As opposed to what was originally agreed on, mobile giants Nokia and Microsoft today announced that both parties have signed the definitive agreement, a wee bit ahead of time. The partnership will emerge a new global mobile ecosystem as the two companies utilize each other’s complementary assets. Though ahead of schedule, it was still in line with the Feb. 11 joint announcement on strategic alliance. From Nokia and Microsoft CEOs:

“At the highest level, we have entered into a win-win partnership,” said Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia Corporation. “It is the complementary nature of our assets, and the overall competitiveness of that combined offering, that is the foundation of our relationship.”

“Our agreement is good for the industry,” said Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. “Together, Nokia and Microsoft will innovate with greater speed, and provide enhanced opportunities for consumers and our partners to share in the success of our ecosystem.”

They also announced that the initial Nokia products running on Windows Phone are making substantial advancements, boasting a couple of hundred engineers working on the joint engineering efforts. Nokia has also started working on the interoperability of important applications and services with Windows Phone, as well swaying third-part app developers to develop applications around the new device. As the company pointed out, there will be “ “Nokia-branded global application store that leverages the Windows Marketplace infrastructure.”

It was also confirmed that Microsoft will pay Nokia a couple of billion dollars as part of the inked agreement. A fraction of which will be spent on property-sharing agreement between both parties. Shipping of the devices in volume is expected to materialize on 2012, but a 2011 release is not entirely impossible.

[image credit Bits Blog]