They should arrive later this year, when Microsoft launches Windows Phone 8.1

Feb 19, 2014 10:15 GMT  ·  By

Next week, we should see a nice range of new mobile phones made official in Barcelona during the Mobile World Congress, though it appears that none of them will run under the Windows Phone operating system.

The event is expected to be dominated by devices running under Google’s Android operating system, despite the fact that Microsoft has a press event set for Sunday in Barcelona.

According to a recent article on recode.net, the company will only share some general details on the future of Windows Phone, but it won’t offer a glimpse at the Windows Phone 8.1 platform.

Thus, handsets that would arrive on shelves with the new operating system version loaded on top will be announced later this year, most probably close to the BUILD 2014 conference, which is reportedly set to take place in April.

Said news site also claims that Nokia won’t bring a new Windows Phone handset at MWC either. The company launched Nokia Lumia Icon for Verizon last week, and it might unveil its first Android-based phone in Barcelona, in the form of Nokia X.

The handset, previously leaked under the codename of Normandy, is based on Nokia’s Asha-on-Linux (AOL) effort, and will be running under the AOSP version of Android, without access to Google services.

However, Nokia will be loading replacements on the platform, including its own application portal and HERE applications, rumor has it.

The most interesting thing about the phone is that it will be launched at a time when Nokia’s phone division is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft. Furthermore, some previous reports suggested that the Finnish vendor might plan on launching other Android phones later this year as well.

Unfortunately, an official confirmation on the above hasn’t been provided as of now, so we’ll have to take the above with a grain of salt for the time being. Stay tuned for more on the matter.