Nokia finds research edge in Silicon Valley
The text featured on a PowerPoint presentation at Motorola some years ago bluntly described how America's top cell phone maker lost global leadership in the 1990s: "So, what happened? A little known rubber-boot company from Finland kicked our butt."
Nokia, a company that practically invented reinvention, proved in an age of globalization that a tech company could dominate a sector without a significant presence in Silicon Valley.
But to build on its success, said Bob Iannucci, a Nokia senior vice president, the multinational, whose sales exceed its top three rivals combined, has moved its nerve center for long-range research from Finland to Silicon Valley.
The opening of Nokia Research Center Palo Alto a year ago illustrates how the valley's pre-eminence as an incubator of innovation has been enhanced by economic globalization, not diminished.
Nokia's move also reflects how Silicon Valley, which once lagged in the cell phone field, has become a hub of smart-phone innovation as more features are packed into handsets to expand mobile Web capabilities. Apple's iPhone made a splashy debut, while Palm and Hewlett-Packard keep pursuing market share. Google, meanwhile, is hitching onto the boom by developing a Linux-based mobile operating system dubbed Android.
Basing a team of technologists in Silicon Valley, Iannucci said, is critical to helping Nokia stay abreast of the rapidly advancing developments in mobile computing revolution
- the convergence of wireless, the Internet, computing and multimedia.
Nokia's airy Palo Alto quarters is at the heart of a division called Nokia Research Center, a far-flung effort involving about 800 research engineers based in six countries. Iannucci has carried the title of head of Nokia Research Center, but his authority is scheduled to expand further Jan. 1, when he ascends to the role of chief technology officer.
Web 3.0
Nokia's efforts, Iannucci said, are aimed at maintaining the company's market lead as handsets equipped with robust Web capabilities - communications, search, video and more - become the third great wave of commercial opportunity.
The first wave, Iannucci said, represented "the democratization of consumption of information. Web 2.0 is about the democratization of information production. Web 3.0 - the next step - takes Web 2.0 and makes it mobile."
Nokia believes handsets will overtake laptops and desktops as a tool to access the Internet and it intends to capitalize on that by branching from devices into Internet services. In August it unveiled "Ovi" - Finnish for door - as the brand name for its new offerings in music, games and maps.
Iannucci is a valley veteran whose experience ranges from start-ups to leadership of research at Compaq Computer before its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard. While studying ways for Compaq to branch from its core business, Iannucci said, he became fascinated with Nokia's extraordinary 142-year history.
Later, the chance to take on a key job at Nokia was so appealing that Iannucci moved his family to Helsinki for two years. He said he now spends about 40 percent of his time on the road and frequently video conferences with colleagues - "anywhere from 3 a.m. until midnight."
Iannucci recruited John Shen, former director of Intel's Microarchitecture Research Lab, to manage the Palo Alto research center, which now has about 50 employees. Shen also manages Nokia's new research relationship with Stanford University. A summer internship program, Iannucci said, brought in 23 interns from across the country, culled from 2,300 applicants.
Collaboration between technologists in Silicon Valley and Finland has been increasing in recent years. Co-patenting between the valley and Finland increased by 24 percent from 1993 to 2005, one study shows, a rate not far behind the 27 percent with China. Venture capital flows also show the trend. From 1995 to 2000, VC money did not flow in either direction. But from 2000 to 2005, tens of millions of dollars flowed each way. "A new relationship is emerging with Helsinki as its investment flows to and from the valley increased," noted the 2007 Index of Silicon Valley.
In early October, Google announced the acquisition of Finnish start-up Jaiku, maker of a mobile phone application. Smaller Finnish tech firms are now planting flags in the valley as well. The San Jose Office of Economic Development recently announced that several software firms from Oulu, Finland - starting with BBS, Codenomicon, EB, Navicron and Tracker - would establish offices in the U.S. Market Access Center in downtown San Jose. The center, operated jointly by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and San Jose State University, was opened in 1995 as a "gateway" for foreign companies.
Nokia is a brand that is recognized the world over - even though for many years many people assumed it was Japanese because of the sound of its name. It has been expanding its reach through acquisition, including a pending purchase of Chicago navigation-software maker Navteq for around $8.1 billion.
Such technologies complement the Ovi services and other research initiatives. In the not too distant future, Iannucci said, Nokia technology may participate in machine-to-machine communications. Automobile sensors, for example, will enable cars to communicate with each other to alert drivers to trouble.
Another Nokia initiative is in retail and advertising.
Pattern recognition
Not long after the opening of its valley research center, Nokia became intrigued by the pattern-recognition technology of a start-up called Pixto, founded by entrepreneur Philipp Schloter. Nokia acquired Pixto and Schloter's services in April because the technology dovetailed with an in-house project, Iannucci said.
Nokia dubbed the technology "Point&Find." The idea is for consumers to simply point a camera phone at an object - a building, an automobile or a product in a store window - and with a single click call up Web data linked to the image. A combination of global-positioning technologies and robust image-matching algorithms enable it to recognize the subject on the camera. In theory, "Point&Find" aimed at a store might lead to a list of sales items, and a click on a movie poster could access show times and prices.
It's hard to tell which ideas will prevail in the marketplace. But by raising its profile in the valley, Iannucci says, Nokia improves its chances for successful decisions.
Innovation, he noted, had been ingrained in Nokia's culture generations before Bill Hewlett met Dave Packard. Founded in 1865 as a small riverside paper mill, Nokia successfully branched out in implausible directions, making galoshes and tires while it still produced toilet paper. Its rubber became the insulation for electrical wiring, and Nokia ventured into electricity generation and telecommunications, according to Dan Steinbock, author of "The Nokia Revolution."
Once the Soviet Union broke up, Nokia aggressively pushed into wireless communications, trumping powerful European tech rivals like Ericsson, Philips, Siemens and Alcatel.
As the Nokia brand proliferated, many Americans figured Nokia must be, like Nikon, another Japanese tech success. The Finns, according to Steinbock, didn't mind the assumption: "It certainly was better than being unknown."
source
Nokia, a company that practically invented reinvention, proved in an age of globalization that a tech company could dominate a sector without a significant presence in Silicon Valley.
But to build on its success, said Bob Iannucci, a Nokia senior vice president, the multinational, whose sales exceed its top three rivals combined, has moved its nerve center for long-range research from Finland to Silicon Valley.
The opening of Nokia Research Center Palo Alto a year ago illustrates how the valley's pre-eminence as an incubator of innovation has been enhanced by economic globalization, not diminished.
Nokia's move also reflects how Silicon Valley, which once lagged in the cell phone field, has become a hub of smart-phone innovation as more features are packed into handsets to expand mobile Web capabilities. Apple's iPhone made a splashy debut, while Palm and Hewlett-Packard keep pursuing market share. Google, meanwhile, is hitching onto the boom by developing a Linux-based mobile operating system dubbed Android.
Basing a team of technologists in Silicon Valley, Iannucci said, is critical to helping Nokia stay abreast of the rapidly advancing developments in mobile computing revolution
- the convergence of wireless, the Internet, computing and multimedia.
Nokia's airy Palo Alto quarters is at the heart of a division called Nokia Research Center, a far-flung effort involving about 800 research engineers based in six countries. Iannucci has carried the title of head of Nokia Research Center, but his authority is scheduled to expand further Jan. 1, when he ascends to the role of chief technology officer.
Web 3.0
Nokia's efforts, Iannucci said, are aimed at maintaining the company's market lead as handsets equipped with robust Web capabilities - communications, search, video and more - become the third great wave of commercial opportunity.
The first wave, Iannucci said, represented "the democratization of consumption of information. Web 2.0 is about the democratization of information production. Web 3.0 - the next step - takes Web 2.0 and makes it mobile."
Nokia believes handsets will overtake laptops and desktops as a tool to access the Internet and it intends to capitalize on that by branching from devices into Internet services. In August it unveiled "Ovi" - Finnish for door - as the brand name for its new offerings in music, games and maps.
Iannucci is a valley veteran whose experience ranges from start-ups to leadership of research at Compaq Computer before its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard. While studying ways for Compaq to branch from its core business, Iannucci said, he became fascinated with Nokia's extraordinary 142-year history.
Later, the chance to take on a key job at Nokia was so appealing that Iannucci moved his family to Helsinki for two years. He said he now spends about 40 percent of his time on the road and frequently video conferences with colleagues - "anywhere from 3 a.m. until midnight."
Iannucci recruited John Shen, former director of Intel's Microarchitecture Research Lab, to manage the Palo Alto research center, which now has about 50 employees. Shen also manages Nokia's new research relationship with Stanford University. A summer internship program, Iannucci said, brought in 23 interns from across the country, culled from 2,300 applicants.
Collaboration between technologists in Silicon Valley and Finland has been increasing in recent years. Co-patenting between the valley and Finland increased by 24 percent from 1993 to 2005, one study shows, a rate not far behind the 27 percent with China. Venture capital flows also show the trend. From 1995 to 2000, VC money did not flow in either direction. But from 2000 to 2005, tens of millions of dollars flowed each way. "A new relationship is emerging with Helsinki as its investment flows to and from the valley increased," noted the 2007 Index of Silicon Valley.
In early October, Google announced the acquisition of Finnish start-up Jaiku, maker of a mobile phone application. Smaller Finnish tech firms are now planting flags in the valley as well. The San Jose Office of Economic Development recently announced that several software firms from Oulu, Finland - starting with BBS, Codenomicon, EB, Navicron and Tracker - would establish offices in the U.S. Market Access Center in downtown San Jose. The center, operated jointly by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and San Jose State University, was opened in 1995 as a "gateway" for foreign companies.
Nokia is a brand that is recognized the world over - even though for many years many people assumed it was Japanese because of the sound of its name. It has been expanding its reach through acquisition, including a pending purchase of Chicago navigation-software maker Navteq for around $8.1 billion.
Such technologies complement the Ovi services and other research initiatives. In the not too distant future, Iannucci said, Nokia technology may participate in machine-to-machine communications. Automobile sensors, for example, will enable cars to communicate with each other to alert drivers to trouble.
Another Nokia initiative is in retail and advertising.
Pattern recognition
Not long after the opening of its valley research center, Nokia became intrigued by the pattern-recognition technology of a start-up called Pixto, founded by entrepreneur Philipp Schloter. Nokia acquired Pixto and Schloter's services in April because the technology dovetailed with an in-house project, Iannucci said.
Nokia dubbed the technology "Point&Find." The idea is for consumers to simply point a camera phone at an object - a building, an automobile or a product in a store window - and with a single click call up Web data linked to the image. A combination of global-positioning technologies and robust image-matching algorithms enable it to recognize the subject on the camera. In theory, "Point&Find" aimed at a store might lead to a list of sales items, and a click on a movie poster could access show times and prices.
It's hard to tell which ideas will prevail in the marketplace. But by raising its profile in the valley, Iannucci says, Nokia improves its chances for successful decisions.
Innovation, he noted, had been ingrained in Nokia's culture generations before Bill Hewlett met Dave Packard. Founded in 1865 as a small riverside paper mill, Nokia successfully branched out in implausible directions, making galoshes and tires while it still produced toilet paper. Its rubber became the insulation for electrical wiring, and Nokia ventured into electricity generation and telecommunications, according to Dan Steinbock, author of "The Nokia Revolution."
Once the Soviet Union broke up, Nokia aggressively pushed into wireless communications, trumping powerful European tech rivals like Ericsson, Philips, Siemens and Alcatel.
As the Nokia brand proliferated, many Americans figured Nokia must be, like Nikon, another Japanese tech success. The Finns, according to Steinbock, didn't mind the assumption: "It certainly was better than being unknown."
source
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