European device manufacturer Nokia announced it is expanding its agreement with Microsoft, enabling the Exchange ActiveSync service on all Nokia S60 3rd Edition devices, which accounts for about 80 million users around the world.

Users will be able to connect to their email accounts on the Exchange Server directly from their mobile phones. The Mail for Exchange mobile email application is certain to give Nokia a boost in the business world, where RIM has already gained momentum.

Nokia promised that Mail for Exchange will be available out-of-the-box in future releases of Nokia Eseries and Nokia Nseries devices.

“The costs of mobility are contained as companies are able to utilize existing Microsoft Exchange infrastructure, and there is also the strong possibility that a large number of employees already have one or more of the 43 Nokia devices that enable Exchange ActiveSync,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President Markets, Nokia.

The device maker said Nokia owners whose companies use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange for free, without paying additional services of fees from the email setup plug-in on the home screen, by launching the app from the Download folder or via the Settings Wizard.

“We take corporate and IT security policies seriously, and a comparison study showed that the device management and security policies for devices such as the Nokia Eseries are robust,” Vanjoki added. “This should give business heads and IT managers greater confidence when choosing between device brands to mobilize their workforce.”

Today, rival RIM is also expected to make an announcement involving Microsoft, this time on a deal that will give BlackBerry users access to Microsoft’s Live Search as their search engine for the device, CNET reports. It looks like the competition is on, especially since RIM is not only aiming at more of the consumer market, in addition to the corporate environment, but is also aiming at expanding the popularity of the BlackBerry around the world.