Opinions - Nokia and Microsoft only works if Samsung, HTC and LG clear off

[TheAnimus]

Hmm have we seen any launches since nov? Most of them were done as launch day.

But yes I think thats fair, assuming Nokia actually release a new model in that period too.

[Barakka]

WP7 - to me at least - makes a whole lot of sense for Nokia. After all, Nokia seem to pitch quite hard for the businessman's dollar and so WP7 is probably the best competition for Blackberry.
(Oh, and before the iOS fanboys dive in - don't - iPhone integration with Exchange etc sucks badly. iPhones are for the marketing department).

For me that's the killer from this... business handsets, the consumer market used to be the busiest segment but now Apple/HTC/Samsung have it tied up with smart phones and the networks are tying people into 24month and upward contracts to pay for them.

But you're right crossy, the smartphones are no good for business, the battery life is naff, and the email/calendar integration is only passable. Blackberry is better, but in all honesty it's an email device and not a lot more.

Windows mobile always showed promise in this area as it had all the Outlook integration you could want, compatibility with Office files, the lot. But the hardware was usually dire... I gave out about 15 HTC Touch/Diamond Pro handsets a couple of years ago running WinMo and they bearly made 12 months before they started dying with business use. And as soon as I started getting the Nokia N6x series to replace them EVERYONE wanted one, why ? Because Nokia make hardware that works for business, the battery life was fantastic, it felt like tool quality not consumer, but if only it had the functionality of the HTCs - seriously that was the feedback I got.

This tie in between the two may be just what is needed.

Just a thought

[TheAnimus]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/13/n...ting-android/#

Elop told the crowd assembled there that Nokia's "first priority is beating Android," and he also took a moment to let everyone know that Nokia is not interested in being the only company producing Windows Phones

I'm by no means counting chickens, but i think if MS were to stab the others in the back, they'd need to wait a bit, get the marketbase larger.

[Funkstar]

I've only scanned this thread, but how about instead of Nokia getting plain exclusivity, they get customisation exclusivity?

The other OEMs have to build handsets based on standard specs, so MS don't have to support them. Nokia with their large software departments are used to developing and supporting their own software, so they can add support for specific hardware and their own designs, and they can support it themselves. So depending on how the deal is structured, perhaps they pay no royalties to MS, but get freedom to do more of what they want, increasing the WP7 presence in the market without additional investment in development and support my MS.

All this is based on the comment Elop made about being able to customise anything in WP7 but wouldn't. I bet that turns into "won't... for the time being".

[Scott B]

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/13/n...ting-android/#
I'm by no means counting chickens, but i think if MS were to stab the others in the back, they'd need to wait a bit, get the marketbase larger.

What am I, chopped liver? http://mobile-device.biz/content/item.php?item=29001

[crossy]

Nokia with their large software departments are used to developing and supporting their own software, so they can add support for specific hardware and their own designs, and they can support it themselves.

My concern with that scheme is that it's got the same pitfalls that SonyEricsson fell into with their Android phones - namely that the effort required to update the company-specific "twiddles" means that the "lucky" owners of those devices have to wait a lot longer for any base OS updates.

For an example of how this can go wrong look at the shocking mess that SE made with Xperia.

[Funkstar]

My concern with that scheme is that it's got the same pitfalls that SonyEricsson fell into with their Android phones - namely that the effort required to update the company-specific "twiddles" means that the "lucky" owners of those devices have to wait a lot longer for any base OS updates.

For an example of how this can go wrong look at the shocking mess that SE made with Xperia.

Yeah, you have a point, but if the Nokia/Microsoft relationship is close enough, then I guess Nokia would get the updates before anyone else, so have time to work on their tweaks into the code base fairly quickly. Nokia also have much larger software teams than SE ever had.

[crossy]

Yeah, you have a point, but if the Nokia/Microsoft relationship is close enough, then I guess Nokia would get the updates before anyone else, so have time to work on their tweaks into the code base fairly quickly. Nokia also have much larger software teams than SE ever had.

Very good point - I guess the sensible option is just to sit back and see what develops. I still think that this is a deal that's more of benefit to MS than Nokia. However, I really hope that the first NokiaSoft handset is a barnstormer rather than the line of duds that they've turned out since the N95*.

(*N900 excluded - but that's a niche product)