Hasta La Gadget!

Courting the largest carrier in the United States is probably at the top of any phone manufacturer’s to-do list, and it’s starting to sound like Nokia — on the strength of its just-announced Windows Phone gamble — has an uphill battle ahead of it. Verizon CTO Tony Melone has gone on record out at Mobile World Congress this week saying that he’s skeptical Micosoft has the capability to meet its lofty volume goals for Windows Phone — a little odd, considering that Verizon is on the verge of launching its first Windows Phone 7 model — and that he doesn’t think “Verizon needs the Nokia and Microsoft relationship.” Referring seemingly directly to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop’s desire to make the smartphone war a “three-horse race” between Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, Melone says he thinks that “right now the three OS players we see for our network are Android, Apple, and RIM.” Of course, just like the iPhone, we’re sure Melone’s attitude could change in a snap if Windows Phone picks up enough steam — but even in the best case, that’s going to take a while.

Verizon CTO: we don’t ‘need’ the Nokia-Microsoft partnership; Android, iOS, and BlackBerry are the big three platforms originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is currently on stage at MWC in Barcelona, and he’s had a few choice things to say about the recent announcement that Nokia will partner with Microsoft to create devices which run Windows Phone software. Elop told the crowd assembled there that Nokia’s “first priority is beating Android,” and he also took a moment to let everyone know that Nokia is not interested in being the only company producing Windows Phones — countering some recent exclusivity chatter. The presentation is still going on, so we’ll keep you updated.

Be sure to check out our full liveblog right here.

Nokia: ‘Our first priority is beating Android’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 13:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been gathered at the same cozy venue as two years ago (for the introduction of the E52, if memory serves correctly) for Nokia’s event at MWC 2011 this evening… and frankly, in light of what’s happened the past few days, we’re not quite sure what to expect. CEO Stephen Elop should be on stage to take some questions — but in terms of product or strategy announcements, it’s anyone’s guess. Follow the break for all the fun!

Continue reading Live from ‘An Evening With Nokia’ at MWC 2011!

Live from ‘An Evening With Nokia’ at MWC 2011! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look what we’ve found! This is the first image you’ll see anywhere of the early fruit of Microsoft and Nokia’s budding new partnership. We have it on good authority that the technicolor phones on show are conceptual devices produced by the two companies. You shouldn’t, therefore, go jumping to conclusions about retail hardware just yet, but hearts should be warmed by the familiarity of Nokia’s new design — the shape of these handsets is somewhere between its recent N8 and C7 Symbian devices and there is, as usual for Nokia, a choice of sprightly colors. The trio of keys adorning the new concept’s bottom give away its Windows Phone 7 ties, but also remind us that the N8 and E7 are highly unlikely to receive any WP7 upgrade love. The best part about this whole discovery, however, might be that it confirms Steve Ballmer’s assertion that the engineers of both companies have “spent a lot of time on this already.” So, who else is excited about owning an Engadget-blue Microkia device?

Exclusive: Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 concept revealed! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stephen Elop, in his financial and strategy briefing continuing Nokia’s marathon Capital Markets Day, just posed an interesting rhetorical question: will Nokia be able to “customize everything” on Windows Phone 7 in order to differentiate itself? “Yes!” was Elop’s ebullient proclamation, though he quickly pulled it back to say that Nokia likely won’t make extensive use of this freedom to tailor Microsoft’s OS. Instead, the company will be cautious and seek to maintain compatibility rather than pushing the boat out too far in tweaking the underlying software. That’s a major shift for Microsoft, who forbade HTC from skinning Windows Phone 7 with Sense, something the Taiwanese company would surely have loved to do, and limited it to the introduction of a self-contained Hub. Now Nokia’s saying it — perhaps exclusively — has been given the liberty to play around inside WP7 to its heart’s content. We’ll see how important that turns out to be whenever Nokia delivers its first device bearing its new smartphone OS. An insider tip tells us the current plan is to introduce such a handset by the end of 2011, potentially based on current hardware. Who’s ready for Xbox Live on a future version of the N8?

Nokia will be able to customize ‘everything’ in Windows Phone 7, but likely won’t originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 07:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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