The device above could easily pass for a Nokia Lumia if it wasn’t missing the trademark capacitive touch buttons. But, if the sources are right, this device will not run on Windows Phone OS. It will run on Android. Actually, considering the original source of the news (@evleaks) it is very likely this is authentic.
Meet Nokia’s rumoured upcoming budget smartphone, codenamed “Nokia Normandy”. I love the subtle World War 2 reference. Apparently, Nokia are somehow hoping this device will end the smartphone war. According to sources, it is proposed to be the successor to the Nokia Asha range of devices, which have been no doubt successful, but are still lacking in that killer feature – availability of increasingly ubiquitous apps like Skype and Instagram. To address this issue, the Nokia Normandy is reported to be running on a forked version of Android; a la Amazon Kindle Fire. This ensures that Nokia do not have to trade-off control of the User Experience for availability of apps.
The Nokia Normandy is reportedly set to launch in 2014. One can’t help but wonder how this would play into Microsoft’s plan for the future of Nokia. Maybe they’re not confident enough about Windows Phone’s performance on really low-end devices? Whichever way it pans out, the consumer is set to win again in 2014.
