Nokia X2 Dual SIM With 1GB of RAM and 4.3-Inch Display Launched

For many tech pundits who believed that the Nokia X smartphone range was dead after Microsoft's completed acquisition of Nokia's devices and services business, the Redmond giant has a surprise - the launch of the Nokia X2, the successor to the popular Nokia X.

The Nokia X2 will be available at EUR 99 (roughly Rs. 8,100) without taxes and subsidies. The company on its official Conversations blog has revealed that the Nokia X2 will be available immediately in select countries globally; however it has not listed the markets.

The new Nokia X series phone will be available in Glossy Black, Green, Orange, Dark Grey, White and Yellow. The Nokia X2 now sports a translucent outer layer, reminiscent to the ones seen on Nokia's Asha range of handsets.

Microsoft Mobile reiterates that the all new Nokia X2 can run Android apps and comes preloaded with the latest version of Nokia Store that now incorporates third-party app stores.

The Conversations blog said, "The Nokia X2 is also equipped with another navigation option; the brand-new 'apps list', which keeps your home screen clear for your most used apps, bringing Nokia X2 in line with the existing Lumia experience."

One of the prominent additions in the design of the Nokia X2 is the new home button that takes you back to the start screen and is accompanied by the back button that allows flipping through most recent actions, and long pressing shows what apps are open. Notably, the exact version of the Nokia X software platform being used has not yet been revealed by the company, though Engadget notes the Nokia X2 runs Nokia X Software Platform 2.0.

The new Nokia X2 is a dual-SIM variant and do not has a single SIM variant. Notably, the Nokia X2 Dual SIM has been listed on the company's official India site without pricing.

The new Nokia X family member features a 4.3-inch ClearBlack LCD display with WVGA resolution (480x800 pixels) that offers a pixel density of 217ppi. It is powered by a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor clocked at 1.2GHz clubbed with 1GB of RAM. Notably, last generation's Nokia X+ and Nokia XL had just 768MB of RAM, while the Nokia X had 512MB of RAM. All three last generation Nokia X phones ran on a dual-core Qualcomm MSM8225 Snapdragon S4 chipset, and can therefore can be considered an upgrade.

The Nokia X2 sports a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash, while there a front-facing camera (unspecified resolution) also onboard. The smartphone is backed by an 1800mAh battery that's rated to deliver up to 10 hours of 2G talk time and up to 86 hours of continuous music playback. The Nokia X2 features 4GB of built-in storage, which is expandable via microSD card (32GB).

The Nokia X2 also comes preloaded with a bevy of Microsoft apps such as Skype, Outlook.com, Bing Search app, WeChat, Path, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Yammer and Xbox games. The all new OneDrive is also preinstalled with 15GB cloud storage available right out-of-the-box. Games include SnapAttack, Wordament and Kinectimals. The note-taking app, OneNote, is also present. For the socialites, Line, WeChat, Path, Facebook and Facebook Messenger are also available.

Nokia designer talks about the Lumia930

Nokia’s new Lumia 930 was announced earlier this week, but it won’t be released until June. We don’t know why it’s taking so long for the 930 to hit shelves, especially since, according to Nokia designer Jonne Harju, the handset’s “single aluminum frame body means less manufacturing time.” Talking to Nokia Conversations, Jonne Harju obviously acknowledged that the Lumia 930 “unquestionably has DNA from other devices”, naming the Lumia 925 , and the Verizon-exclusive Lumia Icon among those. 

As with the Icon, he says, Nokia has “put maximum effort to create the most purest and honest aluminum frame body that fits seamlessly together with the vibrant back cover shape.” Jonne Harju further said that, since Nokia’s hardware design and the Windows Phone UI have similar principles (simplicity and minimalism), the Lumia 930 has “a human quality throughout to remind people it’s not just a technical device.” 

The Lumia 930 is basically an Icon for international markets - but one that will run the new Windows Phone 8.1 out of the box. The handset will cost $ 599 unlocked, coming with a 5-inch 1080p ClearBlack display, a 20.7MP PureView rear camera, quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal memory (non- expandable), and a 2,420 mAh battery.

Watch "Word Flow," coming onWindows Phone 8.1, set a new recordfor fastest text on a touch-screen

For the most part, the virtual QWERTY on Windows Phone has been hailed as one of the best features offered by Microsoft's mobile OS.

Coming with the Windows Phone 8.1 update, is a new feature that just might make the QWERTY even better. It's called "Word Flow" and is similar to Swype. Using your finger, you slide from letter to letter on the screen, to spell out words.

When Microsoft designed the "Word Flow" software for the QWERTY, they did so with the intention to break various text-message speed records. And that is where the video below comes in. Back in January, Gaurav Sharma joined the Microsoft Research team and a representative from Guinness to see if "Word Flow" could take down one of the old records. And sure enough, with a time of 18.44 seconds, the old Guinness record of 18.53 seconds went down. If you're a Windows Phone 8 user, you will soon see what the fuss is all about when "Word Flow" becomes available on your QWERTY, after the update to Windows Phone 8.1.

Nokia criticises Microsoft for lack ofWindows Phone updates, apps

It looks like Nokia has finally come out in the open against Microsoft's slow pace of pushing updates to Windows Phone 8.

 While the Finnish handset giant has been churning out new handset models and updated versions of its own services and apps, Microsoft has often been criticised for not playing a very conducive role when it comes to bringing its mobile OS on par with Android and iOS. 

Till now, tech evangelists and Nokia fans had been panning Microsoft for ignoring the Windows Phone 8 platform, however, it now seems that Nokia also wants Microsoft to get out of its slumber. 

In a recent interview with International Business Times, Bryan Biniak, Vice President - App Development at Nokia, has fired salvos at Microsoft, subtly conveying the message that smartphone sales are suffering due to lack of updates. He said, "We are trying to evolve the cultural thinking [at Microsoft] to say 'time is of the essence.' Waiting until the end of your fiscal year when you need to close your targets, doesn't do us any good when I have phones to sell today." Biniak also talked about the problem related to lack of apps, and how it's affecting the consumer's perception against Nokia's Lumia smartphones. "We are releasing new devices frequently and for every new device, if there is an app that somebody cares about that's not there that's a missed opportunity of a sale," he added. "To give you a reason to switch, I need to make sure the apps that you care about on your device are not only on our phones, but are better. I also need to provide you unique experiences that you can't get on your other devices." While the Windows Phone platforms boasts of 165,000 apps, a number of major apps including Instagram are missing form the platform. New releases and variants of popular games like Angry Birds and Temple Run also arrive on Windows Phone, months or sometimes years after they release their iOS and Android versions.

 A lot of software development on the Windows Phone platform is being supported by Nokia, with the company developing its own imaging software for its camera-focused offerings. Nokia says it will continue to invest in the platform's development on its own. "As a company we don't want to rely on somebody else and sit and wait for them to get it right," said Biniak.