Speculation is growing that the world's largest mobile phone manufacture, Nokia, is preparing to get into bed with the world's largest software maker, Microsoft, to produce millions of little smartphones.
Let's look at this pairing.
Nokia: It might still be the world's largest phone maker, but it's now mainly selling cheap basic phones. It's failing to make much of an impact in the growing smartphone market. This is mainly because it insists on using its clunky, confusing, crap operating system called Symbian. Now Symbian was ok in the days of clunky old smartphones that you had to prod with a stylus and wait and wait and wait til your poked commands were followed. It's improved a bit, but not that much. In the face of slick, fast, intuitive systems like Apple's iOS and Google's Android, it doesn't stand a chance.
Microsoft: It doesn't make smartphones, but it makes the software that runs them. Last year it updated its mobile software to Windows Phone 7 and it works fairly well. It was launched to a ripple of publicity and many hardware manufacturers are now using it on their devices. But it's hardly taken the world by storm. And Microsoft knows that mobile computing devices are the way forward.
Add to this the new boss of Nokia is Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft executive. He took over last year after Nokia shareholders ousted the old regime.
How many times have you heard a new Nokia smartphone being described as: "Great hardware but crap software". Well, lots if you're anywhere near me.
Nokia has made it known it's preparing a "major announcement" on February 11. It's made MAs before, and they've turned out to be very non-major.
But this one could be it. A marriage of Nokia hardware and Microsoft software. Not quote made in heaven, but at least the offspring would have a chance of survival.
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