Nokia Honors Consumer Innovation at CTIA

LAS VEGAS, March 23, 2010 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continuing a rich history of fostering innovation, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is proud to announce the winning team of the PUSH N900 MOD IN THE USA competition - BrettSarahTops - for their work turning the Nokia N900 into a car-like dashboard showcasing odometer, speedometer and more. The competition, which began in January, pushed the capabilities for the Nokia N900 both from a hardware and software prospective; further showing that the Nokia N900 is one of the most advanced mobile computer currently available.

"Seeing what these teams were able to create using the Nokia N900 in just a few weeks time is a true testament to the spirit of human innovation," said Eddie Hold, Vice President, Current Analysis. "It's refreshing to see what people can come up with when they are supplied with tools like a open platform - such as the one that the Nokia N900 operates on. Kudos to Nokia and the participants for cultivating this kind of consumer innovation."

The three finalists of the PUSH N900 MOD IN THE USA competition were each flown to CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas, where they presented their ideas to a panel of judges. Each presenter was given 15 minutes to discuss their inspiration and why they deserve the grand prize. After a very intense deliberation, the judges decided that Bike Dashboard earned the grand prize based on inventiveness, feasibility, conversation generation and demonstration of the Nokia N900's capabilities. As the grand prize winner, BrettSarahTops will receive a USD 10,000 prize.

"We're extremely excited to have won this competition! To think that just a few weeks ago we were brainstorming an idea to submit and now we're here in Las Vegas with that idea a reality is truly amazing," said Brett Peterson, a member of BrettSarahTops. "It's really cool that Nokia put together a competition that encouraged us to develop something we thought would be an awesome spin on their existing innovations."

BrettSarahTops utilized several different features of the Nokia N900 to create a Bike Dashboard. From the GPS to the camera, the team transformed the Nokia N900 into a car-like dashboard. The screen of the Nokia N900 showed a speedometer, odometer, mapped routes with GPS and even provided a car horn - becoming the killer app for cyclists everywhere.

While BrettSarahTops took home first place, the fact that both Niko and Pit Crew had very creative and innovative mods made it a difficult decision for the judges. For both team's hard work creating their respective mods, they'll also be taking home prizes. Niko placed second and will receive a prize of USD 5,000 while Pit Crew will receive USD 3,000 for placing third.

The Nokia N900 has broadened the choice for technology enthusiasts who appreciate the ability to multitask and browse the internet like they would on their desktop computer. Running on the new Maemo 5 software, the Nokia N900 empowers users to have dozens of application windows open and running simultaneously while taking full advantage of the cellular features, touch screen and QWERTY keyboard. The Nokia N900 also packs a powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor, up to 1GB of application memory and OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration as well as 32GB of storage space, a 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics, high resolution WVGA touch screen, HSPA, WLAN and much, much more.

The global PUSH N900 competition held in October 2009 drew hundreds of entries and resulted in the construction of five widely varying mods. With finalists from both global and USA-focused competitions coming up with ideas that span a broad spectrum - from transforming the N900 into spray-can that emits light graffiti to the brains of a robot, as well as other very, very creative ideas - the capability of a truly open device such as the Nokia N900 has been a great source for innovation and creativity.

To read more about the PUSH N900 MOD IN THE USA finalists and see their journey in their own words, please visit http://www.blogs.nokia.com/pushn900/usa

About Nokia

At Nokia, we are committed to connecting people. We combine advanced technology with personalized services that enable people to stay close to what matters to them. Every day, more than 1.2 billion people connect to one another with a Nokia device - from mobile phones to advanced smartphones and high-performance mobile computers. Today, Nokia is integrating its devices with innovative services through Ovi (http://www.ovi.com), including music, maps, apps, email and more. Nokia's NAVTEQ is a leader in comprehensive digital mapping and navigation services, while Nokia Siemens Networks provides equipment, services and solutions for communications networks globally.

http://www.nokia.com

SOURCE Nokia Corporation