Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft and Nokia Finally Sign Definitive Agreement

Posted by Soulskill on from the do-not-go-gentle-into-obsolescence dept.

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."

8 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Who are they reaching out to? by spaceon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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?

    1. Re:Who are they reaching out to? by recoiledsnake · · Score: 4, Informative

      >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).

      --
      This space for rent.
    2. Re:Who are they reaching out to? by FlipperPA · · Score: 5, Informative

      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/

    3. Re:Who are they reaching out to? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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. ;)

  2. The Deck Chairs Are Well Placed by Nova+Express · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

  3. Shame by Anonymous+Cowar · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

  4. Microsoft releases actual cow turd as phone by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
  5. Well done Nokia by DrXym · · Score: 5, Funny

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