Twitter followers of Nokia was surprised to see a clickbait-style trailer appear this week that suggests a new handset is going to be released on the 5th of December. Offering very little in the way of information there is just a 15-second video which we can only assume was intended to create media interest and they seem to have succeeded. A new release is not generally expected at this time of year from them, so this is seen as very much out of character and is causing massive speculation as to what they might be offering. 

Clue in the Video? 

Some people are suggesting that the video offers clues to the new release. All we see is a single climber with no ropes scaling the side of a mountain and shots of a cloud-filled sky. It has been suggested that this could be interpreted as Nokia climbing over the competition notably Huawei in the release of an affordable 5G handset. They were expected to come up with a 5G offering however it certainly wasn’t scheduled for 2020. 

5G Technology 

5G is set to replace the 4G network universally and is significantly faster and able to support more users at the same time. However, in fairness, it could be sometime before it is widely available in anywhere other than the pilot locations which tend to be London and other big cities. 4G handset will not be able to access the 5G network as this requires a specific modem, which is why we are seeing all handset manufacturers releasing 5G ready phones.

Strange Timing

The other thing that has been noted about the Nokia release is the timing. By announcing a handset on the 5th of December, they have not left enough time to actually bring it to market to take advantage of Christmas sales. It was speculated that the 5G ready Nokia 8.2 would be released at the Mobile World Conference which takes place next year in February or at CES which is held in January so either of those would have been a logical launching point. 

Scaling the Summit?

Going back to the video as offering clues to the new release the one event that does coincide with the date is the QUALCOMM Snapdragon Summit which runs from the 3rd to the 5th of December. Some people are suggesting that the climber scaling the summit is a heavy-handed hint. Over the last year, Nokia has confirmed several times that they are working closely with Google and QUALCOMM to create a 5G handset that falls into the more affordable category.

Nokia is well known for mid-range handsets and is probably the best manufacturer in this area. Of course, this would be an ideal platform from which to make such an announcement and QUALCOMM will undoubtedly be happy to play host to a new technology utilising their Snapdragon processor. Quite what we can expect on the 5th of December remains unknown, but we will update you with more details as and when we get them.