After committing to a Windows Phone-only smartphone strategy, Nokia will reportedly launch its first Android smartphone at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014.
Many Android fans will have a new manufacturer to choose from when looking for an Android-based smartphone. Ever since Nokia launched its first Lumia 800 Windows Phone in 2011, smartphone fans have wanted the company to launch an Android smartphone with the much-applauded Lumia design in tow.
Nokia will reportedly give into what some smartphone fans have been asking for and will supposedly launch its first Android-based smartphone with the Nokia X. The device was codenamed Normandy and has been leaking for months.
The handset is expected to be part of the company's Asha line of products, which are targeted towards developing markets. The Nokia X has already been spotted running Android 4.4 KitKat. The OS appears to have been heavily skinned by Nokia, similar to Amazon's Fire OS that runs on its Android-based Kindle Fire tablets.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nokia will launch its first Android smartphone this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The smartphone will run a forked version of Android that will sport a "very different UI" and will also have its own App Store without tieing into any of Google's services, just like Amazon.
The Nokia X is expected to feature a 4-inch display with a resolution of 854 x 480 and will be powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The device is also expected to offer dual-SIM support, pack in a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat and selfies. Recently leaked images of the Nokia X have also shown that the smartphone will have a single "back" button gracing its display, in a similar position to the "Windows" button on the company's Lumia smartphones.
The Wall Street Journal's sources claim that since Windows Phone cannot run on "low-end" devices, Microsoft is being "pragmatic" and will adopt Android to run on its low-end and entry-level smartphones.
Nokia is expected to make the Nokia X official during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month.
