A casual name-drop in a report on Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets has led to suggestions that Nokia is working with Google on an Android device. DigiTimes claims Google has been giving priority to brand-name handset manufacturers with support for the tablet-centric Honeycomb release, bypassing notebook makers in the process, but Nokia is in among the list of “smartphone players” supposedly working with the search giant.
It’s most likely an oversight by DigiTimes’ writers, but the remaining players on the list – Motorola, Samsung, LG and HTC – are all companies we’ve heard Android tablet rumors about in the past. A similar casual mention pre-holidays tipped Honeycomb for a March 2011 release; now the site is claiming some smartphone manufacturers could have slates running the platform out as early as the latter half of February next year.
I thought that the Nokia boss hated the idea of Android, and preferred in-house-built Operating Systems (like their awful Symbian OS).
Will never happen. There is no attraction for Nokia in putting out devices on a competitors platform, be it mobile phones or tablets.
Nokia might put out a tablet in 2011, but if they do, it will run on Meego.
If the stories about Nokia moving 4 million N8 units are true I think it very unlikely that they (Nokia) will move to Android (or Windows). They have bigger margins with Symbian and bigger numbers.
The question is not why Nokia needs Android but why Google needs Nokia?
Google seem to be putting themselves out to get Nokia on board.
With noises from HTC (and other high tier Android providers) about wanting to differentiate their platforms against Google’s advice 2011 could prove to be interesting. But can you blame them? Next year will bring more low cost OEMs onto the Android market big time (handsets and tablets). Eating heavily into current margins.
If (and it is a BIG IF) Nokia manage to pull more white rabbits out of the hat (e.g. Meego handsets and tablets with meaningful updates to Symbian) then it would be interesting if others stick to an Android only policy.
I suspect it will lead to an increase in manufacturers OS/Platforms (e.g. Samsung Bada).
Then we will be living in “interesting times”.