Nokia delays Windows Phone 7 platform adoption

PanARMENIAN.Net - Nokia is not adopting Microsoft's current Windows Phone 7 platform – which means that there is no chance of any handsets running Microsoft's software before the end of October. It is likely to be a lot later.

Rather than using the current version of the Windows Phone platform, first released last October, the mobile phone company is going to wait until a major release of the operating system, codenamed "Mango", is made available this coming October – and that is expected to have a slightly different name from the current Windows Phone 7 name.

Stephen Elop, the former Microsoft executive who since September has been chief executive of Nokia, and announced dramatically last week that Nokia will abandon its market-leading in-house Symbian smartphone platform, has been careful throughout the week to refer to the adoption as Windows Phone – and not Windows Phone 7.

That, coupled with his repeated refusal to offer any timescale for the introduction of handsets running Windows Phone this year, points to a decision to delay the introduction until the newer version of the platform is available.

A Nokia spokesperson said that Nokia has committed to using Windows Phone but would not comment further. Microsoft had not responded to request for comment as this story was being completed, The Guardian reported.