Will Nokia soon be offering more than just Symbian handsets?
Nokia, currently best friends with Symbian software, could soon be looking to offer Microsoft's Windows Mobile on its handsets.
In an interview with itwire, Microsoft’s mobile communications business international marketing director John Starkweather said:
"They (Nokia) obviously have significant investments in Symbian but there are a lot of places where we have significant synergies and we would love to see the day where those synergies would extend completely with Windows Mobile."
"We work closely with Nokia and we would love to have them go all the way. It’s something we talk about all the time."
With the Mobile World Congress set to take place in Barcelona, Spain next week, could a forthcoming announcement be closer than we think? Following Starkweather's comments, speculation is now rife in regards to the possibility of Windows Mobile on a Nokia handset. Though certain Nokia handsets already include pieces of Microsoft software such as ActiveSync for connecting to Exchange Servers, a complete deployment of Windows Mobile could be hugely significant in the mobile industry.
Windows Mobile, though a very capable platform, currently suffers from a largely cumbersome user interface. Though version 6.1 of the mobile operating system is nearly upon us, a significant improvement in terms of interface isn't expected until version 7.0 or later. Windows Mobile holds a much smaller share of the smartphone market compared to Symbian and Microsoft will be hopeful that a deal with Nokia can help improve its position in the market.
Would you want to run Windows Mobile on your Nokia N95? Share your thoughts in the HEXUS community.
