After revealing its surprising partnership with Android during Mobile World Congress, Nokia has formally released its Android-equipped smartphone to selected markets in Asia and Africa. The mid-range Nokia X handset sells around $150 (price adjusted per country) and encompasses the most popular mobile phones in developing markets.
“Our primary strategy on smartphones is Lumia and the Nokia X will be a feeder platform into the Lumia,” Nokia India’s managing director P. Balaji told the Economic Times during the smartphone’s launch in South Asia. “We see the opportunity for Nokia X in the affordable smartphone category where most consumers want the apps from Android.”
The Nokia X features a 4-inch WVGA IPS screen with 800 x 480 resolution and 233ppi, dual-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8225 processor, Adreno 203 GPU, 4GB of storage (expandable up to 32GB via microSD), and only 512MB of RAM. It has Bluetooth 3.0, WiFi, and a microUSB port.
Although the phone runs on Android, the Nokia X does not sport any other Google apps like Google Search, Google Maps, and even Google Play. Instead, users can access the Nokia Store and download Bing and Here Maps, as well as the ability to download Android apps through third-party app stores.
Nokia will also unveil two more Android smartphones, namely the Nokia X+ and XL within the coming months.
Source: CNET
