RSS183 Nokia has announced that Michael Halbherr has been appointed executive vice president to spearhead the company’s revised mission in mobile and location-based services. He will lead a new location and commerce business unit, which will be formed by integrating the 295 Navteq business with Nokia's social location services operations. Nokia says the unit will develop a new class of integrated social location products and services for consumers, as well as platform services and local commerce services for device manufacturers, application developers, internet services providers, merchants, and advertisers.
"Focusing on location and commerce is a natural next step in Nokia's services journey. We will provide next generation social-location applications and commerce to differentiate Nokia. We also aim to extend our content and services offerings to all consumers by making them available to partners and customers on a wide variety of devices and operating systems," said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. "Michael is a widely recognised authority in the fields of mobility and social location services, and I am delighted to appoint him to lead an area of our business that will be crucial in Nokia's transformation strategy."
Halbherr has been with Nokia since 2006, most recently leading the product unit in Nokia's Services business, based in Berlin. Prior to joining Nokia in 2006, he worked for the4055 Boston Consulting Group and at Europatweb, the Internet investment vehicle of Groupe Arnault, overseeing all technology investments. In 2001, Halbherr became CEO of gate5 AG, a leading supplier of mapping, routing and navigation software and services globally. In 2006, gate5 was acquired by Nokia. Halbherr holds a PhD in electrical engineering from ETH Zurich, spending four years at the MIT Laboratory for computer science.
"Focusing on location and commerce is a natural next step in Nokia's services journey. We will provide next generation social-location applications and commerce to differentiate Nokia. We also aim to extend our content and services offerings to all consumers by making them available to partners and customers on a wide variety of devices and operating systems," said Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. "Michael is a widely recognised authority in the fields of mobility and social location services, and I am delighted to appoint him to lead an area of our business that will be crucial in Nokia's transformation strategy."
Halbherr has been with Nokia since 2006, most recently leading the product unit in Nokia's Services business, based in Berlin. Prior to joining Nokia in 2006, he worked for the
