Looking back at Nokia World 2009

LONDON, England – As we count down to Nokia World 2010, we thought it’d be a good time to take a look back at 2009’s event. Stuttgart was the location and things kicked off in a rather glamourous location for this intrepid reporter – the Porsche museum. There the winners of the Calling All Innovators contest were announced and those shortlisted had an opportunity to show off their wares. But that was just a preamble for the following morning we pitched up at Messe Stuttgart for OPK’s keynote speech. Read on after the jump to find out what happened next.

Uncharacteristically, OPK arrived on stage in a slightly wrinkled shirt. The simple explanation came later: five minutes before he was to go on stage, OPK’s suit jacket had an unfortunate collision with someone else’s cup of coffee. So the big man had to toss the jacket and go with a more casual look than he had planned. Some observers commented that the “new, rumpled look” was a brilliant move that made the CEO look “more approachable.”

The incident didn’t stop him from revealing a treasure trove of new devices, however.

Prior to Nokia World, the N900 was revealed to pretty wide acclaim – in our follow up vote the N900 bagged 68 per cent of the votes for “favourite product from Nokia World”). The event itself offered many their first opportunity to get hands-on with the then new device and folk were suitably excited. But bigger changes were afoot, as OPK revealed. The arrival of both the Nokia X6 and Nokia X3 marked a shift in naming for Nokia devices. This shift has evolved steadily over the course of this year with new Cseries devices being announced (step forward you touch and type wizard, Nokia C3), new Eseries devices such as the E5 and the recently announced Nokia N8.

But Nokia World wasn’t just about devices. Rolling out from under the covers came the Ovi SDK and the navigation API. Since then both have evolved and are rapidly becoming staples for developers to create new and exciting applications.

Nokia World 2009 also saw Nokia Money revealed for the first time. That too has since evolved and is now up and running as a real service, as we reported recently.

We’ve not been short on new device announcements already this year, but that doesn’t stop a whistle of anticipation around this year’s Nokia World. As ever, we’re counting down to the big event and looking forward to seeing what goodies and treats are in store for us. Of course, the full Conversations ensemble will be present and correct, so if you’re there, be sure to look us up. You can find our pics on the about us page, so if you spot us, do say hello. We’ll be pleased to see you!