Microsoft (MSFT 0.37%) is betting big on Nokia's handset business as the future savior, hoping its recent acquisition will help it establish a material presence in the smartphone space that's eluded the tech giant thus far.

This quarter, the rubber was supposed to hit the road for Microsoft and Nokia as the $7.2 billion acquisition was set to close during the period.

With Microsoft set to become its sole benefactor, why has word spread that Nokia is planning to release a smartphone based on Google's (GOOGL 0.55%) Android mobile OS?

Source: Nokia

Nokia in bed with the enemy?
Although Nokia has had an Android-based handset in the works, few thought it would ever see the light of day. 

However, word has leaked that Nokia, in fact, is planning to launch a device powered by Google's nearly ubiquitous mobile OS at the Mobile World Congress later this month. So what does this say about the future of the Nokia-Microsoft relationship? Has it failed before it ever really had a chance to take off?

Not necessarily argues tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner, who argues that the move actually makes plenty of sense in the video below.