Nokia Phones – Time To Say Good-bye

The Nokia Oyj brand is iconic in the world of cell phones, but with Microsoft’s acquisition of the Finnish company’s mobile business, the maker of some of the most popular handsets of 90’s and early 2000’s will soon be forgotten.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Microsoft will be ditching the Nokia brand by 2015, but recent reports suggest that the software giant will be rebranding its mobile unit to Microsoft Lumia in the coming weeks. The Nokia France office has already confirmed the rebranding in its recent post:

“In the coming days, you will receive a message from Facebook on the renaming of this page.

We are about to become “Microsoft Lumia”!

-Stay tuned to learn more soon…;”

Some of Nokia’s sites are already redirecting to Microsoft’s portals such as Treasure Tag, Nokia’s lost-and-found tracking device.

Though Nokia will be rebranded as Microsoft Lumia, it is uncertain what branding will appear on the mobile devices. Will Microsoft Lumia be emblazoned on upcoming devices? Or will it simply carry the Windows logo? We’ll soon find out, but in the meantime, we take a trip down memory lane.

As Nokia has released a multitude of devices over the years, I’ve asked some of my SiliconANGLE colleagues to share their most memorable Nokia phone was and here’s what they have to say:

Our favorite Nokia memories

Kristen Nicole Martin, Senior Managing Editor

Nokia phone: 6500 Slide (2007)

This phone features a 3.2MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a double LED flash and 3G video calling. The 6500 slide supports Java MIDP 2.0 applications, WAP 2.0 browser with XHTML support over HTTP/TCP/IP stack, comes with the Opera Mini browser, Bluetooth 2.0, EDGE, GPRS, over-the-air firmware update and downloads for ringtones, themes, wallpapers and screensavers.

It’s 2.2 QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) LCD display supports up to 16.7 million colors, ambient light sensor, multimedia messaging, push email, 20MB user free internal memory which is expandable up to 4 GB with microSD memory card, has a flight mode and a lot more other features.

Why she liked it: I had it just as the iPhones were coming out and I thought it was better than an iPhone. It could do everything, had a far superior camera, and could be used as a hot spot.

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Mike Wheatley, Enterprise News Editor

Nokia phone: 3310 (2000)

This phone features customizable and downloadable profiles, and the screensaver is based on picture message format: Any received picture message can be displayed as a screensaver. The 3310 has a clock, alarm clock, stopwatch, countdown timer, calculator, currency converter from idle mode, uses NITZ (Network Informed Time Zone), and the option to set up to 10 notes in Reminders.

Most importantly (for Mike), the 3310 has four games: Snake II, Pairs II, Space Impact, and Bantumi. This is considered one of Nokia’s toughest phones ever built, and is the subject of various Internet memes for being an all-time badass phone.

Why he liked it: I dropped it off the scaffolding a few times when I was working as a builder in England; it never broke.

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Mellisa Tolentino, Staff Writer

As for me, I owned several Nokia phones in my lifetime. I changed phones not because one broke down, but because I either lost it, or I was being a brat and wanted the new model.

I remember my first Nokia phone was the 8210 (1999) which my mom bought. At that time, the trend was “the smaller the phone, the cooler you are.” This meant you could slip it in your pocket and never miss a text or call, because the 8210 would vibrate and ring.  If you ever owned a Nokia device, you know how loud its tones could get.

Pulling out my Nokia 8210 in public always got people’s heads turning, and that’s what I loved most about it (aside from the fact that it was quite durable for its size and make).

Losing the Nokia mobile brand maybe a sad day for some, so here are some funny Nokia memes for kicks:

Funny Nokia memes

Nokia now makes weapons

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Nokia trumps smartphones

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No, Taylor

photo credit: P&L Personality Plugin via photopin cc