Two of the losers in the smartphone wars are cuddling up. Historic enemies Microsoft and Nokia today announced a wide ranging partnership covering mobile software, services, and eventually GUIs. Or as the execs put it today, as they exchanged dopey-eyed looks, the pair will “jointly design a range of new user experiences”.
Good, now I at least know for sure that the Google Android will be my next phone.
I have always loved Nokia’s well-designed user interfaces, thus I stayed true to Nokia.
On a positive side note though; if Nokia manages to teach Microsoft how to have such a great “eye for detail” (when it comes to usability), then I might even get real high hopes for (- or at least have my faith restored in -) future versions of Windows.
Seriously, does Nokia have a clear strategy or is just a chaotic attack in many ways? Linux-based Maemo project for their N series, making Symbian more open, buying Trolltech, deal with Intel for oFono project that is Linux-based too… and now a deal with Microsoft. What will be next, Android based phones?
They are losing fuel even if they did similar things before others. Apple makes iPhone and become the cool thing, Google makes Android and starts eating the market and hardware makers that never did mobile phones start making them, Palm makes Palm Pre and get alive again…
Nokia, what is going to happen mith you. You were a disruptive company, making fresh and styled products that others immitated… now Nokia tries to follow the market in a pathetic way…
How to call this… Nokia syndrome? Sun syndrome? Motorola syndrome? Yahoo syndrome?
IBM syndrome. Cover all bases and be incredibly successful with it.
I really don’t see the problem you are seeing. Nokia uses Qt to bridge all possible operating systems — Linux, Symbian, maybe even Windows Mobile.
With the lines between high end phones and small computers bluring they need a powerful operating system. Linux seems like a reasonable way to get there quickly and Maemo is a decent enough platform.
Linux and Maemo is too heavy for smaller and cheaper phones. Symbian will no doubt be around for a long time especially in more low end non-smart phones which make up most of the cell phone business. Having an well tested open platform that you control is very nice indeed.
According to reports from a bit before they bought Trolltech, Nokia was frustrated with the GTK project not being willing to go in the direction they wanted and needed it to go in. Having your own powerful cross platform toolkit that you control is important for controlling your future. Being able to use the same toolkit for writing apps across Nokia’s entire range of phones and devices and all desktop OS’s has great potential and could be a ‘killer app’ for Nokia.
Hey nothing wrong with having a fall back plan if your first idea doesn’t pan out. Why put all your eggs in one basket? Especially if you can get it relatively cheap with others picking up much of the R&D costs.
Like it or not, interoperability with MS software and servers is necessary for many business users and saying that your phone comes with official MS support can potentially generate many business sales.
$20 says they already have Android running on their latest smart phones in the lab. Eggs and baskets and all that, especially if someone else is willing to pay for the extra basket.
The thing to remember is that Nokia is a huge company. Not only do they have almost 40% of the cell phone market, they are big players across the entire telecom spectrum. By contrast iphone, android and palm make up maybe 1.5% of the cellphone market combined. Nokia doesn’t have the luxury of focusing all their energy on simply one product. I don’t see this recent spate of deal as chaotic or unfocused, but more as strategic effort to simulatniously push forward their large and divers product portfolio.
Does this sound objective to you? Not to me!
My first reaction too. They’re not losers (yet), but stand to yield more and more of the market and users to their competitors if they don’t clean up their act.
If the smartphone aka “mobile phone + netbook in one unit” doesn’t take off then Nokia’s S60 on the phone and Microsoft’s Windows (whether 7 or -gulp- CE) on the netbook side partnered together (like what some people like me are doing), with better synchronization and data compatibility between apps, should become more palatable. Or maybe we can turn that around with Symbian now ported to the x86 (on a hypothetical netbook) and Windows Mobile on the phone.
“Losing weight”?
But you know that Nokia is increasing its marketshare both globally and in smartphones?
Maybe not totally, but they are losing weight due to Apple and Google. Even Palsm is getting market.
Windows Mobile or whatever is called is still used, but people end hating it because of bugs and lately is losing market.
Symbian phones has sometimes annying bugs too. it’s losing market too and even Sony Ericsson is going to resease an Android-based phone.
Losers? Maybe still not, but competence is very active now. A partner with Microsoft lately is a desesperate move to get profit, but having too many risks.
The way I see it, the increased competition will just push Microsoft and Nokia to improve their products, just like competing browsers pushed Microsoft to work on IE.
That being said, they are still far from losers. Only time will tell, but I strongly believe that Nokia’s power in here to stay for a long time to come. Also, I still do not recognize Android as a serious opponent. It has the potential, but it’s not quite there yet. (I tried Android on G1 only and I was not impressed.)
The underpowered new N97 (top of the line for Nokia) despite all (other) specs has been slapped by most if no all review sites, and microsoft’s windows CE is not actually known for a few-reboots-a-day nature… Nokia builds very good hardware but Symbian wasn’t really conceived with touch usability in mind and reviewers suggest so.
Following the actual trends of both companies, I can’t picture anything good immediately coming out it… but hey, if Microsoft was able to pull the(prommising and impressive spec’d) ZuneHD out of their arse who knows???, I’d stir clear of either for the moment