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Future Nokia phones will run Windows Phone 7. Microsoft and Nokia have announced a partnership that will pair Microsoft’s less-than-successful OS with Nokia’s flagging handset business. The move is not surprising: In his now-infamous “Burning Platform” memo Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop – an ex-Microsoft executive – promised to share “the new strategy on February 11″ which would “transform the company.”
So what will happen?
Windows 7 will now be Nokia’s “principal smartphone strategy”. This means that the Finnish company will ditch Symbian as its flagship OS and build WP7 handsets instead.
Bing will be the default search engine on Nokia phones, but Nokia Maps will continue, and they’ll be folded into Bing search.
Nokia’s application store will be swallowed whole by Microsoft Marketplace.
Finally, and not insignificantly, WP7 can now use Nokia’s carrier billing agreements. This will let people buy services and products and have the cost added to their cellphone bill. This give Microsoft access to many people without credit cards.
This seems like a good move for both parties. WP7 is a great operating system that has failed to take off, and Nokia’s smartphone business is clearly dead (you could argue that in the U.S it never got started). Hooking up might just provide the boos that both need.
Not that this is an even-sided deal. For Microsoft, it’s business as usual, putting its OS on third party hardware. For Nokia, which has always taken care of the software and hardware in-house, its a little more wrenching. Imagine Apple putting WebOS on its iPhone and you start to get the idea.
Nokia and Microsoft Hook Up [Microsoft]
Illustration: Charlie Sorrel
See Also:
- Sinking Nokia Prepares to Abandon Symbian for Windows Phone …
- Former Employee: Nokia-Windows Phone 7 Rumor Is 'Loony'
- Rumor: Nokia Might Make a Windows Phone
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