Microsoft acquires Nokia

[Joacim Andersson]

With the success of the Nokia Lumia series this could become rather interesting.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/...ncementPR.aspx

However they also acquires the Nokia Asha devices which are low cost phones running Nokia Symbian System 40, which is Java based. I wonder what MS will do with that series of phones.

[baja_yu]

Symbian should have been euthanized years ago.

[Niya]

I wonder what MS will do with that series of phones.

.Net .Net .Net

[Joacim Andersson]

Well, these devices can't run Windows Phone 8. Technically they aren't really smart phones but they aren't really not smart phones either. Some of them have multi-touch screens while the even simpler models only have single touch points.

However they are cheap and Nokia have sold millions of them. They are sold in much larger quantities than the higher end Lumia models.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Nokia-Asha-306_id7133

[Niya]

Something tells me that MS acquiring Nokia is part of some larger plan. MS has really been crazy about touch-based UIs since Win8 and Metro. Its telling that they chose to take Nokia at this time. It seems to me that they're desperate to break into the mobile market and this is just another move to help achieve that end.

[Niya]

Nah, they could just make another compiler and integrate it with Visual Studio. That would be great. Imagine using C# or VB.Net to write Nokia apps. Makes me horny

[Joacim Andersson]

I was wondering about that also, with most smart phones being developed in objective c or Java, how will that come into play with Microsoft purchasing Nokia. I imagine that it will remain Java and objective c for the time being, but I betcha that Microsoft will decide to create a smart phone specific language.

Microsoft and Nokia have had a partnership for several years now. All Nokia's high-end phones only runs Windows Phone 7/8.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Well, these devices can't run Windows Phone 8. Technically they aren't really smart phones but they aren't really not smart phones either.

"Challenged" phones.

[techgnome]

...I betcha that Microsoft will decide to create a smart phone specific language.

Nah, they could just make another compiler and integrate it with Visual Studio. That would be great. Imagine using C# or VB.Net to write Nokia apps. Makes me horny

it would be called P#.NET....

-tg

[Niya]

it would be called P#.NET....

-tg

You mean this ?

[techgnome]

No... I was actually being factitious and somewhat tongue in cheek when I wrote that... I guess considering there is an A# (.NET implementation of ADA) I guess I shouldn't be surprised there's a Prolog implementation too...

-tg

[dunfiddlin]

Hope it's not in permanent marker then!

[Niya]

No... I was actually being factitious and somewhat tongue in cheek when I wrote that... I guess considering there is an A# (.NET implementation of ADA) I guess I shouldn't be surprised there's a Prolog implementation too...

-tg

You kidding? There's a Python implementation called IronPython and a Ruby implementation called IronRuby. By the next 10 years they'll probably have all kinds of new language implementations for .Net.

[dilettante]

With the success of the Nokia Lumia series...

Um, not so much. Here's the best read on why Microsoft stepped in that I've seen:

Thoughts on Microsoft Acquires Nokia

In the press release webcast, Nokia admitted they couldn’t continue funding the promotion of the Lumia phones. Ballmer put on a show saying Windows Phone has seen an incredible 78% growth in last year. However, we all know that 78% growth from very little is also very little.

Nokia was being forced to heavily promote a poor-selling device that is outside both its core competencies and its markets and the company risked spiraling into the ground.

However they also acquires the Nokia Asha devices which are low cost phones running Nokia Symbian System 40, which is Java based. I wonder what MS will do with that series of phones.

Those are basic feature-phone products based on a very old Java ME platform. They are low cost and have remained very popular and successful in markets Microsoft would never get a toe-hold in.

The best rumors suggest that part of the business will be split off and sold to continue in a new life under a new name. However it seems almost as likely Microsoft will fumble this and just kill off the Symbian based products.

[dilettante]

This take isn't too kind either:

Let’s get real: Nobody will license Windows Phone or Windows RT now

Let’s be honest though: This news is just the final nail in the coffin for hardware makers to license Windows Phone, and Windows RT, for that matter.

Handset makers only committed as a hedge bet against Android

Outside of Nokia’s Lumia brand, most Windows Phones from partners have been afterthoughts: Hardware originally designed for Android and later made to run Microsoft’s operating system. The designs have been largely uninspiring because, for these companies, Android is priority one: Windows Phone devices were sloppy seconds. So Samsung and HTC, both of which have made some recent Windows Phone, may be done. LG was never truly committed to the platform and few others ever bothered in the first place.

[Joacim Andersson]

When I said "with the success of the Nokia Lumia series" I wasn't comparing it with the success of iPhone. I was just comparing it to other Windows Phones that exist. The Lumia series of phones are the most successful Windows Phone that anyone has produced. Nobody is refuting that the competition within the phone market is fierce and personally I've thought for a long time that if Microsoft wants to compete within this market they need to create their own phone devices. With that in mind buying Nokia instead of starting from scratch or buying up some other device maker is the best choice.

I also agree that to really become a competitor within the market a lot more money has to be invested, which I don't think Nokia could manage to do by themselves but MS can.

You might be correct that Microsoft will sell of the Asha line. I never disputed that that wouldn't be a possibility, I just said that it will be interesting to see how MS handles it. Killing this line of cheap smartphones would however not be a very good choice since they are a money cow.

[dilettante]

You might be correct that Microsoft will sell of the Asha line. I never disputed that that wouldn't be a possibility, I just said that it will be interesting to see how MS handles it. Killing this line of cheap smartphones would however not be a very good choice since they are a money cow.

And they are very popular in their primary markets. Killing them will not buy any good will.

[FunkyDexter]

...I betcha that Microsoft will decide to create a smart phone specific language.

Hmm, well it'll need a small foot print... I know! VB6!

[Nightwalker83]

Well, given that the Windows Phone isn't that popular compared to the IPhone, etc is thins a good or bad move?

[Niya]

Hmm, well it'll need a small foot print... I know! VB6!

Do you want Niya to unleash terrible violence upon your person ?

Well, given that the Windows Phone isn't that popular compared to the IPhone, etc is thins a good or bad move?

Not good or bad. Just desperate. I do hope they succeed though.

[dilettante]

Looks as if Nokia will live on in a new form:

Nokia-branded Android smartphones could appear as early as January 2016

As ZDNet's Liam Tung pointed out yesterday in the terms of the agreement Nokia will continue to own and manage the Nokia brand. Microsoft will license the Nokia brand to use with Asha devices, but Nokia can use the Nokia brand on smartphones after 31 December 2015.

So maybe they just dodged a bullet when Microsoft paid their way off a sinking ship.

[dilettante]

It means there will still be Nokia phones, just not any Windows Phone devices. Microsoft bought parts of Nokia's business for a lot of money, which will allow Nokia to get into competitive smartphones in the future.

[homer13j]

A# B# C# it's all over my head :P

Technically there's no B-sharp. A half step above a B note is C. unless you're talking about these guys:

Attachment 104391