Nokia unveils Android phones...
BARCELONA: It was in 2011 that Nokia adopted the Windows operating system (OS) for its smartphones.
Three years later, the Microsoft-owned handset maker on Monday launched its Android-based smartphones, dubbed “X-series” at the Mobile World Congress as the company seeks to grab a larger pie of the rapidly growing mid-segment market.
Nokia said its swing to Android is to “cast two nets instead of one”— an indication of Android’s importance in Nokia’s scheme of things.
Stephen Elop, executive vice-president of Nokia’s devices & services said that the launch was part of company’s “deliberate approach” to offer four tiers of products wherein the Android-based X-series fits well in the midprice segment.
“We are casting two nets instead of one so the consumer can get a unique differentiated experience derived from Nokia’s hardware coupled with Android,” said Ignacio Riesgo, executive vice-president, global sales and marketing, Nokia.
Nokia’s X-series smartphones would run on the 4.4 version of Android Open Source Project, which essentially is a tweaked version of the Google’s Android platform. And the Android Open Source Project would be able to run certain specific Microsoft’s applications such as the search engine Bing, the video calling app Skype, HERE maps, Nokia Mix Radio, which allows free music streaming along with other Android apps.
The X-series smartphones are expected to be available in India over the next couple of months and cost around `8,000 to `9,500.
The writers’ travel and stay
were sponsored by Nokia