If the next wave of Internet growth is to come in the form of mobile devices, it stands to reason that handset makers will be competing on the strength of their Web interfaces. In that spirit, Nokia has announced the acquisition of Novarra, a privately held firm specializing in mobile browser technology that it markets under the Vision brand.
Enterprise Mobile Today takes a look at Nokia’s purchase of Novarra, which one analyst says could address one of the company’s significant weaknesses.
The world’s largest phone maker today bought a mobile browser company, saying the move is designed to appeal to the “next billion consumers” on the Internet, who will chiefly be using mobile devices.
Despite Nokia’s global presence as the leading provider of handsets and its enormous R&D resources, the company is seen by some analysts as having been caught flat-footed by the iPhone’s successful debut, and has since struggled to stay competitive with Apple and other smartphones providers, particularly in the U.S. But Nokia said Friday’s purchase of Chicago-based Novarra is designed to help it get ahead of the curve in addressing the next generation of mobile consumers.
Privately held Novarra offers both a mobile browser and services platform under the Vision Browser and Vision Platform brands respectively. The company’s mobile Web products are sold to operators, mobile device manufacturers, mobile phone users and Internet brands (including Yahoo). On its Web site, Novarra said it offers mobile users “a PC-like experience including Web, multimedia, RSS, widgets and contextual advertising.”
