Microsoft and Nokia on Wednesday announced an alliance that will bring Microsoft mobile software to Nokia devices next year.

Both companies, however, stressed that they remain committed to their respective operating systems - Windows Mobile and Symbian.

"We will develop Microsoft Office Mobile and related communication and collaboration software and services for Nokia smartphones," Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft Business Division, said during a call with reporters and analysts. "We will market these solutions to our partners and over the longer term, we will jointly design a range of new user experiences for future Nokia devices."

Nokia will first offer these services via its Eseries business phones, but will eventually expand to "many other Nokia smartphones," said Kai Öistämö, executive vice president for Nokia Devices, though he could not provide details on specific phones.

As a first step, Nokia has renewed its license with Microsoft Exchange Active Sync.

Next year, Nokia will start shipping smartphones loaded with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile. Other Office applications and related software and services will be added in the future, including the ability to view, edit, create, and share Office documents on more devices, enterprise instant messaging and optimized conference calling, mobile access to intranet and extranet portals via SharePoint, and enterprise device management via Microsoft System Center.

"What we have shared today is by no means the full extent of the alliance," said Öistämö. "This is much more than just putting Microsoft software on Nokia smartphones."

So what else should we expect?

Elop said Microsoft is looking to move mobile activity beyond just e-mail and voice communications. "There are all sorts of unique opportunities to integrate well the platform that Nokia presents both from a hardware and operating system perspective with the client applications," Elop said.

Just don't expect a Windows Mobile-based Nokia smartphone.

"There are no such plans," Öistämö said. Nokia is focused on delivering Microsoft software on a Symbian platform, but "over the course of the development of this partnership ... we might find other business opportunities."

"There will continue to be competition around Windows Mobile, Symbian and various other things," Elop said. "What we're focused on here today is saying we need to take the broad productivity services and put them in as many peoples' hands as possible, and that's very clearly what we're doing with this relationship."

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