Nokia Windows Phone Unlikely Until After Major OS Update

MWC is in full gear at the moment and of course all eyes or on Barcelona, but undoutedly the single biggest piece of mobile news this year has been the Nokia Microsoft partnership. The single biggest question from that of course is when?

The Guardian is citing sources close to Nokia as saying that there will not be any Nokia Windows Phone handsets until after the expected update to Windows Phone. The update, codenamed Mango, is expected to take Windows Phone 7 to version 7.5, a bridging update between the original 7 launch and Windows Phone 8 expected in 2012. Its also worth noting that Nokia have not actually specifically said they will be releasing a Windows Phone 7 handset, which would tie in with the upgrade taking the platform beyond version 7.

What all of this boils down to is the likliehood of no Nokia Windows Phone products until after October this year. Stephen Elop has said that there will be a device this year, but that full scale deployment of the platform on Nokia products will not happen until 2012.