The burning memo written by Nokia’s chief executive officer Stephen Elop has been read by almost everyone who is interested in the smartphone segment. The memo itself was brutally honest, to say the least, and spoke about how Nokia’s strongest competitors, both Google and Apple, have been consistently doing better and outmaneuvering the company. That has meant continuous loss of market share for Nokia.

Steve Ballmer, the chief executive officer of Microsoft, has his stamp on the deal as it’s always been his strategy to get Microsoft everywhere, and he has managed to create a win-win situation this time around. There are some basics that Nokia will still have to get right. The first is that it has to come up with a product fast. People are not going to wait long. The market is moving at a quick pace, and Nokia will have to do the same.

Android handset makers are coming up with dual core processors, and powerful supporting features, and Nokia too will need to create something concrete soon enough. At the same time, Windows Phone 7 will need some apps with the punch that’s been missing so far. Microsoft has also maintained a good rapport with the developer community by handing out phones, T-shirts etc; it just needs to build on this.

The crux of Stephen Elop’s announcement was a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft, as well as an attempt to build a global mobile ecosystem. The decision was to go with Windows Phone 7 as the primary smartphone platform for Nokia. The company will also develop a new approach to capture the next billion internet connections.

Nokia will use Bing as the primary search engine, whereas Nokia Maps will become part of Microsoft’s mapping service. The content and App store from Nokia will be merged with Microsoft’s.

The decision, of course, proved hard for anyone who was betting big on Symbian or MeeGo ( an open source platform being developed by Intel in association With Microsoft and other developers). Will the decision make any difference to Europeans, who buy large numbers of Nokia phones? Like all business deals, even this is not without its own risks, but one thing is for sure — Microsoft is definitely going to support the Windows Phone 7 platform, so Nokia can expect a stable period in which it may try out its own strategies.

Here are some very obvious truths, clear to the Indians, which are gradually being recognised abroad too. A significant majority of low end Indian mobile users have made it clear they would prefer India made brands, simply because they provide better value for money and getting them repaired is easier as well. Currently, the lower end Indian mobile market is dominated by Nokia, and the other Indian mobile brands are gradually gaining market share.

The report from Emerging Markets Communications Strategies (EMCS) service of Strategy Analytics says that 63 per cent of respondents have said that they would prefer a phone made by an Indian manufacturer.

The Indian handset makers are creating and integrating all sorts of features which were previously unheard among the mobile users. Some work as fitness controller and others work as mosquito repellent (fake currency detector also) and users are perfectly fine with it. It’s just that there was a huge gap in what was being offered to the consumers which gave Indian manufacturers that much needed opportunity to get a foothold in the market.

The Indian brands are concentrating on the basics, such as more margin for the dealers than what the multinationals were offering, technology along with brand building. There were several other features which were ignored by bigger companies such as dual SIM and better battery life. The multinational brands are not expected to keep quiet, however. In the end, however, it is the price which attracts the people most. For example, QWERTY phones were not available in the market for less than Rs 10,000. Micromax provided it to Indians in less than Rs 5000.

Ever heard a company claim its smartphone to be a tablet PC too? Well, that’s what Acer says about its newest device, Acer Iconia Smart, launched at the 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Iconia Smart is perfectly described by its name and its iconic representation of a smartphone. With its huge 4.8 inch touchscreen display, this device sure is the biggest amongst smartphones, but slightly smaller as compared to the 5 inch Dell Streak.

Although bigger smartphones defy the purpose of a cell phone, still, with their additional capabilities such as better experience in terms of internet browsing, emailing, gaming and multimedia are fast becoming a hot favorite among smartphone lovers.

Coming back to the Iconia Smart, it is based on the hottest new Processor chip and the star of MWC, the Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon running at 1 GHz with 512 MB each of RAM and ROM, and an Adreno 205 graphics engine.

Although considering its Flash 10.1 support and HSPA capabilities, 1GB of RAM was expected, but 512 will suffice for most functions of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). One thing great about the Iconia is its multi axis gyroscope based position sensing, which enables motion control gaming.

This device is expected to ship starting April, and will be targeted at customers in Europe first, followed by the USA market a couple of months later. Pricing information available tags this device at about $500, which translates to about Rs 23,000 but by the time it reaches India the price is expected to be around Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000.

ZTE, a global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, has showcased an Android-based smartphone called Skate at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona.

ZTE Skate is expected to cost around Rs 13,000 in markets worldwide, including India. This smartphone is inspired by the design of a skateboard, sports a thin look and weighs 120 grams.

It features a 4.3 inch screen to provide an optimal web surfing experience to consumers. It uses Android 2.3 operating system, an 800 MHz Processor and an Adreno 200 graphics processing unit (GPU) to support the widescreen, high definition display.

ZTE Skate also incorporates a 5 mega Pixel camera, multimedia Bluetooth extension, A-GPS capability, hardware compass, Wifi and G-sensor.

For the Indian market, ZTE has traditionally focused on low-cost feature phones, which were bundled with different service provider plans; but now the company plans to sell standalone devices.

D K Ghosh, the chairman of ZTE India had earlier said to The Mobile Indian, “We plan to launch mobile phones based on Android operating system in India within a couple of months, without bundling them with any service providers plans.”