Microsoft-Nokia Alliance Doesn't Mean End of Windows Mobile (
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When Microsoft and Nokia formed a partnership to load a mobile version of Microsoft Office onto Nokia smartphones, the better to compete against RIM's BlackBerry line, analysts immediately began discussing how the alliance would weaken Microsoft Windows Mobile. However, Microsoft has shown signs that it fully intends to keep backing Windows Mobile, even if the operating system has a small share of the smartphone market.Immediately after Microsoft
and Nokia
on Aug. 12 announced a deal to load a mobile version of Microsoft Office onto
Nokia smartphones, debates erupted online as to what the alliance would mean
for Microsoft Windows Mobile, Redmond's own mobile operating system.
Under the terms of the agreement, the mobile Microsoft Office applications
will come preloaded on Nokia Eseries smartphones, allowing out-of-the-box
functionality for the business-centric devices. Nokia and Microsoft plan to later
port the application platform onto other smartphones.
Click here for a look at the Nokia N97 smartphone.
That porting of Office functionality onto a competing mobile operating
system has led some analysts to the conclusion that, while the alliance will allow
both Microsoft and Nokia to compete more heartily against Research In Motion,
it leaves Windows Mobile somewhat isolated.
Even before the announcement, Microsoft seemed to b e designing the upcoming
version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, with the intention
of making an aggressive unilateral push to compete against the Apple iPhone,
Palm Pre and other smartphones. Windows
Mobile 6.5's new features include improved touch capabilities, allowing the
user to navigate through tapping and other gestures, as well as customizable
widgets.
But certain analysts now see Microsoft as retreating a bit from its original
intention of going it alone in the mobile arena, particularly with regard to
the enterprise.
"I see [the Nokia agreement] as a tacit admission from Microsoft that
WinMo [Windows Mobile] hasn't made the grade," Nick Jones, an analyst with
Gartner, wrote in a blog post following the joint announcement. "Imagine
you're Steve Ballmer, and in two years' time WinMo was still fourth in
smartphone market share. How much longer do you keep throwing money at it?"
In an interview with company spokespeople following the announcement,
neither Microsoft nor Nokia would comment on any structuring within the deal
that would allow the mobile Office side to proceed without being affected by
competition on the OS side of the equation. With both Nokia and Microsoft
feeling pressure from Apple and RIM in the marketplace, however, the alliance
may take priority over other concerns.
