Well, it’s been the biggest news of the week, so it seems fitting if I close the week by talking, yet again (and despite how bored I’m getting with talking about it), about the Nokia-Microsoft partnership. So, the last story of this week relates to how, as has been widely noted, Nokia are allowed to fiddle about with the UI to a vastly greater extent other manufacturers.
According to Pocketnow, who are quoting Nokia’s Rich Greene, just because they can, it doesn’t mean they will. In Greene’s words, “We certainly do, in the context of this agreement, have the right to manipulate the UX, the UI, etc. but… I’m not speaking for the plan, I’m speaking as the Chief Technology Officer: Why would you?” So, if not, what are they going to do? And do we now have a definitive reason why they picked Windows Phone 7 over Android? Well, to answer the first question, it seems that they want to make it easy for people to move between devices (and naturally, easier to move to Nokia phones), and therefore, to guarantee things like apps will work if someone buys a new phone. The other reason is resources; why spend time and money fiddling about with the UI, when they can spend it making cool stuff, like augmented reality features, to stick on top of the standard platform.
And as for the second question of why they picked WP7, Microsoft now get access to Nokia’s mapping and location tech, so it’s not unfeasible for them to make money indirectly whenever other manufacturers, like HTC or Samsung, use Windows Phone 7. Since their tech’s being built into Windows Phone 7, they also want to make sure that the platform as a whole benefits, and thus, other manufacturers get the same benefits they do.
More people using their tech equals more cash, after all.
So yes, there you go. We just need to wait and see how other manufacturers react to the whole Nokia-Microsoft thing, to see whether they do go barking, and side with Android. Time will tell, I guess…
More news as it happens! And be sure to subscribe now to get all the latest action from the world of mobile phones!