I have a bad feeling about this ...

This week we heard that Microsoft and Nokia, the declining mobile phone handset maker, have partnered on a new smartphone with the Windows 8 operating system called the Lumia. The idea is that the new phone will compete head-on-head with the iPhone (and iOS) and a bunch of Android-running phones from makes like Samsung and HTC. Good luck with that!

We have seen this before. In 2009, slumping mobile carrier Sprint virtually bet the farm on a new Palm (remember them?) handset loaded with the WebOS operating system, called the Palm Pre. Neither Sprint nor Palm got traction against Apple and Google (developer of the Android system). The Pre is pretty much gone from the mobile handset world.

I am always amazed when bit players in an industry decide to partner-up and go head-to-head with well established competitors who essentially own the market. Is it chutzpah, arrogance or stupidity? Time will tell.