Nokia and Microsoft Get Closer with Silverlight Deal That Challenges Adobe
7 March 2008• Nokia Adds Second Microsoft Platform with Rich Content Tools to Series 60
• Former Enemies Become Frenemies in Effort to Sideline Google
London-based Wireless Watch reports on the latest move in software giant Microsoft and handset giant Nokia getting closer. To get the complete issue, please e-mail paperboy@riderresearch.com.
Nothing highlights how the mobile axes of power are shifting as clearly as Nokia’s deal this week to use the Silverlight platform, from its former software arch-foe Microsoft, for its Series 40, Series 60 and Internet Tablet devices.
This deal represents a huge boost for the rich media development framework - its first major mobile uptake, coming ahead even of support on Microsoft’s own Windows Mobile. All this points to two key developments that could shape the evolving mobile Internet platform, and put pressure on Nokia’s new worst enemy, Google.
First, a string of concessions show that Nokia now believes it will do better to work with Microsoft and against Google and other challengers for the mobile Internet crown, especially as Microsoft’s chances of creating a top-to-bottom software platform that could threaten Nokia in the mobile world are fading.
Second, the fact that Silverlight will appear on Series 60 before Windows Mobile shows that Microsoft is making its own compromises, finally accepting that, in the handset world where it has failed to thrive outside an enterprise niche, it still has a chance to drive key software technologies, but to do so will have to decouple these from Windows and work with the important cell phone operating systems, Symbian/S60 and Linux.
Nokia, too, has learned to become less religious about the OS, embracing Linux and open source on some systems, though the interesting thing will be how flexible both giants become with regards to different Linux frameworks, notably LiMo and Google’s Android.
With the Nokia deal, Microsoft gains prime positioning for Silverlight on Series 60, which commands well over 50% of the smartphone user interface/apps framework market. It also lends the first credence to the Windows giant’s promises to make Silverlight more cross-platform than the dominant technology it seeks to topple in rich media, Adobe Flash (Silverlight was one of the first Microsoft products to make serious moves outside Windows, when desktop Linux and Mac support was announced last year). John Case, general manager of Microsoft’s developer division, said there were several more mobile announcements for Silverlight in the wings, and claims it has attracted over 8,000 applications in its first year.
Silverlight v Flash
Silverlight was launched in early 2007 as a plug-in for developing and running rich media and interactive applications, based on Microsoft .Net tools, in different browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Apple Safari. It is positioned as an alternative to Adobe’s Flash Player, the leading tool for web video and rich Internet application development. It is part of Microsoft’s bid to evolve a common development environment for Windows, Web applications and online web services, though it has no short term plans to include offline access, something that is supported by Adobe in its new Integrated Runtime (Air) platform. This aims to make Web applications behave more like desktop programs, including offline access and storage of local data, features that the as-yet unreleased Google Gears also promises, as does the open source Mozilla Foundation’s Prism.
So Silverlight is by no means the finished article, especially in the mobile world, but does represent Microsoft’s willingness to accelerate support even for distasteful platforms - it has already addressed an initial strong criticism, lack of support for the Opera browser. Formerly known as Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere, it is an important element in Microsoft’s Web 2.0 efforts, mobile and fixed, and the software giant already has a wide range of development and media authoring tools targeting Silverlight available in final or beta form, exploiting its natural advantage over newer entrants such as Google and even Sun, whose content authoring tools remain over the horizon.
However, Adobe remains the company to beat - Flash Lite, the mobile version, is on over 450m handsets, says the vendor, and Flash in general has about 97% penetration on the Web for delivering multimedia content. It supports most mobile platforms, including Qualcomm Brew, and some devices are now shipping with fully-fledged Flash - notably some high-end handsets from LG like the Chocolate and Voyager.
Adobe also offers a service called Flash Cast that includes channels of content, a home screen called Flash Home, and tools that show software developers how their Flash apps would look on specific mobile devices. Other challengers are coming up fast too, with Google Gears for
Nokia and Microsoft Get Close
In such a situation, Nokia’s support will be invaluable to Microsoft’s shaky credibility among mobile developers and handset makers.
The Finnish company (which does also support Flash Lite) will make Silverlight available on Series 60 this year and on lower end platforms and the Linux Internet Tablet early in 2009. Microsoft will be developing a portability kit that will later be made available to other handset providers too.
This is the second major Web technology agreement between the two former enemies. Last fall, Nokia made a strategic decision to partner with Microsoft over digital rights management, and to help the software house complete its new version, PlayReady (see Wireless Watch October 15 2007). While Nokia will use DRM throughout Ovi, it also signed its first carrier agreement for the platform, with Telefonica - also the first carrier to announce a trial of PlayReady in 2006 - which will work with Nokia to create a customized user interface based on the N95 look and feel.
This is all a welcomed shot in the arm for Microsoft. The most critical battle in the wireless world is to take the reins of the mobile Internet as it evolves, and that means all the majors are trying to create a software platform that will make the Web even more usable on a small device than it is on a PC, and so drive new applications and revenue streams. The company that plays the greatest role in defining these new behaviors and interfaces can hope to gain Microsoft-class influence on the mobile platform, and this will give it some points over Sun, Adobe, Google and Yahoo, and more importantly still, confirm that it can form a mobile powerhouse with Nokia as a friend, rather than having to swim against the Finnish tide.
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