Microsoft’s Nokia buy may signal the end of Windows Phone as we know it

[Wireless News]

As we recently observed, it’s not clear whether Microsoft’s longtime software licensing business model can will work inlending devicethe mobile world, especially when Google is letting smartphone vendors use Android on their devices free of charge. Thus, it seems logical that the company would consider changing its mobile software business plan to look either more like Google’s free-to-use model or more like Apple’s tightly controlled model that seamlessly integrates hardware and software. With the release of its own Surface tablet and with the just-announced merger with Nokia on the horizon, it seems that Microsoft is leaning much more toward the Apple model. Slate’s Farhad Manjoo has a smart take on why Microsoft’s decision to buy Nokia is a seismic shift for

More... (http://news.yahoo.com/microsoft-nokia-buy-may-signal-end-windows-phone-192035177.html)