Nokia Normandy: A Nokia android phone coming soon?

Now, this is a surprise! It seems that Nokia planned to release a low-end Android-powered phone all along! But as opposed to creating a skin of Android, they planned to make a forked version of it.

So, it’s more like Kindle Fire than HTC One or Galaxy S4. But still, the very thought that they planned this is mind-boggling. Codenamed Normandy, the handset is designed as the next step in low-end phones from the Finnish smartphone maker, either going alongside their Asha line, or even perhaps replacing it altogether. They’ve considered this step because they want their low-cost devices to have access to more traditional smartphone apps — something they fail to achieve for its Series 40 OS, which powers their Asha line.

The image you see above was published by the King of Leaks, @evleaks, last month. According to sources, Nokia have this planned long before Microsoft’s acquisition, and may have continued despite Microsoft’s announcements to acquire the company’s handset business. Additionally, they phone seems to have a planned release date of 2014 and one insider even hinted that the Normandy effort is still “full steam ahead.” However, unless Nokia’s able to release this phone before MS’s acquisition is complete, this phone’s future could be bleak. I don’t think MS would want a competing platform to sit alongside their WP8, even if it’s a forked version.

[Source: The Verge]