I thought of the BMW/Mercedes example earlier today when I was posting in favor of a non-number name (or a name that carries over in addition to a number, like Blackberry 850) for the Maemo devices.

I see two big differences. One is that Nokia puts out a slew of phones. There is a large range of price-points and constantly new models. And what the models are capable of varies within the range at any one time and changes constantly.

BMW puts out only high-end cars. If they had a long-running reputation of putting out cheaper, even if solid, cars, and they introduced a fancy new line of performance cars, they would likely want to brand them so as to distinguish them from their more utilitarian line of cars. That's what Toyota did when it created the Lexus division.

Also, BMW makes a very standardized set of cars. Primarily, there's the 3-series, the 5-series, the 7-series -- and everyone knows what they are. There isn't nearly the variation you get with cellphones. The main difference between the BMW series is just size.

It's much harder to easily track what the various Nokia cellphone models are, just from their numbers. And Maemo deserves a Lexus-type branding.

Also, when someone says he has a BMW, it says a lot right there. Especially if they say the year. If I say I have a Nokia phone, it could be anything, it's almost generic. (Pretty much all you know is what it isn't: it isn't a Blackberry, it isn't an iPhone, it isn't a Pre ... )