We all know by now that Nokia and Microsoft have teamed up to put Windows Phone 7 on the Finnish manufacturer's hardware, but a new report claims that the partnership could have looked very different. According to TechCrunch Europe, Nokia spent time talking with RIM about the possibility of using the BlackBerry OS at the same time that it was considering Android and WP7. The site's sources explain that, while it's not clear exactly how far the talks between the two companies progressed, ultimately they came to an end thanks to insufficient interest from RIM. After Google reportedly said "No" to Nokia's desire to change core parts of Android, like substituting Ovi Maps for Google Maps, that left Microsoft as the winner of Nokia's heart.

We'll never know for sure how a Nokia-RIM partnership would've gone over, but it certainly would've been interesting to see. BlackBerry has steadily been losing market share lately, mostly thanks to Android, but some new Nokia hardware may have helped RIM begin to turn things around. Then again, BlackBerrys are known for their physical keyboards, and I'm not sure that CrackBerry addicts would pass up RIM's hardware for devices from Nokia no matter how great the Finnish hardware would be. Do you think a Nokia-RIM partnership would've been a good idea?

Via BGR, TechCrunch Europe