Office politics
Microsoft and Nokia have announced they will be holding a joint teleconference at 16:00 GMT today, which is expected to unveil an alliance between the two companies, primarily to get Microsoft Office installed on Nokia handsets.
The two companies are being predictably tight-lipped prior to the announcement, but many media, including CNET and the NY Times, have quoted inside sources confirming the deal.
Microsoft is under attack on several fronts in the mobile market. Its operating system, Windows Mobile, is losing market share and consequently its other key product line - Office - is nowhere near as ubiquitous on handheld devices as it is on PCs.
Nokia also needs to raise its game in the smartphone market, which is significantly out-performing the rest of the phone market, but in which it's losing share. Nokia is committed to Symbian as its operating system, so it looks like Microsoft has chosen to overlook this in order to support mobile Office.
TechFlash reported last week that Microsoft's Mac business unit has scheduled a news conference for tomorrow, and the speculation is now that it will be announcing Office for the iPhone too.
