Nokia remains committed to the Symbian platform despite having Windows Phone 7 smartphones in the pipeline, announcing that 50 updates will be made to its legacy system this year.
Vlasta Berka, general manager for Nokia Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei, says it would be unwise for the company to abandon the Symbian platform when an estimated 200 million Nokia handsets run on it, and explained the firm teamed with Microsoft because “we need another ecosystem.”
Berka, speaking at the launch of the Symbian-based E7 smartphone in Singapore yesterday, said the firm has 50 updates to the operating system in the pipeline for 2011, including “more applications, better software and more Symbian partners.”
When questioned about the details of the Microsoft partnership, Berka said Nokia would continue to invest in the developer ecosystem. “We’re currently working on the transition process, to decide what will happen between Ovi and the Windows Phone Marketplace. The intention is to port Ovi content over to the Marketplace.”
The porting process means users of non-Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices will eventually be able to access Ovi-branded content from Marketplace.
Until the partnership starts to bear fruit, however, Nokia looks set to remain a struggling figure in the high-end smartphone market.
Its latest product, the Symbian ^3-based E7, is marketed as a touch screen business smartphone complete with consumer-centric features.
The product contains business-focused capabilities such as Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile, VPN access and mobile security from partners including Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, F-secure, RSA, Kaspersky, TrendMicro and Symantec.