Nokia ready to take on "more risks"

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In an era when the next innovation can come from anywhere, Nokia president and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told an industry gathering in Amsterdam that it's vital for industry players to embrace open standards.

"The convergence of the mobility and the internet is pushing the boundaries of creativity, technology and innovation," he said. "We're at the dawn of a new era, and for our industry openness will increasingly be a key factor."

Kicking off the Nokia World event in front of an audience of 2,700, Kallasvuo said to expect "a Nokia that takes more risks that accelerates innovation into the market that shapes the future of mobile communications."  He noted that "never have the risks been so varied and widespread."

Nokia has made seven acquisitions in 2007, he pointed out, to better compete in this environment, including its $8.1 billion purchase of Navteq.

He said that it's been an amazing year - "just consider all the words that have become part of the industry lexicon in the past 12 months - N95, iPhone, Android, Ovi. "These are words that represent new directions and new competition in our industry, which ultimately is great for the consumer."

In a world where consumers increasingly expect internet access to be as easy and natural as talking and texting, Nokia is shifting gears to meet their needs, he said. "We recognize that we have an incredible opportunity take internet service to a completely new level - a big part of that effort will involve Ovi, which is the foundation from which we plan to expand Nokia in new directions."

In today's online world, he noted that services must be personalized and localized. "By introducing more complete internet capabilities in devices over the next few years, our goal is to have an installed base of 300 million fully internet-capable devices by 2010."