Microsoft links WP7 to Amazon cloud
Gradually shifts to a multiplatform strategy, and Nokia deal may be a net loss in terms of WP7 fees
Published: 31 January, 2012
READ MORE: Microsoft | Cloud | Windows Phone
Microsoft has been forced to relinquish its old belief that Windows must prevail everywhere in the computing system, but depending which division you talk to, it has different views on where it should cling to its core OS, and where yield to multiplatform trends. It has been under mounting pressure to defocus on its own client system, especially in mobile, and strengthen its server and cloud offerings by opening them up to every mobile platform. Signs of that approach have been seen in deepening Android and iOS integration for Azure, 365 and other cloud products. But as the Nokia deal puts new momentum behind WP7, Microsoft is making the reverse move, integrating its mobile OS with third party cloud architectures, notably Amazon AWS.
The Redmond giant has released, under the Apache open source licence, a beta version of an AWS software developers' kit for Windows Phone. "This SDK provides developers with a speed dial that lets them quickly connect and integrate Windows Phone applications with AWS (S3, SimpleDB, and SQS Cloud Services)," said a company blog post.
This is the mirror of recent accelerated roll-outs to woo non-Windows mobile developers to Windows Azure, with Android and iOS, as well as WP7, toolkits for that cloud platform. However, however logical it is to treat WP7, a minor player, as one among many, Microsoft's devotion to its own operating systems is hard to break. It made it clear that one goal of the AWS support is to introduce developers to WP7.
"For developers familiar with AWS, whether they've been developing for Android, iOS or any other technology, this SDK will allow them to comfortably port their applications to the Windows Phone Platform," said the blog, as spotted by ZDnet.
Of course, OS sales remain vital to Microsoft's business model, even though that may have to change over time in a world of open source - and currently, it is estimated to get more revenue from patent royalties on Android devices than from WP7. This contrast may be even starker than previously assumed, judging by details which emerged in Nokia's fourth quarter statement. This indicated that the Finnish vendor may receive significantly more from Microsoft than the $1bn originally touted, as part of its deal to use WP7 in its smartphones.
"Our broad strategic agreement with Microsoft includes platform support payments from Microsoft to us as well as software royalty payments from us to Microsoft. In the fourth quarter 2011, we received the first quarterly platform support payment of $250m (€180m)," said the statement. "We have a competitive software royalty structure, which includes minimum software royalty commitments. Over the life of the agreement, both the platform support payments and the minimum software royalty commitments are expected to measure in the billions of US dollars." Further reports suggest that the platform revenues from Microsoft will far outweigh the WP7 licence fees Nokia will pay its new best friend.
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