Nokia (NOK), the world's largest manufacturer of cell phones, has been hit hard over the past year as Google (GOOG) and Apple (AAPL) ramped up market share in the market for mobile devices. The company, which has a 40% share of the world's cell phone market, has been struggling to develop a smartphone that will let it compete not only with the Android operating system, but also with the iPhone and the BlackBerry, by Research In Motion (RIMM).

While Nokia fumbled, the stock, which traded at more than $15 per share in April, has fallen about 38% and now trades around $9.50.

But things could be about to turn around.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is opening its online App Store for iPhone software in a move some think is more important than the 3G iPhone launch on Friday. The App Store will let iPhone users choose from over 500 software applications to download, including games, educational programs, mobile commerce and business productivity tools.

In business, and specifically in technology, there are some people who live in the past and can't see beyond familiar and existing systems. Lucky for us, there are the true visionaries, those who innovate and take things further. Steve Jobs is one such visionary.

After seeing the success of Palm (NASDAQ: PALM) smartphones initially, and then the addictive-like relationship Research in Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry owners have with their handsets, it is no wonder Apple could zero in on what consumers want and give it to them in an intuitive way. That has been Apple's mark all along.

Indeed, the Mac OS has always been touted as being the better operating system, and yet it is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) with its Windows OS that dominates the market. Many say that Jobs' was overprotective of the software, causing third-party developers to shy away. If that's the case, Jobs has learned his lesson and is amending his stance now with the iPhone software, hoping to achieve a new computing platform.

Of course, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) demonstrated the huge value of owning a pervasive operating system.

But what about the OS for mobile? Microsoft has been building its own alternative. Moreover, Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has Android.

However, the winner may actually be the handset maker, Nokia (NYSE: NOK). This week, the company announced it is purchasing Symbian, which has about 60% of the global market for the mobile OS. The offer comes to about $409.8 million (to grab the 52% that Nokia doesn't already own).

But, unlike Microsoft, Nokia isn't taking a proprietary approach. Instead, Symbian is going to be open source.

True, this is likely to take some time (say several years), but in the meantime, Nokia can leverage its massive global platform by using Symbian's 1,200 programmers. The upshot should be improved innovation and faster product launches (oh, and there will be no need to pay licensing fees to Symbian).

OK, so what about rival handset makers that rely on Symbian, such as Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Sony Ericsson Mobile and Samsung? Might they be worried?

Perhaps, but then again, they realize the importance of having standardization. And by being open source, the handset makers have the leeway to add their own capabilities.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates MergerBook.com.

Today, Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) and Vodafone Group (NYSE: VOD) announced their collaboration on the development of S60 software on Symbian OS, with the release of the first Vodafone specific software package to all S60 licensees.

Yesterday, Comverse Technology Inc (OTC: CMVT) announced the expansion of its Converged Messaging portfolio with the launch of Comverse Instant SMS, which combines the worlds of SMS and Mobile Instant Messaging, or MIM.

Additionally, Openwave Systems Inc (NASDAQ: OPWV) is launching a whole line of new products.

2007 and 2008 will be the battle between handsets and smartphones, those with the best software will win out. Wireless service providers have been slow to bring PC functionality to handset devices for fear of losing control of the handset. In the PC business, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC) make all the money, with little left over for anyone else.

This means industry consolidation in the wireless software market is about to begin. Look for everyone to start making wireless software acquisitions, either acquiring or partnering, with Openwave, Comverse and Symbian. Also look for the big software companies like Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Inc (NASDAQ: SUNW), with its Java platform, to get into the M&A spirit.

With the recent release of the Motorola Q, does Motorola and Microsoft have a winning combination here to take on the Treo and RIM Blackberry world? The Q is the first QWERTY-based device using the Windows Mobile platform released exclusively on Verizon Wireless. Our friends over at Engadget recently put the Q to the hands-on test shortly after it was released by Motorola/Verizon just about a month ago. How does it stack up? More importantly, what does this signal for both Microsoft and Motorola share prices? TheFlyOnTheWall's blog takes a look.

It's pretty easy to see that Microsoft wants its presence in the mobile computing world to grow as fast as it can. And, by some counts, it's doing just that. The Symbian mobile operating system has had a long lead in the space but may lose ground to Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform, as the newest version 5 has some incredible functionality built-in. With the desktop Windows Vista operating system being delayed (seemingly forever), Microsoft needs a few home runs in order to fill in the gaps.

Can strategies like Windows Mobile and the Xbox 360 be enough? They better be. Gaming is so popular now that it's hard for the world's largest computer software maker not to be in the space. Mobile phones outumber personal computers by a huge margin -- so it makes sense for old Softie to be playing in that sandbox.

Can Microsoft's possible domination of these two burgeoning markets help it regain some lost ground and also help it to recover from a disastrous share price (that's undeserved, in my opinion)?