Nokia World includes lots of Microsoft speakers, Nokia Windows Phone imminent

By Tom Warren, on 19th Sep 11 2:51 pm with 59 Comments

Nokia and Microsoft partnership

Nokia’s annual Nokia World kicks off in London next month and the agenda hints at a big Windows Phone announcement.

A number of Microsoft executives will be in town to discuss Windows Phone on different levels. Joe Belfiore, who oversees Windows Phone Program Management, and is responsible for the design and software product definition of forthcoming generations of Windows Phones will be speaking on the first day of Nokia World. Albert Shum, Director of Mobile Experience Design at Microsoft and Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Bing and MSN chief will both also speak on October 26 in London.

Microsoft’s Brandon Watson, Senior Director of Windows Phone 7 development will speak alongside Matthew Bencke, General Manager of Developer and Marketplace on day two of Nokia World. Achim Berg, Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketing chief will round off a panel discussion with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop and mobile operator chiefs from Vodafone and Orange on October 27.

Microsoft’s huge presence at the event indicates a significant announcement. Nokia is expected to unveil its first Windows Phone device at Nokia World and Microsoft appears to be waiting in the wings with its best personnel to ensure Nokia’s audience is well informed of the Windows Phone benefits. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will provide the opening keynote at 9AM on October 26 where he is expected to unveil the first Nokia Windows Phone device. Nokia’s first Windows Phone, codenamed “Sea Ray” was leaked to the internet recently after Elop demonstrated the device at a company meeting. The device is expected to be made available by Christmas. The design of the device appears to be identical to the recently announced Nokia N9. The device is “super confidential” at this stage and features gorilla glass, pillow shaped backing and a carl ziess 8MP camera. The secret nature of the device hasn’t stopped it leaking however. A new video emerged recently of ‘Sea Ray’ booting up into Windows Phone 7.5. The video demo provides a good hands on for the new device, expected to be named the Nokia 703.

  • Anonymous

    I knew they’d show off a phone or two there. No way they wouldn’t.

  • http://twitter.com/alexwilks88 Alex Wilks

    Better be imminent, my contract runs out at the end of the month and I’m not gonna hang around if Nokia utters the dreaded ’2012′.

    • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

      If you live in the US, bet on it. It’s pretty much a given that the US won’t get the Nokia phones til 2012. 

    • Wiskerbiscuit

      Yep you got that right, Nokia could care less about North America.

    • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

      I don’t think that’s the case at all. Nokia knows it’s market though. It’s going to come out to countries where they have a strong established brand first, then return to America. So expect a European, Australian, and Latin American takeover before the US/Canada. Plus Nokia plans to make a heavy push here because Microsoft is based here. We’ll see heavy saturation soon enough.

    • Guest

      I can already tell the shelf life on this new alias is going to be limited.

  • Fred

    October 26 is too late! I will probably buy the Samsung Focus S instead.

    • Anonymous

      i think it is too late too, get the focus S
      Verizon needs the focus s if wp7 would succed in the evil US

  • Anonymous

    Eager to see the Nokia phones, but I have a strong feeling we in the US will not see them until mid 2012.  So if your desperately holding off on your next contract for one of these, you may want to give up and grab a Samsung Focus S.

  • http://profiles.google.com/arvydasg.93 Arvydas Grušeckas

    If Nokia is planning to announce their first WP7 at Nokia World, then they suck. They should do that faster. Samsung, HTC and others will launch their phones faster than Nokia

    • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

      And many of those phones they announced months in advance. How early did we see the Galaxy S before consumers were able to actually buy one?

  • Anonymous

    WP7 – The final nail in Nokia’s coffin.

    Nokia, it’s not too late, dump WP7 go back to the MeeGo N9 and support it. Nokia fans don’t like and don’t want WP7, they want a functional OS.

    Nokia will lose Europe and will not gain the US Market.

    They make a bad decision after bad decision… dinosaur of a company.

    Bye, bye Nokia!

    • http://twitter.com/oslicek David Petrla

      Sorry, but although N9 looks quite solid, it has no real chance. Look at webOS. Even Samsung’s Bada has only about 5000 apps now and it’s on market for cca 18 months.

      While MeeGo definitely has some potential, it has simply no chance to save Nokia from its imminent demise.

    • Anonymous

       Samsung’s Bada sells better than all WP7 phones combined.

    • http://kissride.wordpress.com Candide Yams

      All in one country…

    • Tom

      The Korean market ghetto is just as bad as the Japanese market ghetto.

      Twenty years ago, there were people buying Japanese electronics that weren’t available outside Japan.  Ten years ago, newspapers were all agog over the fancy phones available in Japan.  Look at where they are now.

      In the era of globalization, you either go global or you go home.

    • http://twitter.com/TheSeph The Seph

      I don’t know where you’re getting your information (likely pulling it out of your buttocks), but all the Comscore, et al reports I’ve seen show Windows Phone sells far outweigh Bada sells.  Bada sells are so insignificant that it gets lumped in with the “Other” OSes.  

    • Anonymous

      Do you have any links to those numbers? The comScore links I have only show Google, Apple, RIM, MS, and Symbian. No Bada or other…

    • http://twitter.com/TheSeph The Seph

      Uhm…   seriously?  I hate to be rude, but I think you need to think about this some more…

    • Anonymous

      I’m only asking for links. I’d like to read all the data, but I can’t find it. As I said, the info I found didn’t have “bada” or “other” listed.

    • Anonymous

      Bada runs on feature phones. Windows Phone is for smartphones only, and relatively high-end ones at that.

    • Anonymous

      Rather silly advice. There are already too many competing platforms on the market – iOS, Android, Win, BlackBerry and R.I.P. WebOS. Not to mention all kind of home-grown abominations like Bada, Buda, Badu, Budu and many other Doo-Doo from Asia. Running a stand-alone OS with no ecosystem to tap into, no hopes for catching up with the “Big 3″, no resources to advance it – yes, this is the the recipe for a winning strategy.

      At the end of the day, there will be only 3 and whatever el-chippo OS Samsungs and LGs of this world will create for the developing markets. Sure enough, Nokia’s move to Win 7 is belated. However, better late than never.

    • http://twitter.com/OldCongress Gamer

      isheep

    • Anonymous

      I can’t say whether or not WP7 will save Nokia in the end.  The cell phone market has become very crowded and is dominated by the big 3 of the traditional software market, MS/Apple/Google.  Like Motorola, HTC, and Samsung, Nokia’s only hope is to ally itself with one of these 3 so that they can focus on the hardware and reduce their software development costs.  Apple will not ally with anyone, and Google already has a ton of OEM’s on its side.  MS really was their best option.  They just need to execute faster and come out with some quality stuff.

    • https://profiles.google.com/christopher.gull/ CG

      You’ve lived too much in the western world as of late, haven’t you? Nokia still has THE dominating lead in more countries than you seem to know about, where the likes of Apple and Google have never been heard of, or accepted.

    • Tuxplorer

      WP7.5 is the greatest smartphone OS in the world. The Metro UI is the most beautiful, productive, elegant and gorgeous UI. WP7.5′s hub-centric approach is a BILLION times better than the pathetic app-centric approach of the crappy iPhone and Android.

      Put simply, iOS, Android, Symbian and MeeGo are just jokes compared to the wonderful Windows Phone OS. With Nokia and Windows Phone combination, the rest of the smartphone market will be DESTROYED within 12-24 months.

    • Anonymous

      Guess what? People thought WebOS was the bee’s knees and it failed utterly! Nobody wants Windoze Phonz!

    • Henrik

      Stop talking as if you actually sported any other opinion than your own. And you Really need a deep and cleansing reality check if you think Windows Phone will go the way of webOS. Actually, you honestly don’t seem to know much useful about anything, given all the comments of yours I’ve read in previous posts.

      Just ignore this guy.

    • Guest

      You’re regressing into your troll self again. Get back on the meds you were taking yesterday. They actually tuned you into someone who wasn’t a total moron.

    • https://profiles.google.com/christopher.gull/ CG

      What bollocks. I’m a hardcore Nokia fan and I want WP7 so badly! I have a Samsung Omnia 7 right now, while waiting for a Nokia WP7, but there’s no chance in hell I’m not going back to Nokia once they have a WP7 handset that suits my needs/desires.

  • GP007

    I hope they announce a few devices and not just one.  It doesn’t matter of the 2nd one doesn’t come out till January of 2012 but just show a few and not one lone device, that doesn’t say much about your speed after all this time.

  • Anonymous

    Although the first Nokia WP device is going to be released in 6 European countries for the 2011 launch, and with the U.S. not seeing their first Nokia device until 2012, I will simply be excited just to ‘see’ the actual device and have it officially announced by Nokia!

    If it takes until early 2012 for Nokia put their most advanced technology, services, build quality and design, and features into their WP devices for the U.S. release, which no doubt will be more advanced than the current oem’s, then I will gladly wait.  There is absolutely no way that I am going to settle for a Samsung, HTC, or LG device!

    Besides, Nokia needs time to work out all of the logistics with U.S. carriers since they have virtually zero presence here. And they need this time to work things out with ALL carriers, both GSM and CDMA, so that we can all get Nokia devices at around the same time (unlike the first WP launch where the GSM carriers got the devices first, and then the CDMA carriers didn’t get a device until 5 or 6 months later). The U.S. launch has to be smooth and hiccup free!

    • Anonymous

      I think you are right on all of that.  I just hope they get their phones here by fall of 2012 because that is when I’ll be up for a renewal.  I hope to replace my Samsung Focus with a nice subsidized Nokia phone.

    • Anonymous

      by fall 2012 it would be months in the US
      i wont get the nokia phones personally, if i am going to get a mango phone it would be the focus S two reasons 4.3 screeen and most importantly, the SuperAMOLED+ but am a blackberry guy so am getting the 9900 i cant leave bb because of bbm, all my friends are on bbm

    • guest

      I think the reason were not going to see the Nokia Windows Phone in the U.S. until 2012 is because they are going to wait for WP8 to be released and maybe be the first device with it?

    • Anonymous

      Pretty sure, that they won’t. Micosoft will not launch Windows Phone 8 before Windows 8, which Qualcom dated in late 2012. Nokia doesn’t have that much time.

    • Jinge

      They haven’t talked at all about WP8, I don’t think it is going to come 1st months of 2012… And I am really wondering what they can bring new to make a new woooo effect! Hope they will bring a complete maps support for europe, new config options (some are still missing), and… maybe a better interaction with PC/W8. After that… something new, a revolution?

    • Anonymous

      It would be a mistake for them to wait that long and I don’t think they will.

  • http://twitter.com/oslicek David Petrla

    It’s too late, no doubt about it. But I’m starting to think this may be a deliberate strategic decision. RIM has the habit of launching new products three weeks before the end of quarter – then they tell investors: “We ended the quarted with very promising sales of new product.”

    This seems quite similar… :-(

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Viki-Maverick/100002523433166 Viki Maverick

    Problem for Nokia is that the iPhone is due to be launched next month as well. As if that was not enough, they are launching 2 new models. God save Nokia. 

    I would settle for the HTC Titan though.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KTAHVKS2RNDWTQPHQEJALLRNEQ Adam Paris

      So? Apple will be launching two models a year. Nokia will be launching 12 models next year?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Viki-Maverick/100002523433166 Viki Maverick

      Yeah but 12 is not greater than 2 when it comes to Apple. :P

    • Guest

      2 new models? Sounds more like one new model and a cheaper 3GS or possibly 4.

  • http://twitter.com/OldCongress Gamer

    I’ve stocked up more than 10000 nokia share when it plunged below 5.2 dollars, I’m sure this is a good chance for me to earn a pile or perhaps 2012 ++ when they announce their WP sales.

    • Anonymous

      Smart move. Wish I had the money to do the same… Or get some options…

    • Guest

      Options would definitely be the smarter and less risky way to play it.

    • Jinge

      same here.
      And I would take few MS shares also, even if it may grow a bit slower, I think it is going to rise after mango release if they do their marketing job. And even more after W8 release! WP value is going to increase a lot.

    • Anonymous

      While I would take MS stock options to play with short term (riding the waves), I’m not sure waiting for a big rise after the release of Mango is a good idea.

      Looking at MSFT’s history, it peaked in 1999, then settled below 60% of that peak.. Since then they have released Windows 2000, ME, XP, Vista, 7, WinCE, WM, WP 7, etc… And a whole slew of other products including MS Office updates.

      Most of those past launches have been significantly important, yet stock movement has been slight. It now hovers between $20 and $30 with its last blip about $35 being in 2007 (I wish I knew why).

      Even Windows 7′s launch didn’t have a real impact on stock price… I don’t think Mango, or even W8, is going to get MSFT back above maybe 32-37… And not for long if either does.

    • Eastsider

      Lots of reasons, not least is that it began the period with a very high PE, like many other tech leaders that haven’t performed well over the last decade (Intel, for example). But there have also been a series of bad moves and failed efforts.

    • Anonymous

      True, there are many things affecting the stock, but looking at the overall trends, it seems that MSFT reached a point after 2000 where its stock moved almost in perfect step with the overall Dow trend line. Google looks that way now too.

  • winDOTcomNET

    I see the Nokias being in three flavors: cheap (free), fashion and beast. I do hope they include expandable memory and LTE capabilities. My contract dies in Dec and I am hoping to gget some front facing camera love.

  • Anonymous

    Gotta love our new world of instant gratification. Patience WAS a virtue. Now it’s just an annoyance. Hah.

  • s b k

    One thing I hope MS and Nokia has learned that when you announce a device for it to be available at that time. Its one thing that Android sucks at and if MS can nail that, it will really help them. 

  • Entegy

    I just hope that we don’t have to wait until Oct. 26 to get Mango for the current devices.

  • Wiskerbiscuit

    Microsoft & Nokia two companies that move at a snails pace. The cellular phone space moves to quick for these old school firms. Nokia will come out with a 1ghz single core handset, while the other handset makers will be announcing 2ghz models. They will always follow and never lead.

    • https://profiles.google.com/christopher.gull/ CG

      You don’t know Nokia’s history, do you? Or any other company’s history, for that matter? Nokia is not some sort of tiny company from Espoo; it’s a gigantic multinational corporation that has advanced at lightspeed. Now, I’m not saying that’s happening right now, but neither has that always been the case for Apple, HP, HTC, or any other behemoth of a company. It’s periodic, so don’t establish any wildly incorrect assumptions now.

    • Guest

      Welcome new troll moron.

  • https://profiles.google.com/christopher.gull/ CG

    It’s also *still* called ‘Carl Zeiss’, like it’s always been called :)

  • veldar

    great i’ll be waiting for it :D
    IM hoping for new phone announcement from nokia