The Microsoft Silverlight platform is designed to be a direct competitor to Adobe Flash technology and it seems that Bill Gates has found a buddy in Finland for some mobile rich content. Nokia has announced that they will be supporting Silverlight in their S60 series of devices, offering consumers the ability to enjoy rich web applications on their smartphones.

Nokia S60 devices can already enjoy Flash in the form of Flash Lite, but Microsoft is working hard to get Silverlight into the S60 handsets as well. Nokia is embracing this relationship, because they are “creating terrific opportunities and additional choices for the development community, S60 licensees and the industry as a whole.”

Silverlight works across browsers and across platforms, working in much the same way as Flash. Microsoft’s rich web solution is already in use on such sites as NBA.com and NBC Universal. Silverlight for S60 is set for launch later this year.