Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Microsoft's Alliances And Acquisitions

Image representing Steve Ballmer as depicted i...Image via CrunchBase
Forbes: Nokia’s Smartphone Chief On Microsoft Alliance, Future Windows Devices: the Finnish giant’s transition from its homegrown Symbian platform to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system ....... The future of Nokia and, to a certain extent, of Microsoft’s mobile ambitions largely hinges on the success of the two companies’ alliance. ..... several Nokia devices were already running Mango, the latest version of Windows Phone software. ...... the first batch of Nokia Windows Phones will be a “small portfolio” of multiple devices. ...... Nokia was an early advocate for NFC, which enables phones to wirelessly exchange data such as payment information, mobile tickets, business card contacts and website links. ...... Early Nokia Windows Phones may also include a China-specific device.
Microsoft allied with Nokia, the number one name in mobile phone hardware. Nokia was struggling under the onslaught of smartphones and it looked like Android was about to take over the world. And Microsoft was largely missing in action. The Windows phone was widely considered a joke.

Bing - But It's Not Google - used to be an industry joke as well. Search was best left to Google.

Windows and Office looked passe. Chrome was coming. Google Apps were all over the place. The smart crowd was into Google Apps.

Odd Future: Sandwiches



(Via Bryce Roberts)