Although there's no solid launch date for Nokia-branded WIndows Phone 7 devices just yet, we've heard that they could begin arriving before 2011 is up. Today Nokia CEO Stephen Elop reiterated that information in an interview with Reuters. Elop explained that Nokia is hard at work on the company's first WP7 devices, and that he's aiming to release at least one of those products before 2011 is up, even though another Nokia exec has said in the past that we shouldn't expect a WP7 handset from them until next year. Nokia's CEO also touched on their partnership with Microsoft, explaining that he doesn't expect Microsoft to try and buy Nokia outright and that, before the alliance was formed, Nokia considered adopted Android but ultimately passed out of fears that it would be too difficult to stand out.
There were concerns that Nokia's Windows Phone 7 handsets could be pushed back due to a rumored delay with the platform's Mango update, but it's good to hear Elop say that they plan to push a device out this year. Of course, now the big question is, will anyone buy them? We'll just have to wait until later this year to find out, but the renders we've seen so far look pretty intriguing.
