Nokia adopts new operating system

Finnish giant gives up Symbian, opts for Microsoft platform.

KARACHI: Nokia has partnered with Microsoft to improve its smartphone range. The Finnish cellular giant is going to adopt Windows Phone – Microsoft’s mobile operating system (OS) — as its principal smartphone strategy.

Nokia’s range of smartphones, which had been running Symbian, had recently been overtaken by Android. In a memo, Nokia Chief Stephen Elop announced that the new strategy would be shared on February 11.

Analysts were almost sure Nokia would abandon its Symbian operating system and would adopt either Windows Phone 7 or Android to make its hardware shine. However, the company’s hiring of Elop – former president of Microsoft’s software group – pointed to an increased possibility of the company going with Windows Phone 7.

Nokia instead of going with Android – the tried and trusted platform that overtook its dominant Symbian system – has gone with an untested platform that Microsoft has been developing. The deal has been made in order to compete with Google’s Android OS and vendors who have adopted it.

Interestingly, an analyst said, “Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone.” This might mean that Nokia could have a say in the software development of the OS platform, giving rise to the possibility of Windows Mobile 7 being installed on low-end mobile phones as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2011.