It remains to be seen whether or not this move will help Nokia or Microsoft at all. There are at least 2 huge things in their way, as I see it. One, a lack of

It remains to be seen whether or not this move will help Nokia or Microsoft at all. There are at least 2 huge things in their way, as I see it. One, a lack of developers. If few apps exist for Windows Phone, the platform will suck no matter what else these companies bring to the table. The Windows Phone platform might be innovative, but please...it still lacks features that its competitors have (and uses yet-another-language-and-API). For developers, this means that writing original apps may be harder, and porting apps certainly will be harder. The platform won't grow quickly without quick ports. And with just a few thousand devices sold, apps may not make much money. Since this platform is essentially unproven, it seems particularly insane for Nokia to gamble, because they've created nothing but uncertainties for new developers, and alienated the entire base of developers that they used to have. Two, especially without apps, about the only way to woo new customers is to compete on price; and by now, how can they offer a low price without hemorrhaging losses for a year or more? This "worked" for the Xbox, but if Microsoft were any other company it would have gone under using that strategy. Microsoft hasn't bought Nokia, either, it's just a partner; so how much of the throwaway cash will come from Nokia, and how much from Microsoft?