The Cell Phone Junkie

Nokia Friday announced it will be adopting Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone platform moving forward.  As part of the agreements, Nokia will innovate and contribute to the OS, bringing areas of expertise such as imaging, and allow for a wider spread of adoption, and devices at many price points.  Bing will become the primary search tool for Nokia devices, though Nokia Maps will be the primary mapping software.  The Ovi store will be transitioned into the Windows Marketplace, and work to improve the experience for consumers.

As par of the transition, Nokia will continue to enhance and tweak Symbian using its development platform so that it may continue to support its installed base. Nokia will release more Symbian handsets this year. The MeeGo platform will remain for now, though Nokia is not saying for how long, and will be relegated to “experimental” status.  No word on when the first WP7 powered Nokia device will hit the market, though Nokia told investors they expect 2011 and 2012 to be transition years.

Finally, Nokia confirmed its commitment to its Series 40 platform for feature phones. Series 40 will remain Nokia’s platform of choice for emerging and developing world markets.

Press Release:

London, Feb. 11, 2011 – Nokia and Microsoft today announced plans to form a broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem.

Nokia and Microsoft intend to jointly create market-leading mobile products and services designed to offer consumers, operators and developers unrivalled choice and opportunity.  As each company would focus on its core competencies, the partnership would create the opportunity for rapid time to market execution.  Additionally, Nokia and Microsoft plan to work together to integrate key assets and create completely new service offerings, while extending established products and services to new markets.

Under the proposed partnership:

- Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.

- Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone.  Nokia would contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.

- Nokia and Microsoft would closely collaborate on joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.

- Bing would power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities.  Microsoft adCenter would provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.

- Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services.   For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience

- Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements would make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low.

- Microsoft development tools would be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.

- Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

“Today, developers, operators and consumers want  compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great  experience,” Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”

“I am excited about this partnership with Nokia,” said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “Ecosystems thrive when fueled by speed, innovation and scale. The partner