Well slap my face and call me Steve: According to well known Nokia prognosticator/troll Eldar Murtazin, Nokia is in talks with Microsoft to bring WP7 to their handsets, ending the long, worldwide Symbian nightmare. The translated post on Mobile-Review doesn’t say much, but generally it notes that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has been talking to Microsoft for the past few months about launching a WP7 handset. This would, in short, meld Nokia’s excellent skills as a handset manufacturer with Microsoft’s excellent skills as a 7000 pound gorilla.

In the last month behind closed doors is a discussion of expanded cooperation Nokia and Microsoft (two-way discussion, initiated by the new leadership of Nokia). Not simply the exchange of technology, but creating an entire line of Windows Phone devices that may go under the name Nokia, through the sales channels for the company, and will also have the characteristic features of its products. This is a desperate measure of the two companies.

Mobile-Review goes on to disparage this move, but I’m all for it. What many of us forget is that Nokia is still a top manufacturer and that won’t change. Melding with Microsoft will only buoy both companies over the Android/iPhone fray.