Gadgetory

nokey is long-awaited Android phone is here at last in the nokia X but what is Nokia's take on Android what are its features and what is it missing let's take a look let's start by talking about the homescreen now this doesn't look anything like regular Android in fact Nokia has tweaked it to look much more like it the Windows Phone operating system as such you get these colorful blocky tiles they can be moved around and resized as well you can also change the color of some of them if you swipe down from the top you do get an Android s notification pane seeing as this is a dual SIM phone that lets you switch SIM cards and you can also do things like manage Bluetooth and Wi-Fi another major part of this interface is what Nokia calls Fastlane you access that by sweeping to the right and this shows you all of your recently used apps as well as notifications interestingly unlike Android there's no dedicated place to find all of your apps they're just all on the home screen so you will have to scroll up and down until you find the one you're looking for that could get a little annoying now although it's Android at its core there's not a Google app in sight here instead the apps it comes pre-loaded with are from Nokia and Microsoft so you get things like Skype Nokia's here Maps or Microsoft's onedrive in fact apps are likely to be the most contentious part of Nokia's take on Android and that's because unlike most Android devices these phones don't have access to the Google Play app store instead you have to find your apps through Nokia's own app store or third party alternatives if an Android developer wants to bring their app across Nokia has to approve it and they also will have to change their code slightly because of the way that Nokia handles billing Nokia says you can sideload apps if you want to but that's probably a little too technical for most people to bother with ultimately then the question is does this tweaked version of Android really have enough apps to be tempting and as to that we're just going to have to wait and find out so this interface is designed to be used on cheap Nokia phones however Android phones are getting cheaper all the time so it's not like there's no competition another thing to bear in mind is that this interface is still in his early stages I think his success could come down a lot to where the Nokia could persuade Android developers to get its apps onto this platform and quickly it's an interesting strategy and an interesting take on Android but what do you think of Nokia made a smart move or should they have stuck with something much more recognizable let me know and check out senior comm for much more from Mobile World Congress you