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The Nokia/Microsoft Marriage via Force of Android team up is definitely a plus for Nokia despite the appearance that Microsoft ex-management is moving heavily into company. Nokia probably makes some of the best hardware around, but there OS game has been lacking for some time. The only real unaddressed issue is that Elop never addressed the real reason why he didn't adopt Android, and the MSFT alliance doesn't address it either. Reference this quote from Endgadget:

Elop goes further, recognizing what I have been saying for about a year now, and that is Google/Android is at the forefront of the mobile computing wars - Nokia: 'Our first priority is beating Android. Again, I query, how is Elop going to do that if he is afraid to commoditize the platform though. Android is commoditizing the whole smartphone space, not just the low end.

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Nokia did talk with Google about adopting Android but decided that it "would have difficulty differentiating within that ecosystem" and the "commoditization risk was very high -- prices, profits, everything being pushed down, value being moved out to Google which was concerning to us." Microsoft presented the best option for Nokia to resume the fight in the high end smarpthone segment."

How is Elop going to address this by using Windows OS? He has to do more than just charge more, he has to produce better product at competitive prices, which keep getting lower. Elop will have to license the Widows OS, which is an expense, one that he would bear to nearly the same extent if he used Android. I feel he mistakenly looks at this as Google commoditizing the Android platform, in lieu of the more reasonable perspective of Google commoditizing the entire portable computer space. They can do this because they benefit regardless, as long as the masses are moved to the cloud. See

1. Android Now Outselling iOS? Explaining the Game of Chess That Google Plays in the Smart Phone Space
2. How Google is Looking to Cut Apple’s Margin and How the Sell Side of Wall Street Will Enable This Without Sheeple Investor’s Having a Clue

Apple has already acknowledged the need to address this issue by attempting to gain some control in the lower end of the market, and is planning a low cost iPhone which will be guaranteed to end in margin compression, just as I forecast (A Glimpse of the BoomBustBlog Internal Discussion Concerning the Fate of Apple and Apple on the Margin).

Those interested on an objective take on Apple in this heated contest should reference Apple Gears Up To Combat The Margin Compression That Apparently Only It, Google & Reggie Middleton Sees Coming.