Nokia Denies Android Plans

Nokia on Monday tried to deflect rumors that it's developing an Android smartphone. A company spokesman said that there is "absolutely no truth" to the claim, which would have a touchscreen device appear in September at Nokia World. The representative maintained the company's official choice of Symbian for all its smartphones.

"Everyone knows that Symbian is our preferred platform for advanced mobile devices," the spokesman claimed.

While potentially shooting down rumors, the denial follows separate rumors that have hinted at an Android netbook and following Nokia's deal with Intel, whose x86 architecture isn't natively supported by Symbian. The phone producer also develops Maemo Linux for tablets and has a new interface in the works but hasn't given clues as to which devices would use the updated software.

Nokia is under pressure to improve its competitiveness against touchscreen-focused companies like Apple that have undermined its smartphone market share in the past two years. Much of this stems from its slowness to develop touchscreen phones, as its first such phone, the 5800 XpressMusic, didn't ship until about one and a half years after the first iPhone arrived in stores.

By Electronista Staff