Taking a look back at the week in news across the Android world, this week’s Android Circuit highlights a number of stories including the return of Nokia to the consumer market with an Android tablet and launcher, Google aims Play at China, running Lollipop on a Nexus 7, the good and bad points of the Nexus 6, and how the iPhone will boost Samsung's income.
Android Circuit is here to remind you of a few of the many things that have happened around Android over the last seven day (and you can read the weekly Apple news digest here).
Nokia Returns To The Consumer Market With An Android Tablet
Probably the biggest news in the mobile world this belonged to Nokia. Following the sale of its devices and services section to Microsoft, the Finnish company was left with three major departments (Mapping, Networking, and R&D). Which made the reveal of an Android powered tablet at this week's Slush Conference all the more surprising.
This is the first of presumably many brand licensing deals put in place by Nokia. The majority of the heavy lifting for the N1 will be done by Foxconn (including the manufacturing, distribution, warranty repairs, and software support), who have licensed the Nokia name, design, and software from the Finns.
Forbes' Gordon Kelly was at Slush to take a closer look at the tablet:
The N1 makes an impressive – if controversial – entrance that will trigger feelings of déjà vu. It has the same 7.9-inch display size and ‘Retina’ ready 2048 x 1536 pixel display as the iPad mini 2 and 3. It also uses a similar aluminium unibody design – available in ‘Lava Grey’ and ‘Natural Aluminium’ or black – with heavily machined power and volume buttons that also match Apple's now neglected tablet.
You can read all his thoughts here.
The Finnish Way Starts With A Z
As part of the Nokia N1, the Finnish company has skinned its tablet with the Nokia Z Launcher. Released in a private beta over the summer, the predictive launcher which allows you to trace the first letter of an app or service on the screen to help launch it, is now a free download for any Android user (reports Techno Buffalo and others). From the app description:
...a re-imagined way to use your Android. Adapts to you. Launches anything in one second. Throughout the day, Nokia Z Launcher is learning how you use your phone and promoting your favorite apps so you can get to them faster. The more you use it, the better it gets.
By removing the idea of widgets and shortcuts, and focusing on apps and links and searching by character recognition, the Nokia approach focuses on an app-driven model more than the majority of other launchers - even Google's. You can grab the Z Launcher via the Google Play store from this link.
And Nokia Has Competition
Strictly speaking the crowd-funded tablet from Jolla doesn't run Android. Instead the Sailfish OS powered tablet from a development team with many of Nokia's former employees simply has an Android compatibility layer to support the running of Android apps alongside native Sailfish OS apps.
Nevertheless, announcing the tablet just twenty four hours after Nokia, with the hook of Android on top of a rich multitasking environment, means that Jolla is going to get mentioned in the same breath (and the same news digests) as Nokia. It's Finnish tablet #1 vs Finnish tablet #2.
This should be fun. Except both tablets to arrive on European shores during Q2 next year.
Love Or Loath The Nexus 6?
Taking a more wide-ranging look at the phablet from Mountain View, Gordon Kelly sums up his experiences with his look at the best and worst features in the Nexus 6, the latest smartphone release from Google.
The Nexus 6 is one tough phone. Being based on thesuperb Moto X always meant the Nexus 6 has a good start and its metal chassis, flush camera (take note Samsung and Apple) and raised front firing stereo speakers (which protect the screen) give it a great, clean look.
Motorola has also nailed the ergonomics. The heavily rounded back is a complete contrast to theimpractically flat iPhone 6 Plus and it sits beautifully in hand. One complaint is the finish of the rear which lacks the Moto X’s soft touch grippiness, but it is hard to see how such a big phone could have been better built.
Kelly's review of the Nexus 6 is also available here on Forbes.
Testing Lollipop on The Nexus 7
Terence Eden has found a use for his Nexus 7... to use it as a test-bed for Android Lollipop. While the Nexus 7 was never his primary machine, it's now found its perfect role, testing the new operating system:
I've only been playing with Lollipop for a few hours. It's fine. While there have been a lot of back end changes, there's nothing so astounding that will make you change your mind about tablets - or about Android for that matter.
Yet, at the same time, there's a contradiction. People hate change. Look at the reviews of any app when the developer updates it. Or witness the fury unleashed on Microsoft for removing their start menu. People very quickly get used to a certain way of working - a certain look and feel. Every time you update the UI for an app, you're increasing the cognitive burden on a user. They just want to get something done - they don't care about your exciting new UI language, or your paradigm busting approach to interaction.
Eden's thoughts are on his blog.
Lollipop Falls Short, Tread Carefully.
Just as Apple's release of iOS 8 has been dogged with bugs and issues, so has Android 5.0 Lollipop. Leo Kelion sums up the issues with the public release of Lollipop over on the BBC, with some smart advice on applying an update to your device:
One expert said in general, there were benefits to waiting a few days after a release date before installing upgrades. "With any software update it makes sense to watch and see if there are any teething problems," said Ian Fogg, from the IHS Technology consultancy. "Consumers like it and benefit when their devices gain a new lease of life with new features - but they expect what they used to use to continue to work, and that can be tricky.
"What's striking about Android Lollipop is that it's reaching devices from more manufacturers, more more quickly than previous versions of Android.
Tizen Replacing Android In Samsung's Portfolio
Samsung has discussed a change of direction with its approach to low-end smartphones in China (reports CNet). Rather than focus on Android, the South Korean company is looking towards its orphaned platform, Tizen to provide the platform for the high-volume low-margin business that is currently dominated by manufacturers such as Meizu and Xiaomi.
NTT Docomo and Orange have scrapped their plans for a Tizen phone. Rather than go high end, Samsung now intends to chase emerging markets with cheap, Tizen-powered smartphones. The company expects to launch its first device in India by the end of the year, according to people familiar with Samsung's plans.
Tizen's rocky road to market underscores the difficulties of creating a new mobile platform -- even for a company as large and influential as Samsung. Once seen as a way for Samsung to decrease its reliance on Android, Tizen could still help Samsung defend itself against lower end competition from Chinese and Indian smartphone makers. Samsung now targets an unsubsidized price of $100 for the phones, pitting it squarely against phones in Google's low-cost Android One program.
I've taken a closer look at this strategy here on Forbes.
Is The Next Freemium Stop China?
Speaking of China, Google is also looking towards the country for growth, with indications that the Google Play Store is prepping itself to launch into the Chinese market. Forbes' Doug Young looks at the evidence:
The reports note that Google hasn’t received formal approval from China yet to operate the store, and it’s not yet clear if the company will receive such permission. Any green light would almost certainly require Google to ban apps that offered content or other services on sensitive topics like politics and pornography. Google’s reluctance to similarly self-censor its search results in accordance with Chinese laws was the main factor that led it to withdraw from the Chinese search market in 2010 after a high-profile showdown with Beijing.
The question on accepting the Chinese government's restrictions to gain access to one of the fastest growing marketings for mobile devices is a finely balanced one with politics and honour on one side, and growth and finance on the other side. The tech team here at Forbes will keep an eye on this one over the next few weeks and months to keep you up to date.
...And Finally
Samsung might be worried about its smartphone strategy amid falling profits and markets, but the chip-manufacturing side of the South Korean company has likely secured the future of the company. Just don't mention it too loudly, as Samsung will be producing the CPUs and associated chips for Apple's iPhone and iPad devices.
The Korean Times reports:
The agreement means Samsung will become a primary supplier of APs to Apple, pushing its chief Taiwanese rival TSMC back to second place. From 2016, the company will supply 80 percent of APs used in Apple devices, and TSMC the remainder. Unlike conventional memory chips such as DRAMs and NANDs, APs are categorized as logic chips which give producers much higher margins.
‘Android Circuit’ will round-up the news from the Android world every weekend here on Forbes. Don’t forget to follow me so you don’t miss any coverage in the future, and of course the sister column in Apple Loop! Last week’s Android Circuit can be found here, and if you have any news and links you’d like to see featured in Android Circuit, get in touch!
