The X series ,run Android applications with a Nokia experience and Microsoft services, basically, it’s Android, given a Nokia makeover.
The X and X+, both have 4-inch touchscreens and are heavily modified versions of Android, with a tile-based homescreen, with the Nokia X+ having better internal specs and an SDcard slot.
The devices are built on AOSP, but lack all of Google’s services.
“Nokia X takes people to Microsoft’s cloud, not Google’s”
The devices include Nokia’s HERE Maps, Outlook.com, Microsoft OneDrive and Skype among other apps to fill in the gaps left by removing Google’s services.
The phones will also support sideloading of APK files from the internal storage or SDcard.
”What we’ve done is we’ve built the Nokia X software platform on standard Android open source, and then on top of that we’ve built the Nokia user experience layer — so the Nokia UI — so Fast Lane and the homescreen”
Phones will start shipping next week at $125 for the X, $135 for the X+, and $150 for the XL. Rollout will focus on “key, fast-growing emerging markets” — including India, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia and eventually the global market.
Here’s a quick Hands On done by Engadget at MWC2014
