Nokia just did the unthinkable: The company, such a reliable Windows Phone partner that Microsoft is acquiring most of it, has unveiled an Android phone, the Nokia X. But if you look closely, you can see why.
The Nokia X, launching today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, isn't just your run-of-the-mill Android handset. The device, the first of several Android products from Nokia, is a budget model (just 89 euros or about $120) that runs a highly modified version of Android.
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Similar to what Amazon has done with its Kindle Fire tablets, Nokia has taken out all the "Googleness" from Android and replaced it with its own services as well as Microsoft's. It's even designed the icons to look like what you might find on one of Nokia's Lumia phones.
"Nokia X is a new affordable smartphone family from Nokia," explains Jussi Nevanlinna, vice president of marketing for Nokia's phones. "X stands for 'crossover' between Microsoft cloud, Android apps and Nokia. When we say family, we really mean it. During 2014 you'll see a number of products arriving in this family."
Nokia hopes its first Android model appeals to — shocker — feature-phone owners in developing markets looking to upgrade to a cheap smartphone. The big advantage Android gives over its home-grown Lumia phones is of course apps. The platform's app catalog is over a million strong.
Although Google Play isn't on board the Nokia X, several third-party app stores are preloaded, such as Yandex. Those stores are often more popular than Google Play in the very countries Nokia is targeting.
In addition to the third-party stores, Nokia also provides its own. The Nokia Store is on the Nokia X, providing a curated (read: whitelisted) selection of Android apps submitted by developers. Nokia says developers won't need to change their apps much to get into its store, although your mileage may vary if your app makes significant use of Google services.

Image: Nokia

If you happen to be upgrading from a Nokia Asha phone, things will be even more familiar: The Nokia X sports Asha's signature "Fastlane" home screen, which shows all the most recent things you've been doing on the phone, in a single stream. Pull down from the top of the screen, and you'll see upcoming events from your calendar.
"When we studied consumers who use low-end Android products, we found out that they are pretty overwhelmed by having so many apps," says Nevanlinna. "What we did here is we put everything that you use frequently in one place, on one screen, and surface everything there so you have quick access to your favorites. That's Fastlane."
Spec-wise, the Nokia X is a low-end phone. It packs a 1GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and it has 512MB of RAM. Storage is a mere 4GB, but you can augment it with a microSD card. The 4-inch screen has a resolution of 480 x 800, and the camera only has 3 megapixels. This being a phone for the developing market, it's capable of holding dual SIM cards.
Nokia is releasing the phone in India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, South America, Western Europe and the Middle East. Tellingly, it won't come to North America, Korea or Japan. It'll go on sale in early March.
I got a little hands-on time with the Nokia X, and it's definitely a few strides behind today's powerhouses like the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy line. Applications took noticeably longer to load, and performing anything other than the most elementary function introduces lag.
However, the design feels good in the hand, and the display looks perfectly fine. I liked that Nokia designed its app iconography on Android to resemble Windows Phone, although the tiles obviously aren't "live" like they are in that environment. Icons to Nokia and Microsoft services are front and center, although the home-field advantage doesn't count as much on Android, and the apps don't run any faster.
Still, Nokia's certainly done everything it can to try and make a Lumia fan out of whoever buys the Nokia X. Clearly the phone is intended to be a kind of Trojan Horse into the Android ecosystem, with the theory being it'll cultivate Nokia/Microsoft fans from its services and low price.
We'll see. But the Nokia X is also notable for being the first Android phone from a company who, until now, was apparently willing to try any operating system but the one owned by Google.
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Image: Nokia