Nokia Delivers Android Phones, Mozilla Talks Up $25 Phones

The big Mobile World Congress show is underway in Barcelona, and there is much news on the open source phone front, as predicted here last week. Nokia has announced the Nokia X and X+, four-inch phones running Android that will run the whole ecosystem of Android apps. The Nokia X will start selling for €89 next week. As we've written about, Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia is closing soon, so these new phones will put Microsoft in the Android business.

Meanwhile, Mozilla has pledged to help deliver "a flood" of $25 smartphones based on its Firefox OS platform. 

Nokia X images and branding materials had already leaked on the web, but even as late as last week, some people doubted that Nokia would deliver an Android phone. Actually, all the way back in 2009, we were writing here on OStatic about how it would be smart for Nokia to jump on the Android bandwagon.

Nokia has also announced its Nokia XL, a 5-inch version of the Nokia X that will be available in Q2 for €109. The company is going to have several flavors of its Android phone, and Microsoft will likely be directly involved with evolving these devices.

Firefox OS phones have been selling in Hungary, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Greece.  It seems clear that Mozilla wants to focus on emerging markets, and apparently we will see a new crop of $25 Firefox OS phones, well within reach of many people who haven't owned a smartphone before. Alcatel and ZTE showed Firefox OS phones at Mobile World Congress.

And, as reported last week, let's not forget that Ubuntu phones are becoming a reality.  In every way, phones based on open source platforms are going to be competing fiercely this year.