Nokia chief Stephen Elop dropped another little morsel of info for smartphone fans to chew on at the Open Mobile Summit in London today, beyond boldly claiming that “Apple created Android“. He confirmed that other Windows Phone manufacturers would get access to whatever services Nokia crafts for the platform – even mapping.
Speaking during a Q&A on stage, Nokia CEO Elop was asked whether rival manufacturers would be able to make use of whatever services it can provide for Windows Phone as part of its partnership with Microsoft, announced in February. Would Samsung phones be able to use Nokia maps, he was asked?
“Absolutely, I sure hope so, that’s very much the intent,” he said. “It’s about the Windows Phone eco-system, heavily contributed to by Microsoft, by Nokia and others.”
Nokia owns mapping giant Navteq and provides free turn by turn navigation on its Symbian phones through Ovi Maps. It is widely expected that it will offer something similar for Windows Phone.
Elop addressed the strange relationship Nokia has with Samsung, as both a rival (through its Android phones) and an ally (through its Windows Phone handsets), as well as a customer of its parts.
“It is the case that we’re building an ecosystem in and around Windows Phone as the operating system…(but) it is the case that we want multiple OEMs to compete to participate in this ecosystem.”
“We are going to fight like rivals with Samsung…at the same time Samsung is a provider of windows phone devices…we encourage and want to see them in the Windows Phone environment,” he said.
Would you buy a Nokia phone if all its services could be had on a Samsung phone? Let us know what you think in the comments.
