Microsoft has finally stepped up to the plate and delivered a new smartphone operating system, called Windows Phone 7. It's shiny and distinct, and very different from both the iPhone's iOS and Android. But while Samsung and HTC have already built Windows phones using it, they haven't caught on so well, leaving Microsoft in a tight spot ... sort of like Nokia, who've seen their fortunes decline markedly since the rise of the iPhone and Android.
Rather than build modern phones with Google's open-source Android operating system, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop -- former head of Microsoft's business division -- predictably chose to partner with Microsoft, and build Windows phones with them. So far all we've seen is the concept artwork, and it does look very shiny. But if we look at the people involved, we can make a few guesses about what those shiny phones will be like.
Hardware by Nokia
Nokia makes cell phone hardware, dozens and dozens of different models of it. Aside from their cameras, which are reportedly outstanding, the biggest thing they have going for them is the supply and distribution network that lets them make so many phones for so cheap. Indeed, one of the big benefits being touted about the partnership is that they'll "bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points."
The downside is that those CGI models probably only represent the upper range of what they'll be making. There will probably be tons of cheaper Nokia phones that don't look as nice, plus competing Windows Phone models from Samsung and HTC. Besides that, most of the cost of a smartphone is absorbed by the cost of the data plan, which is why you can get a new Android phone for a single cent on a typical two-year contract. It'd be hard for Nokia to beat that. Read more...
Source: news.yahoo.com
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