BetaLabs

I'm really interesting in Beta Labs because of being on the top of S60 progress.

OK maybe this is too big to publish but it's a fundamental point that Nokia needs to address.

Great to be able to shape the development of new apps, but needs more consistent followthru by Nokia. E.g. Sports Tracker is a great app BUT it was published on Beta Labs April 16, 2007, and last updated in June 07, 2007?
That's FOUR MONTHS with no development. If this is beta, we should see development of the app continuing! What has happened to all the customer feedback in te meantime - ignored apparently and contributors' time wasted!
Nokia needs to demonstrate better follow-thru if it wants itself and Beta Labs to be trusted and its claim to listen to its customers to be taken seriously!

I know this is late Tommi, but I have something to add! Like others, I believe Beta Labs demonstrates Nokia's willingness to listen to its customers. That said, there are so many other exciting projects I see on other Nokia sites like research.nokia.com and opensource.nokia.com among others that most people don't even know about and may be languishing because of it.

I think these sites and their projects should be merged or at least linked into Beta Labs so that it becomes more of a true one-stop lab and playground and spurs more interest and discussion among more advanced users and developers (especially in the open source software). I think that would lead to quicker development of more diverse projects. I see it as a win-win situation as both Nokia and its users benefit from the increased interest from other developers who are willing to invest their time in developing and improving S60 software and further reinforces and spreads the "open to anything" message.

The typical consumer electronics business has a primarily one-way relationship with their customers. Any opportunity for the customer to respond is via carefully controlled market research or filtered feedback through customer service. The Nokia Beta Labs concept closes the loop by allowing personal, two-way communication with the customer during the development of new products. As a customer, I feel like I'm being heard for the first time.

The Beta Labs projects Sport Tracker, Mobile Codes, Gizmo, Conversation, and now Share 3.0 are phenomenal leaps in quality applications for Symbian phones. The features in Sport Tracker are what drove me to need the GPS to be inside my phone, I went from a N80 and LD-3W to a N95 and did not even think about it. Conversation just this week is a huge step forward in SMS messaging on symbian phones. It is great to have a group doing things with the resources to also make the updates to the rest of the OS and then share back these abilities to the greater application development community. Cheers Nokia!

Nokia Beta Labs allows new applications to be tested in real world end user conditions. Developing applications and releasing them in beta form via Beta labs should help ensure in built applications on new handsets are solid, reliable and of great value.

More Apps, it takes to long to post a new applications at Nokia Labs, And it's very hard to find it on Nokia's WebSite and web properties, the users need to deeply want to find it to really fint it via Google.

I think it should be more integrated with a Blog style and not that static as it is today.

Firmware updates are a MUST HAVE feature.

i believe the betalabs sets nokia apart from other handset manufacturers. it really does bring in its fair share of that "je ne sais quoi" that fosters a stronger sense of community and technological leadership that others lack - bring it on nokkie :)

I like Betalabs, because it is about achieving together (better products) and it's got very human touch (Tommi is doing superb job)!

Nokia's way to let us users see what's coming next, is the true essence of web 2.0, making us the users, a full partners of the eco system. thatS what i call innovation.

Nokia Beta Labs is all about exploring the future: New techniques; new products; new ideas. Working with people directly experienced and enthused with your leading products.
It's exciting, lively and thought-provoking.
In short, it's exactly what Nokia should be.

ps. WE already know what's important for Nokia in the future -- why aren't you asking us to help you?

The quality and innovation of the applications on the Nokia Beta Labs site is very good.

However, it must be noted that although Nokia is showing some good innovative approaches, the same opportunities are not extended to third party developers.
Example: Conversation application (http://www.nokia.com/A4568203) includes an interface to extend the S60 Contacts application ("Nokia Contacts Services Support Package") - not available to third party developers.

Restricting access to such interfaces prevents innovation outside of Nokia (losing benefit to Nokia products).
Third party developers would also like to innovate, but are restricted in doing so because Nokia is restricting access to a bunch of useful APIs.

[I won't get started on how Symbian Signed stifles innovation in the most heinous manner...]

The best thing I can say about Beta Labs is what it says about Nokia itself. Beta labs is great because it shows that Nokia is committed to working with and listening to its users/customers, and it gives us the end user, a chance to have our feedback committed back into the product itself. This kind of "circle of life" is what makes for great software.

> if mine is choosen, can I get a picture of it in use :)?

I'll ask. I mean, in case these will be used in the actual presentation (it's not 100% sure yet).

Thanks Ricky, that was a good one. A bit lengthy, but probably acceptable.

I really like Nokia Beta Labs because it shows that Nokia is a company that is listening to consumers. Rather than just pushing products out the door, Nokia is starting a concept, then pushing it to their users, and asking for feedback, and actively using that feedback. It shows alot of respect and concern for the consumer, which is rare in this industry.