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With no compatibility between current Lumia phones and Windows Mobile 8, Chris Donkin says there is a chance Nokia will not be able to recover unless its next range stays ahead of its rival’s version of the Windows handsets

With the vultures already circling around ailing handset maker Nokia, there was a brief hint of optimism in the air from analysts as Microsoft last week revealed its all-singing, all-dancing Windows Phone 8 (WP8). Surely the shot in the arm the struggling Lumia range needed – right? Wrong.

While statements from HTC, Huawei and Samsung hit the Mobile News inbox welcoming the new operating system, things were very quiet from Nokia HQ, and it’s easy to see why – with no compatibility between any of the Lumia phones currently available and Windows Mobile 8, the Lumia is already starting to look like an outdated handset.

It’s hardly going to help sales among the increasingly tech-savvy public who buy top-of-the-range devices to know they won’t be able to use the latest software on it – especially when other manufacturers are standing by to launch their Windows handsets by Christmas.

I’m sure Lumia owners also weren’t particularly heartened by the statement from the software company that Microsoft are launching an upgrade for Windows 7.5 users – Windows 7.8, which has a starting screen which looks just like Windows Phone 8. Only without any of the features of the new system.

Nokia bosses must be livid. And if they’re not, they probably should be. If the two companies are as closely linked as they suggest, why wasn’t the Lumia fitted with the hardware it was going to need when the new Windows operating system was released?

Perhaps if Microsoft really wanted to help out its nearest and dearest, it should have given it a heads up on this – or even handed it an exclusive deal on WP8 for a few months. As it turns out, the first wave of the new OS will be available across four manufacturers including the new reigning monarch of handsets, Samsung.

As Mobile News went to press, news was already filtering through the internet that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was receiving letters from angry Lumia 900 owners.

While Windows Phone 8 phones will be available by the end of the year, if someone bought a Lumia 900 on the day of UK release on a 24-month contract, they won’t get their hands on the new system until May 2013. That’s if they bother to buy another Nokia at all.

Then, to top it off, one of Nokia’s exclusive Lumia apps, Nokia Maps, is going to be built into Windows Phone 8, making it available to other manufacturers. It’s likely to be a valuable royalty stream which the ailing firm can ill-afford to turn down, but it means the Lumia loses yet another USP.

Probably the last thing Nokia needs –after announcing 10,000 redundancies (40,000 in just two years), another profit warning and hacking chunks out of its research and development arm – is for its closest ally Microsoft to stab it in the back. Yet that’s what appears to have happened.

With the new Windows software in place, Nokia will have to use its ‘close relationship’ to get the most out of the new OS to ensure the next series of Lumias will blow the market away and, crucially, be a step ahead of its rival’s version of the Windows phones.

One analyst we spoke to before the announcement said “Microsoft was holding Nokia back” at the high end, by not supporting multiple-cores and limiting the screen resolution the Finnish manufacturer could use.

That “holding back” now seems to be a full-on drag to the ground, and with market analysts relegating Nokia shares to ‘junk status’ there’s a chance the ailing manufacturer won’t be able to get back up.

Let’s hope that’s not the case.

Source Mobile News Online
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Posted: 2012-07-03 19:15:00
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I would gladly get nokia's next smartphone if they were indeed dying. But they are nowhere near that. Its an over blown news article. No matter what happens, nokia will survive, and I will wait until nokia gets something that would make me want their phone. Infact, they even announced recently if windowsp8 doesnt become successful, they have a back up plan and I would love to see what they would bring out to the market in that case. I like nokia but i dislike windows phone8 because It just doesnt suit nokia and with what they have done in the past. symbian os besides looking outdated, was more like android, open and feature rich.
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Posted: 2012-07-03 19:33:45
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Yes,there is also news today of Nokia talking of a back up plan if Windows 8 goes wrong. See here
http://www.gsmarena.com/andro[....]y_executive_says-news-4471.php
It would be interesting to see if Nokia did make an Android but they have a contract with MS
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Posted: 2012-07-03 21:25:03
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Nokia also has a deal with Apple. I think thats about patents but who knows.
We can also think of Chrome or a full Linux phone.
There are a lot of possibilities to run a phone. There is more as Android.

MS also said they would give 7.8 as much of 8 as possible. Full version of 8 is also possible but the adjustments were to expensive. I am disappointed also, 7 became a beta 8 this way.
Here's a free tip for Microsoft; give wPhone owners a huge, really huge discount when they trade in for a wPhone 8 device.

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Posted: 2012-07-03 22:30:00
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Me still love Windows phone
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Posted: 2012-07-03 22:42:00
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I hope Nokia ditches WP in favour of Android. Making a deal with Microsoft was a big mistake, as that big and experienced company released such a low OS like WP7... Just imagine how bigger the interest of PureView were there if it was working on Android...
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Posted: 2012-07-04 10:52:19
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I hope Nokia do recover, but they were once successful and then just begun to run out of ideas. Which is sad, but hey I do like their Lumias now just make a cracking WM8 phone and I would be happy. I have also just signed up for updates for windows 8, Im definitely upgrading my laptop to it!! Looks and runs amazing!! Finally Microsoft have cracked it, took them a while though. The only true amazing os that really should be here still to this day is Amiga Workbench OS. Really was ahead of its time, Windows 8 reminds me of it a little which is good because Mac OS is crap!
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Posted: 2012-07-04 11:33:24
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I missed the flexibility of Windows Mobile, good to know Android is as good when it comes to that, with addition of modern looks
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Posted: 2012-07-04 12:43:14
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I am sure Windows 8 should remain as fluid as it is now on Mango. I say that cos MS restricts any OS overlay unlike bloatware and such crap on Android. MS looks like their tablet is gonna be a cracker too. Nokia used to be so good at making them old communicators. So they should make a good W8 tablet. Would Nokua have to buy itself out of the MS contract if it was not working?? So far as I can see WP has become more popular with Nokia but still sadly not enough. Lumia is selling well in the US which is promising.

_________________
Material things don't matter,but Rock n Roll does!!!!

Sony Xperia U
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Posted: 2012-07-04 13:21:00
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Nokia communicators have been very successful because of their distinction not just in hardware, but also in software. with no lookalike competitors at all. but with WP8 there's hardly anything innovative that nokia could do with their succeeding communicators just as they did with the E7. MS's imposing rules in specifying hardware form factor, and specification made the dream of ever seeing a strong entrance of Nokia in the tablet market almost impossible. If people would still remember Nokia communicators are class leaders in display size and resolution, with the most efficient processors as well, but with WP8's screen res. implementation rules, can we ever see it with 2560x1440 display? can we see nokia tablet with S4 Prime (read: Quad Core) sooner than the next year's Android flagship would? honestly speaking MS's new OS hinders "true" innovation. and that's why Android is always better choice when looking for phones that are truly innovative.

Android: can be slow and buggy in the long run, but you'll surely get the best you can get
WP8: fast and fluid, almost bug free, but you're stuck with many similarly looking phones with few distinct features
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Posted: 2012-07-04 14:44:46
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