Nokia has officially been sold to Microsoft. Now that the $7.4 billion deal is complete, Microsoft wants to put that investment to good use.
Putting the investment to good use apparently means making a phone using a rival operating system. Nokia recently announced that, for the first time in several years, it was making a smartphone that will not run Windows Phone.
That’s exciting news for a lot of people, including those who don’t like Windows Phone OS but like Nokia’s famous build quality.
There will be some important differences between the Nokia Android phone and most other Android phones. And here’s the first major difference: it will be aimed at “emerging market” customers, which means that you’ll probably never see it (or even want to use it) if you live in the developed world. Nokia was also developing the Android before its sale to Microsoft.
Here are some other important differences between Nokia’s future Android phone and other Androids:
-It will not promote the Google Play Store
-Instead of featuring Google services, it will feature “a suite of services created by Nokia and Microsoft”, including some of the services you see on Nokia devices – like Mix Radio.
-You’ll be able to download more apps from the Nokia application store, which will feature a range of popular Android apps
As you may recall, Nokia has previously had a lot of success in emerging markets. Nokia OS retained a good amount of market share years after it had all but disappeared from developed countries due to strong sales in the rest of the world. Android has now taken over that position, and some sources state that Android market share is around 93% in places like India.
The Nokia phone will debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February. That’s also the event where Samsung will unveil the Galaxy S5.
