The photo of the mysterious black box tweeted by Nokia. Image via Twitter
Despite its name disappearing off mobile phones, Nokia has surprised many in the tech world by releasing a photo of a mysterious black box it is due to release, but no details are known about the product so far.
Microsoft had effectively ended the Finnish company’s influence on the mobile phone market, having taken its name off of its products, but it had promised it wouldn’t be the end of the brand as a provider of hardware.
In its tweet, Nokia simply said, “Guess what? We’re up to something”, followed by the date of an announcement to provide further details.
Guess what? We’re up to something. http://t.co/AFq4dUFI9S #thinkingahead #Slush14 pic.twitter.com/sqERYpz0Vc
— Nokia (@nokia) November 17, 2014
The first indication that something has been in the works came on Saturday when Nokia asked its 1.76m Twitter followers what they thought was next for the iconic brand and have been building up to this major announcement since.
While next to nothing is known about this project, it is certain it won’t be any new phone hardware, since Microsoft placed a moratorium on the brand name being put on any other company’s hardware until 2016. Even then, Nokia can’t release its own standalone hardware for another 10 years.
Speaking at Nokia’s recent capital markets day, president of Nokia technologies Ramzi Haidamus said it is crucial for the company to reinvigorate the brand before it falls out of people’s consciousness.
“We have a very valuable brand. Yes, it is diminishing in value, and that’s why it is important that we reverse that trend very quickly, imminently.”
