MWC officially kicked off today, but that didn’t stop a number of Android device manufacturers from announcing their latest flagship smartphones over the weekend. So far, we’ve seen new phones from Samsung, LG, Sony, and even Nokia.
Have any of these phones caught your eye or are you waiting for something else?
Nokia has definitely been an underdog for years, but last year the company made its debut in the Android market with impressive results. Now, as we enter 2018, the company is back with four new Android smartphones that have some excellent ties back to Google. As with any phone, there are probably a few details you missed in the initial announcements, so let’s take a closer look…
In addition to its other low to mid-range Android One and Go devices, HMD Global’s Nokia is launching a flagship device at MWC 2018. The Nokia 8 Sirocco is defined by its pOLED display, thin design, and other flagship-level features.
Google kicked off its MWC with expanded rollouts and new features for Google Assistant and Lens. The company also teased Android One and Go announcements, with HMD Global’s Nokia today announcing new devices based on those two initiatives.
While still not as big as it used to be state-side, Nokia is trying hard to become a major player in the Android world. With today’s press event at MWC 2018, hopefully, we will see some new additions to the Android ecosystem…
Following HMD’s acquisition and revival of the company, Nokia has hit the ground running in the Android market with several new devices. Most recently the company has unveiled its flagship Nokia 8, but it already has several budget devices in the hands of consumers, and one of those is beating Google to the punch with a monthly security update.
Nokia’s back in the smartphone race, this time playing on the winning team with Android powering its latest crop of devices. Following the currently available budget devices such as the Nokia 6, the company is expected to unveil a flagship later on this year, and today we’re learning quite a few new details about it.
If there’s one thing Nokia used to always wow us with it was certainly the camera. Looking back on past Windows releases, Nokia’s cameras have always been something impressive. Today HMD Global has revealed that Nokia’s cameras are going to get some help returning to “the good ol’ days” thanks to a partnership with Zeiss.
Amazon’s Prime Exclusive program isn’t a stranger to bringing just-announced smartphones to the market, but it’s not often that we see phones go official for the first time through the program. That, however, is happening today. Amazon has just launched 5 new smartphones for the Prime Exclusive program including the unannounced Alcatel IDOL 5S.
HMD Global’s announcement at MWC of Nokia-branded phones running stock Android with fast updates was well received. At the time, the company only noted a vague global launch for the devices, but has confirmed today that the US will also see a release.
Late last year, Finnish brand HMD Global signed a licensing deal to release Android devices that carry the Nokia brand. At MWC today, the devices were launched to a global audience along with a throwback of the Nokia 3310 from the early 2000s.
In a real nostalgia moment for the industry, Nokia is following BlackBerry’s lead yesterday by announcing a range of new Android devices. Made by HMD Global, the devices are for the lower-end of the market, with the Nokia 3310 serving as a further throwback.
Barcelona’s famous fair, the Mobile World Congress, is just around the corner. As always, (almost) all the big names in mobile will join the party to show the latest and greatest coming out of their R&D. And while Samsung’s absence may represent a hit for the general vibe of the coming days, there will certainly be no shortage of new products and announcements.
So let’s dig through them a bit…
Update: Apparently, the devices in question are in fact not Nokia’s, nor they actually have anything to do with the Finnish company. As per a video from WinFuture’s channel (in German), it looks like these are simply reference design phones made by Qualcomm itself. All in all, now that I can see the whole thing better, I’m just glad it’s that way. Hopefully February’s announcement will bring some excitement.
We reported yesterday about Nokia‘s likely intention to unveil a flagship Android smartphone outside of China on February 26, a day before the beginning of this year’s Mobile World Congress. However, it looks like the cat may already be out of the bag.
As it turns out, Nokia’s trojan horse back into the smartphone world was present at CES, albeit in disguise. The alleged ‘Nokia 8’ was showcased at Qualcomm‘s booth, where the company asked people not to take photos of it. Of course, however, someone did (via GSM Arena)…
HMD Global, the Finnish company using the Nokia branding to make Android smartphones, has just opened up about its 2017 plans, and it looks like we won’t have to wait much longer to learn about what’s coming…
We’ve been hearing for a long time that Nokia has been planning a return to the smartphone market, but today those plans became official as Nokia launched a new phones section on its website, confirming that the company is in the process of working on smartphones running Android.
Microsoft’s efforts to get Windows Phone off the ground have never been very successful, but there’s one thing it was very good at, cheap phones. When an Android phone costs $100 we are all impressed, but back in 2013 Microsoft and Nokia turned heads with the insanely cheap Lumia 520. That little phone later proved to be one of the most popular Windows Phone devices ever, and now a developer over on XDA has hacked Android onto it and its successor.
Ten months after Microsoft wrote-off its Nokia acquisition, the company has now announced that it is effectively out of the consumer phone business. It is cutting 1,850 jobs, and setting aside almost a billion dollars to cover the costs of exiting the business.
Microsoft on Wednesday announced plans to streamline the company’s smartphone hardware business, which will impact up to 1,850 jobs. As a result, the company will record an impairment and restructuring charge of approximately $950 million […]
“We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation — with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft.
The company recently saw its market share fall below 1%. While Microsoft is – for now – insistent that it has a future in the corporate smartphone business, the reality seems doubtful …
Nokia Technologies announced in a press release this morning that it has signed an agreement with HMD global to build “a new generation of Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablets.” Although we don’t know exactly what flavour of Android, or how heavily skinned it will be, Nokia’s announcement states that Google’s mobile OS will be powering the new devices.
Nokia announced today plans to purchase Withings, maker of many popular healthcare related accessories and companion apps for Android smartphones and other mobile devices.
The company said the 170 million Euro purchase would see Withings become part of its Nokia Technologies business and help jump-start its new efforts at Digital Health products.
It’s pretty likely we will see Nokia-branded Android phones next year – after the end of the company’s agreement with Microsoft not to use its brand on mobile phones – but the above isn’t one of them. Currently being touted as a leaked image of a Nokia phone to be released next year, it’s actually just a concept image .
Nokia has so far designed and licensed the N1, an Android tablet apparently permitted under the terms of the Microsoft deal, and reportedly has “a lot of great stuff in development” for next year.
Strategy Analytics has issued its latest estimates of global mobile phone shipments, and reports that Huawei overtook Microsoft (which incorporates the Nokia-designed Lumia) last quarter to become the third-largest mobile phone vendor in the world. The company saw its shipments grow almost 50% to 30.6M units, contrasting strongly with an overall industry growth rate of just 2%.
Ken Hyers, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Huawei shipped 30.6 million mobile phones and captured a record 7 percent marketshare worldwide in Q2 2015. Huawei is rising fast in all regions of the world, particularly China where its 4G models, such as the Mate7, are proving wildly popular. Huawei has finally overtaken Microsoft to become the world’s third largest mobile phone vendor for the first time ever.”
The company shared some earnings results earlier this month, showing a 30% increase in revenue and claiming to be on track to hit 100M sales this year.
Samsung retained the number one slot, but saw its market share slip from 22.3% to 20.5% on disappointing Galaxy S6 sales. Samsung earlier revealed an 8% drop in profits, the fifth year running it has reported a decline in profitability …
Windows Phone has not been the greatest success story in the world, and Microsoft’s purchase of Nokia to produce its own handsets looks to have been an even bigger flop. The company today announced that it is writing off $7.6B against the Nokia business – more than it paid for the company in the first place.
Microsoft has also revealed that it will be laying-off 7,800 staff – more than 6% of its workforce – over the next few months, mostly from the Phones business …
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