Last week the very first reported photos of Nokia’s Android software made an appearance as well as on Monday, additional images appeared, showing a bit more from the interface. The Verge spotted this picture on Twitter which, much like last week’s images, show two signal strength indications one for every Sim. That indicates the marketplaces for such phones: Exactly the same ones today offered by Nokia’s Asha line.

The general look of both phone and also the software within this picture complement with prior images from noted tipster @evleaks. This latest image is apparently from an engineering prototype from the Normandy, the alleged codename for that phone. It really doesn’t seem sensible for Nokia to go in the standard Android phone market with Normandy.

Rather, using Android to bolster their Asha line-up appears the likely play in my experience.

While Nokia required on Home windows Phone since it's primary smartphone platform in Feb 2011, a brand new Android line could provide the organization having a platform alternative for its Asha line, that are limited, low-cost mobile phone models offered in emerging marketplaces built on Nokia’s aging S40 platform.

By changing S40 with Android because the underlying platform to energy the Asha line, Nokia can engage in Android’s wide usage and developer support. Nokia can personalize the feel and look of Android, similar in method of Amazon’s Kindle, while building in use of Microsoft’s software and services. Think SkyDrive, Skype and Office.

This method would gain Microsoft use of 100s of countless additional customers and achieve this through Android of sorts. Google’s platform may be the engine underneath the hood of these mobile phones to supply elderly features than S40. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Google re-labored Android with KitKat, or Android 4.4: The brand new platform can run well on phones with less than 512 Megabytes of memory.

I’m still attempting to wrap my mind around application support though. Turn to the Kindle for example. Since Amazon . com uses the Android Free Project, or AOSP, form of Android it doesn’t provide use of Google’s services for example Gmail, Chrome and also the Play Store.

That’s fine in Amazon’s situation because it produced its very own email client and Silk Browser, as well as it own application store. How Nokia would manage this — particularly by having an application store that supports software written to operate on Android — continues to be a wide open question.

No matter that, the process appears seem. Microsoft spent $7.17 billion on Nokia’s device business in September. Included in that deal, Microsoft acquired the Asha brand, passing on a foothold into new marketplaces.

It isn't likely that Microsoft could possibly get easily get its software and services running on S40 products however it is not sensible to abandon the company. Rather, switching it to Android gives the organization a method to push Asha like a modern-searching, low-cost line being an access point for Microsoft software. So when individuals Asha customers are prepared for some thing robust, they are able to step-up to Home windows Phone later on.

Why don't you use Home windows Phone for that Asha line to start with? It’s a legitimate question. But because Microsoft seems heading perfectly into a merger of sorts between Home windows Phone and Home windows RT, it appears as though the smartphone platform needs more horsepower underneath the hood, not less. Asha running Home windows services atop a light-weight form of Android will work better in the basic level.

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