Today, we sat down with several key executives from Nokia to talk more about the Nokia X Platform, the UI and some of its functionality as well as the design philosophy that came with it
The Nokia X Platform was derived from the AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and took the core of Jellybean 4.1.2, made enhancements available in Kitkat (for better memory management), added Microsoft APIs in order to access MS services like Bing, Exchange, Outlook, OneDrive as well as native Nokia services like HERE Maps.
So yes, technically, it’s not really an Android smartphone but a derivative.
Since Nokia X is not using any Google services, there is no Play Store, there are a number of 3rd party apps stores available on the platform like Mobango, SlideMe Market, and 1Mobile Market.
For purchases, everything is done thru carrier charging. Nokia has about 170 carrier partners that will do this so all charges are done using load credits. Everything else, users can just sideload the apps via the microSD card.
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In the gallery above, the UI of the Nokia X looks very similar to the Live Tiles of WP8.
Nokia’s goal is to make Nokia X devices available to those looking at the price points between the Nokia Asha and the Nokia Lumia. Growth in the $100 segment of the market are the biggest in emerging markets (reason why CM sells over 200k units a month in the Philippines) so that’s the primary focus on Nokia for the Nokia X series.
That being said, do not expect a high end Nokia device to run on Nokia X in the future.
I think the Nokia X Family targets young consumers who do basic social networking activities on Facebook and Twitter, microblogging on Tumblr, photo-sharing on Instagram, etc. No wonder why Asha and X Family have eye-catching colored polycarbonate body plus it’s durable and not that expensive compared to Lumia phones. As of now, I’m using an Asha phone and I don’t have problems with it. I’m a college student and most of my classmates use Android phones while some have iPhones. My friends always notice my phone and tell that its so cute. Aside from that, I’m happy that my phone can provide my communication needs. I can also listen to music for more than 16 hours. I’ve used Samsung and LG phones before but I’m happier when I switched to Nokia. Being basic and simple is not that bad. Most Filipinos are addicted to social networking and I feel bad for our country because face-to-face communication is losing its value. Nokia helped me to recover and I learned the value of ‘connecting people’ not just in the online world but also in real life.
When I watched the #MWC2014 livestream of Nokia, I got excited about Nokia X. I’m using my Asha phone for almost one year and I can’t wait to replace it with Nokia X which has bigger screen, faster processing speed, better camera quality and more apps. I also look forward to the Microsoft services that it can provide such as OneDrive, Outlook and Bing search because I’m using such services since last year through my laptop.
Please stop bashing Nokia X it has its own target consumers and if it can’t provide your needs, then you fit into a different consumer category. You can always switch to Lumia, or you can also try other smartphone brand such as Samsung, LG, etc.