Nokia's First Android Smartphone

Nokia is preparing to unveil its first Android phone later this month. The Wall Street Journal reports that Nokia will unveil its "Normandy" phone at Mobile World Congress later this month. Citing sources familiar with Nokia’s plans, the WSJ reiterates previous reports from The Verge that Nokia’s first Android phone will use a modified "forked" version of Google’s operating system. The effort is similar to Amazon’s use of Android for its Kindle range of tablets, and Nokia is expected to integrate Microsoft services onto the device with a special application store for some existing Android apps.

Nokia has scheduled a press event later this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, hinting only at "meet us under the tree." The Finnish smartphone-maker also recently teased an upcoming Windows Phone announcement, but The Vergeunderstands Nokia will not focus heavily on its future Windows Phone plans at Mobile World Congress. Instead, Nokia will reportedly detail its Android "Normandy" phone, which is expected to be named "Nokia X" once it starts shipping. With a lack of Google Play Store access on Nokia’s Android phone, the company may be forced to focus on any apps it has managed to successfully port to its forked version of Android.

Previous leaks have revealed that Nokia’s Android device includes a Windows Phone-like UI, and can run Android apps like Skype, Twitter, Vine, Facebook, and BBM. Photos of what appears to be a near-final unit of the "Normandy" Android phone have also appeared, showing a handset that looks similar to Nokia’s low-end Windows Phone devices. While Microsoft continues to target low-cost with Windows Phone, Nokia’s Android phone will also focus on this market with low-end specifications like just 4GB of storage and 512MB of RAM. Nokia’s Mobile World Congress press event takes place on February 24th, and we’ll be there to bring you the latest on Normandy.

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Nokia Lumia 2520 Review - First Nokia's Tablet

Nokia Lumia 2520 is first foray into tablet market, and sees the firm competing against Microsoft, the company that recently bought it.

Microsoft obviously has produced Surface 2 which uses RT, but third-party manufacturers have never produced tablet which uses RT.

But here, at the end of 2013, Nokia has produced its first ever tablet which uses RT as its platform.

Lumia 2520's Design:

One of the best thing about Lumia 2520 is its design. Nokia is keeping its tradition of bringing some color back to consumer's products which it began with its brightly colored Lumia Smartphones. Like Lumia's other phones Lumia 2520 is also available in bright red and blue, as well as plain black or white for those who prefer more staid look to their gadgets.

Nokia knows how to design and make hardware and the Lumia 2520 is no different. The poly-carbonate shell looks and feels great in the hands, though it did attract fingerprints easily and is slightly slippery when held in one hand.

Indeed it is all but impossible to prop it up on its own without a special stand, as it slips and slides all over the place - and there is no Surface-style kickstand.

Nokia is launching a dedicated stand/keyboard dock, but that is not available in the UK yet.

Lumia 2520's Screen:

And here we come to the high point of the Lumia 2520 - the 10.1in screen may not have the highest pixel density (218ppi compared to say the Nexus 10's 300ppi) but it doesn't matter. The screen is one of the best on any tablet of this size.

Lumia 2520's Hardware and Performance:

Nokia has used the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor from Qualcomm which has been combined with 2GB of RAM. On the face of it this sounds great, and generally the Lumia 2520 is a decent performer, but sadly it seems to be let down not by hardware constraints but by Windows RT.

Aside from these little niggles, streaming HD video, uploading and downloading files, using Microsoft Office and browsing the web all work well.

The Lumia 2520 only comes in one version, with 32GB of storage, but a microSD card slot gives you the ability to expand that by a further 32GB - an option most tablet's these days don't give you.

Lumia 2520's Connectivity and Battery:

Along with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC, support for a 4G SIM also comes as standard - something most tablet manufacturers charge a premium for.

Another nice feature on the Lumia 2520 is fast charging. It sees the large 8120mAh battery reach 80% charge in just one hour - something I would love to see in all tablets.

Battery life is also great. I managed to eek 10 hours of use from the Lumia 2520 which is about as good as you will get from a tablet these days.

Lumia 2520's Full Specifications:

Display: 10.1 inch full HD with 1920 x 1080p Resolution.

OS: Windows RT 8.1

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800 series Quad-core with 2.2 GHz.

RAM: 2GB.

Storage: 32 GB built-in, Expandable memory card slot support upto 64 GB.

Camera: Main Camera 6.7 MP Auto-Focus witj ZEISS optics. No back flashlight. Secondary Camera 1.2 MP HD.

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