14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop was present yesterday at D9, where he answered some questions regarding the company's plans for the future, and where he briefly showed a device that allegedly runs under Windows Phone.
Of course, this does not come too much as a surprise, since Elop already confirmed that it was using a Nokia device powered by this mobile platform, the OS of choice for the company's future smartphones.
Unfortunately, Nokia's CEO did not unveil specific info on the said handset, and even refused to turn it on, but chances are that it was indeed a Nokia Windows Phone Prototype, it seems.
Walt Mossberg from All Things Digital asked Elop about the said device, but received no specific info on it.
However, Elop did say that he already confirmed the fact that he was carrying a Windows Phone handset with Nokia hardware inside.
Nokia's CEO also reiterated plans to have the first Nokia Windows Phones available for purchase before the end of the ongoing year.
The company is struggling to have these devices available on shelves in time for the holiday season, and should ramp up volume production next year.
Starting with 2012, Nokia would launch new mobile phones much faster than before, at least this is what they already promised. Over a dozen such handsets should land next year.
Nokia evaluated the options it had, including MeeGo, Windows Phone and Android, and concluded that, with Windows Phone, time to market would be cut by a third even when compared to Symbian.
They considered moving to Google's Android OS as well, but decided that Nokia's influence in that ecosystem would have been reduced.
Windows Phone was seen as offering more opportunities, and the main focus for Nokia at the moment would be to differentiate itself from Apple and Android.
The following years would be difficult for the company, that's for sure. However, the handset vendor seems confident that Windows Phone would help them get back in the smartphone game, although there are analysts who believe otherwise.