Nokia said it will adopt Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform
Nokia Ties Up With Microsoft in Overhaul - WSJ.com:
In a major shift, Nokia Corp. said Friday it will adopt Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform, part of a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp. that will see the next two years become a period of transition for the ailing handset maker.
'Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivaled global reach and scale,' said Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft employee. 'Nokia is at a critical juncture, where significant change is necessary and inevitable in our journey forward.'
'This partnership is good for Microsoft and it is good for Nokia,' Microsoft's Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Friday, speaking together with Mr. Elop at a strategy briefing in London.
Under the cooperation agreement, Nokia will use Microsoft's Bing service for search functionality across its devices, while Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft's mapping services. Nokia's content and application store, Ovi, will be integrated with Microsoft's Marketplace, and the MeeGo platform, which Nokia co-developed with Intel Corp., will become open-source.
Meanwhile, MeeGo and Mobile Solutions head Alberto Torres has stepped down from the company's management team, effective Feb. 10, part of a reorganization of the company into two main divisions—smart devices and mobile phones.
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