Nokia Says There's No Truth to Reports of its Android Phone
by Sam Dean - Jul. 06, 2009Comments (2)- Related Blog Posts
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According to a report from Reuters, Nokia has denied recent reports that it plans to release a phone running the Android operating system. The Guardian had posted a puzzling story on how Nokia would do "a strategic U-turn" from its focus on Symbian-based phones to Android. "Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever," a Nokia spokesman told Reuters. The spokesman also emphasized that Symbian remains Nokia's preferred platform, and, as we reported last week, Symbian will soon begin beta testing of its Symbian 2 open source operating system.
The Guardian's story didn't cite any specific sources for its report that Nokia would embrace Android, and it doesn't make sense that the company would back away from Symbian. While Symbian has taken quite a long time bringing its open source operating system to a beta version, the new OS promises to have a big impact. Symbian has close to half of the global smartphone market.
As for Android, it doesn't need Nokia to continue its unquestionable momentum. GigaOm notes that it is possible that Nokia and Intel could team up on "a 3G- or 4G-enabled netbook-type device that’s powered by Intel’s chips." Still, there isn't any confirmation of that yet, and I expect that Symbian and Android devices will be locked in fierce, open source competition by the end of this year.
