Nokia & Windows Phone 7: What to expect

Nokia has long been regarded the world's favourite mobile phone manufacturer but recent lapses in judgement have seen the Finns' crown lose some of its lustre.

In a move to arrest any potential damage to the company's exemplary reputation, newly named CEO Stephen Elop took decisive action, allying with Microsoft and it's Windows Phone 7 platform to bring Nokia back to top of the smartphone market. But what are we, the paying public, to expect from this recent entente cordiale?

• The first and most practical to strike people will be a newly invigorated focus on exemplary hardware. We all know that devices designed and built by the boffins at Espoo are solid, dependable and well constructed, but we expect this to be taken up a notch by a company that is less encumbered by software issues. So expect the hardware on offer to be a cut above anything Nokia has produced before. Which is saying something!
• A unique feature of the relationship between Microsoft and Nokia is that the Finns' will be permitted to tinker with the both the core and UI of the operating system – something not granted to other hardware manufacturers. How much Nokia intends to make of this right remains to be seen, but we expect some great software innovation as Nokia brings its years of experience to bear on Microsoft's fledgling OS.
• Currently, if you have your eye on a Windows Phone 7 device, you'll be looking at a fair sized investment, whether that be a SIM-free device, or a 18/24-month price plan. Nokia's foray into the world of Windows Phone, however, means that users can expect devices to be available across the range which will, of course, benefit Nokia and Microsoft, but will also bring the great features of Windows Phone 7 to users on tighter budgets.
• The fruits of this cooperative labour will likely be seen towards the end of 2011, but some reports put the debut of Nokia/Windows Phone 7 hardware as far away as the second quarter of 2012. If we were to have a little flutter, our money would be on November/December of this year, which would coincide with the highly anticipated release of the big software update to Windows Phone. Don't quote us on it though, call it a hunch.

Overall the deal between Nokia and Microsoft serves as a list of reasons to be cheerful. The companies both have huge amounts of experience in their chosen fields and together they will doubtless produce world-beating devices.

The extra competition generated by the accord will also give Apple and Google good reason to step-up their own efforts, as they strive to fight-off the newly invigorated Nokia.

So stay tuned. It's going to be an interesting year in the smartphone world!