Microsoft is thinking of releasing another Nokia of the Android-running type – the Nokia X2 which has a new version of the X platform ( 2.0 ) pre-installed on it. Where Microsoft made a grave mistake, however, was when they decided to not release an update for the already existing versions of the Nokia X ( the X, X+ and XL ). Actually, they were pretty adamant in saying that there will not be an update at any point in time for these versions of the phone.
At some point, perhaps, the users of said devices should have been prepared for this as Microsoft does have a habit of not updating things in order for people to buy the newer versions. The same scenario was present back when the transition was made from Windows Mobile 7.x to 8.0.
The new Nokia X Platform is based on Android API 18 ( one that corresponds to Android v4.3 Jelly Bean ) and it is said to bring a few changes to the UI. One of these changes includes having 4 tiles per line on the screen ( where once there were 3 ) and having the ability to re-size and move them around.
The homescreen also has an additional pane, not to mention that the tiles and Fastlane panes are joined by the app list, similarly to the one WP has. Also, the newer device now has TWO buttons on the front – it has an additional Home button, making the Back button not so lonely anymore. They claim the Home button is there for simpler navigation, but why not include it in the first model to begin with, then? Some minor changes have also been applied to the camera UI, Fastlane and the virtual keyboard of the device.
It wouldn’t really seem like the Nokia X, Nokia XL and Nokia X+ users are missing out on too much, but unfortunately the last mentioned phones came out last month and are already obsolete.
“Because of the necessary hardware upgrades, the Nokia X software platform 2.0 won’t be available on Nokia X, Nokia X+ or Nokia XL. However, more updates will be coming to further improve the experience of those devices in the coming months,” says Yannis Paniaras, Head of the Mobile Phones UX Design Studio at Microsoft in Beijing.
Apart from that Home button, the Nokia X2 isn’t really much stronger than its predecessors – what it seems to have more is the 1 GB of RAM ( as opposed to 512 and 768 MB ) and a Cortex-A7 processor ( as opposed to the old Cortex-A5 ).
