In the iPhone 4 thread, I pointed out that Apple is suddenly making resolution a big deal after having the worst for years and now only marginally improving on the competition. They've also apparently invented video calling.

Rather than being bitter, it's worth realizing that the MeeGo device is going to need similar talking points. We can take it as a given that the hardware and UI are going to be excellent, but normal advertising isn't going to cut it, and neither is ranting about free software.

Nokia needs to clearly show specific uses that the iPhone can't accomplish. The easiest way to do it is to go where Apple won't go, instead of just talking about everything you COULD be missing out on.

Off the top of my head, one such thing could be zeroconf-loaded, sandboxed applications.

Imagine taking photos on your MeeGo phone and coming home. Your desktop computer automatically notices the new photos, downloads them, does face recognition and tries to guess album boundaries using GPS and timestamps.

When it's done indexing, the magic part follows. Your photo software exports some of its features as a Qt binary on the network, and your MeeGo tablet beeps with the message "Your pictures are ready for review". Swiping through the images, you confirm or adjust the program's guesses, name the albums, and mark the best shots to be shared online.

Naturally, the photo software will export a viewer app to your MeeGo TV that tracks the active pic on your tablet, so your family can follow along. Furthermore, your desktop automatically detected similar successive pictures and showed them side by side on the tablet without prompting, using a playoff system if there are more than two. When you're done, an exported and customized slideshow app starts running on your tv.

All without installing anything or requiring the intervention of Nokia, although if they're smart, they're going to implement this particular functionality on their own (with subscription-based backups on Ovi). This was just an example - I'm pretty sure the digiKam people could code it in a heartbeat if given the chance.

The real "big thing" could be using such a system for highly functional location-based apps, in stores, airports, etc. (with HTML5-support for less powerful apps, naturally)

But I repeat, the most important aspect is the advertising message. The feature would need a cool name etc. What else could Nokia rub in Apple's face?

actually I´m bit amazed that i haven't seen photosync with features you described (with easy gui conf) here yet. Someone did some background work for it and announced it here but as most of apps here it was more or like proof of concept.

.edit
I think it was this:
http://doitdifferent.wordpress.com/2...0-with-iphoto/

Funny you mention the video calling, I was just watching the FaceTime app ad on youtube. This is how Apple market their video calling feature on the new iphone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKoLp_lGo14

That's an ad directed by Sam Mendes, btw. Now this is how Nokia market their video calling feature on the n97
" "

Well might aswell be, and it's the same marketing team behind the n900 no doubt

MeeGo's selling point is open source. How you market and sell that to the masses I don't know, the mainstream want services and aren't that worried about the closedness of the software powering them

To hardware vendors and to win a small group of end-users. It's on the hardware vendors to push their hardware via services and user experiences. This just gives them a huge, compatible base to start from that isn't tied to Google.

And that's why you need to get all that open source software to do something! Nokia, how about implementing all those features in my post for digiKam and making a huge deal about it? And every other KDE app you can think of. They'll run on Windows too, you know, and you're never going to be able to outcode anyone alone with your Ovi Suite stuff, no matter how good it is.

Once you show the way, the other developers will follow, especially if the initial sales are huge. Make it really, really easy to leverage zeroconf everywhere, in any app.

And make backups work automatically in every compatible app once you pay and sign in to Ovi from KDE, and push updates on Windows using a package manager. You could displace more companies than just Apple.

Meego's selling point to consumers will be the wide hardware (need a high end camera, or a keyboard, or both, etc..,) and software (from QT compatibility). But that will only happen if Android doesn't suck up all the hardware companies first.

Not to rain on anyone's party, but I would say, as a guy that has worked on some promotion campaigns:

- Let's wait to the final product(s) to know exactly what you want to promote.
- Don't give your competitor's extra promotion by spending time saying how better your product is comparing it to them. Just keep on hammering on what you CAN do.
- We are not the end users. Don't think that what attracts you is going to attract the average consumer.
- Don't be afraid to exagerate a bit (it is marketing after all).

Problem with Nokia is that they don't know how to produce a hype.

Nokia needs its own Jobs. That man is a salesman

I'll give you an example, stealing this from Apple marketing quoted by Reggie:

"All the breakthrough technology in iPhone 4 is situated between two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultradurable and more scratch resistant than ever. It’s also recyclable."

"All the revolutionary open Meego systems are mounted on a custom designed frame, protected by a specially developed aluminium alloy. This alloy presents a marked improvement in mechanical properties compared to other materials available in the market; and similar alloys are used in the aerospace industry for for critical, high performance components in aircraft and rockets. Also, in the best interest of ecology, the base components of the alloy are made from 100% recycled metals."

It could be shorter I guess, but you get my point.