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Helsinki/Redmond (pte028/15.02.2005/12:00) - Finnish mobile giant Nokia http://www.nokia.com has agreed to use some of Microsoft's http://www.microsoft.com digital music and e-mail technology in its mobile phones. As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) http://www.wsj.com reports, this could signal détente between two longstanding foes. The world's largest phone manufacturer and the world's largest software company said that they are working together to develop a set of technologies designed to allow consumers to easily transfer digital music between mobile phones and PCs. According to Nokia, it plans to use some Microsoft technology that will allow users to wirelessly synchronise their e-mail and address books between high-end Nokia phones and corporate computers running Microsoft's software.
As the WSJ reports, the move is not in line with Nokia's long-held strategy of countering Microsoft's efforts to gain a foothold in the mobile phone-software market. Nokia and other wireless companies have previously worried that Microsoft is trying to seize a large chunk of the profits in the mobile phone industry, just as it has in the PC industry. Even with the agreement, Nokia said that it will continue to compete hard with Microsoft. "It doesn't mean swords have been turned into ploughshares," said Mary McDowell, head of Nokia's enterprise division.
Up to now, Nokia has refused to use Microsoft's software to control the functions of high-end mobile phones. Instead, it has teamed up with Symbian, a London-based company in which Nokia holds a minority stake, to develop its own software for the so-called smart phones. According to Jonas Geust, vice president of music for Nokia's multimedia division, the Finnish mobile phone company teamed up with Microsoft because many people use Microsoft's Windows Media Player to organise digital music stored on their computer. "This is a very pragmatic issue," he said. "It's a way to get the PC and Microsoft ecosystem to meet with the mobile ecosystem." The software to be installed on Nokia handsets will be Windows Media Player 10.
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