Reports: Nokia says no Android phone in the works

Nokia has denied today reports that the Finnish company is working on a mobile phone running on Google's Android mobile operating system.

Nokia has denied today reports that the Finnish company is working on a mobile phone running on Google's Android mobile operating system.

A report this morning from the Guardian, a British daily newspaper, quoted "industry insiders" saying that Nokia would unveil in September a mobile phone running on the Google Android operating system (OS).

But Nokia has denied Guardian's speculation, telling Reuters that there is "Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever." The denial continued quoting a company spokesman saying: "Everyone knows that Symbian is our preferred platform for advanced mobile devices."

Indeed, Symbian is Nokia's OS of choice for smartphones, or multimedia computers, as the company likes to call its devices. But Nokia's popularity has been dwindling in recent years, and HSBC analysts quoted by the Guardian reckon that the Finnish company has lost smartphone market share, going down to 31 per cent at the end of 2008 (from 47 per cent in 2007).

However, Nokia has invested heavily in Symbian in recent years. The biggest move we saw was the company buying out the partners in the Symbian OS joint venture last year. With this, Nokia planned to offer the platform free of charge to other smartphone manufacturers.

And if this sounds similar, then it's because Google is using the same approach with its Android mobile OS. The search giant is offering Android for free to any manufactures that want to release smartphones using its OS. So far, this model proved to be increasingly popular, with plenty of Android cell phones coming out this year (T-Mobile myTouch 3G, Samsung Galaxy, HTC Hero - to name a few).

But while Google's Android OS was built from the ground up with touchscreen use in mind, Nokia's latest devices featuring the Symbian OS (the flagship N97 and the 5800 model) have been criticized for the lack of finger-friendly navigation. Symbian, originally designed for devices with alphanumeric keyboards, and then revamped for touchscreen phones, still requires the use of a stylus in many cases.

Perhaps Guardian's "industry insiders" are not entirely wrong though. Late last month, Nokia has partnered with Intel to create a new stable of mobile products. While Nokia has the Linux-based Maemo OS, which powers the company's Internet tablets, Google Android could be the company's OS of choice for this new breed of devices.

Join the newsletter!

Or

Sign up to gain exclusive access to email subscriptions, event invitations, competitions, giveaways, and much more.

Membership is free, and your security and privacy remain protected. View our privacy policy before signing up.

Error: Please check your email address.

Tags smartphonesNokiaAndroidsymbianmobile phones

Keep up with the latest tech news, reviews and previews by subscribing to the Good Gear Guide newsletter.

Daniel Ionescu

PC World (US online)
Show Comments

Most Popular Reviews

Latest Articles

Resources

PCW Evaluation Team

Cate Bacon

Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.

Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti

Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.

Tom Pope

Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.

Tom Sellers

MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.

Lolita Wang

MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.

Featured Content

Product Launch Showcase

Don’t have an account? Sign up here

Don't have an account? Sign up now

Forgot password?