For perhaps around ten years now, Nokia has almost become a household name. More often than not, if you tried a person on the street to name a brand for a mobile phone, the answer would most likely be "Nokia".

Now branded as one of the most successful mobile phone makers in the world, Nokia's popularity actually started when they first introduced the ability to customize your phone model with the use of interchangeable faceplates, a major deviation in an industry that was then predominated by the colors silver and black.

But with the rate that we've been throwing around their company name, did you know that:

• Unlike other modern day handsets, Nokia phones do not automatically start the call timer when the call is connected, but start it when the call is initiated. (Except for Series 60 based handsets like the Nokia 6600)
• The name of the town of Nokia originated from the river which flowed through the town. The river itself, Nokianvirta, was named after the old Finnish word originally meaning sable, later pine marten. A species of this small, black-furred predatory animal was once found in the region, but it is now extinct.
• The native Finnish pronunciation of "Nokia" is [ˈno.ki.ə], i.e. stress on the first syllable and all vowels short. English speakers often pronounce the name as [ˈnoʊ.ki.ə] or [noʊˈkiː.ə] (putting the stress on the middle syllable).
• The "Special" tone available to users of Nokia phones when receiving SMS (text messages) is actually Morse code for "SMS". Similarly, the "Ascending" SMS tone is Morse code for "Connecting People," Nokia's slogan. The "Standard" SMS tone is Morse code for "M" (Message).
• The ringtone "Nokia tune" is actually based on a 19th century guitar work named "Gran Vals" by Spanish musician Francisco Tárrega. The Nokia Tune was originally named "Grande Valse" on Nokia phones but was changed to "Nokia Tune" around 1998 when it became so well known that people referred to it as the "Nokia Tune."
• Nokia is sometimes called aikon (Nokia backwards) by non-Nokia mobile phone users and by mobile software developers, because "aikon" is used in various SDK software packages, including Nokia's own Symbian S60 SDK.
• Nokia sponsored several pan-European Alternate Reality Games from 1999 to 2005, under the name Nokia Game. These were used to promote their latest phones, as well as introducing the ARG format to Europe.
• Nokia was listed as the 20th most admirable company worldwide in Fortune's list of 2006 (1st in network communications, 4th non-US company).[7]
• Nokia is currently the world's largest digital camera manufacturer, as the sales of its camera-equipped mobile phones have exceeded those of any conventional camera manufacturer.
• In the mobile phone market, Nokia is in direct competition with Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung Electronics, LG, Philips, Kyocera, SAGEM, among others.
• In Asia, the digit 4 never appears in any handset model number, because 4 is considered unlucky in many parts of Southeast/East Asia.
• The Nokia corporate font (typeface) is the AgfaMonotype Nokia Sans font, originally designed by Eric Spiekermann. Previously in advertising and in its mobile phone User's Guides Nokia mostly used the Agfa Rotis Sans font.

Oh, and the picture accompanying this article? It's the original Nokia company logo back in 1966.

Nothing earth-shaking here, but we suppose it makes good conversational pieces...