 android Linux distribution that forced them to act, and that Microsoft try to hide that fact under the Nokia brand.
Posted by: jcamdr | February 24, 2014 at 08:34 PM
I am beginning to think that this is a move by Nokia management and employees to keep their jobs safe, since having to depend on WP means being jobless in a few years at most. They are doing this now while they still can, before M$ takes over.
Posted by: Giacomo Di Giacomo | February 24, 2014 at 09:15 PM
I think that again this is proof that the Nokia/ MS-management has no clue, really.
The only upside on these phones is the Nokia-brand - and perhaps the build quality.
All other features are inferiour to a real Android phone.
Can you use Google instead of BING as a search engine? On my Android phone, I could chose BING as the default search engine for Chrome instead of Google.
You can also install various launchers, even WP-wannabees like Launcher8 on Android. Will Nokia allow users to replace these tiles with something else, like Nova or Apex launcher?
I assume they will force their users to use the phone as is, with no options.
They do not understand that you need to offer a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) when releasing a product - there actually must be a reason for customers to prefer your product.
This is also one of the reasons why WP failed so spectacularily in the market - it offers nothing the competition doesn't, except for useless gimmicks like a tile-based launcher which you must not replace.
Now the same concep is repeated with a forked Android version, this really is the idea of a genius!
Posted by: Huber | February 24, 2014 at 09:42 PM
Maybe the BBC was talking about the British market only?
Posted by: CRConrad | February 24, 2014 at 10:22 PM
@Baron95:
"What is amazing is that Nokia X is getting more press than the Galaxy S5."
I think you hit something there. Maybe that's the sole reason to do it - to get some buzz in the press - clueless as it is.
"I can't really blame the press, though. GS5 still no 64 bit (remember the we'll have it soon). GS5 no ship date yet - "April" is what they are saying. GS5 copies Apple's fingerprint sensor on the home button. Still plastic. Still looks like GS4/GS3."
That's the problem with the press. They don't care about quality. All that matters is empty buzzwords ans superficialities. Like with the S4 again the most important thing, i.e. increased screen resolution gets ignored. Strangely enough, nobody complains that the iPhone 5S is still the same clunky design like the original iPhone - something so sensitive that you need a protective cover to prevent serious damage in case you drop it. Never needed such a thing with a plastic covered Android phone.
64 bit is completely irrelevant unless it brings some provable performance boost. But everybody with some tech knowledge knows that by itself it will never do.
As for the plastic covers: Good. I hate metal covered phones. They tend to get damaged far more easy than plastic covered phones - even worse if you consider that most metal covered phones have no removable parts, i.e. if the phone gets damaged it'll stay damaged. A damaged removable plastic cover can be replaced.
But yeah, I know. The tech press seems to think that creating unrepairable devices is the way to go. Fortunately Samsung givess these idiots the finger - each and every year. And as it looks they get rewarded for it.
Posted by: RottenApple | February 24, 2014 at 10:41 PM
Guys... lets keep this discussion on Nokia X and related topics ie Android, Windows Phone, Microsoft. Lets keep Samsung's Galaxy and other MWC news away from this blog. I will go post a topic on MWC news where we can debate the merits of S5 and the other news and non-news
Tomi Ahonen :-)
Posted by: Tomi T Ahonen | February 24, 2014 at 10:45 PM
I think it's a bad sign for Microsoft that Nokia X got more press coverage than Samsung Galaxy S5. It's mean that Nokia brand is STRONGER than samsung, but WP is bad. It's like this math...
Android = 9
WP = 1
Nokia brand = 10
Samsung brand = 7
Nokia + WP = 10 x 1 = 10
Nokia + Android = 10 x 9 = 90
Samsung + Android = 7 x 9 = 63
LOL
Posted by: Mao Nixon | February 25, 2014 at 02:04 AM
This the vindication of all my previous posts. Total. Complete.
Let' recap what has been unfolding here:
2010: Nokia's board sells Nokia to MS
THTRH Elop, Mr Nobody in mobile, is sent to Espoo to burn Nokia
All Nokia's own platforms are burnt down, paving the way to WP (P)OS. No Plan B.
Why? Because the target is to promote Lumias and get rid of Ecosystem n.1 (Nokia's)
Nokia's interests count zero for the new owner: MS
Idea is to transition 100% of Symbian to WP. Total Flop and Elopcalypse.
2014: Plan B (for MS), since WP has no apps and still no market share.
Build a Nokia Android without Google bits. Skin it like a Lumia. Load it with MS services.
Have a phone that, unlike Lumias, has a plethora of existing apps (Android's).
Plan: transition the next billion smartphone users to Lumia.
Result? Success or second Elopcalypse? Only time will tell.
A couple of observations:
Nokia was no longer independent since 2010, after Elop the Flop nomination.
Whatever was going on in Espoo had total approval by MS.
Actually, MS was the initiator and driver behind all Nokia's decisions since then.
Saying this (Nokia X) is an independent Nokia decision is ludicrous.
This move explains perfectly well why suddenly Meltemi was aborted.
Why develop a new platform when you can leverage Android and its apps ecosystem instead? MS is using its parasitical instinct at its best.
This is also the best demonstration we could have ever hoped of, that Android allows total flexibility. As I have repeated time and again, there was no comparison between the open nature of Android and the WP (P)OS no differentiation straitjacket. Android would have been a perfect choice for Nokia alongside Maemo/Meego.
Curiously (not!), Astros will repeat Elop's meme that Nokia had to go WP to differentiate. What a laugh. Nokia could have adopted this precise strategy on its own. With its own ecosystem. With its maps. Partnering with any of the dynamic Finnish startups. But, no, only when MS does it, then it is ok and acceptable.
So what does Nokia X show: that MS shrewdly destroyed Nokia from the inside, and is now fighting for survival using its arch-enemy's (Google's) own developed platform.
Will it be success or once again Elopcalypse? Hard to tell.
The risk, and MS knows it only too well, is that Xs cannibalize low end Lumia sales. So, these phones will be available only in Lumialess markets.
Yet there are some other risks here:
1) that the X's UX is so poor that customers would just jump to the real Android (or Firefox OS) instead. Leaving Nokia's image tarnished.
2) that Google provides a sideload Google Suite and users replace en masse the poor and crappy MS experence with Google's much better one.
3) that Google can make some legal case, and limit or monetize MS' use of its own IP, which I strongly doubt, given how Android was licensed (thus disproving allegations of those who repeatedly assert Android is not really open: heck, even MS is using it for free!)
So, if things go horribly wrong, MS wil simply pull the plug. Still, it will have had a nice shot at the next emerging market, the one Boring and Baseless Astros Too are racistly despising.
Shrewd and surprising move by the usual bullying monopolist. With regulators happily watching and doing nothing. As usual. But something that once again fits very well with all the puzzle pieces I've been putting together so far.
Never count MS out. They're all in for the mobile battle and will not desist, be sure of this.
And never hope the Astros stop repeating their BS and lies. Despite proving all along how biased their endless repetition of MS propaganda is.
Posted by: Earendil Star | February 25, 2014 at 06:21 AM
@Baron95: "Get cheap phone buyers as quickly as possible to Microsoft Services (and away from Asha apps), while Windows Phone (8.1, 8.2, etc) comes on-line supporting cheaper HW."
I agree with its main purpose is to hook cheap phone buyers to Nokia/M$ services but what do you think about app incompatibility between Android and WP?
Good question what these people will do when update time comes: get stick to the services or go for platform where they can use their previous apps? Especially if they paid for them.
On the other hand maybe paid app is not so