Behind Microsoft Deal, the Specter of a Nokia Android Phone

SEATTLE — Before Microsoft reached a deal to buy Nokia’s phone business, there was a possibility that Nokia could have switched its smartphones to Google’s Android operating system sometime after late 2014.

And now, it is clear that a Nokia Android phone was more than a possibility. It was real.

A team within Nokia had Android up and running on the company’s Lumia handsets well before Microsoft and Nokia began negotiating Microsoft’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone and services business, according to two people briefed on the effort who declined to be identified because the project was confidential. 

Microsoft executives were aware of the existence of the project, these people said.

Another person said the idea of Nokia using Android wasn’t a part of Microsoft’s discussions with the company about an acquisition, even though that was widely recognized as a possibility.

On one level, Nokia’s Android effort is not shocking. Companies often have “plan Bs” in the works in case they need to change course on strategy or want to help negotiate better terms with partners. Getting Android to run on Nokia’s hardware was not a Herculean engineering effort, according to the people familiar with the project.

Still, a functioning Nokia Android phone could have served as a powerful prop in Nokia’s dealings with Microsoft, a tangible reminder that Nokia could move away from Microsoft’s Windows Phone software and use the Android operating system, which powers more than three out of every four smartphones sold globally.

Susan Sheehan, a spokeswoman for Nokia, declined to comment, as did Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman.

Nokia reached a deal with Microsoft in 2011 to use Windows Phone on its smartphones, but Nokia had an option to exit that partnership at the end of 2014. Unraveling that deal would have been painful for both parties. It would have been devastating to Microsoft’s mobile phone efforts since Nokia accounts for more than 80 percent of the Windows Phone handsets sold. For Nokia, changing such an important ingredient in its products would have been a costly setback too.

Nokia has faced criticism that it made the wrong decision in choosing Windows Phone over Android several years ago. Nokia’s share of the smartphone market fell to 3 percent during the first half of 2013, from 32.8 percent in 2010.

There is no telling for sure whether Nokia would have been better off with Android over that time. It is possible the design of the operating system and greater abundance of Android apps might have put Nokia in a better spot.

The current status of Nokia’s Android project is unclear. Presumably, after Microsoft completes its acquisition of Nokia’s phone business early next year, there won’t be much future for it.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Lenovo Vibe X joins the 5-inch Android 4.2 Fold

Lenovo trotted out its latest smartphone at IFA 2013, an Android 4.2 smartphone it's dubbed the Vibe X.

Joining others in the class of 5-inch 1080p HD screens, the Vibe X encases its large, gleaming display in a slim polycarbonate shell that measures 0.27 inch thick. Lenovo boasts about the Vibe X's laser-engraved 3D finish. From a specs perspective, the Vibe X's Gorilla Glass 3-topped display should look nice and sharp with a screen resolution of 440 pixels per inch.

Weight is also on the manufacturer's mind. Lenovo fancifully describes the 4.1-ounce device as the weight of five AA batteries.

Camera specs on the Vibe X are also sky-high: a 13-megapixel sensor with BSI for the back and a whopping 5 megapixels for the front-facing camera, an 84-degree wide-angle lens.

A 1.5GHz quad-core MTK 6589T processor serves as the Vibe X's engine, and the smartphone comes with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB RAM.

Going hands-on with the Vibe X, we were disappointed to see a slightly sluggish response when we were swiping through the phone's home screens and menus, despite the quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM.

The phone isn't out yet, so here's hoping Lenovo will iron those kinks out before the Vibe X hits ship shelves. It's rare to find a relatively high-spec Android phone that judders during use these days, so those issues ought to be addressed.

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com

Google Announces 1B Total Android Activations, Names Next Version ‘KitKat’

Apple made waves this morning when it announced its oft-rumored September 10 event, but Google isn’t giving up the day’s limelight without a fight — according to a post on Sundar Pichai’s Google+ page, more than 1 billion Android devices have been activated to date. That’s not exactly a shock considering the sort of momentum we’ve seen in activations over the past few months. CEO Larry Page said there were 1.5 million Android activations a day back in July and Android device activations hit the 900 million mark earlier this year.

Even more puzzling than that is the name of the next version of Android, which bucks the long-standing trend of generic dessert names. As it turns out, Android 4.4 is going to be called “KitKat”and not “Key Lime Pie” as earlier thought, though at this point there’s still no official word on when we can expect to see the build go live. Kit Kats are of course a popular chocolate treat made by Nestle, and at this point we’re trying to determine how much this crazy little deal is worth, but the promotional blitz has already begun.

UPDATE: Google has confirmed to the BBC that the idea for the name originated with them, and that no money is changing hands as part of the deal.

Nestle has already kicked off a bizarre cross-promotion strategy that will bestow Nexus 7s and Google Play credits on those who find specially branded Kit Kat candy bars emblazoned with the Android logo, à la Willy Wonka. Yes, this is really happening. Apparently the agreement was finalized behind closed doors at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and all parties involved amazingly managed to keep the name under wraps (I slay me) for six months despite the fact that Nestle has been churning out that Android-laden packaging for 50 million candy bars.

Though the name itself is enough to get Android fans and mobile pundits talking, Google may be looking to expand its scope with this latest update. The newly anointed Android KitKit landing pageclaims that it’s the company’s goal “to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody,” which may hint at an expansion into different hardware segments. Google already has some skin in the smartphone and tablet games thanks to its acquisition of Motorola Mobility and hardware partnerships with Asus and LG, but it’s possible we could see Android KitKit powering a smartwatch — a move made partially possible by Google’s quiet acquisition of WIMM Labs last year.

Source: http://techcrunch.com

Turn Mobile Messages into Meetings with Klamr

Klamr, a new multi-task messaging app for iOS and Android debuted on the App StoreFriday. It's a Swiss Army knife type of service combining some of the most beloved social functions: messaging, social planning, location search, reviews, chat, and photo sharing.

To get started, sign in with your phone number. You then search for friends by their digits, and choose who to include in a meal, activity or event, specifying time and location. Reviews from Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook, and in-app suggestions of nearby venues and locations, help as a guide. Once you select who you want to meet up with and where, the app sends an SMS message with details and a URL to your companion (you can invite non-users to events).

Messages are private, so only you and your friends are in on the date (there is no simultaneous Facebook or Twitter posting). The point is to simplify a rendezvous down to a few clicks, explains founder and CEO Bryan Pelz.

"There needs to be a way to make it easier to go out with friends," he says, calling Klamr a solution for people who don't want to go out to the same places over and over, or cut and paste info from other apps. "We're just trying to scratch that one itch."

Right now Klamr is free, and there are no in-app ads. Pelz says he's more worried about user acquisition than monetization. Data will not be sold to third parties. Future revenue sources will come from brands interacting directly with users, but he won't say exactly how that will work.

In order to gain traction, his app will have to do everything it advertises as good or better than what's already on the market. That's because every functionality Klamr accomplishes treads into crowded territory.

Messaging is dominated by WhatsApp's 300 million active monthly users. Geolocation apps are burning hot right now; among the review sites, Yelp gobbles up more than 100 million users a month.

Pelz says he doesn't expect to replace these top services. Instead, he sees his app as a bridge merging the best features of each. Building a better mouse trap is the way to get user adoption, he says. But doing a little bit of everything has some competitors scratching their heads.

"Klamr needs something way more compelling as the core feature than social, messaging, and networking to enter today's mobile consumer market," says Spencer Chen, an executive at the mobile analytics site Mixpanel.

Chen points out that top social apps like Vine, the private networking service Circle, and Twitter and Facebook are all single-function. Offering buffet, instead of a la carte options, runs "counter to the usage patterns and the goals of mobile users," he says. Plus it's going to be tough to convince people to abandon their favorite apps.

Hunter Gray, the CEO and co-founder of the mobile calendar app Atlas agrees that too many features can confuse users.

"The 'Swiss Army' thing doesn't usually seem to work," Gray says.

Heather Meeker, the co-founder of the communications firm MeekerQuinn, and former vice-president at the free messaging service textPlus, says she understands Klamr is trying to streamline the user experience by providing feature options. But she agrees with Chen and Gray that it's a challenge to be all things to all people.

"The way for multiple-function apps to win is to provide an experience that is relevant, intuitive and elegant," she says. "Not cluttered."

Klamr's Pelz acknowledges that it is an ambitious play. But he's looking beyond the U.S. market for success. He's spent the last 13 years split between San Francisco and Vietnam, and says that experience taught him that the Asian market is ripe for a service like this. He says Asian mobile users could be his ace in the hole.

"People there are very comfortable having multiple messaging apps," he says.

Would you trade your favorite apps for this all-in-one service? Or use it in tandem? Let us know in the comments.

Source: http://mashable.com