On Nokia's Windows Phones

Nokia recently took the wraps off its new line of Windows Phone phones, the Lumia 710 and 800. I’m going to focus solely on the 800 for now.

From what I’ve seen in hands-on videos and photos, this device is stunning. It’s made from one piece of colored polycarbonate, so it’s tough and scratches don’t reveal the “true” material’s color underneath.

The design is thin with a 3.7-inch curved AMOLED display on top - and it’s running Windows Phone. I may be an “iPhone guy”, but I have no qualms about giving credit where credit is due and Microsoft really did a stellar job in creating a responsive, unique and breathtaking OS for its mobile phones.

So, why does the Lumia 800 look so familiar? Because Nokia just released it as the N9 running the death row inmate operating system, MeeGo.

Sadly, MeeGo is a very good OS, as described by Vlad Savov in his review of the phone on This is My Next, so knowing it will be killed off is kind of a bummer. Fortunately, Nokia has a worthy replacement in Windows Phone.

Several days ago, I received an email from a reader named Steve in response to my linking to a leaked image of what would be the Lumia 800. Steve doesn’t exactly share my love of Nokia’s decision to go with Windows Phone:

The N9, which this phone is clearly based on, could have been Nokia’s iMac. The company isn’t in the same state as Apple was in 1998 but it’s close. Now we have a new CEO that has basically burned down Nokia’s house to give us… Windows Phone 7? The parallels are almost too close, except Apple had purchased NeXT and Openstep and built Mac OS X as their own (and got Steve Jobs as a bonus).

Nokia is licensing from Microsoft, and granted, that could be beneficial for both, but you should check out, if you haven’t already, the N9 launch event on YouTube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU8kYwqZKgM

This proves that MeeGo was a real, fully baked thing. The whole package is excellent, and the design aesthetic is very Apple, but it’s its own paradigm and looks like it works very well. Just proves that Stephen Elop is no Steve Jobs.

I agree that MeeGo should have been given its fair shake, but is now really the time to release another operating system in a market saturated by iOS and Android? BlackBerry is on fire in the middle of the street and no one can be bothered to piss on it to put out the flames, and Windows Phone needs a boost. This is a worthy competitor that deserves a chance to succeed - even if “success” means being a distant third.

Nokia and Microsoft make a great team and here’s why: Windows Phone is a solid mobile OS, Nokia’s designs can reach Apple-level beauty and WP7 needs good looking phones to differentiate itself from Android.

For example, here’s a HTC Windows Phone device and here’s an array of HTC Android phones. Notice a difference in design? Among any of them? I don’t.

The biggest mistake Nokia is making right now is not in its design choices, nor its OS choice. Its biggest mistake is not launching the Lumia in the U.S. immediately. Both companies need to remain relevant in the U.S. mobile phone market and right now, neither one is. Nokia is remembered here as “that flip phone maker” and Microsoft is still trying to shake off years of Windows Mobile backlash.

I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a Lumia 800 next year - I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long to do it.