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“Two hens can’t make an eagle” is the pithy Russian saying
that perfectly illustrates our single raised eyebrow at hearing that
Nokia may be in talks with Microsoft to release a phone running Windows
Phone 7.
It’s the kind of doubtful gossip we’d usually blush to repeat,
but this rumour comes straight from legendary blog mobile-review.com,
so we’re taking it more seriously than we otherwise might. The site’s
author is well known for snagging Nokia news in the crooks
and crannies of the Finnish-Russian border. And this isn’t the first
time we’ve had a whiff of a Nokia/Windows
love child.
After being abandoned by Samsung
and Sony
Ericsson this year, Nokia is left as the only company flying
the flag for its popular but dated Symbian operating system. The
company insists the future is MeeGo,
the software it’s working on with Intel, and told us “no comment” to the Windows rumours.
There’s no doubt Nokia is stuffed with talented software
developers, but we’ve been told by insiders that things move at a
snail’s pace within the Nordic monster, and there isn’t always the
flexibility for good ideas to take flight. So could Stephen Elop, the
company’s new outsider CEO — who’s ex-Microsoft — be thinking the unthinkable about putting
another company’s OS on its hardware?
Unlike other manufacturers, Nokia has never been keen on letting
outsiders provide the brains for its phones. It’s stayed away from Android,
for example, despite Google’s software taking the world by storm on phones
from LG, Motorola, HTC and Samsung, among others.
Also, Microsoft has been very clear that it won’t let phone makers
add or remove much on Windows Phone 7. That’s why it’s hard to tell one
WinPho 7 phone from another, except for a few hardware tweaks within
strict limits, and maybe a pre-installed app or two.
So you’d be hard-pressed to find two more unwilling partners to take a spin
on the smart-phone dancefloor than Nokia and Microsoft. But both do
have something to offer the other. Nokia’s hardware is top-notch, with
the Nokia N8 scoring widespread praise for its awesome camera and sleek
metal case. Meanwhile, Windows Phone is a fresh OS that’s won high
praise for its simplicity, although it’s failed to set the world on
fire in terms of sales.
With Nokia desperate to stop the slide of its smart-phone
reputation, and Microsoft scrabbling to climb up the bottom rung of an
already crowded sector, maybe it’s just possible these two
underdogs could combine forces to become one normal dog.
What’s next? Lions and lambs chilling together? Penguins giving up
tuxedos to go casual? Let us know in the comments whether you support
this unholy alliance.
