Fan Interviews: Ovi presents João Luis Costa

If you are regularly following the Blog, you should know that we like to introduce every Monday a new fan who is passionate about Ovi by Nokia.

All the interviews are building up a very nice virtual world tour We’ve got so far, in random order, Poland, Austria, Philippines, Finland and India, twice…
So where are we this week? In Spain! Delightfully hosted by João Luis Costa from Nokia-news.com.

Go on, watch his video introduction and read his fantastic interview!

-Pino (@haikus)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Who are you and what do you do?
Hi there every one, my name is João (friends call me John) Luis Costa, 46 years YOUNG, single parent and living with my 10 year old  adopted daughter on the sunny Costa del Sol, Spain.
I’m a long time Nokia enthusiast and Publisher/Chief Editor of Nokia-news.com which I started up a few months ago.

What makes you passionate about what you do?
The evolution of mobile communications makes me passionate about what I do. I have always loved anything to do with communications, going as far back as 1979 when my parents gave me my very first Citizen’s Band radio for Christmas that year.

What do you like to do on your spare time? Do you have any hobbies, pets etc.?
What do I do in my spare time?? Well my blog started off as a hobby but has become a full time activity. I spend an average of 14 hours a day on line, chatting to fellow Nokia fan bloggers, posting and reading about Nokia, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning and just recently I started to trial Nokia devices for my blog, thanks to the kind folk over at WOMWolrdNokia. Nokia has pretty much become my life.
In between I am just a normal single loving parent. Vanessa, my daughter is physical challenged, she was born with cerebral palsy, and as she cannot do a lot of things for herself, it requires me to be there for her 24/7.
What ever spare time I have I spend watching movies cooking and my daily walks on the beach which is just five minutes down the road from our home.
Pets, well none at the moment, Vanessa wants me to get her a kitten though so we should start visiting adoption centers around here pretty soon.

How did you find out about us?
Pretty much since it’s inception. It’s been a great source of information from the people behind Ovi over the months and also what inspired me to start up my own blog a few months ago.

How long have you been a Ovi/Nokia fan?
My love for Nokia goes back to 1983 when I came into contact with my very first Nokia device. Since then over the decades I have only had Nokia devices believe it or not. They have never let me down and have and still continue to serve me well.
With regards to Ovi, I have been a fan going on two years now, I still remember the beta version as if it was just yesterday when it was first released  It’s been great to see Ovi grow since its birth, although there is still room for more and look forward to seeing more features in the app in the near future.

What do you like most about Ovi/Nokia?
Without a doubt – Nokia open approach towards its customers and community over the years. Nokia listens and that is what makes it a great company.
I am also pleased to see Nokia’s doing its share for the environment and aiding in projects to improve communities and groups all around the world. Just the last week Nokia announced their pledge to support the mWomen programme, which will not only help increase access to mobile phones for over 150 million women living on less than $2 per day but also by the use of these mobile phones, improve the socio-economic status of these women across the developing world, particularly around women’s health, education, finance and entrepreneurship.
There are a lot of companies out there that could learn a thing or two from Nokia, things like these make Nokia… well, Nokia Connecting People!

What was your very first Nokia device?
Boy oh boy, that’s going back a while, it was the Mobira Senator back in 1983, I wonder how many of you remember that brick back then.
I was working for the security services at the time and the Mobira was installed in my government issued vehicle. I’ve added a picture I manged to find on the web for you guys to see, believe it or not it was portable as well, just weighed a bloody ton!
My first QWERTY smartphone was the Nokia 9000 back in 1996 (I am a great fan of QWERTY Nokia devices).

Which device do you use right now?
I currently own two Nokia devices – Nokia E71 which is always by my side and a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the latter I use more for GPS navigation in my car, taking pictures and recording videos and when I am not using it, my daughter plays games and watches Tom and Jerry videos on YouTube. I’m hoping to get the new Nokia N8 and Nokia E7 soon.

What’s your favourite thing you’ve downloaded from Store? Why?
My favorite and best app I have downloaded so far is Joikuspot Premium WiFi HotSpot, I have installed this app on both my devices and will in future ones.
You see, wherever I go I take my portable PC with me and with an unlimited data plan on both my Nokia devices I can connect anywhere via one of the devices through WiFi connection, especially at my favorite beach front cafe where I often go in the mornings  and spend hours connected to the web

What were you looking for the last time you used Maps?
I use Maps almost daily and especially when I go into the big city – Malaga here in Spain. I can never remember where Vanessa’s (my daughter) doctors are and Maps takes me to the front door each time.
Just last week I had to take her to a new specialist, just punched the details into Maps and seconds later I was being voice guided down the streets to the address.
The traffic updates are a life saver as well. They get me in and out as fast as possible… You see, I don’t like big cities

What would you like tell us here at Ovi by Nokia?
Continue to listen to your community, to your bloggers and fans, take our criticism, ideas and suggestions as well as our praises to the people in Nokia that need to hear it.
Earlier on I mentioned that what I liked about Nokia was its open approach towards its customers and community over the years, it’s important for Nokia success to keep that up.
On a last note I would like to thank you for interviewing me here on the Blog: it’s a great honor and I hope to meet you guys one day in person.

We hope to meet you too in person anytime soon!