Nokia: Ten Interesting Facts

This information may seem very interesting to the  fans of Nokia products. Some of the  data is widely known, and some are capable to surprise. Thus, we present to your attention 10 curious facts about the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer Nokia.

The ringtone Nokia Tune, Gran Vals, is the work of Spanish guitarist of the 19th century, Francisco Tarrega. Originally the ringtone was called Grande Valse. However, ordinary users were hardly able to pronounce this name, let alone to remember it, thus the audio file came to be called Nokia Tune. The composition was eventually renamed in Finnish phones in 1998.

Nokia’s activities are also directed to network infrastructure. It is not surprising that the first GSM-call was made in 1991 in Helsinki over a network deployed by Nokia. The call (on Nokia phone) was made by the Prime Minister of Finland Harri Holkeri.

The company is not directly involved in production of digital cameras. However, it produces phones with cameras, making it the world’s largest manufacturer of devices that can take pictures.

Nokia Special melody, which plays when you receive messages, in Morse alphabet stands for the abbreviation SMS. Ascending -another melody is also coded with Morse as the company’s motto – Connecting People. The usual SMS- melody Standard in Morse alphabet stands for the letter M (message).

Nokia has its own font: AgfaMonotype Nokia Sans, which was invented by Eric Shpikermannom. The font Agfa Rotis Sans was used in advertising and in the instructions for the phones before.
The firm does not apply number 4 in phone indexes. This is due to the fact that in several Asian countries, this number is considered to be “bad” not bringing good luck. In order not to disturb the inhabitants of Asia, the company decided to avoid this number.

In 2006, Fortune magazine called Nokia one of the 20 most prominent companies (number one in the telecommunications industry and number four among non-american companies). In Finland, the company has repeatedly been called the best employer and the brand.

Timer of conversations on many Nokia phones is switched on during call making, and not at the beginning of the conversation. Smartphones with S60 counts the time normally – when the interlocutor lifts the tube.

Sometimes Nokia is called “aikon”, that is Nokia from the back to the front. The word is common in everyday life of phone owners from other vendors and among software developers, as aikon appears in a number of programs and tools of Symbian S60 SDK.

Nokia was founded in 1865 by Fredrik Idestam. Originally it was situated on the bank of the river Tammerkoski in the city of Tampere. Idestam’s mill was producing paper. Three years later Idestam built the second, more powerful mill in Nokia, where the river Nokianvirta flowed. Translated from ancient Finnish langauge Nokianvirta means “sable” or “marten”. Unfortunately, now this animal is considered to be extinct.

Today Nokia is one of the largest corporations in the world. Its business employs 128 thousand people who work in 120 countries worldwide. Nokia Phones are sold in 150 countries. At the end of the year Nokia plans to release notebooks. Previously, the company already produced tires, rubber footwear, cables.