Nokia, Microsoft strike software integration agreement: Deal will integrate Microsoft apps with Nokia’s Symbian platform

Computing industry giant Microsoft Corp. and the world’s largest handset vendor Nokia Corp. announced a deal to deliver an “enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity” centered on integrating Microsoft’s Office Mobile software to Nokia Symbian-powered smartphones.
The agreement calls for the two companies to collaborate on the “design, development and marketing” of solutions that will bring “Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia’s Symbian devices.”
Nokia said its E-Series devices would be the first to receive the Microsoft Office capabilities. The first devices are expected to include Microsoft’s Office Communicator Mobile platform, with future device employing other Office applications and related software. Nokia said it has no plans to use Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS on its devices.
The deal is a major win for Microsoft, which has relied on the industry’s smaller handset vendors to support its Windows Mobile operating system and the only access to its Office applications and has seen increased competitive pressure in the mobile OS space from Google Inc.’s Android platform and Apple Inc.’s OS. Handset manufacturers are expected to start rolling out Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6.5 platform later this year as an evolution of the current 6.1 platform, with expectations of an enhanced platform to tie into the software company’s Windows 7 computing OS sometime next year.
“With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us,” said Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft’s business division. “Today’s announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser.”