Nokia branded Android phones officially coming in 2017

For as long as there have been Android phones there have been people wanting Nokia Android phones. We sort of got a Nokia Android Tablet from Foxconn, and we sort of got a Nokia Android phone from Microsoft, but never the full deal. Now a Finish company HDM – comprised of a lot of ex-Nokia mobile engineers – has acquired a 10 year exclusive licence to manufacture Nokia Android phones.

That’s all the official information we have to go by about the Android devices, despite the phones being licenced by HDM for the next 10 years they are being prominently marketed alongside Nokia’s other phones on their own website. With a bunch of Nokia’s old employees committed to a 10 year run of Android devices, we’re quietly hopeful that the dream of a Nokia Android phone not only will become real by may be a serious competitor in the space. You can head to the Nokia site to sign-up for updates, or just read Ausdroid; we’ll keep you up-to-date.

Here’s an idea that makes me excited, Nokia Android One! Nokia knows the developing market and has great distribution and brand recognition, adding an Android One device to their line up would be very exciting, for me at least.

We offer HDM a few pieces of advice.

• Leave Android alone. We don’t mean you’re not welcome in the Android OEM space, quite the opposite we desperately need new blood of your calibre. No, we mean leave the OS alone. We don’t need or want duplicate apps that add nothing to the experience or some custom interface or UI layout. Google has done a lot of great things with Nougat, just use it unless you KNOW what you’re offering is ‘better’.
• Security updates are essential, commit to them, monthly is best quarterly would be ok in my  book. Just give an upfront commitment of 24, or like the Pixels 36 months of security updates and then follow through.
• OS updates are nice, just like above commit upfront and deliver whatever you promise.
• Partnerships are good. I’d think nothing less of a device that shipped with the Google launcher and Keyboard, or even Nova/ Action Launcher and Swiftkey for example. If you don’t want to ship with the Google default, which I think you should, then partner with a known leader in that area.
• Cameras are king, you camera needs to load fast, shoot fast and preferably work in low light (others seem to value this, I’m a little more forgiving after all it’s dark!). Most importantly the experience shouldn’t become laggy over time as I have experienced with other devices.

There’s a lot more that can be said but that’s a good start. HDM, you know where to find me if you want any more unsolicited advice.

What would you tell HDM about entering the Android space in 2017.