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Will Nokia announce tomorrow that it’s going to start making Windows Phone 7 mobiles? Speculation has been raging all week thanks to CEO Stephen Elop’s ‘Burning Platform’ memo, but WP7 isn’t the only option. Nokia Android phones are also a possibility.
Or perhaps not. Google VP of engineering Vic Gundotra — a key member of the company’s Android efforts — has set tongues wagging with a zingy tweet: ‘#feb11 “Two turkeys do not make an Eagle”.’
The hashtag seemingly refers to the date (tomorrow) of Nokia’s massive announcement about its future strategy. Yet how can we be sure he’s talking about Nokia? Well, the tweet is actually a quote from 2005 by former Nokia exec Anssi Vanjoki, when asked about rival Siemens selling its mobile handset division to BenQ. “Two turkeys together won’t make an eagle,” was Vanjoki’s stinging verdict.
Ouch. Vanjoki doesn’t work at Nokia any more: he was one of the first executives to quit after Elop’s arrival, although not before publicly comparing Android handset makers to boys who “pee in their pants” to keep warm in winter.
Gundotra was presumably saving the turkey quote for just such an occasion. More importantly, the barb as good as confirms that Android isn’t on the agenda for Nokia tomorrow — and by extension that maybe Windows Phone 7 is.
Well, it certainly confirms the former. A separate report on Bloomberg suggests that while Nokia and Microsoft have been in talks, a deal may not have been signed and sealed yet. In other words, expecting Elop to stroll on stage tomorrow brandishing a Nokia N9 running Windows Phone 7 may be a tad premature.
Nokia is expected to announce its new strategy to the financial markets at 7.30am UK-time tomorrow, before holding a press event in London where Elop himself will explain the company’s plans. Watch this space to see if Gundotra’s turkey tweet is fair play or fowl.
