Microsoft Reminds Samsung and Nokia Who Is In Charge Of Windows Phone 8

Stephen Elop (L) and Steve Ballmer (Image credit: AFP/Getty Images via @daylife)

Yesterday?s announcement at IFA in Berlin from Samsung of the first Windows Phone 8 powered smartphone raised a few eyebrows in the tech world. With Nokia and Microsoft hosting a joint event in New York next week (and every sign that this would be the debut of Nokia?s Windows Phone 8 ) it was expected that Nokia would have the privilege of being the first to announce hardware based around the new platform.

Turns out the 4.8 inch gorilla glass, 1.5GHz ATIV S is the first as Microsoft handed that privilege to Samsung.

Which is a smart move by?Microsoft. There may be a special relationship with Nokia through a mix of patents, marketing support, and software contributions to the OS, but Microsoft is going to want to remind them that it?s not quite a partnership of equals. When Nokia and HTC had LTE Windows Phone ready to announce at CES earlier this year, the lead handset honours were handed to HTC.

Nokia made enough noise on their own with the Lumia 900 during January, and the same is likely true with whatever device will be announced next week.

Samsung?is likely in need of a corporate hug after the bruising picked up last week. Whether by design or by happenstance, they?ve been able to show that they can do something ?other than ape Apple? in the eyes of the media with this new handset.

This sort of give and take between suppliers is classic Redmond. With Microsoft?s help, Samsung can show off a new user interface, a different way of handing a smartphone UI, and to show they can design a modern and stylish smartphone.

Now let?s see how it does with consumers.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2012/08/30/microsoft-reminds-samsung-and-nokia-who-is-in-charge-of-windows-phone-8/

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