Nokia and Microsoft announce Windows Phone partnership

Ahead of the press event today, Nokia and Microsoft have announced a strategic alliance to build a new ecosystem - around Windows Phone.

Here's a condensed version of the deal. Nokia will supply the hardware to expand the current Windows Phone offering across more price points (in other words, cheaper), maps and operator billing agreements, while Microsoft brings Windows Phone and Bing to the table.

Nokia has not made any noises suggesting that it will adopt Android.

Nokia has also released a eltter to its developers, outlining the shift to Windows Phone.

As part of this, Nokia plans to adopt Windows Phone as our primary smartphone strategy, helping drive the future of the platform. This has not been a decision taken lightly by Nokia and we wanted to share some of the key points with our developer community.

Many developers aren't pleased with the move. Here's a small selection of comments:

"By this announcement, I'm afraid you've lost many faithful people (developer and consumers) like myself, who's been a Nokia user ever since I've started using cellphones.."

"Looks like Elop is right though, the man has jumped off of the burning platfform, but what he didn't mention is that the sea is cold and deep.. and the man can't swim, so now the man will sink.."

"A sad day for Nokia, hindsight will show how bad this decision really is."

"Today's announcement looks like a sabotage. And to be honest Elop looks like MS agent carrying out his mission :("

Some quick thoughts:

• How fast will Nokia make this turnaround?
• Why is Nokia so late jumping onto the Windows Phone platform? Why did it wait?
• What will ahppen to Symbian?
• Why no Android?
• I don't see this ending well.

Press release:

London, Feb. 11, 2011 – Nokia and Microsoft today announced plans to form a broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem.  Nokia and Microsoft intend to jointly create market-leading mobile products and services designed to offer consumers, operators and developers unrivalled choice and opportunity.  As each company would focus on its core competencies, the partnership would create the opportunity for rapid time to market execution.  Additionally, Nokia and Microsoft plan to work together to integrate key assets and create completely new service offerings, while extending established products and services to new markets.   Under the proposed partnership: - Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader. - Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone.  Nokia would 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 would closely collaborate on joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products. - Bing would power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities.  Microsoft adCenter would provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services. - Nokia Maps would 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 would make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low. - Microsoft development tools would be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.   - Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience. "Today, developers, operators and consumers want  compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great  experience,"  Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. "Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race." "I am excited about this partnership with Nokia," said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. "Ecosystems thrive when fueled by speed, innovation and scale. The partnership announced today provides incredible scale, vast expertise in hardware and software innovation and a proven ability to execute."