One of the dominant themes of last week's MWC was Nokia's (NYSE:NOK) deal with Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) to use Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone platform. It was the buzz in the keynotes, in the hallways, in the press room and at breakfasts, lunches and dinners. That's what happens when you announce a major deal just ahead of the start of an international trade show. And yet, I was left thoroughly dispirited by Nokia's choice.
In an interview at the show with myself and a few other technology journalists, Nokia CTO Rich Green said Nokia would stick to Microsoft's tight hardware specifications to get its Windows Phone devices to market quickly. He also said Nokia would do little, initially, to change the platform.
"Although we have the right to modify the UI, why would we?" he said. "I think it's critically important to ensure that end customers have a consistent experience for the device, and that developers have a consistent experience in developing for the device so that we don't fracture either the user experience or the developer experience, the application experience. So both for speed and efficiency reasons, and growing the ecosystem, we'll be focusing on ensuring as much as reasonable stays in common rather than creating what's at variance."
Translation: At least initially, Nokia is just going to be another Windows Phone licensee, despite the integration of Nokia's Ovi services with Microsoft.
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