Microsoft and Nokia announced a broad ranging alliance this morning which will bring Microsoft Office and other productivity software to a Nokia phones. The agreement marks “the first time Microsoft will make Office for non windows mobile phones,” says Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop. There are 200 million Nokia smart phones out there, and Microsoft wants its software on all of them eventually.
But initially, the alliance is targeting enterprise customers and will be integrated into Nokia’s E Series business phones. The Microsoft software and features that will be ported to Nokia phones include:
The ability to view, edit, create and share Office documents on more devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote
Enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing and collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile
Mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft SharePoint Server
Enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center
But the alliance aims to go “way beyond email and Office,” says Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices Kai Öistämö. Microsoft and Nokia are focusing on communication and productivity apps (Office, IM, Sharepoint, OneNote), but the alliance opens up those 200 million Nokia smart phones to future Mobile apps from Microsoft, perhaps including Mesh (which will sync all apps across all devices). Update: Unfortunately, the alliance is only for the Office business and does not include Mesh, according to Microsoft.
The alliance is an acknowledgment that Windows Mobile is not going to take over the world, and smartly extends the reach of Microsoft’s mobile apps to a huge new audience of mobile professionals. It also positions Microsoft and Nokia in an unholy alliance against the encroachments of the more modern iPhone and Android smart phones. It allows Microsoft to deeply integrate its mobile apps into Nokia phones in a way that might make them more appealing to corporate customers.
“This is not a browser discussion,” says Elop. These mobile applications will create “really rich experiences that bring that device to life.” The apps will start with email and productivity, but will be designed to drive collaboration through instant messaging, presence management, and call control. The alliance for now covers only Nokia phones with the Symbian operating system (not its newer Maemo phones), which lends to its dinosaur feel. It also suggests that Nokia has no intention of ditching Symbian any time soon.
But why do you need an “alliance” to create apps for a mobile computer/phone? Microsoft doesn’t need an alliance to create Office apps for Android or the iPhone because they are (relatively) open mobile platforms, although it hasn’t yet for strategic reasons. What this alliance highlights more than anything else is Symbian’s creaking age. And it’s too little, too late. Mobile Office can’t stave off Symbian’s inevitable decline.
The tcrn.ch URL 404s, might want to fix that in the tweet
take the iphone off the vibrating mode, please! clean it up, rest, and tomorrow you can insert it again…
You really don’t proofread your articles!
“Microosft” and “a Nokia phones” ??? Use a spell check!! Man! I guess your posting interface is really primitive. Try Microsoft Word.
It’s called liveblogging, relax
And Ebonics is a legit way to teach our kids….
Haha, yeah.
…wait, what?
Hmmm.. I guess you were typing away while still on the call
Why not ask one of your geeks to add a spell check to it?
Wait. You don’t have a browser spellcheck plugin installed? And you blog on techcrunch ?
Great journalism guys. Truly amazing.
Finding the errors is have the fun of reading these posts, but boy, do I sure see a lot of seemingly basic things that wouldn’t be hard to fix.
Then again, even I just failed. “Half” instead of “have.”
Seems like people are more interested in spelling than content!
Preciseness in language is important.
Preciseness =-= precision
This is great! While the rest of the world forgot that there are millions of business users our there that will not touch the iPhone, companies like Microsoft and Nokia are looking ahead.
This is also great because it means that if this is successful, Blackberry and Pre versions will come out as well.
Everyone keeps on forgetting that long before the iPhone, there have been many mobile OSs that were capable of doing a lot. Microsoft Mobile has more than 65000 apps available for it. Yes, there is no app store (yet), but I never had an issue finding the app and installing it when I had the Treo 700W.
What I am still trying to find out is why this alliance is “Unholy”. Apple is allowed to have an alliance with Google?
Well said.
Since it’s gonna be on the E-series smartphones, I assume the MS apps will be on Symbian. People (mostly in America) make fun of this OS but again it shows how versatile and capable it really is. It only needs a more modern and beautiful UI to seduce the american crowd.
Yes, it is Symbian only. Nokia continues to ignore the future (at least in public)
Symbian Foundation’s open source version of Symbian is Nokia’s future. It’ll have drastic UI changes soon enough that breaks past compatibility, and makes touch-screen a major part of the OS. Come one man, at least pretend like you know what’s up.
Just yesterday Erick published a piece about google ad$ moving to the right, of course, not mentioning the eyetrack results from BING
to be cool and to be stupid is not the same!
Eric – why not step outside to the real-world of the enterprise deployments, in the US, and overseas, and see what mobile software and hardware is actually in use ?
Android and iPhone are but a couple of years old with limited success in the enterprise, and to imply that they are the future with no other innovation on the horizon requires clairvoyance way beyond the pay grade of your spell checker.
Sure, Erik. It’s not as if the Symbian foundation are developing the OS with, say, Symbian^2, ^3 and ^4.
Oh wait.
Gon on, admit it; you confused S60 with Symbian as the OS didn’t you?
Nokia? Symbian? What the frigg are those? Hopefully we can get back to some articles of substance on the iPhone, Android, Pre, and Blackberry.
What????? There are people who actually chose to not have “…the more modern iPhone…”???
wow…. will wonders never cease.
LOL! Unholy!?
People are that stupid!? To believe that only holy googlentology and holy apple are nice, gentle corporations?! And MS, or should I be that idiotic and write M$ as if the others are doing their bussiness for the love of Jesus Christe?
Microsoft Bashing is THAT stupid?
“Unholy” makes some sense in that the two are strange bedfellows to be forming an official “alliance” – their mobile platforms are direct competitors. Apple and Google have no such public alliance and really aren’t as fundamentally competitive (as Google makes very little revenue from Android).
-
Don’t forget that this is about RIM and Google (and Palm, to a lesser extent for now) as much as it is about Apple.
Obviously, Microsoft is giving up on Windows Mobile: MS Office mobile was one of its competitive advantages.
Really? Office mobile is, and has been, worthless. It is on par with pie and opera mobile… Jut because they’re on the phone doesn’t make them usable.
That said, I enjoy my Touch Pro with WinMo 6.5 build 23009.
I am sure this is great for somebody, but I can’t remember the last time I used Word or Excel? I think its been about two years?
What are they used for again?
ROFL! And if you ever do need to open one of these archaic type files, you can always use OpenOffice. Life is good!
This is best initiate taken by both companies.
Both brands are more popular and related the part of our daily life.
Now MS office will be in our palm using Nokia.
I think Erick is missing the point slightly, more specifically the reasons why Microsoft is starting up these alliances. Primarily, they feel threatened by Google Chrome OS, which they should rightly be terrified of. For reasons why, read here: http://bit.ly/XhN1R
Um, no. They feel threatened by Android and the iPhone. Chrome OS is not a mobile phone OS.
Enterprise mobility play here. RIM is the target.
Agree with OhhJohnny. This is about corporate market and Öistämö even specifically mentioned RIM in the Q&A of the conference call.
Of course Apple is a competitor too, but in the consumer market.
I guess, people were saying same thing about Palm before they came out with WebOS, so i guess, Techcrunch needs to just wait and watch, how Symbian^4 fares when its announced.
People often forget there is a huge fan following of Nokia, and they will be ready to buy new phones with newer OS, no matter what the blogs or critics say!!
Summary: Symbian demise is not near!!
I sure hope WinMo has improved. I have a WinMo 5.0 phone on Verizon and would be happy to drop it into a pint; except I wouldn’t dare waist a good beer.
@Jason So you’re commenting on this story why…?
If I was developing apps for Sybian, I’d want an alliance (inclusion on phone straight from the factory, marketing with Office logo, etc.) to ensure it was worth my time.
Totally not unholy. Unless one harbors an irrational hatred for all things Microsoft.
why this is “unholy”? Because it doesnt involve google or apple? Tech crunch has gone from bad to worse
YES, Techcrunch is HQ of GOOGLENTOLOGY!
When google launches Google-Farth they will be hapy to smell it!
@Earthworm – WM 6 has been functional, stable and relatively intuitive for me for the past year. I have a HTC Kaiser TYTNII (At&T rebrands as Tilt). The HTC Touch II is (coming?) out so you could probably snag a Touch at a discount online.
I think ‘Erick Schonfeld’ has totally lost it by identifying this as “unholy”. Grow up Erick. Try to be objective and it will help in getting the facts out.
BTW – you really need to work on your English and typing
Smart move from Nokia. Otherwise, Google and Apple would have kicked their ass in a few years.
I own an android g1 could you point out what apps provide any similar function besides email? android has potential if anyone makes something besides fart soundboards
Documents to Go is pretty much msoffice for Android (without the ms):
* Adobe® PDF support
* Microsoft® PowerPoint® support
* Create new files
* Edit, recalculate & save changes
* Open Password-protected files
* Advanced viewing & zooming
* ‘Live Folder’ for recently used docs
* And more
Don’t see a market for this.
Microsoft should just release a new phone.
So we can stop using rubbish phones by Nokia and Apple.
In fact come to think of it, why isn’t everything made out of Microsoft?
i thought MSoft did make there own phone?
http://www.yout...h?v=WazA77xcf0A
I think this is huge considering how much of office tools used by enterprise. MSFT is making al right moves these days.
And continues to loose market share – because of all those right moves. Got to luv it!
Silly title and analysis. Calling iPhone a “relatively open mobile platform” is crazy compared to Symbian, or even WinMo. This is clearly an enterprise mobility play, and part of Nokia’s grander shift from it’s ill-fated Intellisync play, to a partnership strategy. Please pretend like you know the space beyond, “iPhone! iPhone! iPhone!”
Oh, TechCrunch knows only the Googlentology bible, and Steve the Lord Jobs coolness of being…
But they sure must have way to get money from other corporations, right? digg…
And yet you continue to read and post on TC.
What a funny article. How can you say that iPhone is “relatively open” comparing it to Symbian? That is just incompetence.
I would say, that you have to be really ignorant not seeing that the most popular Office suite is just coming into the most popular, and yes, open, mobile operating system.
Comparing to Symbian and Windows Mobile devices Android is just not working, andan Apple’s iPhone is just useless toy for business. After this alliance BlackBerry, which was strong on the US business market is in trouble, as Nokia is going to the America now. That is the message you definitely did not understand.
right on!
Erick Schonfeld does not know how to use Office. So how can he write an article about it..
If the alliance between Nokia and Microsoft is “unholy”, then the Apple/AT&T alliance is downright SATANIC !!
Luuuke, embrace the Apple/AT&T dark side.
Who’s that guy in black? DICK Cheney?
@Erick: By saying unholy, it smells like you are more like a money making machine than an unbiased journalist as you already guessed that Nokia may capture bigger market share than the current. Prove me wrong.
The photo cracks me up. How does it fit?
I have no idea… I was thinking the same thing about not understanding the photo.
Embrace the dark-side, young numb-nuts!
I predict Microsoft will succeed at this field.
This alliance will be totally succsesfull. There aren’t just eriks around who want to test the 40th flaslight and give it 5 stars but people who want to work with their phones and microsoft office is definetely not bad for that purpose.
Good decision microsoft!
Erick Schonfeld – how much has google, apple or their fanaboys paid you to write this crap about unholy… were you drunk when you wrote this?
believe me… this is great move by both the companies… cant comment more… since you dont have taste in understanding this market…
I travel often to Asia, UK, USA.
My dream phone would be like this-
Gtalk
VOIP
GoogleVoice
Cal
Web Browser
Mail Application
8 MegaPixel Camera
32+ Gig Solid State Drive
GPS
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Large Battery?
I dont care who makes it
My main request is a open app policy! I will use whatever app I want and buy it from whom ever I want. And lastly please sell the phone at 7-11 with no contract! I will insert my SIM Card of choice!!!
If I had $500,000 I bet I could get the demo model built in Silicon Valley and then I could tool a case and source all the hardware and build my own frigging phones out of a Cell Phone maker in China. Maybe we could have a boot-loader with multiple OS’s. I actually dont know how it would be done…but I know its possible!!!
It’s true that Apple/Android are “open” in the sense that typical programmer can write a small app and the mass of user can install it on their device. I don’t know any Nokia phone user who install third-party apps. Mainly because these people are non-technical.
Looks like it’s a desperate attempt to survive. Nokia is used widely, especially in poorer countries,but it sure is out of fashion in developed economies. I have only used WinMo last 5 years, hate it, but certain programs that I need are only available on WinMo. Never touch Office Mobile. I don’t see how this help Nokia extend into corp, when a slim laptop works on excel more productively. It’s just a PR and something to write on the package.
“What this alliance highlights more than anything else is Symbian’s creaking age. Mobile Office can’t stave off Symbian’s inevitable decline. ”
Probably true, but why support a creaking product with another?
UNHOLY! this is JUST stupid!
Let’s count how many holy google ad$ at this page!
Use AdBlock Plus for Firefox. Problem solved.