At Facebook’s event held yesterday, a video feature for Instagram was announced. While that is a cool feature we’re sure Instagram users will appreciate, Windows Phone owners are probably wondering where is the love when it comes to Instagram for […]
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Microsoft and Nokia have gotten pretty cosy over the past few years, and at the time of the announcement of the Finnish company’s decision to use Windows Phone OS to power its smartphones, many speculated it was the first overture for a coming acquisition. And that is apparently where things were headed, according to the Wall Street Journal, but the proposed deal has since fallen apart.
The WSJ says talks were taking place as soon as this month, but that they’ve collapsed to the point where they aren’t likely to get revived again, meaning a Microkia or Nokrosoft isn’t likely to happen anytime soon. Talks up until that point had been very advanced, the report says, but eventually broke down because of financial difficulties faced by both MS and Nokia.
Microsoft ended the courtship, per the report. Nokia has been struggling, and the Windows Phone plan hasn’t done much to shore up its continued losses. Nokia missed analyst expectations last quarter, and posted an operating loss, though a much lower one than it reported during the year ago period. Its device sales were down both sequentially and year over year, however.
Essentially, Microsoft and Nokia were able to have an extended dating period, and Microsoft had plenty of time to see that opting for marriage wasn’t likely to turn around the fortunes of either party. In fact, neither the fact that a merger was being considered, nor the fact that it fell through, should come as any big surprise to anyone who has been watching the progress of Nokia over the past few years, and of Windows Phone as a mobile platform.
What’s left now is to see where Microsoft goes next with smartphones, and whether it opts to try to jump start things with its own project, Surface-style, or seeks out someone else like Nokia who might be able to do a better job of lighting a fire under its mobile OS.
Windows Phone users may have noticed speedier results when using voice recognition in recent weeks, and depending on how well the feature works for them, perhaps also a slight increase in accuracy. This is because Microsoft has just announced a Bing update that has been getting pushed to users over the last few weeks, bringing
Nokia is on a roll with Windows Phone 8 – when it comes to filling out its range, anyway. The Finnish company has spent 2013 slotting a Lumia into almost every possible gap in the market, and now has a third flagship-spec model in the shape of the Nokia Lumia 925. The latest to bear
A mobile operating system is only as good as the apps it offers, with limited app offerings driving users into the arms of other platforms. It is such a philosophy that prodded Blackberry to lure in developers with a myriad of financial incentives, and Microsoft has enacted a similar incentive plan for developers. Word has
While we haven’t seen a Windows Phone from Acer in quite a while, the company is at least interested. However, Acer had concerns about getting in on the Windows Phone 8 shenanigans. Specifically, they aren’t yet convinced that Windows Phone 8 has the traction to create a lot of revenue for Acer, which is why
If you’re thinking the leaked photos you’re about to have a peek at below are going to be released as a final-form Nokia EOS, you might want to re-think your summer smartphone buying strategy. What we’re seeing here are several angles on a less-than-production-quality iteration of a Nokia phone – not quite the same as
Seven months after Andy Lees became Microsoft’s vice president of corporate development, the executive has decided that it’s time for a rest. AllThingsD is reporting that the deposed former Windows Phone chief is taking a sabbatical to spend some time with his family in England, but will return to a new, currently undefined, role at Redmond later in the summer. Given that the country is currently suffering through one of its traditional summers, we suggest Mr. Lees packs an umbrella.
Update: Microsoft has contacted us to clarify that Lees is permanently relocating to the UK, but will remain with the company — at a position that’ll be announced once his sabbatical has ended.
Filed under: Mobile, Microsoft
Source: AllThingsD
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