“Two Turkeys Do Not Make an Eagle”

There’s little doubt that Nokia is in big trouble when it comes to the smartphone market, having lost significant ground to Apple and Google. On Friday, CEO Stephen Elop has attempted to douse the cell phone giant’s “burning platform” by teaming up with his former employer, Microsoft.

Engadget is reporting that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has announced what was widely rumored over the last week: A “strategic alliance” with his former employer, Microsoft, to use Windows Phone 7 as Nokia’s “principal smartphone strategy,” essentially closing the book on a number of missteps over the past few years which have cost the company valuable time and market share.

In an open letter from Nokia CEO Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, the two executives laid out their plan for how the partnership will work, also discussing the finer points in a press conference Friday morning in London during Nokia’s annual Capital Markets Day.

"There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them,” the executives announced in their open letter. “There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift. Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed."

Essentially, Nokia will continue to develop its Linux-based MeeGo in the background, with at least one device launching later this year. For most every other smartphone, Windows Phone 7 will be the platform of choice, with Microsoft’s Bing and adCenter to “provide search and ad services across Nokia devices,” while the cell phone maker’s Ovi Maps will become “a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services and will be integrated with Bing.” Nokia’s current content store will be rolled into Microsoft’s Marketplace, while Redmond’s Xbox Live and Office software will most certainly be part of the Nokia package.

Google executive Vic Gundotra earlier this week tweeted that “two turkeys do not make an Eagle” as rumors of the Nokia-Microsoft partnership raged on, to which Nokia’s Elop slyly responded Friday morning, “Two bicycle makers, from Dayton, Ohio, one day decided to fly” -- a reference to the Wright Brothers, hailed as the inventors of modern aviation.

Whether the combined underdog efforts of Nokia and Microsoft can “disrupt” Apple’s iOS -- or even Google’s Android -- remains to be seen.