I'll never understand why Nokia thought that going with WP was a better strategy than forking android like amazon did.

Think about it: it would have the openness and stability of Linux with the single hardware configuration and quality of the iPhone, total win-win.

Now they are going to android as the cheap option which means only crappy hardware that only "looks" like a lumia.

Had Nokia gone the other way it would be in an even better position than Samsung Mobile is in now, mostly thanks to it's vastly superior software resources.

Then again the exact same thing could be said about RIM.

Linus Torvalds once said: "If Microsoft ever starts developing apps for Linux, it means I won."

Is this close enough?

I predict this will last 5 minutes after the Nokia deal closes. This is a thumb in the eye to Microsoft by people who will also leave that part of Nokia immediately after the deal closes. They will leave with the knowledge and experience of how to integrate an Android based product with Nokia (maps, multimedia, app store) and Microsoft (Bing search, Skype) ecosystem elements.

I would bet they know at least 5 OEMs in China who would like a similar product.

It's pretty odd.

I think it's fair to say that the only handset makers profiting off of Android today are...Samsung...and...that's about it really. Meager pickings for the rest of them.

I don't see this succeeding at all. And in any case it's dead in the water once the Microsoft deal goes through because it just muddies the waters. A person that buys one of these cheap Nokia/Android phones would reasonably expect that "upgrading" to Nokias "premium" Lumia handsets will mean his apps/features carry over too.

Oops.

"Another reason for the Nokia Android phone is Microsoft's Windows Phone—currently the only operating system on Nokia's higher-end Lumia smartphones—doesn't work on low-cost phones because of the software's technical requirements."

I have to wonder about that statement, because WP created a smaller memory requirement version that was supposed to be run on lesser hardware phones.

Nokia has the hardware chops to produce good Android phones (in the same league as Samsung). At the same time, Nokia also has the software development chops to polish the Android platform to its liking. I doubt the phone will be a simple AOSP fork. Nokia will most likely try and play the same game Samsung is playing. Google will have to decide to what extent it will license Android to Nokia. Imagine that it cannot say no, since it will look really bad then.

From my perspective, this is a very good move by Nokia. Good hardware and nice software polish will make for nice phones. Don't forget, Nokia knows how to bring the phone at a good price point. They will actually put quite a bit of pressure on Samsung and Google. This is why Lenovo will take over Motorola. Lenovo also has solid hardware chops.

It will be very interesting and good for consumers.

This has nothing to do with Microsoft.

Due to anti-trust law, Microsoft can't have any influence over decisions Nokia makes before the acquisition[1]. Even if Microsoft hated the idea of Nokia building and Android phone (likely) it could do nothing about it. And, even more importantly, Nokia could NOT change its plans even if Microsoft wanted them to.

[1] http://hal2020.com/2013/10/16/how-much-influence-is-microsof...

I hope one day Nokia will release Windows Phone Bootcamp for those Nokia Android phone. Similar to how one bootcamp to Windows from Mac OS X. If MS has its own Android stores/platform, its a win-win.

Paywall :/

I'd read all those 'Microsoft should fork Android' discussions that have been appearing on HN lately, but I never remotely saw it coming to fruition. Interesting development...

alternate post: http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-android-phone-tipped-without-...

Possible WSJ link that works: http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304...

I wonder if this fork would be open-source?

Also, "Last Android Phone" :P

iOS Android.

We actually do need a third choice.