Microsoft has unveiled its first phone after
completing its takeover of Nokia's handset division - and the device is powered
by Android. The
operating system, developed by Google, is usually seen as a rival to
Microsoft's own Windows Phone OS. Microsoft
said the Nokia X2 offered it a way to hook users into its cloud-based services,
several of which come pre-installed as apps.
One
expert said the alternative would have been leaving "money on the
table". "I still find it astounding that Microsoft is making Android
phones, but there seems to be a steely determination to take a more open
approach for the greater good of the whole company rather than just the Windows
Phone platform," said Ben Wood, from the telecoms consultancy CCS Insight.
"If
they don't do this, then someone else is going to get the business.
"I
also think it's a reflection of the fact that Nokia's budget Asha line of
feature phones was unable to compete with entry-level Android mobiles."
Microsoft
completed its takeover of Nokia's handset division on 25 April at a cost of
5.4bn euros ($7.4bn; £4.4bn).
·
a
slightly bigger 4.3in (11cm) screen
·
1GB of
RAM - double the amount of memory previously included
·
a more
powerful battery
·
the
addition of a front-facing camera for selfies
It will
cost 99 euro ($135; £80) when released in July.
Microsoft's
video chat app Skype, its Outlook email service and its OneDrive internet
storage apps all come pre-loaded.
The firm
is also promoting some of its other apps - including Bing Search, the Yammer
business-focused social network and the OneNote idea jotting service - as
optional free downloads for the device.
"The
whole idea of bringing more people into Microsoft Cloud through these services
is the very core of the strategy," Jussi Nevanlinna, vice-president of
mobile phones product marketing at Microsoft, told the BBC.
Source: BBC
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