News

Nokia Has Just Revealed Its New Logo

“In most people’s minds, we are still a successful mobile phone brand, but this is not what Nokia is about.”

Published

4 years ago

February 27, 2023

Nour Nasir

Nokia

It’s hard to believe that Nokia — the famous Finnish phone manufacturer — has been in the electronics industry since the early 1960s. Even more Amazingly, the company has managed to cling to its iconic logo for over four decades.

Now, for the first time in nearly 45 years, the once mighty smartphone corporation will change its branding. Last Sunday, before the Mobile World Congress Barcelona opening day, the company revealed a new corporate identity. Out goes the iconic blue typeface, and in its place, a sleek, modern replacement.

“We are updating our strategy, and, as a key enabler, we are also refreshing our brand to reflect who we are today: a business-to-business technology innovation leader pioneering the future where networks meet cloud […] In most people’s minds, we are still a successful mobile phone brand, but this is not what Nokia is about,” says Pekka Lundmark, Nokia CEO.

Also Read: Apple Close To Adding Diabetic Glucose-Tracking To Watches

The company’s phones haven’t been made by the “real Nokia” since Microsoft’s massive $7 billion takeover back in 2014. After the tech giant parted company with Nokia in 2016, former Nokia executives acquired the rights to use the brand for smartphones and tablets. There’s no word yet as to whether future phones will continue to sport the classic logo or not, but many nostalgic tech enthusiasts would surely be disappointed to see the blue font disappear.

News

Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon

Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 27, 2026

Dana Saadeh

visa's return to syria starts with a test and a bank in lebanon

Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.

The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc

— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026

“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.

Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.

Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget

The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.

Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.