Nokia has announced a partnership with Microsoft, adopting Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform. In the process, Symbian will become a “franchise platform”, while MeeGo will be an open-source, mobile operating system project; Nokia still expects to ship a MeeGo device later in 2011, but the platform will be considered as for “longer-term market exploration of next-generation devices, platforms and user experiences.”
With the explosion of smartphones, most of the focus has been on the iOS and Android platforms. However, neither of them is the top smartphone platform- yet. According to a new report from Gartner, for Q4 2010, Nokia's Symbian is still leading Android - just barely. This will not last, though. Nokia's Symbian sold 111.6 million units in 2010, but it lost market share, from 46.9% in 2009 to 37.6% in 2010. Android sold 67 million units, making it number two, but Android grew by 888.8%.
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Arriving on the market late, the Nokia E7 finds itself launching at a shaky point in the Finnish company’s history. Under new management, suffering doubts – internal and external – over the strength of its current platforms, and watching increasing amounts of attention and revenue being taken by key rivals like Apple, Nokia has high expectations for its new business flagship. Misplaced, misguided or money in the bank? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has insisted that the decision over the company's future platform strategy must enable long-term viability and partnership opportunities, rather than simply a short-term rescue to the company's finances in 2011. "It's not just differentiation but sustainable differentiation" the new chief-exec told AllThingsD in an interview last week, running through the pros and cons of MeeGo, Android and Windows Phone 7 as the potential suitors for Nokia's well-esteemed hardware.
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Google VP of engineering Vic Gundotra has made what seems to be a dig at Nokia ahead of the company's Capital Markets Day event on Friday, February 11, taking to Twitter to suggest that "#Feb Two turkeys do not make an Eagle". The snub would certainly appear to suggest that any talks between Nokia and Google haven't resulted in the Finnish company adopting Android as its platform salvation.
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As indications of comfort-levels with your current cellphone software go, describing the situation as "standing on a burning platform" doesn't exactly suggest contentment. That, according to leaky voices finding their way to TechCrunch, is the title of Nokia CEO Stephen Elop's latest internal memo, in which he concludes with the metaphor of someone jumping off a platform "into the unknown to avoid certain death."
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Nokia may have promised a MeeGo device sometime in 2011, but the company is still looking to Symbian for the bulk of its sales this year. According to Nokia VP Ukko Lappalainen, "the E7 is by far the most important model for us this year when looking at sales expectations," referring to the QWERTY slider Nokia announced was shipping in select markets earlier today.
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Rumors of an imminent cull across the Nokia board continue to make headlines, with CEO Stephen Elop reportedly considering "how much he wants to keep Finnish talent in the leadership team" in what's being described as an essential play "to take advantage of the North American consumer." Following initial reports over the weekend of the impending executive shake-up - which could see executive VP of phones Mary MacDowell and executive VP of markets Niklas Savander both lose their jobs - the WSJ has stepped in with further sources claiming Elop is prioritizing a North American focus for Nokia moving forward.
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The Nokia E7 is finally shipping, the Symbian QWERTY business phone making its retail debut in several markets this week. Announced all the way back at Nokia World 2010 in September, until the first MeeGo devices arrive the E7 will be the de-facto flagship of Nokia’s range, with its 4-inch Clear Black display and 8-megapixel camera. One of a few rare review units dropped onto the SlashGear test bench last week; check out our first impressions after the cut
Update: Video added after the cut
Speculation over Nokia's potential adoption of an OS other than Symbian and MeeGo continues, with the company's share price buoyed amid rumors of a surprise announcement at the Finnish company's pre-MWC investors event and after a European analyst publicly called for the adoption of Windows Phone 7. Triggered by CEO Stephen Elop's recent comments that Nokia "must build, catalyse or join a competitive ecosystem," interpreted by many as a sign that the company might be reconsidering its dedication to current platform strategy, rumors of a WP7 or Android announcement have been little quelled by Nokia's tight-lipped secrecy ahead of the event next Friday.
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This may be the first time I have seen anything from Nokia and thought it was really cool. Nokia Beta Labs has unveiled a new shortcut system called Bubbles. The idea is that when you wake your phone from sleeping rather than having to unlock and then navigate to what you what you can just drag the bubble with the task you want to perform to a drop point and go directly to it.
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The Nokia E7 inches ever closer, with the company's Indonesian site the latest to push the sliding QWERTY smartphone. Expected sometime in February, the E7 has found itself a 6,800,000 Indonesian Rupiahs ($749) unlocked and SIM-free, and according to SlashGear tipster Fransiscus is already being heavily promoted in the country.
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