Invent With Nokia offers cash for bright ideas [Video]
Nokia isn't relying solely on its partnership with Microsoft for its future; the company is also asking armchair pundits to put their inventions where their mouths are. Invent With Nokia is a new initiative inviting suggestions for devices, features and services from the general public. If Nokia can patent it, they'll pay the inventor.
What isn't quite clear is how much you'll get paid. "There will be some variability" in rewards, the company advises:
"In principle you will be eligible for an award if we apply for a patent based on your invention. You may be eligible for a further award depending on the success of the product and the level of award you choose at the patent application stage." Nokia
Frankly, we've never thought Nokia was short on good ideas: the company's patent portfolio has some real gems, like the dual-display 3D Communicator spotted earlier this month. The stumbling block has always been the speed at which Nokia gets its gadgets to market, and the apparent layers of conservative management which seemingly strips promising devices of their spark. With Nokia shifting its R&D budget – freshly bloated from Microsoft's cash injection – around, though, maybe Invent With Nokia will help bypass some of that.