Nokia launches Nokia X X+ & XL Android Phones

Nokia has unveiled her first Android phones, the Nokia X range. Nokia announced the first members of the X range at the Mobile World Congress in Bercelona. The new Android phones will be running Nokia's forked version of Android (called Nokia X) with a Windows Phone-like UI and services from Nokia and Microsoft instead of Google's, but will support up to 70% of current Android apps.

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Nokia X phones are targeted at emerging markets with the base model called the Nokia X expected at around 89 EUR offering a 4-inch display and running Nokia X platform 1.0 (Android) on a 1GHz dual-core processor with 512MB of RAM. It also features a 3.2MP camera and comes with better battery life on paper than any similarly priced Android phone I have seen.

The mid-model, the Nokia X+ comes with more RAM offering 768MB of RAM and is priced at 99 EUR. The current top of the line model, the Nokia XL is priced at 109 EUR and offers a 5-inch display with a 5MP rear camera with LED flash and 2MP front camera. All current Nokia X phones offer fast 3G internet and Dual-SIM option.

The highlight of the new Nokia X phones is their highly customised Android OS which features Windows Phone style interface with Live tiles. With the design Nokia is shutting out Google's services and pushing its services and Microsoft services instead.

Nokia X phones will be coming with Here Maps for navigation and Nokia MixRadio for free music streaming. They will also be coming with Microsoft's OneDrive for cloud storage. The phone will also come with Skype and BlackBerry has announced that BBM will be coming for Nokia X phones soon.

Labels: android phones, News, Nokia, Nokia X

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Microsoft Pushes for Low Cost Windows Phone Phones

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft is making a big push for low cost Windows Phone smartphones. Microsoft promised to release a reference design that will make building devices running its Windows Phone OS cheaper and faster. Microsoft also showcased some new device makers that will be supporting the Windows Phone platform.

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With the reference design from Microsoft a manufacturer can build Windows Phone smartphone based on the reference design with little customisation. In fact, a manufacturer can simply pick the reference design as is (with no customisation) and simply place their brand on it.

A reference design will make developing Windows Phone smartphones cheaper and faster for partners. The reference designs will be based on Qualcomm's cheaper chip sets the SnapDragon 200 and SnapDragon 400 series which will allow for Windows Phone smartphones that could cost less than $100 (16,000 Naira).

With this Microsoft is targeting emerging markets like Nigeria which are believed to be the next driving regions for smartphone sales. Microsoft will also optimise the next Windows Phone update to run more efficiently on less expensive processors.

To meet its target, Microsoft has also been able to lineup a healthy list of new partners to make a new push at emerging markets. Some of the new partners that could be building Windows Phone in the near future include LG, Lenovo, ZTE, Foxconn, Xolo, Gionee, and a number of other emerging markets brands.

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Labels: microsoft, Windows Phone Smartphones

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