Nokia still friends with Google after Android incident

The world’s leading handset vendor has extended a warm welcome to the newest member of the mobile handset operating system family, Android, and its accompanying alliance of Linux-loving supporters.

Despite being noticeably absent from the lineup of the Open Handset Alliance, inaugurated on Monday, Nokia told telecoms.com that its and Google’s strategies are not that different.

“It’s a positive development, in that another big company is publicly recognizing the importance of mobility,” said Kari Tuutti, director of communications for the Multimedia unit at Nokia. “The [Open Handset] Alliance is promoting openness, which is something we all agree on, along with an agreed set of standards and giving the consumer more choice,” he said, “so in terms of motivation, we are aligned.”

Given that the remit of the OHA is to focus entirely on Android, a Linux-based operating system and accompanying services, you could be forgiven for thinking that Google’s strategy is an all out attack on Nokia’s dominance in the smartphone space.

Nokia, which is largely a Symbian shop, owns around half of the smartphone market, but is not without interest in Linux.

The recently launched N810 Tablet device, based on Linux, is testament to this and Tuutti said he sees Linux as an especially important platform for internet focused devices.

“It used to be that we saw two internets – one accessed on the PC, and another accessed by the mobile. Now we see just one internet that is accessed by many different devices,” he said.

So does this mean Nokia will jump into bed with the Open Handset Alliance?

“We will have to see what the alliance delivers in concrete terms. Time will tell if it bring any value. But it is not impossible that we will join,” he said.

However, when asked whether the creation of yet another ‘open’ forum to promote mobility – think OMA, OMTP, LiMo, LiPS – will only create more confusion, Tuutti added that the industry does not necessarily need separate forums, “as the ‘internet’ is effectively one alliance.”