Get hands on with Nokia and Motorola devices at retail stores

Mobile device geeks everywhere will now have to add a stop to Chicago on their next itinerary to visit Motorola's Destination Q store and Nokia's new Flagship store. Destination Q opened up on June 8th and is located at 666 North Michigan Avenue. Nokia's Flagship store will be opening on June 24th and is also located somewhere close by on Michigan Avenue.

Nokia trails Motorola in the United States and this first retail store, with up to 18 more to follow, should help with public awareness of the Nokia brand. I personally have a couple of Nokia smartphones, one is the Nokia E61, and am happy to see a retail store opening soon. There are many people who have Nokia S60 devices, yet have no idea how powerful a smartphone they even have and I am hopeful that retail stores will help in educating the public. The Nokia Flagship store will be an interactive experience for the shopper with displays setup to teach people about device features and functionality. The store employees are graduates of the Nokia Academy so they should be more knowledgeable than you standard retail store employee who generally know very little about mobile devices. There will also be some very high end Vertu line of devices with cosmetic materials such as sapphire crystals, rubies, and more adorning them. The Nokia Flagship store will also serve as a testing grounds for devices so Nokia can gauge what product line is desired in the area of operations.

The Motorola Destination Q store has now been open for almost two weeks and also offers browsers an interactive environment. The Moto Q lounge allows people to relax and take in the surroundings. Verizon Wireless representatives work in the store with Motorola employees to help answer questions and get people connected with the Motorola Q. Bluetooth accessories, including stereo headphones, are also featured in the store.