Nokia X release date and OS
Nokia's Android ambitions have come to
fruition and if you want to see what we think
so far you can head straight on over to our
hands on reviews of the Nokia X , Nokia X+
and Nokia XL.
If you fancy getting to know the trio of
handsets at once, stick around and we'll reveal
the specs, the design, the release dates and
the price of each of these unusual handsets.
It started out as a pie-in-the-sky rumour:
Nokia is making an Android device. Surely not,
given the Finnish firm has only recently been
acquired by software giant (and the Windows
Phone peddling) Microsoft. So why would
Nokia jump into bed with the enemy?
While many eyebrows were raised, and eyes
rolled, when news of the Nokia X first took to
the web (under the moniker Normandy), the
sheer deluge of leaks added more and more
credibility to the handset's existence.
And then it was made official. At MWC 2014 ,
Stephen Elop took to the stage to announce
the arrival of the Nokia X, X+ and Nokia XL .
The Nokia X and Nokia X+ are bedfellows – all
that separates them are the amount of RAM
they have.
The Nokia X has just 512MB, while the Nokia
X+ has a slightly more generous 768MB and
comes with a 4GB microSD card in the box. As
for the Nokia XL, this is a low-cost phablet
with a 5-inch screen.
Nokia X release date and price
Most Nokia X rumours highlighted MWC 2014
in Barcelona as the platform for the Nokia
Android smartphone to make its international
appearance, and they weren't wrong.
Announced on February 24, the Nokia X was
revealed by Stephen Elop, who said that the
new device was indeed Android but with a
difference. "The Nokia X is built on Android
open source software. We have differentiated
and added our own experience," he said.
We did learn that the Nokia X would be
launch first, and cost just €89 (around £75,
$120, AU$135). It's now on sale in India for
Rs8599, which equates to around £85, and is
available in Kenya for roughly the same price
too.
The Nokia X+ and Nokia XL will be arriving in
selected markets during the second quarter of
the year for €99 (around £80, $135, AU$150)
and €109 (around £90, $150, AU$170)
respectively.
While these devices will come to more
developed markets in the future, we're still
waiting for Nokia to outline its exact launch
plans for places like the UK and US.
We got hands on with the Nokia X+ at MWC
2014:
Nokia X operating system
The single biggest feature on the Nokia X (X+
and XL) is its operating system. Nokia is
heavily invested in the Windows Phone
platform for its Lumia range, while its Asha
devices run its own, in-house Asha OS.
The Nokia X range runs Android. But not the
Android you know (and perhaps love). This is a
heavily modified version that is built on
Android open source software, although it
does use Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 as the base.
This isn't an Android that comes with the
Google Play store. This is an Android that has
been moulded and contorted into an operating
system that runs and looks more like Windows
Phone.
There are live tiles just like Windows Phone,
but you will be able modify the handset a little
more freely than on Windows Phone.
At the press conference, Elop showed off the
OS and it is definitely Android flavoured, but
with a distinctly Windows Phone feel.
Essentially it marries the design language of
Windows Phone to the more open nature of
Android with a touch of Asha thrown in for
good measure.
For example its uses a version of the Asha
"Fast Lane" feature, which shows all your
recent activity, from new messages to the last
apps you used and it can be customised to
hide specific information so it only shows you
what you want to see.
Nokia has put its own Android store on to the
device (giving you a more limited selection
than Google Play) and there will be a number
of apps pre-installed on to the device.
Unsurprisingly these are mostly Microsoft
(OneDrive, Skype etc) and Nokia (HERE Maps,
HERE Drive and Mix Radio) offerings - with
some apps only available on the Finnish firm's
version of Android.
This is definitely a forked version of Android
with Elop noting that the Nokia X takes people
to Microsoft's cloud and not Google's.
The lack of Google Play could be a major
stumbling block for the Nokia X and its
brethren as Nokia's own store is likely to be
comparatively lacking for a long time to come.
But you can also use third party app stores
and Elop does say that Android devs can bring
their apps to Nokia X - it only takes a few
extra hours dev work - and people can
sideload applications using a microSD card.
The fact that porting apps is so easy also
means that the Nokia X range could quickly
end up with a greater selection of them than
any Windows Phone handset, even if it's not
likely to deliver the full library of Android
apps.
Enterprising users needn't be limited at all as
the Nokia X has already been hacked to run
Google Play and Google apps.
Nokia X screen, design and specs
Nokia X screen
The Nokia X was tipped to sport a middle of
the road 4-inch display with a mediocre 480 x
854 resolution . And this is exactly what we
got.
The official specs explain that the Nokia X
screen is a PS LCD WVGA (800 x 480)
touchscreen capacitive 4-inch display. It's not
something that is going to set the world on
fire but it is in keeping with the low-cost
nature of the handset.
It's not the best screen around but it's
responsive and has vibrant colours and deep
blacks, making it surprisingly good for such a
low end handset.
The Nokia X+ has exactly the same screen, but
the Nokia XL as the name suggests sports a
larger 5-inch 800 x 480 display.
Of course by upping the size without
increasing the resolution the end result is far
from the sharpest screen on the market.
Nokia X design
All the leaked screenshots that came out of
the Nokia X, hinted that it was on course to
be more of the same from the Finnish firm.
And this is indeed the case.
A unibody design in a range of bright colours
is status quo at Nokia at the moment and the
Nokia X trio are almost identical to the firm's
latest range of Asha smartphones.
The official colours for the Nokia X and Nokia
X+ are: bright green, bright red, cyan, yellow,
black and white, while the Nokia XL will be
available in orange, blue, yellow, green, black
and white.
No comments:
Post a Comment