forked
Latest
Rumored Nokia Normandy prototype surfaces on Twitter, reveals little
That thing up there? Word on the street (that is, Twitter) is that it's an engineering prototype of the Nokia Normandy, a low-end Android device due sometime in 2014. The name has been floating around for a few months now, often accompanied by images flaunting Nokia's usual design cues but without the hardware shutter button or LED flash that adorn its Lumia devices. Normally, that would peg the hardware for Nokia's Asha line, but rumors persist that the Normandy will actually be running a Nokia-tweaked version of Google's open-source OS. Screenshots leaked earlier this month also suggested that the device would support dual SIMs and showed off mockups with touchscreen notifications and a customized Skype app. Unfortunately, the leaked device doesn't do much to add or detract from that rumor, revealing only a generic back button, a Nokia boot screen and a rubberized case that obfuscates the handset's features. Still, something is clearly afoot; we'll let you know when we know what, exactly, it is. Update: A separate leaked image is doing the rounds, which purports to show the app drawer from Nokia's Android skin running on a live Normandy handset. The source is Zhang Zhicheng, a blogger at a well-known Chinese tech site, but the skin seems to be lacking Nokia's usual gloss -- check it out below.
Nokia Normandy rumored to be low-end Android-based phone
The image you see above is the rumored Nokia Normandy, which Twitter leakster @evleaks revealed at the end of last month. While not much was known about the device at the time, the lack of hardware shutter button, capacitive buttons and LED flash indicated that this mystery phone was likely an Asha device intended for emerging markets or budget-minded users. Yet, if a report from The Verge's Tom Warren is accurate, there may actually be a lot more to the Normandy than what we had originally assumed. Warren has checked with multiple sources who claim that the phone is an Android-based device due for a 2014 release. This may seem like a stretch, given the fact that Nokia's device division is currently awaiting an acquisition with Microsoft, but Warren offers a few points of clarification. First, he says, the Normandy is meant to be a low-end Asha equivalent that features a forked version of Android that isn't associated with Google services, which means Nokia would be able to fully customize it however it wants, much like Amazon does with its Kindle Fire. Doing this would still give Nokia full control over the device ecosystem, while giving users the chance to enjoy full smartphone apps -- something the company has had a difficult time figuring out how to do on the Asha line. The question is, would Nokia rely on a third-party app store or try to set up one of its very own? That's still an unknown, but this is assuming the Normandy even sees the light of day; if the rumor is true, our guess is that this project was already underway before Microsoft's acquisition, and will probably be released before the merger is complete -- if it gets released at all.
Doro PhoneEasy 740 smartphone hands-on at MWC 2012
Don't recognize the name? If so, it's probably because Doro is a completely new player in the smartphone industry, as it doesn't necessarily quench the appetite of power users. The vendor primarily focuses on providing the elderly with simple handsets, which in the past equated to offering nothing but feature phones. Doro's got a few new tricks up its sleeve which may be the most ridiculously easy transition from old-school to new-school yet. Their creation, with a title nearly as simple as the device itself, is called the PhoneEasy 740. It's a phone running essentially a forked Android OS with an incredibly user-friendly launcher -- called the Doro Experience -- that consists of only a few major functions, such as phone, messages, email and pictures. As for the handset itself, you're looking at a meager spec sheet: 5MP rear camera, 3.2-inch HVGA shooter, four hours of continuous talk time, FM radio, 512MB of RAM and 4GB internal memory. The software itself isn't fully functional yet, so we were only able to scroll through the main menu. We're anticipating the device to be ready in time for a summer release in markets around the world.Speaking of the Doro Experience, the UI's going to be available on tablets this spring as an optional Android launcher. Fortunately the software can be paired with a desktop-specific app -- the Doro Experience Manager -- that gives the user the ability to remotely customize and manage the device. This is actually quite ideal, due to the fact that it's not limited to a proprietary Doro-made tablet. We haven't heard details on pricing and availability, but we'll get that information as it comes in. For now, anyone intrigued by the idea should hightail it to our gallery below.
