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Nokia Announces Nokia X Android Smartphone
squiggleslash writes "Despite some industry skepticism, Nokia has indeed been working on an Android smartphone and finally unveiled the Nokia X today. As rumored, it's not a Google Play compatible device, running instead a Google-less AOSP build with a Nokia app store, and Windows Phone style shell. The budget phone will also not be marketed in North America. The Media seems convinced Microsoft — who are in the process of acquiring Nokia — will kill the project, but it's hard to see why Nokia would be working on such a project at this time if Microsoft had plans to do this."
Since Nokia makes wonderful handset, could existing nokia handsets running windows be modded to run android?
If someone had suggested they could release an interface even more playskool, offputting and uglier than WP's tiles, I would have told them they were simply crazy. Alas, I was wrong.
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
It isn't a secret that Nokia was working on this phone for a while and their exclusive deal with Microsoft prevented them from releasing it until now. Part of the reason why MS likely acquired Nokia now was because the contract was set to expire and they could lose their largest handset manufacturer. From Nokia's POV, they've been making this for a while and why not show off the hard work? I am sure it is a bit of an ego thing on their part. And with the timing, in the event the regulatory stuff prevented the purchase from Microsoft, it is a good idea for Nokia to keep proceeding as usual and go ahead with the release. Remember that Nokia is only selling their handset side of the business to Microsoft, with a 5 year use of the name. After that time Nokia may consider getting back into the mobile space and what a nice way to come back by having a product that may wet a few appetites (it worked with their N9 and Meego, look at the diehards for those on /.).
So wait, you guys had trouble making the Ovi Store attractive for devs, you haven't managed to make the Windows Store have anything worthwhile in it, and so your answer to WP failing is to make yet another app store you won't know what the fuck to do with? Brilliant.
If you wanted to have Android on the side, you don't make it rely on some rather complex software infrastructure like that. I really don't see Nokia as having the resources necessary to keep up with their full software stack. Even big players like HTC and Samsung aren't using an alternative app store and many alternative skins suck really bad. Just keep in mind that Amazon's Kindle Fire HD is still on a derivative of 4.0.3 and probably will stay that way.
What's so hard in understanding this simple three-step formula:
1) Make some nice hardware.
2) Put vanilla Android on it with a clear upgrade path to the latest version.
3) Profit!
An AOSP phone without Google Play, let alone Amazon App Store or any other established Android App Store, sounds like a Niche phone for programmers/hackers.
I suspect that it is designed to succeed the legendary Maemo operating system & N900/N9 phones, than a serious attempt to build a future Operating System.
I expect that it will be highly prized among the hacker community, totally hacked to death with an onslaught of Linux-based operating systems including Ubuntu phone, Firefox OS, CyanagenMod, and Maemo itself. Maybe a few surprises with some left-field operating systems finding their way on there as well.
So, this is supposed to be a decently-made budget handset for less affluent markets, running AOSP? That sounds to me like the perfect target for a CyanogenMod port...
No offense but that is really stupid.
I understand your dislike of NSA, but bringing it up as the talking point in totally irrelevant articles is taking it to an extreme.
Due to your spying on customers with your other phone, and of course, MS getting the spying results, I'll stick with my Obama phone, which I know just the NSA is spying on. At least I feel safe knowing that they aren't trying to make money off me, they are just making sure I don't turn terrorist.
Be seeing you...
It's not April the first. What's going on? Has Nokia sold out to the evil empire or not? I thought they already gutted all their core products when they were setup the elop-bomb.
I'd seriously consider getting one to replace my aging n900. Hopefully in black.
For a phone product line that runs a bastardized version of Android, which doesn't provide access to Play store out of the box, and that is produced by a company shortly be absorbed into Microsoft
What's the point of this? Surely they know low-end android phones suck terribly because even the basic apps in android require more than 512MB RAM to operate. Even Cyanogenmod cannot help that.
Sorry, without Google Play it will be ass. Pure Nokia ass. it will have its own Sir Mixalot video. Serena williams will be jealous. itll make Kim Kardashion look like miley cyrus
A phone UI can't get more Fisher-Price than this one.
you haven't managed to make the Windows Store have anything worthwhile in it
Let's compare the Windows Phone developer program to the iOS developer program: Both charge each developer $99 per year plus 30 percent of sales. Both require a computer running the mobile operating system publisher's own desktop operating system. But unlike iOS, which ships on the iPod touch and iPad mini, Windows Phone OS ships on no Wi-Fi-only devices. Microsoft tried selling a Windows Pod touch, but the Zune flopped horribly. So in order to test your application on a device, you have to buy a phone, and that usually means yet another voice and data plan.
"Hey Microsoft, thanks for buying us at a fraction of what we were worth. Here's a present for you: something so ugly that will put people off your Windows phones for good. Nice doing business with you. Now hurry up with those dimes and quarters your promised us. Sincerely, Nokia."
Finally! It will be amusing to hear what Microsoft execs have to say once they sell more Android phones than Windows Mobile ones.
One would think that using an OS created by a Finn in a phone from a Finnish company is a no-brainer; took them a long, long time.
Speed Dial for Firefox
When Nokia introduced the 770, a 800x480 pixel screen was way, way ahead of everyone else. Now it's an embarrassment.
-- newall
Is there anything stopping people from downloading Amazon app store and installing it themselves?
Amazon Appstore on non-Fire OS devices requires the user to turn on "Unknown sources", and we haven't seen whether or not Nokia plans to leave "Unknown sources" visible. AT&T hid it for the first few months that it sold Android devices.
It can have strategic goal to advance Android fragmentation? Granted, rather expensive one at it...
4wdloop
Don't think of this as an Android phone, it will never be marketed that way.
Think of it as a new operating system than just so happens to be easy enough to have Android apps ported to it.
If the changes to support maps, in-app billing and the Nokia store are as simple as Nokia makes out to be - then it's a bit of a no brainer for developers to do. Especially since it's far less effort than building a new app for a whole new platform (like, say, Tizen).
Finally, yes, Nokia could have just shoved out a pure Android phone with decent hardware - but, against the mighty Samsung's advertising budget and the fact that all the other OEMs are unable to turn a profile - how exactly do people think that Nokia will make enough money?
Not to mention that Nokia would be beholden to Google and where Google wants to take Android, which may not be in their best interests. It's a gutsy move, but if they didn't do something radically different then there is an extremely good chance that they'd just be another Android OEM making a loss.
Even the highly praised Moto X had a price cut in January - an immediate indication that it's not selling as well as hoped.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
Just because a device supports sideloading individual applications doesn't mean that the device will support sideloading entire app stores. Android has two sideloading mechanisms: the "Unknown sources" checkbox and Android Debug Bridge (ADB). Third-party app stores require the "Unknown sources" checkbox. ADB allows loading individual APKs, but these APKs can't download and install other APKs without "Unknown sources". Windows Phone 8 limits the number of non-Store XAPs that can be installed on a device as a means to control the unauthorized distribution and use of paid applications. I imagine that Nokia could add a similar to limit to Android in order to claim to "allow sideloading" without allowing sideloading of entire stores.
If you do #1 and #2, you've created a commodity. You don't get to #3.
Those of us who need more information on the technical side of the version of Android shipped with this phone can look here for more information. They include an APK checker (no, not Mr Hosts...) that looks for common problems (presumably anything that calls GMS)
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
This seems like a pretty bad implementation of Android.
Maybe that's the point. A lot of people say that if Nokia went with Android, they'd be much better off than they are now. Maybe this half-assed attempt was ordered by Elop and his MS masters so that Nokia can say "See, we did try Android, and it didn't change anything. This is why we needed Microsoft"
The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
With all the wonderful NSA revelations coming out, it has become clear that there is a growing, and eventually huge, market for non US communications hardware. Nokia is completely blowing this buy getting into bed with Microsoft. They should buy out Blackberry and make a line of uber encryption phones and then not cave into any government demands to weaken the encryption.
With Qt Nokia dipped their toes into the open source waters and thus should be able to understand that they could publish their security code which would then make people even happier to use their phones to keep the nosy out of their business.
old trick
... if the linked-to article actually said that anyone paid Google. It doesn't - there's no licensing fee for the Google Mobile Services (GMS), it's all just testing, submitting devices, and coordinating with Google.
This is Google's way of maintaining a more cohesive ecosystem, ensuring that any Android device will have a shot at running any Android app (as well as ensuring enough momentum to fund their [huge] investment in the cloud services involved)..
The real answer is they wanted to support the Microsoft ecosystem, not Google's. Good luck with that - you ain't as big as Amazon, Nokia.
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
Just an observation, with the introduction of AOSP-based phones that don't license the Google Mobile Services, Nokia is now no longer able to license GMS, e.g., if they wanted to make a Android-trademarked phone. That is, without ceasing production of these devices.
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
There's nothing to prevent Microsoft from continuing this effort, and in fact offering this AOSP-based operating system to other OEMs, for their use. They can even sweeten the deal by negotiating in that no fee for (purported) patent violations will be included. That would be an interesting strategy - they could still focus on WP for mid-to-high end devices, while attempting to ride Android's app popularity into the developing markets. And if they added the ability to run Android apps into WP, then there'd be increased incentive for app makers to port their apps into their own walled-garden market. Hmm ...
"Ahh! I see you're in that indeterminate Schrodinger state where - oh, uh
How exactly is this a stepping stone (or "gateway phone") to Windows Phone? Say someone buys a Nokia Android phone because it's cheap and has decent features. They then use it, love it, and buy dozens of apps, games, in-app purchases, in-game purchases. A year later they're looking for a new phone and see a really nice Lumia that looks/acts just like their current phone but has much nicer specs. They go into the store, tell the clerk that they want to by the Lumia, and then learn that none of their apps are compatible with the nice phone. What are they going to do?
They can 1) stick with the Nokia Android budget phones that are compatible with their apps but have poor specs 2) switch to a different manufacturer that makes Android phones 3) bite the bullet and switch to Windows Phone.
1) Keeps them with budget phones, but they get to keep their apps
2) Makes Nokia lose money, but at least the customer knows that the apps they love *exist* on Android (not necessarily true to Windows Phone)
3) Lets Nokia make money, but the customer is not happy
Microsoft is not buying Nokia, only the Devices & Services division of Nokia, which includes its phone business. However, that might not prevent Nokia from setting up a new phones business. Perhaps it doesn't make much sense, as Microsoft does get the right to use Nokia brand for 10 years, so re-entering phone business would be rather confusing for Nokia.
Now, if the Android phone is made by the Devices & Services division, it will be transferred to Microsoft, and the Android products may be terminated at some point. It's hard to say - Microsoft could be trying to confuse the market somehow - with existing pantent licensing by Android phonemakers and the ongoing patent cases, Microsoft may try to shake Android markets with a cheaper device for which it has all the patent rights - it now can use all Nokia's phone patents as well, so making phones is almost patent-free, unlike for other Android phone makers who have to pay licensing fees to Microsoft for certain patents. So, making low-cost Android phones could be much cheaper for Microsoft than for others. And, as it doesn't use Google Play, it would bring no revenue to Google.
Just where do you think Steve Elop and and his management team have been over the past few months? And if their bodies were not physically back at Microsoft there minds certainly were. But someone is obviously home since they refused to let the Nokia Android play in the US market where Microsoft calls home. You could even tell Elop, a Microsoft man before, during, after Nokia, blocked the N9 from getting shipped into Microsoft's precious North America.
I'd buy it.... as soon as it's supported by Cyanogenmod.
Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
I'm sure the strategy here is that this phone will be a gateway to an MS based phone. That's why it has a Windows Phone styles shell. People will want to buy a phone, but not a Windows phone (which is true right now). Give them a phone that looks like a Windows Phone then, when they compare an Android phone to their Norkia Android phone, they'll notice that the interface is more like a Windows phone and should be attracted to that phone. Literally, it's embrace, extend, extinguish for Android.
So Microsoft is going to be selling a smartphone that runs on the linux kernel?
Wow.
I get that reading the TFA is weird around here, but there's actually three Android different phones being launched; this is just the first one (the others should be out in the next few weeks). This is also, I believe, the lowest-end one, although none of them are high-end.
There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
http://developer.nokia.com/com...
Platform and devices
These features are not supported in Nokia X software platform 1.0/Nokia X devices:
Magnetometer sensor
Gyroscope sensor
Libvwm (Widevine DRM lib)
Flash player
Live Wallpapers
Front camera
Camera autofocus
Speech recognition service
WMV Codec
VP8 video coded
WebP image coded
NFC
3rd party launcher support is limited notifications will not be shown for user if 3rd party launcher is active
Scrolling within homescreen widgets
Google services (porting needed): IAB, licensing, maps, push notifications
APK expansion files
1) Nokia designs good hardware.
2) Nokia folk decide to install Android on their thing. The Android architecture is based on Linux: the hardware layers is well abstracted. If the device isn't working, the rest of the software works elsewhere, so fix the hardware layer for this hardware. There are dev. kits to make porting drivers easy.
3) Adding mickeysoft software is a painfully stupid idea: their stuff is designed not to work with anything else. If you adapt your software to work with theirs, they will see what you did, and go out of their way to break it again. Rinse, repeat.
4) Android software is high performance. Adding mickeysoft crapware to it exposes it to virii, bloats it, and makes it run much slower.
5) Adding winblows to it will make mickeysoft want to claim everything is theirs. They will sue their way through a billion bucks, over 'hello world'. Anything more complicated and they will pass the bank pin codes that access the company fortune over to an army of company lawyers: "Sue till its gone boys".
It could just be that Nokia wants to prove they can make a viable offering in the market, and prove mickeysoft wrong: "Its not our hardware people hate, its your crap software." This comes after Nokia had very poor initial sales with windblows fone 7: Mickeysoft told them the problem is on their end, and to 'Make better phones that people will buy'.
"Xtend"... Obviously... Duh...