Details On Nokia’s New Strategy

February 23 22:41 2011 by Alexei Rivera Print This Article

Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 Prototype

With Nokia’s new partnership with Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, there have been a lot of questions as to what happens to some of Nokia’s other devices and software ecosystems – particularly Symbian and the upcoming Meego smartphone OS. We’ve collected all of the information here and will give you the gist of what’s happening under the roof of the world’s largest phone manufacturer.

WINDOWS PHONE 7

More Unnamed Prototypes

Under this new strategy, Nokia will “place all bets” on the Windows Phone 7 platform primarily for its smartphone devices. Since WP7 requires some pretty hefty hardware – namely a 1Ghz Processor, 256Mb RAM and 8GB flash storage, 800×480 capacitive screen, 5Mp camera with LED flash, and a DirectX9 capable GPU – its safe to assume that Nokia’s hardware engineers will have to step up their game to pass their requirements. A Windows Phone 7 Nokia device isn’t expected to arrive this year, but the first ones should be around in 2012.

Nokia have also said that Microsoft allowed them some freedom to customize the OS, and they’re definitely going to find ways to implement the popular Nokia services like Ovi Maps. In a recent interview, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has also mentioned that the arrangement with Microsoft will allow for lower priced smartphones. This should enable previous Symbian users a means to upgrade into a new Nokia smartphone under Windows Phone 7 at their price point. If this means that Microsoft is allowing Nokia to circumvent the current WP7 hardware requirements, then this has the potential to be quite advantageous given the huge vacuum left in the wake of Symbian being phased out. What Nokia gains in this partnership is the powerful Windows Phone 7 platform with its unique interface and Microsoft’s software expertise. While Microsoft will get a large foothold of the worldwide market because of Nokia’s popularity in emerging markets and in Europe.

Since there are no plans for a release this year, we’ll not notice the significant shift in the mobile market until at least sometime in 2012 – at least where this deal is involved.

SYMBIAN

Nokia’s N8 running Symbian^3

When looking at the immediate term, Nokia’s Symbian is still the major OS under the manufacturer and they won’t be quick to abandon it. Significant updates and support will be released for the well-known OS for the immediate future to support the phones that have already been released and will possibly still be released in a year or two.

Predicted graph of Nokia’s move from Symbian to Windows Phone

The main complaint against Nokia’s new direction is the abandoning of its roots with Symbian. However, there really is no need to worry about it since all Symbian users will still be properly supported until much later – and by then you’ll probably be using a different phone altogether.

MEEGO

Prototype Meego User Interface

Last in our tour of Nokia’s software lineup is the modder’s favorite Meego. An evolution of the Maemo OS and based on an open-source Linux platform. This has been the promising Smartphone OS replacement for Symbian for quite a while. Unfortunately, development has been slow and there just wasn’t enough time to shift into Meego fast enough. (It should be noted that at one point Nokia said that the N8 will be the last Symbian device they will be releasing and all future ones will be Meego.)

Meego is still alive – at least for the time being. Nokia will be releasing one Meego phone this year and that will probably be the last of its kind. This is similar in effect to its predecessor the Maemo powered N900 (we reviewed it earlier) which you can also call a one-of-a-kind device. Nokia will shift the development focus of the Meego team to possibly creating new OSes or new trends in mobile phone software. With their experience under Meego, they might be able to make something significant in the future indeed.

OVERALL

Nokia will be investing its future smartphone software into Windows Phone 7’s popular touch OS and user interface – and also will be introducing its own brands like Ovi Maps under the Microsoft ecosystem. They are also planning on rolling out cheaper versions of the WP7 platform which could be attractive given the hole that Symbian leaves behind. Symbian will still be a hugely supported platform especially in the next few years while Nokia transitions into WP7 – thus Symbian users need not worry. Meego fans will still get their phone – and it will possibly come this year – but don’t expect it to be continued with further devices. Overall, the impact of Nokia’s new strategies will be readily felt around 2012 when the new batch of phones arrive. We’ll be looking forward to what kind of shifts in the mobile industry will happen then.