At the Mobile World Congress 2014, the big star wasn’t the Samsung Galaxy 5S, but the new line of Nokia X Android phones: the Nokia X, the X+ and the XL. Yes, you read that right, Nokia is now running Android on three of its smartphones. Could this mean that the partnership between Microsoft and Nokia is coming to an end? Or maybe the bond between Microsoft and Google is becoming weaker? Or does it mean that Microsoft is slowing giving up on its Windows OS for smartphones?
The OS for these three phones is a modified version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Nokia has its own brand-new application store. The modified version of Android doesn’t really look like Android at all but it’s a bit of a mash up between Android, Windows Phone and a hint of Asha. To be more accurate, the OS is Google’s Android Open Source Project, which makes Nokia’s X phones the first crossover smartphones.
One thing that many noticed during the presentation of the phones was that every time Nokia mentioned the word Android it was soon followed the word Microsoft and its services for the X smartphones. Nokia and Microsoft are afraid to confuse people. And confuse people they did.
Concern About Nokia X Android Phone
Many feared that this change in OS would mean that all existing Android apps would be incompatible with these three phones, but Nokia assures that around 75% of all current Android apps are indeed compatible with its three new Nokia X Android phones and for the rest, a modification is required. For this modification, tools for porting are available on their app store. The porting and determining if an app is or isn’t compatible with the Nokia X phones can be easily done right here.
What are your thoughts on this operating system? Did Nokia make a good choice with its trio of Android platform phones? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.