Nokia announces the X and X+, its first Android phones

Ars Technica [1] put it best. These phones are dead on arrival.<p><pre><code> This is not the first time Nokia has done something like this. It released a Meego version of the N9, its long-in-development Symbian successor, before immediately abandoning the platform and switching to Windows Phone. </code></pre> This isn&#x27;t a sign of some deep strategy. It&#x27;s just standard Nokia platform craziness.<p>1: <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/02/nokia-to-release-an-android-phone-this-month/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;arstechnica.com&#x2F;gadgets&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;nokia-to-release-an-a...</a>

&gt; differentiated experience<p>I still can&#x27;t believe that decision makers actually believe that customers want that. Sure, it makes for great bullet points on the packaging, but most consumer in the lower segment just want something that is familiar to all the other stuff they have. Things you will never hear an Android user say: &quot;That Samsung Whatever Cloud App is really useful.&quot;, &quot;That second App Store of my carrier is full with great Apps.&quot;, and &quot;I wish those buttons were even more different from my old Android phone&quot;.

So Microsoft has a Linux distro. Interesting. Anybody care to hazard a guess what the future holds? My take is that this was well in development before the MS&#x2F;Nokia deal went through (it has gone through, hasn&#x27;t it?) and Microsoft were not (have not been) able to get it canned. Or, shock, horror, maybe Microsoft are testing the waters - they already make a bunch from Linux patents, maybe they want to see how much they&#x27;ll make from App Store revenue if these gain a decent market share. When you think about it, Apple doesn&#x27;t charge for iOS so if Microsoft start doing decent hardware sales maybe Microsoft will start considering its mobile operating system division this way. Given recent news that Microsoft has to discount Windows licences on lower cost hardware to compete with Chromebooks we&#x27;re starting to see that Microsoft even though it is making money hand over fist is in an untenable position.<p>A few questions.<p>How will Microsoft not be able to develop Mobile Office for Android?<p>How are Microsoft going to be able to maintain two mobile OSs?<p>Are Nokia going to see this through? I think it is a smart play, if they go after it whole-heartedly like Amazon and provide a decent amount of differentiation. One could easily see Samsung going this route.

This is the most confused device ever. A bastard child of Android and Windows: basterdised verion of Windows Phone UI on top of a forked Android that&#x27;s integrated with Microsoft Cloud. The marketing has a distinct &quot;feature phone&quot; feel.<p>Seriously, Asha or X device from Nokia with Firefox OS would make more sense than this.<p>How many OSs does Nokia have now? 4 or 5?

Without Play Store and the ability to sideload Android apps (via .APK), you can expect a proliferation of pirated Android applications for the Nokia phones. Once again, Microsoft will enable the creation of a thriving anti-virus industry.

<p><pre><code> If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I&#x27;ve won. </code></pre> -- Linus Torvalds

Divide and conquer.<p>By making any success with its Android phones, Microsoft can achieve two goals:<p>- further fragment the Android platform making it more difficult for users to buy devices and for developers to support the various devices and<p>- benefit from Android&#x27;s strong market position instead of only trying to create market for Windows phones in places where it doesn&#x27;t fit<p>They&#x27;ve identified the greatest flaw in Android ecosystem and they&#x27;re exploiting it in an attempt to make their own offering more attractive in the long run.

&quot;In fact, Nokia told TNW that only three APIs have been changed, so if a developer isn’t making use of these, no changes are needed at all.&quot;<p><a href="http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/02/24/nokia-unveils-nokia-x-devices-running-forked-android-os/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;thenextweb.com&#x2F;gadgets&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;24&#x2F;nokia-unveils-nokia...</a><p>This so reminds me of Microsoft&#x27;s J++.

Installing Google Play on this should be trivial anyway, what&#x27;s the big deal?<p>The problem is that it&#x27;s another iphone lookalike.<p>I WANT A DAMN KEYBOARD!

I remember when Nokia phones were crushing their opponents in terms of user experience, despite the incredible amount of devices they offered. The one-in-all blue button was remarkable. There were no OS, just different brands.<p>Nokia failed to make the leap to smartphones though. I still believe they were the only company capable of competing with the iPhone by delivering a hardware&#x2F;software combo, but sadly failed to do so.

Hmm, taking a cynical view, this could be a win-win for Nokia. Consider this:<p>1) The device does well: Nokia makes some money.<p>2) The device flops: Nokia can lay to rest the common criticism that they should have gone with Android. They can say, &quot;See? We did Android. It went nowhere.&quot;<p>Don&#x27;t blame the lack of a Play store, because remember, they were in discussions with Google and could not reach an agreement. I&#x27;m convinced it&#x27;s because of Google&#x27;s requirement that &quot;all your location data are belong to us&quot; [1] which would directly undercut Nokia&#x27;s own location services. Because of Google&#x27;s all-or-nothing stance, that took Google mobile services completely off Nokia&#x27;s table.<p>Also, in the unlikely case that it does well, I wouldn&#x27;t be too surprised if MS lets it live post-acquisition. After all, it&#x27;s using their services, and these days there&#x27;s probably more money to be made there than in selling software.<p>1. <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/02/new-android-oem-licensing-terms-leak-open-comes-with-restrictions/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;arstechnica.com&#x2F;gadgets&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;new-android-oem-licen...</a> - &quot;Google&#x27;s Network Location Provider must not only be included, but set as the default network location provider; this is no doubt the clause that triggered a lawsuit from rival location company Skyhook.&quot;

I used to think it was a 100% lock that this project would get squished like bug the moment the Microsoft acquisition closes. Microsoft probably has a SWAT team of HR drones and lawyers sitting in vans outside Nokia offices to ensure that they do not incur any Apache license patent obligations, and that this project team gets sent to the Siberia customer support office.<p>But now I think there are two other possibilities. Not high probability, but possible:<p>1. Satya Nadella thinks differently about Windows Phone, and Microsoft embraces an Android-based product, much in the way that Amazon has. Not because Windows Phone is a turkey, but because Windows Phone is actually quite similar to Android technologically, and it makes sense to create applications that run on both, equally well, with equal features, in order to help Microsoft products penetrate the mobile market faster. The Nokia product becomes the most efficient way for Windows users to get a Microsoft app suite on an Android device, but any Android user will have access to the same app suite. Maybe Windows Phone prospers. Maybe not. But Microsoft wins either way.<p>2. Microsoft backs out of the Nokia deal. Satya Nadella thinks Ballmer was high when he bought a troubled OEM, including factories that make Series 30 handsets, especially now that Google got rid of Motorola. So all the lawyers that are not worrying about those Apache license patent clause issues are worrying about how to back out of the deal while minimizing penalty obligations. This would be a momentary embarassment, with many years of serenity as a reward.

Here is a link to the press release: <a href="http://press.nokia.com/2014/02/24/nokia-connects-the-next-billion-with-affordable-smartphones/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;press.nokia.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;24&#x2F;nokia-connects-the-next-bi...</a>

Weird.<p>Microsoft intended to handle Android as a non-primary platform. I&#x27;m curious if those apps are going to be available on the Google Play Store as well (i hope so).<p>With this move, they should have update apps on the Android platform.<p>Also, i&#x27;m curious if developers have to change their Android APP UI to fit the new UI from Nokia (could be dangerous for Nokia).<p>Next, Android users all have a gmail account, now they need to switch to Outlook ? Not exactly user-friendly. Most developers have to change their Authentication also on their app.

I have heard great things about Microsoft&#x27;s Windows Phones and Nokias hardware, but this move is confusing to say the least and I am not quite sure why it is necessary. MS designed the WP OS to run on moderately speced hardware but not on low-end devices? And now that they want a smartphone for the rising markets, they go looking for suitable software, which they find in the lap of their immediate competitor?

I imagine this decision made through both Microsoft&#x27;s and Nokia&#x27;s legal departments, but I can&#x27;t really stop wondering what the implications of Microsoft distributing GPLv2 (with implicit patent licenses) and Apache (with explicit ones) has on their patent extortion&lt;C-backspace&gt;licensing business can be.<p>This could end up being much larger than just a couple phones.

I think the proper way to do this is to run Windows Mobile side by side with Android. Since Android is open source it&#x27;s easy to do that for companies like Microsoft. You can virtualize one OS or find another way to integrate them.<p>Another route is dual booting but I think it does more harm than good.

Weak specs, no physical buttons, and one of the two missing an SD card. I predict these will not do well.<p>Edit: Oh, and the interface is awful. The sensible thing would have been to use Android as inspiration to redesign Metro to be less ugly and nonfunctional, not to try and port Metro to Android...

How long will this realistically last in the new MS-owned Nokia? Will it have the same fate as the Kin?

512MB ram? My year old android handset has 1GB and is slow as all hell. It hangs, reboots itself, shows weird errors (&quot;Activity Phone is not responding&quot; when somebody is calling) and takes 30 seconds to open firefox. I don&#x27;t know what Nokia is thinking.

The analogy I see is to Unix. A worthwhile strategy for some larger companies is to build their own flavor on top of a greybox platform. This is what Amazon has done. Their Android flavor is seasoned to move Amazon goods and services. A Nokia Android flavor can be tailored to move Nokia goods and services, just as Google&#x27;s Android flavor is all about Google&#x27;s business plan.<p>The advantage that Nokia has is a fundamental B2B ethos. It is a commonality with Microsoft. Their chief rivals, Google and Apple don&#x27;t have a partnering mindset. Nokia gets Skype and Office. They have a long history of maps.<p>This makes sense. In the long term going with an Android fork has nothing but upside for a company with Nokia&#x27;s chops and culture.

spec: <a href="http://conversations.nokia.com/2014/02/24/nokia-x-family/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;conversations.nokia.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;24&#x2F;nokia-x-family&#x2F;</a><p>Looks rather poor. 800x480px on a 5-inch screen would be painful.

It should be a challenge for Nokia buy not allowing Google Play Services and Promoting Windows and Nokia based apps but this is the only way windows will allow Nokia to develop more android based devices.<p>As of this post from Nokia <a href="http://conversations.nokia.com/2014/02/24/nokia-x-family/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;conversations.nokia.com&#x2F;2014&#x2F;02&#x2F;24&#x2F;nokia-x-family&#x2F;</a><p>I think they still allow other 3rd-party sources for downloading the apps and there are still more Android based phones to come.

For others like me, the press release says: &quot;a family of smartphones that run Android(TM) apps&quot;. Yes, other app stores can be sideloaded, and they even mention a few, but not Google&#x27;s Play Store.<p>Personally, I doubt getting Play Store on it would be as simple as sideloading (sideloading itself isn&#x27;t much different from what other app stores do) because of Google&#x27;s Play Services.<p>Hopefully root (or a ROM, if necessary) could help with that.

From what I can tell, this is aimed at 3rd world countries.<p>I&#x27;m guessing Microsoft did not want to put their OS on a device that won&#x27;t have top performance as well.

This is a good move as it addresses the need for cheaper phones in markets like India where the &quot;Nokia Asha&quot; line of phones are a poor substitute against similarly priced low end Android phones. By making the user experience similar to Windows phone and removing Google Mobile Services, they have made it easier to upgrade to the more expensive siblings at a later date.

i can&#x27;t express how i hate the nokia-microsoft-conglomerate for... this... &quot;strategy&quot;.<p>it appears they don&#x27;t even have what could be called strategy. for years now, they&#x27;ve been fucking around, burning money and talent like crazy.<p>the only thing nokia-microsoft should do is leverage windows phone&#x27;s potential. and there&#x27;s so much of it. (i&#x27;m saying this as an apple user). all the money for all this bullshit they are doing&#x2F;have done could have been well invested in fleshing out their ecosystem (and i don&#x27;t mean &quot;pay developers for ports&quot;). e.g they do have so bloody many customers who&#x27;d love mobile devices with the ms office suite. there, right there is you focus point. but no, they delay their mobile office because of internal fist fights. useless bastards management.<p>for god&#x27;s sake, these things make me want to storm into board meetings, jump on the table and just scream at their stupidity and kicking heads off shoulders like bruce lee.<p>man...

Is this non-Microsoft Nokia or Microsoft&#x27;s handset division.<p>If it&#x27;s the former, I will guffaw loudly in the direction of Microsoft!

It&#x27;s good to see an Engadget link again. TheVerge is turning into a hipster political magazine...

Too little, too late. My thoughts: <a href="http://ashishb.net/tech/nokia-working-on-android-phone/" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;ashishb.net&#x2F;tech&#x2F;nokia-working-on-android-phone&#x2F;</a>

Such a pointless release that will only lead to customer confusion. I bet those will be cancelled as soon as the MSFT purchase (finally) closes. Just goes to show why Nokia has been sold off. Sad.

Lots of comments &amp; speculations but no good explanation of - Why?

Al the nokia x series look fantastics. I m waiting for nokia xl.

4 inch screen, 3M pixel camera, no Android Play and 4Gb of ram? What year is this, 2010?<p>It&#x27;s going to take a better phone than that to turn that ship around.

I hope they use their own speech recognition engine. My cheap Nokia understood me better 10 years ago than my expensive Android today.

No play store? Nothing to see here, move along.

If the camera is as good as the other Lumias and this can be flashed w&#x2F; CM, count me first in line at the fire sale

I was hoping for nokia + android + 41 megapixel camera. But no they have 3 megapixel ones? what?

Embrace, extend, extinguish...

Look like a nice form factor. Sensible size, screen takes up most of the face.

From business point of view i am bit curious to know why microsoft is started using Android OS?<p>Android owned by Google and the biggest competitor of Microsoft. Despite of having nice operating system like Windows mobile, they are trying Android ! This gives good sign of co-operation between giants.<p>Share your thoughts !

And third, 5-inch Nokia XL. All priced 10 euros apart starting from 89€.

I can&#x27;t find any hint of Home or Menu buttons, even soft.

Forked AOSP? So, getting apps from Ovi store?

Nokia is really a confused middle aged man.

Why call it X when they could call it X11?

phew! finally.

How is that even possible, I thought Android is closed source.<p>At least that&#x27;s what Ars Technica has been telling us for the last months.<p>&lt;&#x2F;sarcasm&gt;

The cat is finally out of the bag: Android as a platform is a more capable service delivery layer than the web even for Nokia and Microsoft, especially in developing markets, much as Google and Mozilla like to pretend otherwise. These are going to prove exceedingly popular.<p>The sad thing is Android is essentially a dead platform at this point because Google recognise investment in the core system is helping their enemies, and they hold a veto over what counts as a fork and what doesn&#x27;t. The only thing that can save Android would be Google letting go completely, which is simply not in their interests.