Nokia Announces Not One but Three Android Phones

After months of speculation and leaks, the hotly anticipated Android device from Nokia has been officially announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. A bane to Windows Phone users and many die hard Nokia fans, this device is likely to be the last mobile phone announced by Nokia before it officially hands off its mobile phone division to Microsoft. The Nokia X runs a forked version of Android called Android Open Source Project AOSP similar to devices offered by Barnes & Nobles and Amazon. These devices are unique in that they are greatly customized and are not loaded with the Google services generally seen in devices from Samsung, HTC etc.

Nokia has struggled to build traction for its Asha line of devices since launch and the Nokia X is their attempt at responding to the growing number of lower end android devices eating into Nokia’s market share in developing economies. The Nokia X, X+ and XL specs speaks low end through and through and come with exciting features.

On the software side, the biggest showcase is the new Nokia App Store and its highly customized UI. The new Nokia Store will come preloaded with a host of apps but will also connect to other third party App stores such as Yandex to ensure access to all Android apps is possible. Borrowing heavily from the Windows phone tiled interface and its Asha counterpart, the Nokia X’s home screen comprises of boxed colorful re-sizable live tiles which can easily be customized to your liking. The core of the device includes Nokia's HERE suite of applications and interestingly, a host of Microsoft services including Skype and OneDrive.

Launching immediately is the Nokia X which will retail for 89 Euro or about $125. All Nokia X devices will come with one month of free global Skype calling and 10 GB of Microsoft OneDrive.

One of many questions that is expected to pop up on the interwebs is whether or not Microsoft will continue to develop and produce more Android devices post acquisition. It has been argued that the codename “Normandy” signifies Microsoft’s involvement with the project to seed Applications to the new Nokia store that will ultimately be ported to the Windows Phone store as a stop gap for the app gap. For many, the irony that Nokia’s last device happens to run a version of software loathed by Microsoft is an understatement and will continue to be a big subject for debate over the next few weeks.