AccueilIt’s that time of the week again when we introduce some of our coolest Ovi People to you with the help of in-depth interviews (watch out, Oprah!). This week I sat down with Minna Lindholm from Sustainable Lifestyle Services who also works here at Nokia House in Espoo, Finland. Here’s what we talked about.
Also, a huge thank you goes out to everyone who sent Minna questions last week via the Ovi Blog! They were all really good, and we chose questions from Siraj, suyog, Clinton Jeff and Francoism to be answered by Minna. Guys: scroll down to see your questions answered 
What do you do here at Nokia?
I’m in charge of managing our Sustainable Lifestyle Services, developing them further and bringing them closer to Ovi. We see to it that people can find apps in Store that help them live a better, greener and more balanced lifestyle. In practice we study different environmental and educational issues, social responsibility and wellness- and health-related topics and then figure out together with our 3rd party partners and developers how we could bring the kind of content and services to our customers that match those issues and topics. The purpose is to bring Ovi a bit closer to you, and to make it feel personal and relevant to you.
How long have you been working here and what other projects have you been working on at Nokia?
Ooh, that’s a tough one… I started working for Nokia right after I graduated, in 1998, which is a pretty long time! All these years have been fantastic and I’ve had a chance to work with some really interesting projects: when I first started here, I hopped on a Device R&D project whose main purpose was to figure out how to make smaller phones! At one point I also worked with Multimedia project where we basically looked at internet regulations and what kind of internet requirements we must take into consideration when we’re launching new services in different countries. I’ve also worked with projects relating to Privacy, License Management and Content Control, among others.
What did you do before you joined Nokia (work + education)?
I’m got my engineering degree from Åbo Akademi and University of Technology, and, like mentioned, pretty much after that I started working for Nokia. However, at one point I was this close to switching over to the area of interior design – this one design company wanted to hire me at that time – but there was no question about it: in the end, my passion for technology won Also, as a small sidetrack I studied medicine for a while in the University of Brussels before I went to study engineering.
What makes you passionate about what you do?
That would absolutely be all the new things, new technologies and new trends we get to work with. Also, it doesn’t hurt that you’re able to work with very smart people…! What’s especially great about Nokia is, in my mind, our corporate culture and how you really feel like you’re able to make a difference.
What word is the first word that comes to your mind when you think about Ovi?
Curious.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve downloaded from Store? Why?
There are actually quite a few of them… Some cool stuff that our own team has created includes, for example, the Climate Mission game and Green Explorer widget. Over at the Green Channel in Store you can find other useful apps such as the free Battery Extender with which you can at the very least double the charge of your device. I also personally use the Elle application because I’m really interested about all things fashion… I’m planning on trying out the Ovi App Wizard soon and I just downloaded the Own Voice application for Maps.
Sweet! Did you already record your own voice?
Not yet, I sampled the other voices on the Own Voice website first… getting directions with a Darth Vader voice would be pretty exciting, though 
What was your very first Nokia device?
Well, in early 1990’s my boyfriend had a Mobira Cityman that I could borrow every now and then, and at that time it was the coolest thing… My
first Nokia, however, was the cult classic Nokia 8110, aka “the Banana”.
The Banana! I loved that phone! I’ve been waiting for someone to mention it in these interviews!
Yeah, that’s the one! It wasn’t the one with the yellow specialty covers, though, it just had the basic gray cover. (Ed.note: Nokia and Chiquita made these limited edition yellow covers for the Nokia 8110 around 1996-1999 and I haven’t been able to find one single picture of those covers! Send me a picture of these covers to niini@ovi.com and the **first one** who does so gets an Ovi T-shirt in the mail!)
What devices do you use right now and what do you mainly do with them?
Right now I mostly use the Nokia N97 mini and use it for basic functions such as calling, texting, browsing the Web… My device has also become my music player. I also use the Maps + free navigation quite heavily these days. You know, Maps is actually making me live a lot ‘greener’ these days, since it makes it so easy to just leave your car at home and walk or ride your bike to places. I’ve noticed that Maps can find you the best shortcuts when you’re walking!
What were you looking for the last time you used Maps?
A while back I was on my way to a birthday party on a brand new region & street, and Maps was the only thing that got me there in time. Let’s just say some other services that I also tried out didn’t perform quite up to par as well as Maps did…
What are your top five favorite blogs/websites?
I’m really interested in architecture and fashion, so I check out for example Fashion.net every day. I also visit TechCrunch and Mashable quite often, and of course Twitter. My news, however, I get from HS.fi, CNET News and TechNewsWorld.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I do quite a bit of sports, so during winter months I ski and skate, and then on summer time it’s time to remove all the cobwebs from my trusty old bike. In addition to biking I like tennis, badminton, aerobics… the sport really depends on what mood I’m in.
What’s your motto?
My motto is from an artist from an Ugandan artist called Ritah Edopu: “To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream, not only plan, but also believe. For it takes courage to do what we desire to do since other people have a lot of plans for us”
And now, to our fan questions. First off, Siraj would like to know when we can expect a solar phone from Nokia?
Heh, that’s what I’ve been wondering myself, Siraj! In all seriousness, we – as well as some other manufacturers – have had our experiments and we continue to investigate everything between earth and sun, sure! Although, solar panels in a phone might pose some unexpected difficulties to us women, because we always have difficulties finding our phones (let alone anything else) from our handbags so it could be equally problematic for sun to get access inside that handbag…
I hear that! Our dear friends Clinton Jeff & suyog would like to know if we have any more “Green” games coming soon?
Yes! We keep publishing all kinds of cool, green stuff all the time, so watch out for the Green Channel! By the way, have you already tried WWF Eco Guru, Clinton & suyog? I think you might really like it! P.S. You can find it also recommended by Techie.com, “for the tree hugger in you”…
Next, Francoism is asking how he could be a more environmentally-responsible Nokia owner short of planting a tree for every text message he sends?
Well, I’m not going to advise against planting all those trees but you should really try out Green Explorer and follow the eco-friendly tips the app provides. Also, remember to share all those tips with your friends and get others excited as well! Also, this is pretty much a no-brainer, but always remember to recycle your old phones!! 100% of your phone’s materials can be recycled.
Finally, is there anything you’d like to tell our readers here at the Ovi Blog?
Keep checking all the cool stuff at the Green Channel and let us know what you think! We love hearing from you!
Source : http://blog.ovi.com/2010/05/17/let%e2%80%99s-go-gr...
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