Nokia will soon launch its new Smartphone running Android operating system, according to several media reports. Although many in the industry thought that the chances of Nokia launching an Android phone ended with its acquisition by Microsoft, the report states that "Nokia has been building its own Android phone."
Google's Android platform has taken almost 50% of the global smartphone market at present. One reason for the move, some people believe, is that Nokia will find itself increasingly unable to compete against low-cost Android phones.The upcoming phone from Nokia—codenamed Normandy—will be a budget Smartphone in its Asha series line and will be out by 2014, according to the report, which experts believe could be a possible threat to the existing pioneers in Smartphone market.
While Normandy has some open-source elements of Android at its core, Nokia would be heavily customizing the look of the software, as well as the services at its core, much as Amazon has with its Kindle line, said the report.
According to a Nokia source, "The software has a look more similar to Windows Phone than to the "squircle" icons used on the Asha. Normandy would also serve as a way to deliver Microsoft services such as Bing and Skype." He told The Verge. Experts believe for Microsoft that would be a more acceptable alternative than watching more of those first-time smartphone buyers sign up not just for Android but also for Google's array of services.
In September this year, Nick Wingfield, in a blog on New York Times, wrote that before Microsoft reached a deal to buy Nokia's phone business, there was a possibility that Nokia could have switched its smartphones to Google's Android operating system sometime after late 2014.
A Nokia team is said to have started testing Android OS on the company's Lumia handsets "in full swing." A blog suggested that these efforts were underway sometime between 2012 and early 2013. The testing of Android OS on Lumia phones is believed to be the company's "plan B", to negotiate better with partners.
According to the blog, Nokia using Android OS wasn't a part of Microsoft's acquisition discussions with the company, however, Microsoft executives were aware of the existence of the project. Analysts believe that it is likely the plan impacted Microsoft's decision to acquire Nokia.
Nokia and Microsoft made the deal to use Windows Phone OS in 2011 and the former had the option to exit the partnership at the end of 2014. Nokia has long been criticized for choosing Windows Phone over Android, which many believe led to the slump in its global market share.
Last month, Twitter user EVLeaks is said to have published a press image of this device. Though there are no details available about the phone's likely features, the image showed a Lumia-style phone with no noticeable capacitive navigation buttons.
As to whether Microsoft will let the project see the light of day once it acquires Nokia early next year, one needs to wait and watch for the outcome!
via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGS0nVocgCo70bF1Kb1Swm20Adlrg&url=http://www.cxotoday.com/story/nokia-to-release-an-android-phone-in-2014/
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