mocoNews - Nokia Denies It's Planning An Android Phone

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Robert Andrews

mocoNews.net
Monday, July 6, 2009; 2:00 PM

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is denying it's due to unveil an Android-based handset at its upcoming Nokia World '09 shindig in Stuttgart on Sept. 2. Guardian.co.uk reported the news, citing only "industry insiders", but was light on any further detail, saying only that it would be "a strategic U-turn" from the handset maker away from Symbian.

Nokia gave the following statement to mocoNews.net and other outlets: "There is no truth to this story whatsoever. It is a well known fact that Symbian is our platform of choice for smartphones.'

One thing's for sure - Symbian is holding Nokia back. The handset maker may now have taken outright control of the OS' overseeing foundation, but that foundation must start innovating fast if it is to halt the decline in Nokia's market share. For any other handset maker, adding an Android handset to the mix would be seen as merely market experimentation - but Nokia is firmly wedded to Symbian, and has in the last couple of years acquired its own flavours of Linux systems at the open-source end.