Goodbye Nokia, welcome Microsoft Lumia

Microsoft started dropping hints about its plans to kill
off the Nokia and Windows Phone brands last month,
and now the company is ready to make it official.
Microsoft Lumia is the new brand name that takes the
place of Nokia for the software maker. The name change
follows a slow transition from Nokia.com over to
Microsoft's new mobile site , and Nokia France will be
the first of many countries that adopt "Microsoft Lumia"
for its Facebook, Twitter, and other social media
accounts. Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that
other countries will follow the rebranding steps in the
coming weeks.
NOKIA IS STILL A SEPARATE COMPANY
Microsoft's decision to drop the Nokia brand itself
doesn't mean that Nokia is going away fully. Nokia still
exists as a separate company without its phones
business, and the Finnish firm now focuses on mapping
and network infrastructure. Microsoft's choice to use
Lumia as the Nokia replacement won't come as a
surprise to many. Nokia's Windows Phone apps have
been rebranded to Lumia recently, and holiday ads will
be pushing Lumia instead of Nokia .
What's not clear is how Microsoft will handle the
branding on its future Windows Phone. Existing Lumia
devices carry the Nokia logo at the front and back
typically, and Microsoft could opt for just Lumia or
Microsoft at the front and back, or even the lengthier
Microsoft Lumia combination. We'll likely have to wait
until Microsoft announces a new Lumia after the
rebranding exercise to understand exactly how the
company will label its future Windows Phones.