Last February, Nokia and Microsoft announced a “broad strategic partnership” that would use “complementary strengths”. The two companies promised that a joint collaboration would create a new world for mobile devices and both companies even considered acquiring RIM.  This partnership entailed that Nokia would adopt the Windows smartphone platform.

Nokia was to help expand the range of Windows powered mobile products. In exchange, Nokia search functions would all be powered by Bing, which was formerly known as Windows Live Search. The two companies would merge together their online marketplace product offerings. This would mean that Nokia’s digital products would be assimilated into the Microsoft Marketplace.

Microsoft & Nokia Commitments

Soon, all the joint planning will lead to fruition as Microsoft continues to push for integration among its Windows branded products; and it’s no surprise that Nokia software will finally begin to appear on Windows smartphones. The Windows 7 phone allows Nokia a proprietary platform on which it can push forth its software, and the Microsoft-backed hardware component only shows the commitment the two companies have made to each other.

Nokia’s previous mobile efforts involved Intel. The two companies jointly created the MeeGo OS by merging two of their existing projects. The MeeGo is a Linux based operating system, created initially because of the lack of support Windows 7 had for the Intel Atom processor. The MeeGo never reached the success of most other operating systems, and the future of MeeGo is currently up in the air. It is rumored that MeeGo may continue without the support of Nokia and Intel.

Can Nokia Afford a Potential Flop?

With a partnership with Microsoft, Nokia seems to be putting all of its chips on the table. If Nokia and Microsoft are currently working hard on developing a smartphone platform, along with search engine features, it would seem that the pair are gearing up to lock horns with rivals Google and Apple. Google is one of the most powerful search engines on the commercial market, and Apple holds a significant portion of the smartphone market with its iPhone.

If for some reason the Windows/Nokia venture fails, the move could be extremely costly for both companies, although more so for Nokia, as Microsoft could always fall back on its other Windows-based platforms. It is unclear at this point how well the century-old Nokia would weather further blows, but only time will tell as the smartphone war continues to lead up to a massive confrontation between the electronic giants.