14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia X, the Android-based series of handsets that debuted at the Mobile World Congress back in February this year, is expected to be continued, and some info on the next-generation phones in the lineup has emerged online.
Despite the fact that Microsoft bought Nokia’s Devices and Services division, it seems that the Redmond-based giant is determined to continue the aforementioned series of Android phones.
Furthermore, a recent post on BGR India claims that there will be a change of design in the upcoming Nokia X devices, as they will receive a dedicated home button.
As it turns out, many of those who have bought the Nokia X smartphones have been complaining about the lack of a home button on them. For those out of the loop, we should note that Nokia packed these phones only with a back button, as it did with the Asha series.
Of course, that button was able to take users to the home screen when being long pressed, but it seems that not all users out there did know that they could perform such an action. Most of them used to press the back button multiple times to get to the home screen.
As BGR India notes, owners of Nokia X devices indeed need to go to the home screen as easily as possible, given that these smartphones do not have a swipe down notification bar.
Thus, users need to land on the home screen first, and then to swipe from the side to go to the Fastlane UI to access such functionality.
One thing that hasn’t been unveiled as of now is whether the upcoming Nokia X smartphones will be as cheap as the existing ones, or even cheaper.
However, back in February, Nokia did promise more cheap handsets in its portfolio, and chances are that the new Nokia X phones will indeed be more appealing to users, price-wise.
Just as the previous models in the lineup, the new devices should also be powered by a forked version of Android, and that no Google services will be loaded on them.
Nokia chose to swap these services for its own, such as the Nokia Maps – and various Microsoft services, such as Outlook and Bing –, and even replaced the popular Google Play Store with its own Nokia Store.
The one thing that remains to be seen, however, is when the new Nokia X phones will become official, as the new report on them does not unveil details on the matter. Hopefully, such info will be revealed sooner rather than later, so stay tuned.