From DailyTech: Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is navigating a high risk transition for its low end smartphones and feature phones in coming weeks. In winding down its relationship with Finnish tech veteran Nokia Oyj. (HEL:NOK1V)), Microsoft will close the Nokia Store (aka the "Ovi App Store") and kill the Symbian Xpress browser, replacing them with the Opera Mini browser and Opera Mobile Store from Norway's Opera Software ASA (STO:OPERAO).
When the mobile browsing deal with Opera was announced last year, it was initially unclear that Opera would also be stepping in to provide app store support to Microsoft's low-end devices. But with Nokia making a comeback in the device market with the Nokia N1 Android tablet, Microsoft faced substantial pressure to distance itself from the straying partner whose devices unit it acquired for $7.2B USD.
It appears Microsoft is moving aggressively to purge the Nokia brand name and legacy from its device lineup, even on the low end. While it will continue to use Symbian on its low-end devices for now, it's already killed off the Nokia X and Asha family (the latter of which is replaced by the new "Microsoft First" brand). It is also in the process of rebranding "Nokia Lumia" smartphones as "Microsoft Lumia" phones.
It appears that Microsoft will initially allow users to choose whether to upgrade from Xpress to Opera Mini, although it will urge them to do so. But in "late 2015" it will drop support for Xpress and force the holdouts (ostensibly) to switch.
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