The deal also puts Microsoft's earlier ambitions to put its own Windows Mobile operating system to major manufacturers' handsets in a new light, as the WMA support is planned to implement over Nokia's preferred operating system, Symbian.
The biggest loser in this game is obviously RealNetworks, which has enjoyed a pre-installed monopoly on most Symbian-based phones, providing the only near-universal a/v platform available on phones. Now that is about to change and it is unclear whether Real's applications will be bundled with future Nokia handsets at all. In 2004, Nokia shipped over 10 million phones with an integrated a/v capabilities and that figure is about to rise dramatically over the next few years as the a/v features get common on even very basic phones.
Source: Reuters