Facebook contact management coming to Nokia phones?

The world got its first look earlier this week at Nokia's XpressMusic phone, a music-focused handset with loads of media-sharing and social-networking features including Facebook. According to a Wall Street Journal story on Thursday, it appears that there may be a deeper partnership forming between the social network and the handset giant.

The two companies are reportedly just in talks, the Journal said, and there is not yet an indication as to which Nokia handsets would have the Facebook app. But it's possible that a compatible Nokia phone could link directly to Facebook profiles in its address book.

This is a big deal because Facebook, for all the hundreds of millions of profiles in its system, doesn't currently offer a great system for managing contacts. When blogger Robert Scoble attempted to use a script to export his Facebook friends' information to address book service Plaxo, Facebook promptly suspended his account. Facebook mobile applications for the iPhone and BlackBerry make it relatively easy to call or text a Facebook contact whose phone number is in the system, but you can't sync your contacts with a phone's main system.

The Journal article noted that Facebook also has been in talks with both Palm and Motorola regarding potential partnerships.

[Jeppedy]

I think this is really a lot of conversation about nothing. Given enough time, the integrations they are talking about are a nit. This has all been done before, just not with Facebook. A tweak here, a new API there, and everyone can do this on all platforms.
I don't see this article as describing a "Win" for Facebook or Nokia. Rather, I consider it a big Fail for an industry fraught with over-regulation and unnecessary constraints. I may live in a fantasy world with my iPhone (which some say is also plagued by overregulation from Apple), but these kind of apps are second-nature. The info is out there, I have Internet connectivity; why can't I just use the information?

Come on, Carriers. Let go and let the industry blossom as it should!

-jeppedy
(Note: I am employed by a major handset manufacturer mentioned in this article)