The company has announced two events for next week in London

Mar 19, 2014 19:56 GMT  ·  By

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is finding more ways to try to lure developers into porting their applications to its Nokia X devices, and has announced that it will be offering free handsets to those who will do so in London the next week.

To be more precise, the company has announced two events in London, one on Monday, March 24, and another one on Friday, March 28, both aimed at offering more info on how to port apps to the Nokia X smartphone.

The device, powered by Android, is the first of its kind in Nokia’s lineup, but is also a bit different from the regular Android handset, given the fact that it does not offer support for Google’s services and apps.

Nokia has loaded it with its own set of services on top, including a Nokia Store, which does offer a great deal of applications, but does not come even close to what can be found in the Google Play Store at the moment.

However, the company appears determined to close the gap a little and is offering developers the possibility to easily port their apps to its device, since there’s actually little that they need to do in this regard.

Those apps that rely on Google services might not be that easy to port, but others are, and Nokia wants to prove that. Said two events in London will be held exactly for that.

The first of the two, held on Monday, will explain more on what the unique modifications that Nokia made to AOSP are all about, and what tools can be used to port apps to the Nokia X platform.

“Nokia are running a competition for those who port their apps in Londroid. The first 30 to port their apps win a device. Port now to avoid disappointment,” the event’s page on meetup reads.

As for the March 28 event, it will allow developers to climb aboard the Nokia X Porting Bus and to receive free Nokia X devices in exchange for ported apps.

“Not only will you have access to our Nokia X xperts for as long as you need or want it, everyone who comes to the bus and ports an app while they’re there will receive their own, exclusive Nokia X device,” Nokia explains on the registration page on eventbrite.

The smartphone hasn’t arrived in the UK as of yet, and developers will be the first to enjoy its capabilities, the company also says, adding that other prizes will also be available for those who pre-registers and check in on that day.

Nokia appears set to prove that its entry-level Android device can be successful, and the availability of as many applications as possible for it will ensure that. However, it remains to be seen whether it will indeed manage to attract a great deal of developers.