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Microsoft-owned Nokia dives into the world of Android smartphones

 

Nokia has finally joined the Android bandwagon. The company recently announced the much-anticipated move last month in Barcelona, where it rolled out three new Android-based devices. It’s incredible to think about the fact that the concept of “Nokia following trends in mobile market” didn’t really exist a few years ago. Now that the Finnish phone manufacturer has plunged into the Android situation in order to circumvent dropping global sales, it makes one wonder what the future holds for Nokia in terms of market capitalization. Software giant Microsoft owns the Nokia brand, and unveiled the new Android-based X, X+ and XL smartphones at the 2014 Mobile World Congress organized in Barcelona.

 

Stephen Ellop, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Nokia, has expressed his thoughts on the company entering Android arena at the event. He said that the latest development is aimed at creating a new affordable smartphone segment of smart cellular devices, which are not as pricey as their Lumia equivalents. This means that Microsoft and Nokia could be looking at enhancing its position in the high potential emerging markets like India. Expressing his views on the same, Ellop was quoted as saying, “We want to introduce Microsoft to millions of new users in growth markets.”

 nokia

Source- xbitlabs.com

 

So what does the Nokia X line family gets its apps from- Windows or Android app store?

 

As per Ellop, Nokia’s new line of X smartphones will receive customized services from the Microsoft app suite like Skype and OneDrive cloud storage. As part of its new model launch, Nokia has also revealed intentions to open up its new Nokia X platform based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) to mobile application developers. The company is asking Android developers to develop new mobile apps for its open source X platform, and seamlessly tap into the new category of smartphones.

 

As per a report by Mobile Entertainment, Bryan Biniak, Vice President (VP) and General Manager (GM) of developer experience at Nokia, was quoted as saying, “Today Windows Phone is the fastest growing mobile ecosystem in the world, and we continue to see incredible momentum with our Lumia smartphones. Giving developers access to Nokia’s operator billing network capabilities will enable them to further monetise their apps, as it offers them a global reach.”

 

The core Nokia X platform is developed on AOSP v4.1.2 that supports API level 16. As per Nokia’s official statement, the new smartphones come trimmed with many enhancements like Nokia In-App Payment, Nokia Notifications, Here Maps, distribution in Nokia Store, operator billing payment, and the Nokia X icon toolkit. Amit Patel, VP of developer relations at Nokia, added, “The reach of Nokia’s operator billing network provides developers with a powerful revenue driver – up to five times that of credit-card billing offered within other platforms. Combined with Nokia in-app Payment, developers have the freedom to build on the model that works best for them.”

 

 nokia 2

Source – ndtv.gadgets.com

 

Further as per a report by NDTV gadgets, the new Nokia X range of smartphones could run almost 75 per cent of Android applications without any changes. Some of the popular apps that are expected to be available soon on the Nokia X platform are Facebook, LINE, Plants vs Zombies 2, Real Football 2014, Skype, Spotify, Twitter, Viber and Vine, amongst others.

 

 

Pricing of the new Nokia X, X+ and XL Android smartphones

 

The Nokia X, X+ and XL devices will carry introductory price tags in the range of 89 Euros and 109 Euros.  Reportedly, the Nokia X could go on sale immediately at an initial price tag of EUR 89, and will be available soon in India, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Africa. The higher trims-  X+ and XL will be rolled out in the above-mentioned markets sometime in the second quarter of 2014, and will carry price tags of EUR 99 and EUR 109, respectively.