Yeah, this team is from Nokia Corporation the part Microsoft did not buy (essentially business dev, R&D, some creative and remnants of the N9 (Meego) team that did not leave for Jolla among others). So totally separate from Microsoft.
Nokia had made a massive mistake by neglecting Symbian for half a decade, but I think going with Windows Phone was an even bigger mistake. Meego really could have been huge if they just stuck with it.