Nokia Pacts with Microsoft on Exchange

Nokia has inked a deal with Microsoft to offer Exchange support to around 80 million S60 Nokia phones.

Finland’s Nokia has inked a deal with Microsoft that enable access to Microsoft’s Exchange ActiveSync email service from Nokia S60 third edition devices—of which there are about 80 million in circulation. Some 43 separate Nokia devices will pick up the Mail for Exchange mobile email application, enabling users to take into their Exchange-based email accounts without having to buy a Windows Mobile smartphone…or a BlackBerry. Nokia also announced it will be putting Mail for Exchange on future E-series and N-series devices. All told, the agreement makes Nokia’s products the largest pool of mobile devices to support Exchange.

“The Nokia-Microsoft collaboration to bring corporate mobile email to businesses and mobile professionals is truly unbeatable. No other device manufacturer provides the wide range of devices that we have which immediately mobilize the hundreds of millions of email accounts from Microsoft Exchange,” said Nokia’s executive VP of markets Anssi Vanjoki, in a statement.

Companies that use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange on devices used by their employees without paying any additional fees; by connecting to Exchange Server 2007, Mail for Exchange supports Autodiscover, which simplifies the client set-up process.

The agreement highlights a growing collaboration between Microsoft and Nokia, which has also seen the Finnish handset maker adopt Windows Media, Microsoft Live Search, and (more recently) support for Microsoft’s Silverlight technology.