Matti Robinson
11 Feb 2011 9:57
Nokia has officially announced partnership with Microsoft and will adopt its smartphone platform Windows Phone 7. According to the press release, Nokia has selected Windows Phone 7 as the primary platform for its upcoming smartphones.
Nokia says partnership between the companies will combine the strengths of the companies. They believe that Nokia's strengths in manufacturing and the software prowess of Microsoft will "jointly create market-leading mobile products and services designed to offer consumers, operators and developers unrivalled choice and opportunity."
The software side of the joint cooperation will now largely fall into Microsoft's hands. However, Nokia's Ovi Store will be integrated with the WP7 Marketplace and Microsoft's Bing will get location and map data from Nokia-owned NAVTEQ. Marketplace will also benefit from Nokia's operator billing platform.
Despite the shift towards Windows Phone 7, Nokia will continue to develop Symbian and MeeGo. Lower end smartphones will likely have Symbian in the future as well and MeeGo will remain as a test platform for future developments. Nokia still has plans to unveil its first MeeGo handset during 2011.