Switched On: Microsoft and Nokia trade posturing for pragmatism

Few tech giants have circled each other as intently over the past decade as Microsoft and Nokia -- Big PC vs. Big Handset, not quite direct competitors but hardly partners, and only occasionally backing common initiatives such as DLNA. But this year there have been signs that relations between the two companies have been thawing -- the Finnish tundra's warmed to the Seattle rain. In March, Nokia announced that it would support Microsoft's Silverlight on its S60 handsets. And earlier this month, the two companies announced a "global alliance" that will begin with Microsoft porting Mobile Office to Symbian in order to compete more effectively against fast-growing Research in Motion.Just weeks after that announcement, however, both companies have made moves in each other's space that show they're willing to break with longstanding positions in order to capture a share of the other's opportunity.