Microsoft and Nokia Finally Sign Definitive Agreement

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft and Nokia yesterday announced the signing of a definitive agreement regarding their global mobile ecosystem partnership. We already know that Microsoft and Nokia will work together to reach out to developers, but the two have agreed to make Windows Phone developer registration free for all Nokia developers. There are also plans to open a new Nokia-branded global application store that leverages the Windows Phone Marketplace infrastructure so that developers can publish and distribute applications through a single developer portal to consumers that use Windows Phone, Symbian, and Series 40 devices. Lastly, Nokia will contribute its expertise in operator billing to ensure participants in the Windows Phone ecosystem can take advantage of Nokia's billing agreements with 112 operators in 36 markets."

Comments

Who are they reaching out to?

[spaceon]

Who are they going to be reaching out to? The Windows developers that were already ignoring WP7, or the developers that got shafted by Nokia when they changed course?

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[recoiledsnake]

>Windows developers that were already ignoring WP7

Really? How did you come to know of that? By reading Slashdot?

The developer tools were downloaded over 1.5 million times and there are over 13,000 apps in the WP7 marketplace (faster growth rate than Android and iPhone at that stage).

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[FlipperPA]

Hardly a Microsoft fan, but two seconds of Googling would have gotten you here (or any number of other sources):

http://www.windowsphoneapplist.com/stats/

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[Anonymous Coward]

They are trying to reach out to people like me.
Iâ(TM)m working for a big mobile game developer company (hence posting as AC), and I told our CEO, that I'd rather quit and take my whole team with me, than to develop for WP7.
And from talking with others in the industry, including Nokia's own people, I'm by far not the only one.

Developing for Nokia right now, is like buying tickets for the Titanic, shortly after hearing it hit the iceberg.
And I'm saying that as a former level 65 Nokia fanboy. ;)

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[UnknowingFool]

It's not that much faster than iOS. WP7 has almost 15K apps right now. The marketplace was launched Oct 21, 2010. That's about 81/day. iTunes App store launched July 11, 2008 and had 15K by January 16, 2009. That is 78/day. There is lot of rounding error in there as the numbers are not exact. Android is a little harder to figure out as it's not all in one place.

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[CharlyFoxtrot]

Microsoft has a huge developer base, they are Nokia desperately needs and what MS is bringing to the table in this deal. MS can evidently count on these developers to give their platform a shot, historically not a bad gamble. The foundation has been laid, now comes the critical part: converting these available apps into actual sales and a viable business financially. So far the only platform where users consistently spend a lot of money is iOS with Android a distant second.

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[Eponymous Coward]

I don't know if I agree with that. The tile metaphor is fairly unique and has been duplicated on Android. I think any innovation they come up with will be quickly cloned.

I would put their problems in three categories.

1. Their marketing sucks. They spent a fortune on a campaign to establish that WP7 is good for people who don't like using a smart phone.
2. They have the appeal and sexiness of Cisco or Oracle. They're that middle aged slightly pudgy guy driving a sports car. There doesn't seem to be anybody at Microsoft with any sense of design. At least nobody of any apparent authority.
3. Their best developers have moved on to Google, Apple, and Facebook and Microsoft isn't very attractive to the best of the new generation of developers and designers. They might attract some people with fat pay checks, but they aren't ever going to get the truly passionate people.

Add to that their craptastic management and stifling bureaucracy and it's no wonder their stock has been dead in the water for a decade.

Re:Who are they reaching out to?

[zach_the_lizard]

13k apps is nice, but phone and app sales aren't all that great now. I was interested in XNA, so I paid the $99. I released a small app first, and it's seen ~300 downloads in a month or two. With ads, I make ~$2-1 per day. I'm hoping my game (when released) will make more, but MS has decided to rank all indie games after Xbox Live games from what I understand.

I could be #1 in sales of all apps everywhere but unless I have the Xbox Live mark, I'm automatically ranked lower, making it hard to find my game. Plus, there's currently no indie game tab. This kind of thing makes me not want to work with the platform, at least for games.

The Deck Chairs Are Well Placed

[Nova Express]

I believe the new agreement optimally places the desk chairs for Nokia employees to have truly breathtaking views of the approaching iceberg.

Or perhaps I should say iCeberg.

Shame

[Anonymous Cowar]

I switched from the n900 to the motorola atrix and I'm going to say it: for a linux geek who doesn't care about an app market, the n900 (and its successor) beat the pants off of android devices. I would routinely go 3-4 days without charging vs my 36 hour android battery life, the slide out keyboard was pretty good and beats the on-screen keyboards any day, and multitasking without having applications hide in the background is still sorely missed.

Now the n900 wasn't perfect, but if it had a capacitive screen, 3g on AT&T, and a 1ghz+ chip, it would have been.

Re:Shame

[bdkraem]

Now the n900 wasn't perfect, but if it had a capacitive screen, 3g on AT&T, and a 1ghz+ chip, it would have been.

You've obviously never used 3G on AT&T.

Microsoft releases actual cow turd as phone

[David Gerard]

Desperate to stay competitive against iPhone and Android mobile devices, Microsoft has released a two-pound lump of actual cow faeces that they claim constitutes a phone.

Windows Phone 7, in development for several years, strips the mobile telephone down to its fundamental essence: futility, annoyance, malfunction, inconvenience and a socially unacceptable odour. Confounding analyst expectations, the turd is in fact shined.

US mobile carriers hailed the turd as the perfect physical complement to their world-famous customer service. "This powerful product will promote our growth!" said John Harrobin of Verizon Wireless. "We're marketing them as edible."

"We think we can really work the brand equity," said Steve Ballmer, modelling the optional shoulder-length rubber gloves. "Everyone works with our stuff all day every day. They know who Microsoft is and what we do."

"How about making our customers actually swallow our bullshit physically?" said John Harrobin. "Windows Phone 7 was my idea."

Photo: Steve Ballmer ecstatic at Windows Phone 7 sales.

Well done Nokia

[DrXym]

Your decision to partner with Microsoft is as sage and wise as allowing your balls to be shaved by a mental patient.