finland

HELSINKI, Finland -- I came here to listen for a death rattle.

It was a late Monday morning in late November when I arrived, and there was no sunlight. None. The sky was gray, bleaching out the city's colorful buildings. I asked the cab driver whether it would get any brighter, but he wasn't confident. The sun comes up late in the day and fades early in the afternoon this time of year. As even the Finns concede with a stoic chuckle, it's depressing.

Unsurprisingly, it's considered the worst time of the year to travel to … Read more

Nokia is getting a new neighbor.

Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei said today it wants to expand into Europe, and plans to build a smartphone center in Helsinki, Finland, just minutes away from Nokia's own headquarters in Espoo -- facilities that Nokia just sold off as it seeks to right its financial ship.

Huawei said in a statement e-mailed to CNET it plans to invest 70 million euros ($90.3 million) in the facility over the next five years, and will double its work force in Europe to 14,000 over the next three to five years.

Huawei's … Read more

Microsoft and Nokia are looking to create a new generation of developers for their mobile platforms by pouring money into education.

The two mobile partners will each contribute 9 million euros ($12 million) to fund a new program on mobile app development at Finland's Aalto University. The training, dubbed AppCampus, will focus on Windows Phone but will also cover Nokia's Symbian and Series 40 platforms.

Set to launch this May, AppCampus will be geared toward students and entrepreneurs from around the world looking for an education in mobile technology, design, and funding with an eye toward building their … Read more

Even an airline geek like me wouldn't call an airport "homey."

"Exciting" is a word that I would use and I may even say "comfortable" depending on the airport, but I won't deny that an airport is the opposite of home. Either you're on way to somewhere else or you still have a flight between you and your own bed.

Check in at Helsinki's airport, though, and you'll find a new lounge that is trying to bridge that gap. Now open in Vantaa Airport's Terminal 2, the Almost@home Lounge goes beyond far beyond the utilitarian furniture and simple snacks that you'd find in a standard airline lounge in the United States. … Read more

After the shortest time on market ever, the Microsoft Kin has been unceremoniously yanked from market. Which, I guess, you could see as swift and decisive action on Microsoft's part, rather than a total failure of the company's mixed-up mobile strategy. Or both. Also, Apple lawsuits, Google's uncertain future in China, and the Woot monkey finds a new home at Amazon.

On Wednesday I gave lip service to the Audi Ice Driving Experience that took place roughly a month ago in Finland. Today's video is a continuation of the current topic, showing the sights and sounds of this yearly event that's been in effect since the mid-'80s. There isn't a whole lot that I can add to what this video displays--it's simply poetry in motion with cars driving around on the beautifully snowy mountainside, and that can hardly be a bad thing. Enjoy.

So recently we've gotten a look at BMW's xDrive all-wheel traction control system, both in theory and in action. Not surprisingly, German manufacturer Audi thinks its vehicles run and handle better on snowy and icy roads to the point that the company is hosting an event known as the Audi Ice Experience; it's a racing-track-based high-performance practical driving education event that's been around for more than 20 years now. And today we've got video from the most recent Experience held this year in Finland.

The Audi Ice Experience is a winter-specific course that is usually … Read more

VANCOUVER, B.C.--It may not have been the most anticipated hockey matchup, but there was plenty of excitement inside Canada Hockey Place on Wednesday as Finland took on Belarus in the first game of the day.

Like many of the fans I talked to, I chose this game because it was the one I could get tickets to. Among those in that camp was Gareth Farfan, who brought his daughter Lily. Outside the arena, he stopped to get her a Finnish flag, choosing to cheer for them because Sami Salo, a member of the local Vancouver Canucks, plays on … Read more

(Updated at 1:56 p.m. PST, after I put down my own bottle of Lapin Kulta.)

If you've ever spent a long night drinking with Finns, you may have noted that after the 10th beer, they can become jolly, effusive, and positively inventive. Well, please hark the words of Martti Roth, an alleged employee of Intel Finland, who thought of something rather special while under the influence of alcohol.

I am not libeling him, truly. Because Roth says he really did come up with the notion, while at a bar, that he and his Intel friends should create … Read more