The Nokia - Microsoft Partnership

Today in London, Nokia and Microsoft announced their plans to broaden strategic partnerships to combine the strengths of the two companies and build a global mobile ecosystem.

This promises significant benefits for consumers, developers, mobile operators and businesses around the world. While specifics are still being worked out, here is a summary of what they are working towards based on the Open Letter from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

• Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.
  
• Nokia will help drive and define the future of Windows Phone. Nokia will 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 will closely collaborate on development, joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.
  
• Bing will power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft AdCenter will provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.
  
• Nokia Maps will 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 will make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low.
  
• Microsoft development tools will be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.
  
• Microsoft will continue to invest in the development of Windows Phone and cloud services so customers can do more with their phone, across their work and personal lives.
  
• Nokia’s content and application store will be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

Both companies have tremendous strengths, and working together will only help them see an end to their weaknesses. I personally have anticipated this since Windows Phone 7 was announced and I am very excited to see things to come.

Nokia and Microsoft has released a press release which lays out their plans for their partnership. The partnership will bring Windows Phone OS to Nokia smartphones and Nokia will use Windows Phone as their primary smartphone OS

Press Release