Nokia may have Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7–based handsets on its product roadmap, but the company will remain invested in the Symbian platform.
Vlasta Berka, general manager for Nokia Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, declared it would be unwise for the company to abandon the Symbian platform when an estimated 200 million Nokia handsets were running on it.
“We need another ecosystem,” said Berka, who was speaking at the launch of Nokia’s Symbian-based E7 handset yesterday in Singapore.
He added that the remainder of this year would see ‘in excess of 50’ improvements to the Symbian platform. “The Ovi Store will see more applications, better software and more Symbian partners.”
When questioned about the details of Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft, Berka said Nokia would continue to invest in the developer ecosystem. “We’re currently working on the transition process, to decide what will happen between Ovi and the Windows Phone marketplace,” said Berka. “The intention is to port Ovi content over to the (Windows Phone) marketplace.”
With the porting process complete, users of non-Nokia manufactured Windows Phone 7 based handsets could similarly access initial Ovi-branded content from the Microsoft marketplace, said Berka, who did not provide a timeline as to when the transition would be complete.
Until the partnership starts to bear fruit, however, Nokia looks set to remain a struggling figure in the high-end smartphone market. Its latest product, the Symbian ^3-based E7, is marketed as a touchscreen business smartphone complete with consumer-centric features.
The product contains business-focused capabilities such as Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile, VPN access and mobile security (implemented in conjunction with various partners such as Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, F-secure, RSA, Kaspersky, TrendMicro and Symantec.
Other features include a slide-out qwerty keyboard, USB support, mini HDMI output, and 4-inch AMOLED screen. The S$989 ($775) price tag is on par with that of popular smartphone models such as the Blackberry Torch and Samsung’s Nexus S.
Just how the E7 will fly with an operating system that is fast losing popularity and a non-competitive price tag in the high-end device market is questionable.
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