Originally published on the AnyGeo blog...  Ok, I’m going to come right out and share my blunt opinion on this one… So, it’s finally now official, the Nokia Microsoft partnership is done.

No shocker here as we’ve known all week this was coming and many have been speculating on this for several weeks or even months now.. likely back to when former Microsoft Exec (and Canadian) Stephen Elop took the reigns at Nokia. From yours truly I’m still kind of baffled at all this… I know here in North America the feeling of many has always been “Nokia (and Symbian OS) simply doesn’t resonate with the consumer, however, I’ve always been quick to point out that Nokia is the largest cell phone maker in the World, outselling all others easily and Symbian, until recently, has been the dominant mobile OS on the planet. Joe avg in the USA always has a hard time grasping that, mainly because you simply don’t seen Nokia smartphones on the street very often here, unless you happen to be at a mobile developer event or other geek event in San Fran or New York.

So now we have a North American calling the shots and now today’s announcement that Nokia will be adopting Microsoft’s mobile OS… from the PR “Windows Phone would serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform”. Felling seem to be mixed around the Twittersphere, with many vocal opinions coming out of the Global bloggosphere. Out of the gate I see some branding issues that are already kind of confusing. First, the name… Windows Phone 7 OS is really bizzare in my mind and I associate it with a Windows Mobile Phone. Nokia is a brand of it’s own and has a loyal following, to think of a little Windows inside sticker is just down-right weird! Then there’s the developer community. Often hidden in the background, the developers are truly the heart and sole behind the success of any mobile brand and device… after all, if your device can’t run those way cool apps then what good is it? Here in North America developers have been schooling themselves on the iPhone OS and perhaps more so with Android. Are these developers going to start flocking to Windows Phone? Wait and see I guess but if I were a developer here looking for some success I’d jump on this one really fast!

Finally, there’s the bloggosphere. Nokia has long relied on bloggers and Word of Mouth marketing to get the word out about their devices, cool apps, services, events and the like. I’m already seeing many bloggers now praising Windows Phone OS which surprises me as this is coming from people who in mind have no or little history, background, or knowledge of the Win mobile environment, so to praise it and “kiss ass” is such a way is almost humerous. I have to wonder how many Symbian bloggers are now going to search and replace “symbian” for “Windows Phone” and all of a sudden become self-proclaimed experts in the space. I for one will be really curious and skeptical as I watch this unravel. On the upside, I am looking forward to some great stuff coming from some newly focused blogs and from some skilled and experienced minds in that space! Some words of wisdom, keep in mind where you get your information before you re-tweet, re-post and praise what you hear, read, and see.

For more on the official Nokia reorg and Microsoft deal see this official PR

Some key tidbits from the PR that I picked up on…

• we are accelerating that change through a new path, aimed at regaining our smartphone leadership
• Nokia plans to form a strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a global mobile ecosystem based on highly complementary assets
• Nokia Maps, for example, would be at the heart of key Microsoft assets like Bing and AdCenter
• Under the new strategy, MeeGo becomes an open-source, mobile operating system project

Major elements of the new strategy include:

• Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem;
• Windows Phone would serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.
• A renewed approach to capture volume and value growth to connect “the next billion” to the Internet  in developing growth markets
• - Focused investments in next-generation disruptive technologies
• A new leadership team and organizational structure with a clear focus on speed, results and accountability