Android Powered Nokia Smartphones are Officially Official

[cereal killer]

After what seems like years, Nokia has finally unveiled a line-up of their own Android Powered handsets. First up is the Nokia X. If you're looking for a top tier Android handset with the latest and greatest specs running 'pure' Android, you may want to look elsewhere. The Nokia X is running a forked version of Android and is absent of a lot of Google services. Nokia took AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and built a new 'skin' on top of it with Nokia and Microsoft experiences taking front and center stage. You'll find a tile-based interface, Skype and OneDrive integration. There will be no Google Play, Google maps, GMail, Chrome, Drive and the rest of Google's services. Nokia HERE maps and Microsoft services will replace Google's.

For those wondering about apps with the lack of Google Play, the handset will come with the Nokia Store installed and Nokia expects to curate hundreds of thousands of apps shortly after release. The handset will also support the third-party web based Yandex Store, which is popular in Russia.

The device comes in six colors, and all of them are what you'd expect from Nokia. Black, Cyan, Red, White, Yellow, and Green are what you can expect.

Nokia also unveiled the Nokia X+ which features slightly more RAM at 768MB. Both devices support dual SIM connectivity. The third and final member is the Nokia XL that sports, you guessed it, a larger screen coming in at a nice and comfortable 5".

Let's take a quick look at the specs in one place:

• Nokia X, X + and XL all pack a Qualcomm dual-core processor that can reach a maximum of 1GHz.
• Nokia X+ and XL sport 768MB of RAM.
• Nokia X comes in at an enemic 512MB of RAM.
• All 3 handsets are equipped with microSD support
• Nokia X/X+ have 2GB of onboard storage while the XL comes in a little higher at 4GB

The Nokia X is launching in Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, and in other emerging markets starting today. No word on a US launch. The Nokia X is priced at 89 euro ($122) and the Nokia X+ will be priced at 99 euro ($136) before taxes and subsidies.

 

[dgstorm]

I must wonder... why is Nokia even bothering to launch these devices? You know MS will kill them as soon as the sale goes through this year. Plus, they are such low-end devices they can't really draw much interest. Even with their low pricing in emerging markets, there will be better alternatives.

It almost seems like a joke at Microsoft's expense perpetrated by Nokia. It basically forces Microsoft to end up with actual Android devices on their "balance sheet/roster," after the sale.

 

[cereal killer]

I must wonder... why is Nokia even bothering to launch these devices? You know MS will kill them as soon as the sale goes through this year. Plus, they are such low-end devices they can't really draw much interest. Even with their low pricing in emerging markets, there will be better alternatives.

It almost seems like a joke at Microsoft's expense perpetrated by Nokia. It basically forces Microsoft to end up with actual Android devices on their "balance sheet/roster," after the sale.

I believe it's a move to eventually get users into Windows Phone by 'pushing' them into Nokia and MS services.

 

[johnomaz]

I must wonder... why is Nokia even bothering to launch these devices? You know MS will kill them as soon as the sale goes through this year. Plus, they are such low-end devices they can't really draw much interest. Even with their low pricing in emerging markets, there will be better alternatives.

It almost seems like a joke at Microsoft's expense perpetrated by Nokia. It basically forces Microsoft to end up with actual Android devices on their "balance sheet/roster," after the sale.

You never know how long they were in development before Microsoft sought to buy them out. Maybe they are going forward to hopefully make back some of the money they put into the project. To me, its a great low end device. Something kids will get from their parents. Just seeing that home screen though makes me run away from them.

 

[pc747]

(yawn) at these specs. DG&CK I think the reason Nokia is going android is to test the waters. These phones are not for us but for the overseas market. They are going cheap just to see where they can fit in with the market. Even though Nokia is selling Windows phones they are not getting the kind of numbers they hope so to go full out with the specs to lose their head in an already saturated android market would be foolish. They are probably seeing what area of the android market they can make their niche. In order to get eye in the high end game they are going to have to give the market something that will make them turn their head away from Samsung if only for a split second failure to do that and they take the chance of falling behind. Motorola is working the end of high end smart phone at a decent price, LG is on the heals of Samsung, and HTC is an innovation or two away from Samsung. So for Nokia they are probably looking to see if instead of burning money in innovation to compete with Samsung can they take what they have and compete in the mid to low end market.

 

[Narsil]