Nokia is understood to be developing a mobile phone that runs on Google’s Android software platform in a strategic U-turn for the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer.
The new touchscreen device will be unveiled at the Nokia World conference in September, say industry insiders, as the Finnish handset giant tries to revive its fortunes in the smartphone market.
Nokia, which makes roughly four out of every 10 mobile phones sold, has been losing out in the market for phones that can access the internet, send emails and download third-party applications, to products such as the Apple iPhone and BlackBerry Storm. The Android software platform, meanwhile, has been gaining ground with over half a dozen handsets expected to be available by the end of the year.
The smartphone segment is critical as it is the only part of the mobile phone market which is growing. Cash-strapped consumers are either holding on to their existing phones and opting for cheaper SIM-only deals or “trading up” to more advanced gadgets such as the iPhone.
Opting to use Android, an “open source” platform that any software developer can access, is a reversal of the company’s previous strategy in mobile phone software.
A year ago, Nokia bought out the partners in its Symbian mobile software joint venture and announced plans to make its products free of charge to other manufacturers in an attempt to see off the threat posed by Android and the iPhone.
But the response to the opening of Symbian has been relatively muted. By contrast, users of the iPhone have already downloaded over a billion applications in just nine months and Android has attracted a host of developers offering their “widgets”, or applications, to consumers through the Android Marketplace.
Gadget fans have already hacked one of Nokia’s existing devices, the N810 internet tablet, so it can run the Android system but the new device is expected to fully integrate the Android platform.
There has also been speculation that Nokia is looking to extend its smartphone range as a result of its recent deal to collaborate with chip giant Intel. Nokia however denied the rumors. Through a spokesman, Nokia responded, “Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever, everyone knows that Symbian is our preferred platform for advanced mobile devices.”
Let us wait and see the next chapter of this story. There is no smoke if there is no fire. The Nokia World Conference will be on September. Let us all speculate and be patient.
You’d think that with details about it leaking all over the internet, that Motorola’s Android-based phone would come soon. It seems that even the purported Asus Android-based phone would come even earlier than Motorola’s.
It was only a matter of time before more handset makers announce they’re jumping onto the Google Android bandwagon. After LG, Samsung, Nokia and Motorola, Asus announced that it’s coming up with its own version of a Google Android phone soon.
Just because Australia was omitted among the first countries to get the HTC Dream doesn’t mean you have to despair. It’s not clear whether it would be released in the country ever, but at least now we know that new players are coming to develop their own Google Android smartphones.
According to the New York Times, T-Mobile might be offering the very first Google Android smartphone in the market. The smartphone in question is the HTC Dream handset, which we’ve been hearing of for quite a while, repackaged (or at least renamed) as the G1.
