, what your friends like, where you are and where you’ve been, the mobile device will become even more useful at pre-empting your needs, and providing useful services, and sometimes brand messages to help you on your way. The better the targeting and results, the higher premiums advertisers will be willing to pay. Location will be our emphasis in the 2H of 2009 and we will work every more closely with our subsidiary business NAVTEQ. 4. What chances does the mobile space hold for vertical search engines like Nestoria? I think it’s an opportunity to differentiate your offering and innovate. In regions like North America and Europe, convergence matters. Both PC and Mobile penetration rates are extremely high. Consumers are using services on their mobiles and on their PCs that should offer useful ways to connect the two. Whether it’s researching a property online on a PC and then going mobile or capturing information while on the go and then making that information useful, there are lots of use cases. These ideas are no longer on the drawing board. Convergence is coming and the successful verticals will make use of mobile’s unique characteristics. Thanks Lance! Interesting times ahead. For those interested in keeping up with Lance and the bleeding edge of mobile innovation he’s @lancej on twitter. past Nestoria interviews: Peter Le Masurier, Henry Yates, Andy Allan.
