Even if a lot of Nokia and Symbian fan boys are dejected with their favorite companies partnering with Microsoft, it seems Nokia will be more than happy with this partnership. The Finnish giant will be getting USD 1 billion from Microsoft. Nokia is getting all this booty because MS wants Nokia to use this to promote and develop Window Mobile 7 OS for Nokia phones. This deal will last for 5 years. So how will MS benefit from this kind of set-up? Well, firstly, it will get royalty fee for every Nokia device that goes out with Windows 7 Mobile OS and secondly, just imagine they amount of money they will make on licensing given the volumes at which Nokia has the capability to churn out phones. As of now, it is not sure whether Nokia will bring Windows 7 OS on it's low to mid-range phones. Their high-end smart phones will certainly get Windows 7 but I am sure even MS must be pushing Nokia to get Windows 7 on its low to mid range phones cause that's where the volume game is and Nokia leads it.
The recently announced Nokia-Microsoft partnership is the talk of the town. Nobody, including me, imagined that, Nokia will partner with Microsoft but now that it has happened, both the companies are making sure that they lay out their plans for users as well as developers out in the open so that people do not have any questions or dilemmas about this new soon to be formed ecosystem. In the video below, GM of Windows Phone and Marketplace talks about how the Nokia-Microsoft partnership will create opportunities for developers today and in the near future.
After Nokia created ripples (dont know if positive or negative, according to me mostly negative) when they announced their end-to-end partnership with Microsoft, Nokia newly crowned CEO Elop had a press briefing at the on going Mobile World Congress 2011. He speaks about Nokia's future after this partnership with Microsoft and how they are working towards an ecosystem that will help them sustain against the competition they are facing from recent smart phones like Apple iPHone and Android OS. Check out the two briefing videos below.The briefing is almost half an hour long.
Here is what Nokia and Microsoft partnership brings to the table. Taken from Nokia Conversations.My thoughts in Bold Italics. The partnership of these two giants is more on end to end solutions and not specifically on WP7 on Nokia phones.
- Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smart phone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader. [So basically Nokia will use its core competency that lies in imaging and other smart phone related features, to enhance the Windows Mobile platform and in return they can also leverage on the reach, which Microsoft as a company commands.]
- 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 is good in volume game and has the capability to reach all strata of the mobile phone user market. Their competency in developing countries of Asia and Europe will help Microsoft get deeper into this markets. Like I have said before, most of the Nokia phone have really good hardware and they will use this expertise to push the software from Microsoft.]
- 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. [Google is killing Microsoft in search, especially on mobile devices and also mobile advertising, Microsoft does not have the reach, which you can see in Android based devices but Nokia has the reach and once Bing and Microsoft's search advertising gets onto Nokia phone it will definitely have more impact on their market presence.]
- 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.[Good platform and avenue to make Nokia maps more popular as they are pitted against Google's Mapping service. Plus, Nokia needs to leverage more of its Navteq acquisition. But one more thing is does Nokia need Microsoft's help for its mapping service..well I don't think so!!]
- 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. [What about North America, where Nokia is still not able to crack th operator dominated market]
- 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. [This sounds a good move given the fact that you need some serious arsenal to compete with App marketplaces like iTunes Store and Android App Store]
Don't know if Intel is going to take this Nokia-Microsoft partnership is a really good way. Also when it comes to UI, both, Nokia and Microsoft need to work really hard to churn out UI that keeps the users interested and make it different from the existing popular UIs so that users yearn for this. So even if we don't see a Nokia device running on MeeGo, Intel will focus on getting MeeGo to other devices, may be tablets. I am not sure, whether this deal will have Apple or Android/Google top bosses thinking hard. When it comes to Apple, they are ina different league altogether, Microsoft was never able to catch up with them and this partnership wont help Microsoft in their race to catch up with Apple. And God only knows how much time will take for this partnership to get their groundbreaking product out in the market and what would have happened to Apple and Android ecosystems by that time.
If you ask me based on whatever I know/understand about this industry, Nokia does not need a Microsoft to face the heat they are getting from Apple and upcoming smart phone platforms. They have the capability inside and that also top notch, they just need to get their shit together and take the competition head-on. I am sure there might be some thought process behind this deal and I am not doubting that, but I have only one question, "Does a giant like Nokia needs the support of Microsoft to take back its throne?"
Bloomberg has reported that Nokia and Microsoft are in talks for a likely partnership. These rumors emerged last year too and this year they have been going on since last couple of days. Both, Nokia and Microsoft are giants in their own fields but they both have similar wounds that they have received in the recent smart phone wars. These wounds have been inflicted by guys who came much after these two and screwed their happiness. I am talking about Apple (specifically their iOS) and Android here. These two have come much after and built their own ecosystems of users, developers, OEMs etc. Like Nokia CEO rightly said, Nokia is getting killed by these ecosystems which are growing exponentially and getting popular every second. Microsoft's WinMo was never that and popular but Nokia's Symbian was, it still leads but is bleeding left right and center. There is no clear understanding on what these two companies are planning to do. Maybe they will go ahead and announce a new OS (very unlikely) or may be the availability of MS products on all Nokia smart phones. You never know and like others out there I am not an expert. Nokia does not need a partner to handle this situation and certainly nt Microsoft. For Microsoft, in the of mobile platforms, everybody is their direct or indirect except Nokia. If these two go ahead, then MS will be able to exploit Nokia's volumes for WinMo but I do not think that it will sustain in the long run. What Nokia needs right now is to improve its Symbian 3 platform as fast as possible, it has phones, which rock when it comes to hardware but they don't run on a platform that possesses the killer instincts of an iOS or Android. I am still wondering why the fuck are they shying away from Android, agreed that Google pulls the strings there but what's harm in giving it a shot man. Microsoft is a good partner to have for Nokia but not when it is competing and planning to take on Apple's iOS and Android. These are completely my thoughts and if you don't agree with them lemme know yours in comments!!
Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone
Nokia recently released the updated version of their "Nokia Software Updater" (NSU) application that is used by different Nokia phones to install latest Firmware changes pushed across the world by Nokia. Apart from having a better USB support, the latest NSU now supports Windows 7 operating system. You can use the NSU in the same way you used it on your XP or Vista based PC/Laptop/Netbook. Make sure your battery is fully charged while you are updating your Nokia with the NSU. High speed Internet connection is preferred. Compatible USB port and cables that came with the Nokia phone. Some times the NSU will fail to detect your phone on Windows 7 but try again and it will certainly detect the phone. While the updation process is in progress you will see that your PC Suite shuts down and there is a notification saying that your phone is disconnected, don't worry thats normal. Let the process happen on its own and make sure that you always take back-up of your data before updating your phone to latest firmware. NSU might run on MAC and Linux running Windows emulators but this is not tested so better you don't screw up your phone. You can download the latest version of the Nokia Software Updater here .
The app automatically finds your location and gives you relevant services around you. The home screen also features image of the day, making the app a bit different from its competitors and you can also search daily trivia about that image.
Finally Nokia and Micorsfot have entered into an agreement to Design, Develop and Market Mobile Productivity Solutions. The collaboration of these two companies will give boost to the adoption of Microsoft Mobile Office solution, Nokia being a market leader in the smart phone space and will also drive the sales of Nokia's E Series handsets, that are optimized for business. The two companies will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia's Symbian devices. Read the release below from PR News Wire.
"NEW YORK, Aug. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The worldwide leader in software and the world's largest smartphone manufacturer have entered into an alliance that is set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity. Today, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop and Nokia's Executive Vice President for Devices Kai Oistamo announced the agreement, outlining a shared vision for the future of mobile productivity. This is the first time that either company has embarked on an alliance of this scope and nature.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia's Symbian devices. These solutions will be available for a broad range of Nokia smartphones starting with the company's business-optimized range, Nokia Eseries. The two companies will also market these solutions to businesses, carriers and individuals.
Both Microsoft Corp. and Nokia possess a rare combination of enterprise experience and consumer understanding and, in addition to the collaboration on existing software and services, will use these assets to jointly design a range of new user experiences for future Nokia devices. These experiences will be identified together, and will be created by dedicated teams inside both companies to better meet the growing needs of the mobile professional.
"With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," said Elop. "Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser."
"If you are going to provide a seamless and integrated productivity experience on a mobile device, Microsoft is an ideal partner," said Oistamo. "Together with Microsoft, we will develop new and innovative user experiences for employees of small and large businesses alike, ensuring Nokia's smartphones are an integral part of the office and home-office environment, and addressing the significant opportunity in mobile enterprise productivity."
This announcement builds on the existing work Nokia is doing by optimizing access to e-mail and other personal information with Exchange ActiveSync. Next year, Nokia intends to start shipping Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones, followed by other Office applications and related software and services in the future. These will include:
-- The ability to view, edit, create and share Office documents on more
devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of Microsoft
Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote
-- Enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing
and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile
-- Mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft
SharePoint Server
-- Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center
"Having these two major players cooperating at this level will help us continue to meet our customers' needs and reinforces our future business mobility strategy," said Diane Sanchez, head of Telefonica USA.
"The scope of the alliance between Microsoft and Nokia, and potential value for the enterprise and individual is significant," said Stephen Drake, VP of Mobility & Telecom at IDC. "By bringing Microsoft's productivity solutions to Nokia's large customer base, the two companies should be better able to serve the needs of the growing mobile worker population, which IDC estimates to reach 1 billion worldwide in 2011."
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia's Symbian devices. These solutions will be available for a broad range of Nokia smartphones starting with the company's business-optimized range, Nokia Eseries. The two companies will also market these solutions to businesses, carriers and individuals.
Both Microsoft Corp. and Nokia possess a rare combination of enterprise experience and consumer understanding and, in addition to the collaboration on existing software and services, will use these assets to jointly design a range of new user experiences for future Nokia devices. These experiences will be identified together, and will be created by dedicated teams inside both companies to better meet the growing needs of the mobile professional.
"With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," said Elop. "Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser."
"If you are going to provide a seamless and integrated productivity experience on a mobile device, Microsoft is an ideal partner," said Oistamo. "Together with Microsoft, we will develop new and innovative user experiences for employees of small and large businesses alike, ensuring Nokia's smartphones are an integral part of the office and home-office environment, and addressing the significant opportunity in mobile enterprise productivity."
This announcement builds on the existing work Nokia is doing by optimizing access to e-mail and other personal information with Exchange ActiveSync. Next year, Nokia intends to start shipping Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on its smartphones, followed by other Office applications and related software and services in the future. These will include:
-- The ability to view, edit, create and share Office documents on more
devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of Microsoft
Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote
-- Enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing
and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile
-- Mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft
SharePoint Server
-- Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center
"Having these two major players cooperating at this level will help us continue to meet our customers' needs and reinforces our future business mobility strategy," said Diane Sanchez, head of Telefonica USA.
"The scope of the alliance between Microsoft and Nokia, and potential value for the enterprise and individual is significant," said Stephen Drake, VP of Mobility & Telecom at IDC. "By bringing Microsoft's productivity solutions to Nokia's large customer base, the two companies should be better able to serve the needs of the growing mobile worker population, which IDC estimates to reach 1 billion worldwide in 2011."
It seems that Microsoft and Nokia will be making an important alliance announcement tomorrow. Earlier the efforts of Microsoft to get WinMo on Nokia phones failed but this new announcement has nothing to do with getting WinMo up and running on Nokia mobile phones. The announcement will be regarding an alliance of Microsoft and Nokia with respect to getting Microsoft's Office Suite up and running on Nokia mobile phones. These are just the speculations and both the the companies have still not given out any details or the objective of the call. Yeah, but some some big journos and bloggers have been invited to this call and we would get the news soon about what exactly this is all about. If the speculation comes out to be true, then Microsoft's Office suite will get a big mobile playground given the market share of Symbian based smart phones. Read more about this @ Online Wall Street Journal. This is not the first time that Nokia and Microsoft have come together for softwares and services last year Windows Live went live for Nokia S60 based handsets. Nokia also signed up to use Microsoft's Silverlight platform on its S60 and S40 based mobile phones.
With technology playing a crucial role in today’s world, the Mobile, the PC and the web have become inseparable. However, the biggest fear that perhaps haunts any mobile user today is not the loss of his hi-tech cell but the valuable data! To help solve this issue, Microsoft today announced its My Phone service that enables users to automatically backup contacts, photos, video, calendar, text messages and more from their phone to a password-protected Web-based service, is now an open beta. With automatic syncing and backup capabilities for all contacts, appointments, text messages and other information, My Phone keeps all things up-to-date and easily restores them should the user lose or upgrade their phone. To sign up for MyPhone today, all users to do is go to http://myphone.microsoft.com and sign in with a Windows Live ID.
In addition to this, Microsoft also announced the availability of My Phone service in all 25 Windows Mobile languages today. What’s more? The service is available on all Windows Mobile 6.0 or 6.1 phones and allows users to automatically upload photos and video from their Windows phone directly to My Phone, making it simple to preserve memories. Once users sign in they get an option of “Send to Phone” or they can use their phone’s browser to navigate to http://myphone.microsoft.com/install. And in just a few minutes they can download and install the My Phone application on the phone and activate it instantaneously!
With Microsoft My Phone mobile users can rest assured not only about their phone contacts but photos, video, calendar, text messages and more. My Phone also provides an easy to use Web portal where users can access and manage content on the phone, and share that information with others. Microsoft My Phone is another example of how the company is delivering new mobile experiences to Windows Mobile phones and connecting them to compelling software services.
Both, AirTel and Vodafone launched the Apple iPhone 3G in much pomp and show in India on August 22nd 2008. The launch was a flop given the high price factor attached to the iPhone 3G. People were waiting for it but the high price was a dampener and people were pretty unhappy. But the only guys who are happy with the iPhone's official "high" price are the grey marketers. According to Economic Times, grey marketers would be selling the iPhone 3G at a price point of 20,000 to 22,000, which is pretty much affordable for Indians and they feel that the official price will drive people to them for buying the new 3G iPhone. I seriously fail to understand what AirTel and Vodafone were thinking when they fixed the price of the 3G iPhone for the Indian market. Didn't you guys EVER thought of grey market's existence in India. Who is to Blame???
Microsoft and Nokia didn’t come to any decision on getting Windows Mobile on Nokia mobile phones. Now you will be getting it on Sony Ericsson phones; XPERIA will do it for you. The story doesn’t end here for Nokia and Microsoft, Nokia has recently announced that, it will be introducing Microsoft Silverlight for Nokia S60 and S40 Symbian powered mobile devices. This will surely be a treat for developers who are looking to develop rich and interactive applications on Symbian powered mobile phones. By the way for those who don’t know, Silverlight is a plug-in that can work cross-browser, cross-platform and is helpful in delivering next-generation media experiences and rich interactive applications. Good work Nokia, at least you have shown your competitors how and when to enter into partnership, very smart.
This is what the bigwigs said on Google leading the Open Handset Alliance and coming out with the Open Source Mobile OS, Android. It seems everybody is "Open to Anything", like Nokia.
[Information Snippets Via:Yahoo Tech News]
Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris said about Google, "Clearly they're an important partner and today's announcement doesn't change that." She declined to speculate about whether Apple would join the alliance, but pointed out that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said that Apple plans to make the iPhone a more open platform for developers through the release of a software development kit early next year.
Microsoft's Scott Rockfeld, group product manager for Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, sounded less upbeat. "Really, what we heard wasn't surprising," he said, referring to the conference call detailing the announcement. "It's not new or revolutionary, either. It's kind of what Windows Mobile has been doing for the past five years."
Verizon was more circumspect. "We welcome the support of Google, handset makers, and others for our goal of providing more open development of applications on mobile handsets," the company said in an e-mailed statement, noting that it hasn't ruled out joining the OHA. "In today's wireless marketplace, companies compete fiercely by offering customers what they want: reliability, great customer service, and innovative and compelling products and services. Our competitive marketplace is a tremendous laboratory for innovation, where great ideas bubble to the top and resonate with customers."
Jason Mackenzie, VP of HTC America, said that his company's participation in the alliance wouldn't have any impact on its relationship with Microsoft. "Microsoft will continue to be a big part of who HTC is and a big part of our future projects," he said, noting that HTC produced 75% of Windows Mobile handsets this year and that it expects to grow that share next year.
[Update 1: Google's Android can hi-jack your phone]
[Information Snippets Via:Yahoo Tech News]
Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris said about Google, "Clearly they're an important partner and today's announcement doesn't change that." She declined to speculate about whether Apple would join the alliance, but pointed out that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said that Apple plans to make the iPhone a more open platform for developers through the release of a software development kit early next year.
Microsoft's Scott Rockfeld, group product manager for Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, sounded less upbeat. "Really, what we heard wasn't surprising," he said, referring to the conference call detailing the announcement. "It's not new or revolutionary, either. It's kind of what Windows Mobile has been doing for the past five years."
Verizon was more circumspect. "We welcome the support of Google, handset makers, and others for our goal of providing more open development of applications on mobile handsets," the company said in an e-mailed statement, noting that it hasn't ruled out joining the OHA. "In today's wireless marketplace, companies compete fiercely by offering customers what they want: reliability, great customer service, and innovative and compelling products and services. Our competitive marketplace is a tremendous laboratory for innovation, where great ideas bubble to the top and resonate with customers."
Jason Mackenzie, VP of HTC America, said that his company's participation in the alliance wouldn't have any impact on its relationship with Microsoft. "Microsoft will continue to be a big part of who HTC is and a big part of our future projects," he said, noting that HTC produced 75% of Windows Mobile handsets this year and that it expects to grow that share next year.
[Update 1: Google's Android can hi-jack your phone]
