As widely rumoured, Nokia this morning announced that it will adopt Windows Phone as its main smartphone platform, embracing Microsoft's operating system to power its future high end devices.

At first glance, this alliance represents a very positive development for two organizations that at one time dominated the smartphone market but are now struggling to achieve scale, their offerings having been overshadowed by those from Apple and Google in recent years.

We do not agree with the assessment that this collaboration represents the coming together of "two turkeys".

• Our user experience benchmarks of smartphones have shown that Nokia has consistently demonstrated its ability to produce hardware with exceptional build-quality. Nokia also continues to demonstrate leadership in hardware experiences including mobile imaging. However, we do feel that Nokia has yet to produce a compelling device form-factor that is as appealling as the Samsung Galaxy S or Motorola Droid X to consumers in the world's largest smartphone market - the USA.


• From the software perspective, we have been impressed by the usability of Windows Phone 7.

Moreover, the collaboration appears to be a good fit in terms of brand recognition - our recent research into consumer brand perception showed that Windows Phone is stronger in the USA, while Nokia remains a highly trusted brand in Europe, India and China.

However, while this alliance looks good on paper, we believe that one of the biggest challenges facing these organizations lies in execution. Both companies have been plagued by an inability to get high end product to market in a timely manner over the past few years. For Nokia in particular, the question must be asked - after failing to get both Symbian^4 and Meego products into the hands of consumers, what are the implications on time to market of switching horse yet again?

In theory, working with MSFT gives Nokia a platform that is complete and should therefore be faster to integrate. However, questions over how elements such as Ovi and Windows Marketplace will be integrated remain as yet unanswered, and have the potential to impact ability to launch.

Nokia has jumped from its burning platform into the life raft of Windows. In my view, both organizations must now paddle as fast as they possibly can if they are to reach the safety of the shoreline.

- Kevin Nolan

Although Microsoft is yet to release official sell-through figures for Windows Phone 7 devices, indications from the software vendor's OEM partners have suggested that uptake of the new OS has so far failed to meet expectations.

In an effort to understand why consumers appear to have not yet embraced WP7, Strategy Analytics undertook a qualitative survey of 158 smartphone owners and intenders in San Diego, CA. The research was conducted in the week ending 21st January 2011 with an equal number of consumers in four categories: owners of Android, iPhone, and Blackberry devices, and consumers who intend purchasing a smartphone within 60 days.

Respondents were asked how likely they would be to consider a device running each of the following operating systems if they were to purchase a new phone immediately.

• 85% of respondents said they would consider or strongly consider an iOS device
• 84% would consider or strongly consider an Android device
• But, only 51% would even consider a Windows Phone 7 device

We asked all respondents who said that they would not consider a WP7 device - or were unsure - to explain the reason for their answer in their own words. Post-survey analysis of their responses indicates that the main reason for this is a lack of awareness of the OS.

If reports that Microsoft have spent in excess of $500m promoting WP7 are accurate, the company will no doubt be disappointed to find that 1 in 4 of our respondents said that they had never heard of the OS, or felt that they did not know enough about it to consider purchasing a device running it.

The full list of reasons given by WP7 rejecters (and the number of respondents who mentioned each one) is as follows:

• Unfamiliar with it / Don't know enought about it (42 mentions)
• Prefer another OS / Prefer Mac products generally (11)
• Consider Windows Mobile products to be Difficult to Use (9)
• Consider Windows Mobile products to be Poor Quality/Unreliable (9)
• Not enough Apps / Fewer Apps than Competitors (3)
• Consider Windows Mobile software to be Outdated (2)

It is also interesting to note that 1 in 8 respondents have a negative perception of Windows Mobile products - either that they are 'difficult to use', 'buggy/slow/unreliable', or simply 'outdated'. Most of the individual comments suggest that this perception is based on personal experience of earlier versions of the software.

Our Wireless Device Lab will produce a full report on smartphone OS perceptions during 1Q 2011.

Microsoft today officially  launched Windows Phone 7, eight months after it was first announced at MWC 2010 in Barcelona. The hardware specs of the initial nine devices that will run Windows Phone 7 are all pretty impressive. The Samsung Focus, the first WP7 phone that will be launched in the US on AT&T has a very impressive 4-inch Super AMOLED display, and at only 9.9mm thick, presents a very appealing form factor. Other WP7 devices to follow at AT&T bring in a variety of form factors – the LG Quantum with a slide out keyboard for those who reject touchscreen only devices, and the HTC 7 Surround with a kick stand and slide out speakers, providing an optimized multimedia experience. Despite these variations in hardware, WP7 should provide a consistent experience with the same look and feel of the homescreen and standardized ’Back’, ‘Windows’ and ‘Search’ keys on every device. Based on the launch details, Windows Phone 7 does provide a number of compelling features. The 6 ‘Hubs’ provide a centralized access point to content on the device, from people, to pictures to games. Integration with XBOX Live will allow gamers to control their avatar across multiple screens, while PowerPoint with editing capabilities and full animations is an innovative feature. Having already used WP7, I found that there are some features which are not entirely intuitive, especially accessing menu options from within applications.   My main concern with Windows Phone 7 is about the process of customizing and personalizing my homescreen. Yes, the tiles can be moved around by dragging and dropping them. I can add live tiles for individual contacts for quick access to not only speed dial and speed text but also speed social networking and photos. But, with only one homescreen, I can imagine that after adding a few contacts to this homescreen, along with downloading numerous applications, I could find myself scrolling through a very long list just to open up an application or contact card, or whatever other content I am able to put on my homescreen. Suddenly, I have to do a lot of searching and scrolling to find one of the 50+ applications which I have organized across multiple homescreens and in multiple folders on my current device.  Here, Android, iOS4 and Symbian ^3 appear to have an advantage over WP7 in terms of customization and organization options. Based on what I have seen, I have no doubt that Windows Phone 7 will provide a “user experience which is consistent and delightful” – the question that remains is just how intuitive it is to use in everyday situations and how easy it can be personalized. - Paul Brown Strategy Analytics’ Wireless Device Lab will be conducting an end user benchmark of Windows Phone 7 when it is commercially available.

Update - 4 March 2011: Wireless Device Lab clients can read a review of the Windows Phone 7 - HTC Trophy user evaluation here

Thank you to everyone who voted in our recent poll asking for your device highlights from MWC. The results are now in...and it appears that Sony Ericsson captured your imagination. 30% of you said that the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 pro was your highlight, while 24% of you also chose the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mini. Windows Phone 7 Series was also up there, also gaining 24% of your votes.

Thanks again to everyone who took part and voted.

- Paul Brown