Got to be in it to win it
Convergence is one of the most over-used terms in the technology industry, especially in reference to the IT and telco sectors. But the next generation of mobile Internet devices should be the first to truly do the term justice, as it will be impossible to designate them specific members of one sector or the other.
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the president and CEO of the world's biggest handset vendor - Nokia - conceded the importance of the convergent market during a recent visit to India, reports The Economic Times.
"The PC and the mobile will continue to come closer and merge," he told reporters. "A lot of opportunity can be seen in this converged area. We at Nokia is actively looking at this converged market...We are looking at the netbook market to see what kind of opportunity is there."
Before Nokia and Intel announced their strategic relationship in June, there was widespread speculation that the announcement would concern an Intel design win in a Nokia netbook. In the end we got mostly vague platitudes about redefining the convergent market, but maybe the relationship will yield a Nokia netbook before long.
If it does, it will represent an intriguing move by Nokia. It has traditionally been umbilically attached to the ARM ecosystem, which provides the vast majority of the many processors you're likely to find in a Nokia phone. Intel is in direct competition with ARM and its partners in this convergent market, so any time Nokia chooses Intel over an ARM partner, Intel will consider it a strategic victory.
