Back in February, Microsoft and Nokia formed a partnership of sorts that many felt had industry changing potential. While little news has arrived on that front since, that supposed agreement has finally been officially signed and the possible Smartphone game changing consequences are coming. Windows Phone Handsets are likely the next innovation to arrive.
Microkia, as the alliance is being called, is already working to produce a litany of Nokia devices compatible with the Windows Phone 7 and its eventual successors. The worst case scenario is that they’ll ship in 2012 but the hope from Microsoft and Nokia is that they’ll be out by this holiday season to hopefully put a dent in Apple’s iPhone’s profit margin.
Nokia eventually hopes to launch a Nokia-branded app store that’ll use the system that is being set up by the Windows Marketplace that’ll likely be a major component of the Windows Phone and Windows 8 in the future. Symbian and Series 40 devices will also be able to use this app store that’ll combine all of the Windows Marketplace and Nokia’s apps together into one convenient location ultimately after all is set up.
Microsoft will reportedly pay Nokia billions of dollars as part of this arrangement.
Is this going to take down the iPhone and its stranglehold on the Smartphone industry? No but it’s a step in the right direction for the struggling Windows Phone 7.
