Even though Nokia has joined the Google and Apple smartphone party pretty late, they are clearly trying to innovate fast. With Nokia Push, they take a run at re-imagining snowboarding as a connected game you can play on any mountain in the world.
The idea is to mix gaming and reality using the data you generate while you ride. Bigger tricks, higher speed, crazier turns, more points. The experience is synced to your social life in real time, while also logging your full day on the mountain online.
Snowboarding, scored like a game
The core move is to treat a sport session as a live system of signals. Your board and your body generate performance data, and the platform translates that into a score and a story you can share.
In global consumer tech marketing, sensor-driven “real-world games” help turn product capability into a shared, measurable experience.
Why Nokia frames it as “Push”
Nokia is not only showcasing hardware. It is showcasing a way of thinking. Open experimentation, community participation, and a product narrative that evolves in public instead of arriving fully finished.
That matters because the value is not just in the feature set. It is in the ecosystem effect. A connected experience becomes more compelling when other people can react to it, compare it, and build on it.
Where the story is heading next
In 2011, Nokia Push is set to collaborate with Burton Snowboards, described at the time as the world’s biggest snowboarding company, to create a new type of connected snowboarding. Work has already started, and the collaboration is positioned to run in the spirit of the Push project. Transparently, and openly in beta.
Regular progress videos are expected to detail what is being built and to count down to a beta moment at next year’s Burton Euro Open in January.
What to steal from this approach
- Make the user the instrument. If the user’s movement creates the data, engagement becomes intrinsic, not forced.
- Turn performance into a narrative. A score is useful. A replayable story is shareable.
- Design for viewer control. Let people choose where, when, and how intensely they participate.
- Ship in public. If the build is evolving, show the evolution so the community feels like a co-owner.
A few fast answers before you act
What is Nokia Push, in simple terms?
A concept that turns a real-world activity into a connected game by capturing performance data, scoring it, and sharing it socially.
What makes this different from a normal sports tracker?
The framing. It is built like a game with points and progression, not only like a dashboard for self-measurement.
Why does the “any mountain” promise matter?
It suggests the arena is the world, not a controlled venue. That universality is what makes it feel like a platform rather than a one-off stunt.
How does the beta, open approach help the campaign?
It creates an unfolding story. People can follow progress, anticipate milestones, and feel part of something that is being built, not just sold.
What is the biggest execution risk with this type of idea?
If setup is complex or sensor reliability is weak, the magic collapses. The experience has to feel effortless enough to use on a cold mountain with gloves on.