It's hard to tell if he did this on purpose or if he really did think people would listen to him but either way, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop asked a crowd of people to put away their cameras for the unveiling of something "super confidential." That something is Nokia's first Windows phone, codenamed Sea Ray.
Sea Ray looks nearly identical to the just-announced Meego-based N9 smartphone, but it's running Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. Nokia spent quite a bit of time explaining why the mobile OS is so great. If you want to see the whole presentation, check out the video embedded below, courtesy of the Hungarian website Technet (via Engadget):
Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 handset(s) will be launching in Europe later this year: France, Germany, UK, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands have been confirmed. They will be running Windows Phone 7.5 (codenamed Mango).
Four months ago, Nokia announced that it was choosing Microsoft's Windows Phone as its primary smartphone platform. Two months ago, Nokia and Microsoft finally signed a definitive agreement regarding their global mobile ecosystem partnership.
It's generally accepted that Windows Phone is not selling well. AT&T Mobility CEO believes things will start to pick up with Mango and as the Windows Phone Marketplace gains more apps. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop meanwhile argues that Windows Phone scores better than Android and iPhone with consumers, but OEMs are doing their best work for Android. He believes that once Nokia starts doing its best work for Windows Phone, the platform will take off.