Some partnerships hit it off really well, some take some getting used to and the rest are doomed from the start. Today, Nokia’s chief executive Stephen Elop stepped on stage with Microsoft's Steve Ballmer to confirm their commitment to each other's companies. But is it a mutually beneficial relationship? Or is it Win-Win situation for Windows Phone? I went along to the Strategy & Financial Briefing in London to hear the reactions of some of the industry’s most-respected thinkers.

Featuring:
Rafe Blandford, All About Symbian
Ewan MacLeod, Mobile Industry Review
Pete Cunningham, Canalys
Chris Davies, SlashGear
Ina Fried, All Things Digital
Mike Butcher, TechCrunch Europe
Nick Clark, The Independent
David Murphy, Mobile Marketing Magazine

You can read the full story on TelecomTV.com.

Whether you think Stephen Elop's 'burning platform' memo is legit or not, or if it was leaked on purpose (which it probably was) - Outsider Elop is making a point that he will be implementing some big changes at Nokia and finally shaking up the Finnish giant. You can read the full post on Engadget.

The lines that resonated with me most are:

"Our competitors aren't taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem."

It's not about releasing a feature-heavy handset but creating an entire experience that works well - software, application stores, marketing, advertising, etc.

"At the lower-end price range, Chinese OEMs are cranking out a device much faster than, as one Nokia employee said only partially in jest, "the time that it takes us to polish a PowerPoint presentation." They are fast, they are cheap, and they are challenging us."

Nokia's dumb phones make up the majority of its sales - but it can't keep up with Chinese OEMs and the advent of under $100-smartphones in emerging markets!

Many in the media are betting that Nokia will finally embrace outside platforms - especially Microsoft - move to Silicon Valley and axe plenty of staff. Ex-Nokia employee and analyst Tomi Ahonen's argues that Nokia shouldn't abandon Symbian and MeeGo for Android or Windows Phone 7.

One thing is for sure - there will be big promises on Friday, when Nokia holds it's Strategy and Financial Briefing in London.

I'll be there and hopefully filming/streaming. Watch this space!

Slumdog Millionaire Dev Patel is the new everyman in this short film, The Commuter, which was shot entirely on Nokia N8 handsets. The 7-minute film also stars Gossip Girl's Ed Westwick, Charles Dance and the lovely Pamela Anderson.

Although The Commuter was shot and acted by professionals, it hopes to encourage young people to get involved in filmmaking. However, I can guarantee 99% of DIY films made on a mobile will look nothing like this action-packed short.

Ms. Anderson was at the London premiere at Aqua Nueva and posed for the paparazzi (see images/video below). I'm a big fan of her work!