According to VisionMobile’s research, 67 percent of developers prefer to work with Android OS. 850 developers took part in the research of the market analysis and strategy company, and 36 percent of them work with Windows Phone, so Microsoft’s platform is in the seventh place now, giving way to Symbian, BlackBerry, Java ME, Mobile Web and iOS.

The interest towards Microsoft’s OS seems to have decreased (39 percent of developers used to work with it in 2010), but the good news is that 32 percent of developers said they are planning to start working with WP7 in the nearest future. Do you think 32 percent isn’t that much? Well, maybe, but what will you say when you learn that Android is the first among the platforms the developers are going to use in future, and only 35 percent voted for it. So Windows Phone is in the second place here, and even iOS and BlackBerry, not to mention Symbian, are left behind.

I guess the wish of the developers to start working with WP7 is somehow connected with the agreement of Microsoft and Nokia and the upcoming Nokia phones based on WP7. If Nokia and Microsoft really manage to create great smartphones and make each other popular, no wonder a bigger number of developers will want to create software and applications for them.

By the way, if you’re interested, here is the list of the platforms the developers are planning to use:

When talking about Nokia, the first thing that comes to mind is the mobile division of the manufacturer. But let’s not forget about Nokia Siemens Networks, which produces equipment for powering the wireless networks, that is to make the smartphones work. Nokia Siemens Networks one of the best technology in this field, but making money isn’t obviously their strong suit…

Nokia Siemens Networks’ main competitors such as Huawei and Ericsson were using cheap labor and big portfolio of services, so their services were notably cheaper, which led to Nokia’s division’s financial non-competitiveness.

The contract between Nokia and Siemens is applicable until 2013. Some experts think this will be the final break of the cooperation of the companies. There was a word that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and TPG had plans to take the division, but the agreement was cancelled at the last minute. Still The Wall Street Journal says that now Nokia is “in constructive talks with several bidders.”

This means at least now we can be sure that Nokia will be selling its NSN division if not the smartphone division. And all of the rumors about the new CEO of Nokia… Is this some kind of conspiracy?… It will be rather interesting to see the finale of the situation.

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Recently Nokia’s mid-range handsets were ignored by geeks — they were all probably busy discussing Nokia’s cooperation with Microsoft оr “selling” it to the same Microsoft and even to Samsung. However, Nokia is a toughie and if its business is not so good in the West, it doesn’t mean Nokia has lost its popularity in the countries with low income, too. I can prove my words introducing the next dual-SIM device of the company, the Nokia C2-06 Touch and Type.

Like the previously announced Nokia C2-00 and the X1-01, this one doesn’t have any awesome features — only a 3-inch TFT QVGA display, a 2MP camera on the back, a QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, FM Radio, EDGE/GPRS and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

Unlike the above mentioned handsets, the Nokia C2-06 Touch and Type comes in another form factor that reminds us the past times when mobile manufacturers filled the market with similar devices and they were very popular.

I think this handset can be ignored by those who prefer “smarter” and “nimbler” phones, but do not forget there are many other users who have lower incomes and can’t get more expensive devices. So the Nokia C2-06 is a perfect choice for them, plus it is a dual-SIM phone, and we can’t find such functionality in any high-end smartphone.

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Everybody was surprised when Nokia announced they were going to leave Symbian and Meego behind and switch to Windows Phone 7. Nokia really seems to hope Microsoft will help them gain back the lost market shares and become more popular. Seems to be a good plan, but… what if it fails?

Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said in an interview with CNBC that Nokia has no Plan B.

Griffeth: Here’s the question I have, Mr. Elop. As you transition from the Symbian platform – the operating system you’ve had for so many years there – to the Windows operating system, you are already scaling back research and development. Trying to cut costs as you make this transition. But you’re making the transition to an operating system that’s been used for handsets for ten years and has failed to gain traction at this point against the likes of an Apple or Android. I guess my first question to is, you know what if it doesn’t gain traction? These new Windows phones that you’re going to bring to market later this year? You’re already abandoning Symbian for down the road? What’s Plan B if this doesn’t work?

Elop: Plan B is to make sure that Plan A is very successful. The critical ingredient for success are there, consumers are saying the Windows brand operating system is very good. Better in terms of their satisfaction than the competing platforms, but Microsoft hasn’t had a partner doing its best work for Windows Phone. That’s the commitment Nokia made through this processor. By bringing together our hardware, software and services assets with the strengths that Microsoft brings, we have a formula we believe will drive great success.

Elop seems to be sure the cooperation with Microsoft will work and bring success. If it doesn’t… Is there a chance that Nokia will switch to Android? Even if there is, I don’t think Elop would admit it.

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Richard Green has worked as Nokia’s Chief Technology Officer for a year, since May 2010, and now he has announced that he’s going to leave the company because of some “personal reasons.” According to Reuters, the real reason of Green’s departure is hidden in his disagreement with the actions Nokia’s new CEO Stephen Elop takes.

Now Henry Tirri, head of Nokia Research Center, will become the new CTO after Green leaves. The most interesting thing is that Tirri has already been Nokia CTO once — before Green came and after Bob Iannucci was fired. Tero Ojanperä was acting as Nokia CTO before Iannucci, so four CTOs with different visions and ideas changed in Nokia during the last four years.

Most likely Henry Tirri will not stay on the position for a long time. But who will replace him? Maybe someone from Microsoft again? That won’t be surprising anyway… And one more question – if Nokia’s isn’t going to innovate in terms of software, relying on Microsoft, what way will the new CTO choose for the company? What will he offer to do? Maybe to invest in Nokia’s Research Center? We’ll learn it after some time, I guess.

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Nokia Research Center is trying bring in the best technologies to the Nokia products. Their main fields include materials science, battery research and radio technology.

The research center currently released a new video called “Explore and Share.” I guess it has to do with the NFC file transfer. This means that the file transfer from your friend’s smartphone to yours can be done much easier and faster. The feature used to be available for the Nokia customers, but the transfer was rather slow and you could transfer only 512 MB.

To fight this NFC was using additional features like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This allows the smartphone of the new age to transfer files shot by the powerful cameras. The videos are usually even “heavier,” especially if they are shot in 1080p capturing.

The second part of the video demonstrates “Express Tags.” Those are similar to NFC tags, but they give a chance for 100 Mbps data transfer and store up to 1 GB of data. This will help the owners of the smartphone to transfer 1 GB of data in 10 seconds, which is much faster than with 3G transfer. The only disadvantage of the features is that it will require a special radio inside like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and will need a special storage chip. This might mean the price of the feature-based devices will be slightly higher.

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Yesterday when I wrote about the rumors that Nokia will be sold to Samsung, I wasn’t sure whether I should believe those rumors or not. Fortunately, yesterday Nokia CEO Stephen Elop spoke at the Open Mobile Summit in London announcing that Nokia is not for sale.

I definitely like such statements! And there is no need to think what the spokesperson meant or whether there was something under the line. Moreover, Stephen Elop said people are tired of seeing iOS- and Android-powered smartphones everywhere, and Nokia’s future Microsoft-based devices will be a good alternative for all those who wish something new.

Plus, when he was asked whether some Nokia’s unique services will be used in other Windows Phone handsets, Elop answered that it is quite desirable. Truly, it will help both companies enlarge their market shares and become more popular. Generally, the question referred to the offline voice-guided navigation with Ovi Maps, and this anxiety is clear, because Google will offer Google Maps with free offline navigational capabilities soon, so Nokia must prepare something not to lag behind Google.

I think there will be some cooperation between Samsung and Microsoft app- and service-level, nothing more, and all these conversations made people think Microsoft and Samsung are hungry to ingest Nokia. However, Stephen Elop has come to Nokia not for this, right?

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There are rumors that Nokia World 2011 will be cancelled, but the event will take place anyway. Just like last year, the event will be held sometime in October in London.

Many people doubted the even will take place because of the strategy shifts of the manufacturer. But there are at least two major official sources that claim the event will take place. The first source is the mini-site of Nokia Connection 2011. Here the event is names “the biggest Nokia event of the year.”

The official tweet made by the Nokia South Africa also confirmed the event:

“Hi the NokiaConnection event in Singapore is very regionally focussed NokiaWorld in October is the global event ”

There is also the Symbian/Nokia app competition by Movistar Equador, which has a trip to the Nokia World 2011 as a major price. So we don’t think the event can be cancelled. It can take place on September 7 though.

October will be a more convenient time for Nokia World 2011, I think. The manufacturer will manage to make its plans concerning its cooperation with Microsoft more clear, and by October we’ll hear something new about Nokia’s first Mango phones, too.

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Recently, Russian tech analyst Eldar Murtazin tried to sell Nokia to Microsoft for $19 billion, and now other rumors are buzzing over the net. According to them, Samsung is going to buy Nokia. If the spokespersons from both companies came up with comments, everything would be OK, but they remain silent.

The thing is that no matter how hard Nokia is working to solve its current problems, its financial indicators hint there are still black clouds conglomerated above the company. Some optimists will say cooperation with Microsoft will help Nokia regain its popularity, but its market cap has decreased to $24 billion, and probably even Stephen Elop doesn’t know what to do.

On the other hand, Samsung is competing with other big manufacturers successfully, and Nokia’s patents can help it strengthen its positions on the global mobile market. It is rather difficult to imagine Nokia to be sold to Samsung, but if it happens, most likely a fusion will be made with Nokia Siemens Networks.

Again, these are just rumors, and as usual the spokespersons of both companies are quite modest when they’re asked about such deals. So, everything can happen, we can just wait and see.

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If you have ever thought about buying shares in Nokia, now’s the best time to do it, since Nokia’s stock has dropped by 35 percent.

Right now Nokia is the largest mobile manufacturer in the world that produces really nice smartphones and feature phones. It’s interesting that Nokia generates about 3.8 percent of its sales in the U.S., 3.6 percent in Brazil, 4.1 percent in Russia about 7 percent in India and 17 percent in China.

During the last five quarters Nokia experienced some problems and lost some market share, giving way to other smartphone manufactures like HTC. So in these five seasons Nokia’s share price has tumbled by 19 percent.

Nokia signed an agreement with Microsoft several weeks ago, and will start producing Windows Phone 7-based smartphones that will most likely make Nokia really popular and bring huge incomes. So now is the right moment to buy stocks and invest in the company. As The Street says, “with an 8.6% yield and a cost of only six-times cash flow, Nokia’s stock is becoming attractive.”

“Currently, a Nokia share costs a book-value multiple of 1.2, a sales multiple of 0.4, a free-cash-flow multiple of 5.7 and an enterprise-value-to-EBITDA ratio of 3.3, 73%, 90%, 75% and 78% discounts to technology industry averages,” The Street writes.