It is increasingly looking like Nokia will indeed launch its first Android smartphone at MWC 2014. Citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” The Wall Street Journal is today the latest to suggest that this smartphone, known during development as the Normandy, will indeed see the light of day at Mobile World Congress. With Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s handset division looming, it has not always been clear what the fate of a Microsoft Android phone might be. It now appears that we will see what Nokia can do with Android.
With Windows Phone still struggling to establish itself against Android and iOS, Nokia’s move forward may well be our first clue as to Microsoft’s strategy in the entry-level market that is key in emerging markets. Will it, as we suggested earlier, offer a heavily modified version of Android that will allow it more easily ramp customers up to Windows Phone than Nokia’s Asha line might?
As reported earlier, Nokia will use a forked version of Google Android. It will be “tailored in a way that won’t promote some of the key Google-developed features that a more traditional Android-powered phone might.” Instead, we can expect to see Nokia promote its own apps and services as well as those of Microsoft (for example, Skype).
Nokia’s first Android smartphone may launch as the Nokia X. It is expected to launch with a 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, a 4-inch WVGA (480×800) display, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage with additional storage via microSD cards and a 5MP rear camera. It will be available in six colours with both single-SIM and dual-SIM variants being available.
Source : The Wall Street Journal