A daily digest of IT news, curated from blogs, forums and news sites around the web each morning. We highlight the key commentary and demystify the real story.
Nokia and Microsoft have knifed the Symbian and MeeGo babies. Future Nokia smartphones will run Windows Phone 7. Also, Nokia-owned NAVTEQ will boost Bing Maps. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers wonder if this averts the Nokia death-march.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention The difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England...
(NOK) (MSFT)
Mikael Ricknäs raportit Euroopasta:
Before today's announcement, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop had stated that Nokia needed to "decide how we either build, catalyze or join an ecosystem." ... In the end it decided to ... join the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem. ... Nokia won't abandon its own platforms, Symbian and MeeGo, yet ... it said.
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Nokia is hoping to put an end to a downward spiral that started in 2007. ... With Windows Phone 7, Nokia will have access to an operating system that can compete with Apple's iPhone and Android. ... Windows Phone 7 is far from a safe bet, however ... that may change as Nokia brings to bear its channel network and production capacity.
Preston Gralla says Microsoft "offered hundreds of millions of dollars":
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop ... faulted the company's MeeGo and Symbian platforms. ... There's plenty at stake here, not just for Nokia, but for Microsoft ... as well.
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Nokia ... is still the world's leading smartphone maker, even though its market share has plummeted more than ten points in a single year, down to 28 percent.
Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging. ... Nokia will help drive and define the future of Windows Phone. Nokia will contribute its expertise ... and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.
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Bing will power Nokias search services. ... Microsoft adCenter will provide search advertising services. ... Nokia Maps will be a core part of Microsofts mapping services.
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Nokias extensive operator billing agreements will make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services. ... Nokias [Ovi] store will be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace.
But your humble blogwatcher rants on and on:
Despite the ranting of Nokia fanbois and astroturfers ... Nokia [was] in deep trouble. ... Ignoring Nokia's increasingly irrelevant feature-phone platforms, the software platform story is, to be charitable, a bit of a mess. ... Nokia [needed] to swallow its pride and understand that its past glories are just that: past.
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Out of the eight smartphone platforms surveyed, Symbian had the poorest churn ... an astoundingly high 94%. ... Surveyed Symbian users indicated that they mostly planned to move to iPhone (33%), Android (25%) or Windows Phone (25%).
And Zack Whittaker sees the two companies "suffering together":
Nokia and Microsoft havent quite merged, but for all intents and purposes, they may as well have done.
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But it isnt the first time Nokia and Microsoft have worked together. Stephen Elop ... only recently departed from Microsoft where he headed the Office business division. Under his oversight, mobile versions of Office were brought to Nokia E-series devices.
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It is not clear when the new Windows Phone 7 powered Nokia devices will emerge, but Nokia have made it clear that existing Symbian run phones will be side-lined.
Meanwhile, Horace Dediu notes the initial market reaction:
Richi Jenningsis an independent analyst/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and security. A cross-functional IT geek since 1985, you can follow him as @richi on Twitter, pretend to be richij's friend on Facebook, or just use good old email: itbw@richij.com.
