Don’t you just love proper leaks? Nokia’s ‘Normandy’, its rumoured Android phone designed to replace the Asha series, has been leaked in most of its glory. It’s a 4″, 854×480 phone with a Snapdragon processor, dual-SIM support, and for the rest it’s pretty standard, hardware-wise. Most interestingly, the skin Nokia is draping over its version of Android is looks quite restrained, although they did change the on-screen buttons to only show an Asha-like single back button.
There’s really no telling what’s going to happen with Normandy in the wake of Microsoft buying Nokia’s devices division. In my view, Microsoft can only lose if it decides to sell this device; if the Normandy sucks and doesn’t sell well, it’ll reflect bad on the company. If it’s good and sells very well, it will reflect bad on the company too (can you imagine the Normandy becoming the best-selling Microsoft phone? Hilarious!).
I would guess Microsoft would much rather have low-end Lumias like the 520 fulfilling the role of Asha. It’s no coincidence that the 520 is the best-selling Windows Phone device by far; it’s the best fit for Nokia’s traditionally strong markets. With Android already being quite popular there, a Nokia Android device would be an even better fit.
And with Microsoft not being allowed to use the Nokia name at all – only Asha and Lumia – anything can happen.
It’s Asha, not Ashe.
Fixed.
Should play less LoL :/.
My prediction, Elop takes over the CEO job at Microsoft.
He announces Win Phone is a burning platform, and a year or two later, he’ll eventually ship a $100 android phone.
It’s the classic strategy – burn your company to the ground, then $$$
Yeah, I’m not 100 percent sure how that works…
I think this device was named “Normandy” with this plot in mind. The invasion of Android into Microsoft perhaps?
Edited 2014-01-09 11:26 UTC
That’s really the only question.. will the hardware run Google Android after five minutes with Wug’s tools? I’m just not interested in another plastic brick limited by waiting for a third party to decide if it will be blessed enough to get Android updates ported over to a vendor’s forked distribution.
I think the big question is will they have the same stunning battery life the Asha phones had.
I thought they were only buying the smartphone division while the basic phone division would remain with Nokia?
(Where now the followup by the basic phone division is an android smartphone… which would be quite ingenius.)
Microsoft bought the whole of Nokia’s mobile phones department. And on the contrary to Thom’s writing here, they also licensed the Nokia brand, but only to use with the low-end S30 and S40 platforms (and existing Lumias). This kind of implies they’re going to abuse the brand in the developing countries with the Asha series (and maybe something else). But all future Lumias and possible Android phones would have to be branded as Microsoft.
Even the imaging and camera technology?
So, the team that built it isn’t going with Microsoft. Although they also can’t release a phone for a couple years under Nokia, I now wouldn’t be surprised if they emerge as an Android manufacturer.
In light of that, I’d be extra surprised if Microsoft releases it.
So, future Nokia doing Android not on smartphones but other devices. Maybe tablets too? This leaks, the phone, is dead. Elop’s last destroyed possible saver before being ‘done with Noka’. Impressive how much he managed to destroy within such short time.
A while back I had considered getting an Asha phone as a backup phone/toy but was swayed away from it after reading reviews and seeing negative impressions here. This though, looks very nice for a low-to-mid phone, and if it’s the same quality as the Lumia 520/521 I’d love to at least play with one. I’m not in the market for a new phone any time soon, but this or its successor (assuming it isn’t killed by Microsoft) would be one to watch, at least for a cheapskate like me.
I just played around with a Nokia lumia for the first time last week. (Wife’s new work phone)
Slow, ugly and very plain with an amazing lack of quality.
I used to want a windows mobile 6.5 device so badly but this thing was pathetic. My ancient htc hero is on par with lumia phones.
WTF? The Lumia 520 uses WP8.
Every review I’ve ever read (as well as my limited personal experience) totally disagrees with you.
I caught that too. No Lumias have ever run anything below WP7, and the 520/521 is WP8.
I’ve had a 521 (T-Mobile US version of the 520) for a couple of months now and it’s an outstanding phone for the price. Apart from some WP8-specific bugs, the phone is great if you don’t want/need Android or iOS.
Yes, that’s why stabbyjones dismisses it. Reading is not your favorite activity, right?
Well, as we have identified reading as your personal handicap we should not be surprised. Anyway: Why should anyone pay for negative reviews?
My limited experience tells me that WP is boring and useless. The only interesting thing about it: Betting on the date when WP is cancelled by Microsoft.
Nor yours apparently: Stabbyjones never said which Lumia phone his wife has; it could have been an older WP7 phone, which could be considered slow and buggy compared to a WP8 Lumia.
Again, calling someone out for reading comprehension is not a good idea on your part. No one ever mentioned paying for negative reviews until you did.
Well that settles it! No one should ever use a WP phone, because you find it boring and useless, in your limited experience. Your elitist attitude speaks volumes, and in fact would probably make someone more likely to try it, since it seems you have such a tenuous grasp on reality.
Or to put it another way: Just because it didn’t work for you in your limited experience, doesn’t mean it will be that way for everyone. I happen to think it’s very useful, certainly more so than iOS, and on par with Android. It does things my Android phone doesn’t, and does them well. But then, I’ve got a lot more than “limited experience”, so what do I know?
Obviously he means that Stabbyjones dismissed Lumias because of Windows Phone.
Again, obviously he implies that Microsoft pays for reviews, and this leads to reviews being positive. True or not, this is the statement you were replying to.
He was speaking about his impressions without pretending to deliver objective review.
Is it indeed so difficult to read one’s message before replying?
Edited 2014-01-09 15:16 UTC
Exactly. If anything the overblown whining about WP is helping Microsoft. You often hear people talk about products getting sabotaged by excessive hype, because there’s no way reality can match the pent-up expectations. The same principles apply to anti-hype: there’s no possible way that WP could be anywhere near as bad as it’s made out to be by the “Anything But Microsoft” crowd.
So when people try a WP device for the first time, exposure to the anti-hype means their first-impression is more likely to be “I expected it to suck, but it’s actually pretty good!” I call it “The (anti-fan)Boy who Cried ‘Wolf’ effect”.
I didn’t go into it expecting it to suck, as I tend to keep an open mind about new experiences. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by how practical and useful it was even in its infancy. It’s simple enough for a beginner to grasp right away, yet powerful enough for someone who lives and works on their phone. I use mine at work every day, and it meshes with my workflow better than any has in the past.
I think the purest response to WP I’ve seen is when my wife, who is far from a technologically-oriented person, would always grab my old WP7 HTC Arrive instead of her Kyocera Rise whenever she wanted to look something up or play a game. The WP7 phone made a lot more sense to her than her Android phone, even though the latter was superficially similar to her previous (dumb)phone.
Now that I’ve got a WP8 phone she has started doing it again; I’m glad I held on to the Arrive, for if she ever breaks the Kyocera I have a ready replacement I know she likes.
Reading comprehension fail in the extreme!
OP wanted a Windows Mobile 6.5 device … as in, back before Windows Phone 7 was released.
His wife got a Windows Phone (doesn’t mention which version, but most likely 8) device, he played with it, it was horrible compared to what he has (HTC Hero) and what he wanted in the past (WM 6.5).
While I use a Nexus 4, for myself, I bought 2 Lumia 520’s . 1 for my mother and another one for my 12 y.o. son. It’s really good for that price, and does a whole lot. Fast & reliable, I have only good things to say about the 520. It comes of no surprise to read it’s Nokia’s world bestseller.
Indeed, I switched from the Nexus 4 to the Lumia 521 back in November, and haven’t looked back. From a philosophical standpoint, I’d prefer to use a more “open” mobile OS, but for what I do with a phone the Lumia is the most practical solution. It does what I need and doesn’t get in my way. In fact, I was actually able to uninstall every single T-Mobile “value added” app on the phone and make it work and look just like the 520. I was never able to do that in the past with Android phones without rooting, something I was always reluctant to do.
I decided to stop using the Nexus 4 because 4.4 KitKat was going to be pushed to it, and I wanted no part of that. I neither wanted nor needed Google Now infiltrating my dialer and home screen, not to mention the always on, always listening microphone. The battery life of that phone was already unacceptable, even on a fresh wipe and no extra apps; I can only imagine what those “features” would have done to it. It was a good phone with 4.3, and I really enjoyed it, but I left Android for something that fits my workflow better.
> I was never able to do that in the past with Android phones without rooting, something I was always reluctant to do.
Rooting to disable applications is like using cannons on sparrows. Android has this handy feature, where you can disable apps in their App Info screen. Look for a button labeled “Disable”.
> I decided to stop using the Nexus 4 because 4.4 KitKat was going to be pushed to it, and I wanted no part of that. I neither wanted nor needed > Google Now infiltrating my dialer and home screen,
FYI, Google Now is optional, you can disable it. Also, Google Search integration in dialer is also optional, you can disable it too!
> not to mention the always on, always listening microphone.
Which is part of Google Now, and that can be disabled, as I already mentioned above.
> The battery life of that phone was already unacceptable, even on a fresh wipe and no extra apps; I can only imagine what those “features” would have done to it.
Do no know about N4 battery life, but Galaxy Nexus had usable battery and N5 has very good battery life. Luckily for you, Google Now is a really battery demanding app, so disabling it will significantly improve your battery life.
> It was a good phone with 4.3, and I really enjoyed it, but I left Android for something that fits my workflow better.
Good for you, but no need to put down a platform due to optional app.
How is saying that Android doesn’t fit my workflow as well as another OS “putting it down”? I still like Android, and the Nexus 4, I just prefer something that works better for me.
As for the rest, disabling an app is not the same as removing it. A disabled app still takes up space, and on a device like the Nexus 4 with no additional storage options, that matters a lot. As for the battery issue, well on the Lumia it’s not an issue as its battery lasts nearly two days with normal use, and it has a user replaceable battery.
Once again, I liked the Nexus 4, I just prefer WP8. Just because I like something less is no reason to assume I’m unfairly slamming it.
> How is saying that Android doesn’t fit my workflow as well as another OS “putting it down”? I still like Android, and the Nexus 4, I just prefer something that works better for me.
Putting down, as using rhethoric like ‘infiltrating’, ‘unable to do without rooting’, putting ‘features’ into quotes, which are not true.
However, congrats, if it suits your workflow better.
> As for the rest, disabling an app is not the same as removing it. A disabled app still takes up space, and on a device like the Nexus 4 with no additional storage options, that matters a lot.
Stock apps are in /system partition, you are not going to reuse that space anyway. What you are going to lose is the ability to restore your device into factory settings (without flashing the original firmware again, which may be not available) and the ability to update your firmware (because after meddling with the /system, it is not something that the updater expects).
> As for the battery issue, well on the Lumia it’s not an issue as its battery lasts nearly two days with normal use, and it has a user replaceable battery.
It really depends on too many variables, what your battery life is going to be. From the strength of the signal to the apps and services running on your device. Disabling Google Now and Location Reporting will get you several additional hours (WP does not have anything comparable to Google Now).
> Once again, I liked the Nexus 4, I just prefer WP8. Just because I like something less is no reason to assume I’m unfairly slamming it.
Again, I wrote it due to the tone used.
First, when I was speaking of removing carrier apps from Android phones, I specifically said “phones in the past”, the Nexus 4 I spoke of later never had carrier apps. So, I hope you aren’t confusing two different topics I was talking about. That said, I was unable to remove T-Mobile apps from an HTC One S, unless I wanted to root the phone. Or are you saying there is some undocumented way to do that?
I never said I wanted to remove stock apps from the phone, I wanted to remove carrier “value added” apps, which were worthless to me since I was using a T-Mobile phone with a Straight Talk SIM card. Those carrier apps are indeed in user space, and take up a lot of it to boot. On the Nexus 4 I didn’t have carrier apps, but it suffered the same issue the HTC before it did: Lack of upgradeable storage, and there are some stock apps that do live in user space, not /system. Again, if I wanted to remove those apps it’s impossible without rooting.
Honestly, I think I hurt your feelings when I said I didn’t like your favorite platform as much as another one, and I’m not going to apologize for that. That’s your issue to deal with, but don’t project your insecurities onto me. Tell me you hate WP8 or that you just don’t prefer it; I don’t care and I’ll applaud your choice to use the tool that works best for you. That’s been my mantra for a long time, and I stick by it: Use what works.
Edited 2014-01-09 18:44 UTC
Competition nears: kitkat
http://m.cnet.com/reviews/google-android-44-kitkat/35829191
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/06/22/androids-next-big-…
Now if you remove the price-argument and have below $100 low end kitkat-smartphones competing with Lumina 52x what will happen? Probably the same that happened with mid and high end? Android taking over eating all competition?
52x is good for that price when compared to Asha, S40, Bada. But what when compared to Android? I think we know the answer. We even saw what happened in mid and high end segments already.
Anyhow we need to thank Nokia/Microsoft/Google. Fast, fluid and cheap smartphones are good for customers. These competition is good for us. I hope it continues and gives us choice and many more nice things good for us and not only good for them.
Edited 2014-01-09 19:09 UTC
Yes, “we” do know how the Lumia 52x compares to Android: very favorably, the words “mopping the floor with” come to mind. And by “we,” I’m referring to those of us who have actually used a Lumia 52x for any real length of time, and have also used an Android phone in the same price range – like, say the Samsung Galaxy Discover.
The low-end Lumias have nothing to worry about from Android for the time being. Not unless KitKat is also somehow going to fix the crap build-quality, shitty screens, and cheap-o cameras that are endemic to low-end Android devices.
My only complaint about the 521 is the camera, or more specifically that it lacks a flash, so low light images are always grainy. Then again, the only time I’ve ever been amazed by a phone camera was the HTC One S; I should have kept it strictly to use as a smart digital camera.
Otherwise, the 521 is hands-down the best phone you can get for $100 off contract, as far as I’m concerned.