Apptasting has been coined by Nokia for their themed sessions to promote their latest products, especially the Lumia 920. Nokia have brought together famous chef Vikas Khanna and technology guru, Rajiv Makhni to showcase the features that make their phone (with Windows) unique. And definitely on evidence, the Two did Tango!
I was invited by IndiBlogger to be part of one such event last night in Bangalore. There were 300 bloggers who participated in the event, ranging from a 10-year old (who blogs to express his feelings) to a 62-year-old who has been blogging for the last 10 years! Other bloggers selected randomly were chosen to introduce themselves to the crowd (with few of them winning prizes from Nokia) – prominent among them was one who called himself Tiger (having four girlfriends and a wife!), a farmer who blogs, a scientist who blogged in kannada, a senior blogger who is changing the Character Bank of India.
Live blogging went on throughout the event, accompanied by loud music and witty anchoring by Rajiv (who used every possible opportunity to pull Vikas’s leg). Vikas used the chance to plug his kannada to the audience – with his rendering of “Nara Janma bandaga Nalige iruvaga Krishna enabarade” – we can have a MasterChef combined with SaReGaMa now! Food and Wine were flowing generously throughout the event at ITC Gardenia.
The event was well-choreographed to highlight the phone’s features like
- City Lens – the Augmented Reality app that shows shops, restaurants, attractions close to the user. This worked within the hotel banquet room also (that was impressive to see!). This app would further give more details about the attractions and give the ability for the user to phone out from within the app!! Though Rajiv did mention about Vikas using this app in Hampi, I am not so sure about it !
- Breathalyzer – the next feature shown was that of the breathalyzer where the phone can determine the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood levels – I am still trying to figure out how it works (think it is an abstracted number calculated based on the sex/weight/pressure). Traffic police can be now given Lumia phones as accessories one the field.
- Dance app – Gangnam Style dancers were rated to see how they fared. After their initial performance, the app on the phone showed how the dance moves are to be done! Two teams then tried out the moves later to the rapturous applause of the audience. Will the dance app help those with two left feet?
- Food/Wine Pairing – there was another app that showed which wine would go well with the food that a person was having. Fried Chicken gave the name of ‘Sauvignon blanc’ or seviyan in the words of Vikas. This is one good app that can help those who are not aware of how the wine taste interferes with the good (making one appear like a good connoisseur)
There was also a section where app requests were taken from the audience and those who were short-listed were asked to present on stage. The winner was an app where anyone can take a picture of an accessory worn by a friend and get details on the nearest place it can be bought! This was just a teaser for a reality event that will start soon.
Will the Nokia recapture people’s mindshare and make a dent into the smartphone market occupied by HTC and Samsung with the introduction of Windows OS? While the initial branding exercise undertaken is promising, the growth will be determined by the users inclination to move away from their current brands!
Random Thoughts... 