Let’s leave 2013 with one more interesting rumour. Past rumours revealed that Nokia was working on a low-cost Android smartphone codenamed Nokia Normandy. Powered by a forked version of Android (something that Amazon already does with its Kindle Fire tablets), it would still run all of Android’s top apps and likely allow Nokia to customize it with its own features and apps. With the upcoming Microsoft acquisition of Nokia’s Devices & Services division for US$7.2 billion, the future may not be so bright for such a device.
Following a report earlier this month that Nokia was still proceeding “full steam ahead” with the project, the usually reliable @evleaks has weighed in to give credence to rumours that the project was far from dead.
The reports of Normandy's death have been greatly exaggerated.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) December 31, 2013
What fate will 2014 bring to the Nokia Normandy? Could it hit emerging markets before the Microsoft acquisition closes? If it does, could Microsoft decide to keep it around as a replacement for the Nokia Asha line of inexpensive smartphones until it can push Windows Phone into this sector of the market? Microsoft using Android on a line of smartphones would certainly be a highlight of 2014!
Could Microsoft keep the Nokia Normandy project alive? Let us know below what you think.