Will Microsoft Release Another Android Nokia Phone?
New evidence has come to light suggesting that a new version of the Android-powered Nokia X may soon be on the way from Microsoft. Will the company behind Windows Phone make a habit of supporting Android going forward?
A post coming from BGR India cites “reliable sources” who report that the Nokia X2, codenamed RM-1013, will be released in India sometime around June 23. Furthermore, the news of the Nokia X2’s existence is substantiated by images of a shipping manifest that list the RM-1013 as being sent hither and thither for testing purposes:
The post also lists purported technical specifications for the handset: under its 4.3-inch, 800×480 display, the Nokia X2 will pack a 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB of internal storage. Those specs are pretty close to its predecessor, which had a 4-inch display, a 1GHz CPU, and half the RAM. Between those small upgrades and a physical home button, the Nokia X2 may wind up being nearly indistinguishable from the Nokia X.
The original Nokia X made headlines just by virtue of existing. It was the first Android-based smartphone to come out of Nokia, a company that had been working exclusively in the realm of the Windows Phone OS. Shortly after the Nokia X debuted at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia was finalized. Many wondered if the phone-maker’s new parent company would continue pursuing Android handsets. The reports of the forthcoming X2 would seem to signal that the answer is yes – at least for now.
But clearly Microsoft and Nokia aren’t making much of an effort to beef up the product line’s specs. The Nokia X line seems to be committed to providing relatively underpowered handsets at a budget price in developing nations, places where ridiculously overpowered phones could never sell due to their high costs.
So the question is this: will Microsoft make any moves to bring its Android handsets to its home turf here in the United States? The fact that the X is likely to stay in Europe and Asia seems proof enough that we won’t see an Android phone from Microsoft stateside anytime soon. But unless Microsoft can make some major improvements to Windows Phone to make it more appealing to US consumers, we’ll have to wonder how long the company will avoid pursuing Android over here.