kureyon | # 1281 | 2011-02-13, 04:28 | Report

The whole idea of paying royalties to MS was repugnant to the old Nokia, that's why they jumped onto Symbian when Psion offered it to them. Plus the fact that WinCE/WM/WP7 is not fit for purpose.

9000 | # 1282 | 2011-02-13, 06:18 | Report

Take one more cup of coffee and you can fully wake up.

Hintry | # 1283 | 2011-02-13, 08:12 | Report

Nokia Conversations interview with Steve and Stephen.

http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/...eaders/?mobile

I must say Ballmer does come across as somewhat annoying.

However, in my mind what has happened is pretty straight forward.

At some stage Nokia came to the realisation that it was unlikely that Symbian or MeeGo would become the so-called third ecosystem. Remember they would be competing fiercely against Apple, Google, Microsoft and HP.

Nokia's option was then to catalyse (i.e WP7) or join (i.e. Android) an ecosystem. And Nokia clearly feel there is far greater synergy/potential with Microsoft.

I believe that there is a strong possibility (especially now with Nokia 100% on board) that Windows Phone will become the 3rd ecosystem. This does not mean that there is no space for other players (Symbian, MeeGo, WebOS), it simply means that they'll most likely become niche segments.

The decision has been made. It is irreversible. There is no turning back. If you want a mainstream smartphone surrounded by a large ecosystem, your options are iOS, Android and ultimately WP.

horus | # 1284 | 2011-02-13, 08:47 | Report

This is my 2 cents;

As a consumer I have been using Windows Phone 7 back since I reviewed it in November and I must say I love the operating system. It is fast and ridiculously responsive. I have turned on my N900 from time to time and it is painstaking how slow it is. As for 'features' it's not really missing much except USB OTG. The app market though is very healthy, the current fastest growing out of the major three.

From a Developer perspective there are other bonuses too; the platform is ridiculously easy to develop for and the tools are world class. Microsoft are renowned in the business for making their developer tools outstanding and the ones for Windows Phone 7 are no exception. I personally love developing for the platform.

From a world wide approach it makes sense. From a competitive advantage point of view the Maemo / MeeGo customers couldn't competitively sustain a company like Nokia and they needed to change.

etuoyo | # 1285 | 2011-02-13, 08:50 | Report

I sincerely doubt that WP7 which has been selling poorly will suddenly start selling well in 2012 and 2013 because of Nokia. Especially since Nokia has ticked off most of its fan base. Yes Nokia will sell a couple million phones in the US but lose tens of millions of sales elsewhere. And by the time there is finally a Nokia WP7 android and ios will be so far ahead I fail to see how WP could be called a third eco system since it will always be far far closer in sales to Web OS than android or ios.

horus | # 1286 | 2011-02-13, 08:53 | Report

Most of Nokia's fan base are people in a demographic who don't care about their phone.

Rauha | # 1287 | 2011-02-13, 09:04 | Report

Fans who don't care about the thing that they are fans of?

horus | # 1288 | 2011-02-13, 09:08 | Report

Install Base; Fan Base. Etc. Twist the words as you will.

My Father is a fan of buying Nokia phones yet doesn't care about his phone in the slightest (sub $40 phone).

benny1967 | # 1289 | 2011-02-13, 09:55 | Report

When you move from the most advanced platform available to a system that doesn't compare at all (WP7) and then say "it's not really missing much features" (when in fact it misses all of them).... What does this tell us?

It tells us you never depended upon, used or even noticed the features Maemo on the N900 offers and the WP7 phone lacks. It tells us you don't actually need a smartphone. It doesn't say that feature-wise WP7 can compete with Maemo or Symbian.

horus | # 1290 | 2011-02-13, 09:58 | Report

Just because you have a feature I don't doesn't mean it's well implemented.