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Nokia, known for its religious-like devotion to the Symbian operating system, may be working with Microsoft to develop new phones running the Windows phone OS instead.

Nokia and Microsoft have begun talks to make Nokia-branded smartphones running the Windows Phone 7 OS, according to Eldar Murtazin, editor in chief of Mobile-Review editor. (Murtazin is known for gaining early access to the Nokia N8 phone long before its release, which led Nokia to file a report with the Russian police).

If true, adopting Windows Phone 7 could work well for Nokia, whose Symbian OS is outdated compared to more user-friendly Android-powered phones and Apple’s iPhone. Critics have called the Symbian OS “broken.”

The Windows Phone 7 strategy, as I’ve reported before, is more thought out than Google’s. Rather than simply license the OS to any manufacturer, Microsoft is requiring OEMs to adhere to a standard set of hardware features for any phone running Windows Phone 7. (Each phone must have three buttons, for example, and include a Snapdragon processor.)

What would Nokia get in return for playing by Microsoft’s rules? As part of the negotiation, manufacturers get a few default tiles on the Windows Phone 7 home screen devoted to the OEM’s proprietary applications; the rest of the space goes to Microsoft’s default apps (phone, calendar, etc).

So hypothetically, Nokia could put its own fancy GPS app on the home screen that charges a monthly rate to customers, for example.  (Most of us would call this “bloatware,” but proprietary OEM apps are removable on Windows Phone 7, unlike bloatware on Android.)

From Unwired View

See Also:

• Why Windows Phone 7 Will Make Android Look Chaotic
• Windows Phone 7 Doomed? Actually, It's Just Getting Started …
• Windows Phone 7 Debuts in U.S. Stores
• How Microsoft Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL on Windows Phone

Image courtesy of Microsoft