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Microsoft inks Nokia deal with phones set to fly in 2012

Once and future ring

The marriage between Microsoft and Nokia was today splashed in ink with the two companies signing a definitive deal for their 10-week-old strategic union.

Under the new alliance, the two tech firms will build a number of Nokia Windows phones.

The devices themselves are expected to ship in volume at some point in 2012, according to a measured statement from Microsoft.

Nokia preferred to exude a more excitable tone in its press release by saying that "the pressure is on for first delivery in 2011".

After 15 years of Nokia trying to develop and maintain its own software, the company finally crumbled in February this year when it abandoned its own smartphone platforms and APIs, in favour of committing itself to Windows.

"At the highest level, we have entered into a win-win partnership,” said Microsoft's ex biz division head Stephen "Burning Platforms" Elop, who is now president and CEO at Nokia.

“It is the complementary nature of our assets, and the overall competitiveness of that combined offering, that is the foundation of our relationship.”

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer chimed in that the multi-billion-dollar deal between the two firms, both of which have struggled in recent years to make an impact in the mobile market, was "good for the industry". ®

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