Update: Microsoft and Nokia to Continue to Compete and Collaborate

It's confirmed. You won't see a Nokia-branded Windows Phone anytime soon as the two giants have announced that they will still compete against each other in the smartphone space in a news conference. However, they also did confirm another rumor as being true--an official version of Microsoft Office will be coming to Nokia handsets, making Nokia handsets (presumably the business E-Series line) to be the second after Windows Mobile to have official office support. Office will be expected sometime in the coming year. Pricing, release, and support is not known at this time.

However, there is much than Microsoft Office in the most traditional and bare sense as we've seen on Windows Mobile, with just Word, Excel, and PowerPoint capabilities (Outlook Mobile is broken up into smaller applications, like Email, Contacts, Calendar, and Task on Windows Mobile). Nokia is getting ambitious with the project, with development already going on:

"We're only starting to scratch the surface," said Nokia Devices executive vice president Kai Oistamo. "This is much more than putting Microsoft Office on Nokia smartphones. Also working on bringing access to SharePoint access and other of Microsoft's tools.

We'll see where Nokia and Microsoft takes office. However, we'll also be hoping that whatever additional Microsoft services, including SharePoint and other tools, that will be coming to Nokia will see an equal made for Windows Mobile.

During the conference call, the two heads talked about the collaboration about being able to thwart some competition from Research in Motion with the BlackBerry, and less about the iPhone. Seems like Nokia and Microsoft are still gunning for the corporate/enterprise market share.

(via: CNET)