Live Q&A with Wesley Lee

dorso · November 2019

Hallo, i have some questions.

First of all, why is it for hmd global not possible to bring faster camera app updates for the flagship phone, anyway if the camera also have problems with low light and night pictures, since the phone is on the market ?

When hmd bring a new midrange phone on the market with now software features, why bring this features not at the same time to your flagship phone ?
Users who paid for a flagship want always the latest features on her phones, that’s important.

Will HMD bring a “Super Zoom” and a “night” Mode for Nokia 9 ?

Is it possible to capture pictures in a higher resolution in Nokia 9, and also save it as for example 40 megapixel picture ?

Will hmd in the future already use computational photography in flagship phones, I mean the same technology like nokia 9 ?

Test HMD some older prototypes from nokia kinetic, is a development in this direction?

Test HMD new form factors for phones ?

Will HMD bring a Tablet in the near future?

Will HMD bring back colorful phones ?

Whats about the model names of the phones, we see next year still .3 phones or have new model name for the phones ?

Will HMD bring the actual processor in the next flagship phone ?

best regards

madbilly · November 2019

Hi Wesley!

And thanks to @HMDLaura for organising another AMA so soon. I see that some people's questions seem to be getting bombarded with disagrees (without obvious reason), so I hope you ignore these when choosing which questions to answer.

I'll post a few questions now in separate posts.

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

Hi Wesley

Please can you tell us more about your scope? What exactly are you responsible for? Does "experience" include aftersales, technical support, software updates? If so, what is your impression how customer experience in these areas?

Can you also tell us how long you've been at HMD and which team and office you're based in, who do you work with on a day to day basis?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

A useful feature which existing on Nokia phones in the past was the ability to still have alarms active if the phone is turned off. This meant there was no need to leave the phone on all night just so the the alarm was active and would wake us up in the morning for work! HMD's phone don't have this feature, can you please explain what the technical reasons for this are?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

Please can HMD start providing useful detailed descriptions in the update changelogs, rather than the generic and totally unhelpful "improved system stability" and "user interface enhancements"? This would help us actually appreciate the update and understand what has changed (because otherwise the improvements are usually completely unnoticeable, especially on devices more than a few months old).

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

Do you know the Jolla team? How often do you speak to them about how cool the Sailfish UI is?

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

It seems to me that customer experience is usually maximised when users have choice. Therefore it seems very strange that HMD choose to make the Google Assistant button non-configurable? Is this restriction mandated by your contract with Google for Android One certification (and continual promotion of their services) or was it purely an HMD decision to remove customer choice in this way?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

Apart from name the 9 PureView seems to have no association with the Lumia PureView phones. Is there some technical link you can explain? I.e. some PureView algorithms from the Lumias are used?

If not, then why not use the Lumia PureView algorithms? Advances in processing power mean that it should be trivial to achieve similar performance, and easy to achieve better. As others have pointed out, the Lumia PureView method allowed lossless zoom with a single camera. This seems like a great feature which will out-compete current solutions from your competitors, so why not use it?

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

When will we see a Nokia phone which uses all of the Nokia OZO Audio and Playback features, i.e. 3D, Focus, Zoom, Windscreen and Adaptive Stereo Widening? Or do you think that Oppo will succeed to do that first?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

When will HMD phones support exFAT on SD cards with capacities greater than 32GB, as required by the SD card association? https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/capacity/

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

The Nokia Lumias pioneered great display technology with the ClearBlack and PureMotionHD+ screens. How does PureDisplay compare to those?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

When will HMD's phones have super-sensitive touch, aka Glove Mode, like the Lumias used to? If not please can you explain this backward step, which seems very strange for a phone which has Nordic design roots where the weather is generally colder than other places and therefore people tend to wear gloves more often?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

What technical features in terms of image processing (as that is the only thing I think could prevent it) does the 7.2 have which means the ZEISS effects (swirl, modern, etc) and other camera app improvements won't be brought to existing HMD ZEISS branded phones by way of a software upgrade?

This is an example of one of the most disappointing aspects of how HMD applies it's "just keeps getting better" mantra - you are only referring to OS version updates, but customers reasonably expect this to include HMD's apps as well, which is basically only the camera. Yet every single phone you release receives very little if any improvement to the camera app, and if there are improvements they certainly don't continue for the 2 years which HMD commits to provide software upgrades for.

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

The Android space is starting to fragment, the first signs of fractures are starting to appear, caused by the further success of Microsoft in Android apps and the USA's decision to ban Huawei from using Google Play Services etc. Why are HMD continuing with the beige, plain, unexciting Android One approach rather than provide an exciting and interesting user experience which draws on the Nokia heritage of great innovative UXs, e.g. swipe, Fastlane, Z-Launcher?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

When will we see an HMD phone with a xenon flash to complement the great camera? This would have given users a great alternative to the (recently much improved) night-mode which unfortunately requires that people at parties stay still when taking photos whereas a xenon flash would allow us to really capture the moment of them embarrassing themselves on the dance floor

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

The community have been asking for years for HMD to release a "software recovery tool" which allows customers to recover bricked devices (this does still sometimes happen with OTA updates unfortunately). Please can you tell us when HMD will release a recovery tool? If not, please can you explain the technical reasons why this is not possible, as so far we have not been able to work out what has prevented HMD from providing software which will surely reduce the number of warranty claims and demands on local Nokia care centres.

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

How soon can we expect to see HMD start to seek community feedback on updates to camera app via the beta labs programme similar to how Nokia used to do this with the Symbian and Lumia phones?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

How come HMD have still not added a dedicated action mode to the available presets in the 6.2 and 7.2? For example, the aforementioned parties as well as sports would benefit from this preset.

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

Will the 7.2 and 6.2 be launched in China or will only phones made by FIH Mobile be launched there?

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

What is the most efficient way we (the community) can inform HMD of common, widespread issues and feature/breaking bugs? What about a dedicated bug tracker on the forum, wouldn't that be helpful?

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

What involvement do ZEISS have in the development of the the phone cameras? What is their contribution? As an imaging consultant or just providing lenses?

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

When will HMD finish publishing the environmental profiles for the all of the phones, e.g. 9 PureView is missing? https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_int/environmental-profiles

In particular, use of restricted substances, which regulations were complied with (including California proposition 65), whether conflict minerals were used, charger energy rating and power consumption and how much of the phone's materials can be recycled?

These environmental profiles do include some social impact considerations, but they don't go far enough, so it's also important to know about the use of child labour in the mining of raw materials and fair wages and treatment in the manufacturing and assembly factories - where can I find information about how HMD ensures these?

How much consideration is given to these factors when designing a phone? What compromises do you make to the design, materials and components to reduce the socio-environmental impact beyond what is necessary to meet regulations? Are you happy with the end result or do you think HMD could have done more to reduce the impact?

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

Recently we have seen an increase in the number of cases where an HMD smartphone is sent for warranty repair and no spare parts are available so the phone is replaced with a newer model.

How long will spare parts for HMD phones be available? If these phones are available in California, how will you ensure spare parts are available for 7 years? https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1793.03

Thanks

madbilly · November 2019

Is there any particular any difference in the glass on the back of the 7.2 vs the 8.1? Or is is basically the same glass but the 7.2 has this light frosting effect?

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

Miika Mahonen said:

The polymer composite is more rigid and stronger that basic plastics and together with internal aluminum chassis it makes a very light and rigid structure. Now in Nokia 6.2 and Nokia 7.2 we have integrated glass covers directly in to the frame, the basic structure is now very simplified having only 3 parts, glass/frame/glass. Looks great and also feels good in your hand.

Lighter is good, but is it both lighter and stronger than a 100% aluminium frame? Or does the composite frame require more material, therefore it takes up more space in the overall volume of the phone?

Does "simplified" structure mean the 6.2/7.2 is simpler than the 8.1 and other glass-sandwich designs? Is it easier to repair? (please tell me you use less glue than on the 9PV that JerryRigEverything classed as a fail...!).

Cheers

madbilly · November 2019

Miika Mahonen said:

Miko N. said:

Just why bigger phone size? At this moment its not possible buy small mid-range phone. I am happy with my Nokia 7.1. And why alu frame anymore? I dont understand this trend...

Hi @Miko N.
We listen to consumers while designing our phones – for us that is always the starting point. Consumers across many markets want a large display size as the phone is their primary medium for content consumption – they read, watch, share information via their smartphone.

There are still many customers who want a smaller smartphone, so please listen to those customers too

madbilly · November 2019

Miika Mahonen said:

madbilly said:

I don't understand the reluctance of HMD to provide mid and high-range phones with removable batteries, and the 6.2 and 7.2 continue this trend. If the battery was user-replaceable we'd be able to buy two batteries and be able to use our phones to the full, not try and run them economically in case we forget to charge them overnight. Please can you explain this strange design decision?
Cheers

So, as can be seen on the market not many smartphones with removable rear covers exist anymore these days. This type of structure would create limitations for the structural design and materials. Making the rear cover not removable gives as that extra strength to make the structure very solid, a true Nokia device.

Also luckily many options of extra portable batteries exist on the market. We also have our own small portable battery the “Nokia Portable Wireless Charger”which is a great accessory to extend use time.

I thought the trend for non-removable batteries was started by Apple to increase the revenue they get from service centres replacing batteries wasn't it

Portable battery packs are nice, but the cable is a pain and unfortunately the only HMD phones which support wireless charging are the Sirocco and 9PV.

I appreciate the desire to make the phone solid, because all customers appreciate durability, but if you make the rear cover from glass which is more prone to breaking than a removable plastic cover then that defeats the point of making the cover fixed, doesn't it? Surely the only sensible material to make a fixed rear cover from is metal, as it won't break as easily and still adds to the strength as well as being nice to hold (in some opinions), but as you say this will reduce antenna performance, so we end up with plastic as the preferred material, in which case we might as well have a removable cover.

I can see that there's no easy answer to this, no perfect solution. However please recognise that not everyone wants the same thing and sometimes doing things differently from your competitors might actually get you more sales from the part of the market that appreciates what you are doing, rather than fighting your competitors for a share of the market they are already entrenched in.

Cheers

HMDLaura · November 2019

Hi all

Submissions are now closed. Thanks for all of your great questions!

Now is your chance to vote. Take a look through the questions posted in this thread and like your favourites. This will help give us an idea of which ones you most want answered.

See you back here on Friday 08 November at 08.00 GMT for an hour of answers!

HMDLaura · November 2019

Hi everyone

You were some busy bees and asked a lot of questions. We are still busy penning down answers that will be worth your time. We will now go live on Monday, Nov 11.

Sorry for this inconvenience, but stay tuned for answers from Wesley.

Best regards,
Laura

HMDLaura · November 2019

Hi everyone,

We will open up the Q&A very soon 😊. Wesley will join us live in 20 minutes for about an hour. We are a bit tight on schedule today but will try to answer as many questions as possible.

See you soon,
Laura

Live Q&A with Wesley Lee

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