We reported yesterday of the possibility that Nokia may be looking to develop an Android device, while the rumor, which came from their page on LinkedIn wasn’t satisfactory evidence, there was much to sway Nokia away from Windows.
The job listed ‘Principal Software Engineer, Embedded Linux Middleware’ was debated on what it actually meant, inside the description there was someone who enjoys “mobile technology” and this opened up the idea of an Android expert, rather than a Linux expert.
Doug Dawson, head of media relations for Nokia, has tweeted “Hi. Our recently posted job is linked to our HERE Maps support for other platforms, including iOS and Android. Nothing more.”
While we did see this one coming, with Windows giving Nokia a large share of the revenue stream and Nokia continuing to gloat on their Windows 8 phone success, it is a bit annoying that Nokia continually back Windows.
When we wrote the rumor article, it was at the same time as many other pages around the web. The vast majority of them had comments, which were optimistic about this, not against it. Where we normally see Windows 8 phone defended, it seems Nokia is the one being defended and their users want an Android variant.
Perhaps it is time Nokia looked past the poor Windows 8 phone OS, which is growing but is still not nearly as big as the Android OS. Samsung seem to be doing well on both variants, although they are much more strongly connected with Android then they are with Windows.
Overall, we see this as a missed opportunity for Nokia. They continue to back the underdog, and even though it may pay off in five years’ time, we doubt Windows will ever beat Android on availability and growth. Like HTC and Samsung, Nokia should look to stretch their borders out to other operating systems, as it seems that is what the users want.