Nokia and Virgin Atlantic partner to introduce ...

Airline leads the way with new smartphone technology to help passengers recharge before a flight

Espoo, Finland and New York, NY - Nokia today announced a deal with Virgin Atlantic to offer wireless charging facilities at its London Heathrow Clubhouse for passengers who want to recharge their phones before a flight. 

Stylish and colourful Nokia wireless charging plates will initially be introduced in the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London Heathrow later this year. Nokia and Virgin Atlantic also plan to expand wireless charging to the JFK Clubhouse at a later date.

Nokia today announced in New York that its Windows Phone 8 flagship smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 920, would be its first smartphone with in-built wireless charging, while the new Nokia Lumia 820 benefits from wireless charging via a removable and exchangeable shell.

"Virgin Atlantic is putting passengers first by removing a major anxiety, particularly for business travellers - how to keep their phone charged throughout a long day," said Jo Harlow, Executive Vice President, Smart Devices, Nokia. "The Virgin deal is a first step in our plan to make wireless charging as ubiquitous as Wi-Fi is today."

Chris Rossi, Senior Vice President, Virgin Atlantic North America said: "Our Upper Class passengers choose Virgin Atlantic because they understand that we aim to deliver a memorable experience every time that they fly with us. We constantly look for ways to enhance their overall experience through partnering with companies such as Nokia to let them experience new technologies in our clubhouses. Our passengers will be able to wirelessly charge their phone while catching up on email, sipping a cocktail or enjoying a massage in our clubhouse spa!"

Wireless charging provides a convenient way to top-up a phone while relaxing in the lounge so that phones can be used for listening to music, playing games or watching movies during the flight.

Nokia is part of the Wireless Power Consortium, an organization that supports the Qi wireless charging standard. This group is comprised of a number of operators, service providers, component suppliers and consumer electronics companies that have pledged their support to Qi and are working together to build an infrastructure ecosystem that will make it possible to charge wirelessly throughout the day. The Nokia wireless charging plates are able to charge any smartphone with wireless charging capabilities based on the Qi standard.

Nokia will be staging wireless charging customer experience demonstrations at London Heathrow Clubhouses from November 1, 2012 to January 31, 2013. Nokia staff will be on hand to showcase the new Nokia Windows Phone range and accessories to the VIP lounge visitors.

About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia.

About Virgin Atlantic
Virgin Atlantic Airways, one of the world's leading long-haul airlines, was founded in 1984. Virgin Atlantic offers service from ten US cities as well as Vancouver to London, and onto a range of long-haul destinations worldwide. From its main base at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports, Virgin Atlantic services destinations as far apart as Las Vegas, Tokyo, Delhi, Boston and Shanghai. Even with Virgin Atlantic's continued growth, the service still remains customer driven with an emphasis on value for money, quality, fun and innovation ensuring flying Virgin Atlantic is always an event. Pioneering many air travel innovations, Virgin Atlantic received a number of 2011 travel trade awards including for the fourth consecutive year, Travel Weekly's "Best International Airline," Global Traveler's "Best Airline for Premium Economy Class," Business Traveler's "Best Premium Economy Class in the World" and for the first time, "Best Airport Clubs/Lounges."

Media Enquiries:

Nokia
Communications
Tel. [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Virgin Atlantic US Press Office
Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]

www.nokia.com

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Source: NOKIA via Thomson Reuters ONE

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