Former Nokia-owned Vertu says Android is the ‘right choice’

Luxury phone manufacturer, Vertu, is no longer owned by Nokia as of last year. It has now launched its first device powered by Android, the Vertu Ti, which will set you back a whopping £6,700. In an interview with CNET UK, Perry Oosting, Vertu CEO, said that they had Android in mind for a long time.

Vertu has made extremely expensive but utterly useless handsets, since they ran Symbian. Oosting was asked if his company wanted to use Android even during the times when they were bound by Nokia. He answered, “Absolutely.”

Once Vertu was no longer owned by Nokia, the boss spoke of the “freedom” brought by the split, saying “it’s giving you, really, to make the right choice. And we believe with Android that it’s the right choice.”

Speaking about Microsoft’s Windows Phone, he said, “You need to be first of all — as you know — part of an ecosystem.

“If you go down to ecosystems you probably have only two choices. Besides, iOS is a closed one, so that’s not a choice, and then you have Windows Phone, which is certainly a beautiful user interface but it’s still in the beginning stage.”

Android dominating the market is the main reason Vertu chose Android. However, Oosting does say that “the customisation that we were able to do on Android” is another.

The Vertu Ti runs Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), which is disappointing considering handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Google Nexus 4 run Android 4.1 and Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) respectively. However, it is a far cry from what was running on their handsets in the past years. Additionally, the titanium casing adorned with rubies and crystals is definitely an eye-catcher.

Would you get your hands on the Vertu Ti now that it runs Android? Let us know through a comment on our Facebook page.

Tags: Android, Android 4.0, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich, Microsoft, Nokia, Perry Oosting, Symbian, Vertu, Vertu Ti, windows phone
Category OS News |

Microsoft claims Windows Phone sales have increased 5 times in Q4 2012

According to Microsoft, handsets powered by Windows Phone such as the Nokia Lumia 920 have increased fivefold in December of 2012. This was announced by Steve Ballmer, the Redmond firm’s CEO.

Aside from these surprising sales figures, Ballmer also announced huge sales Windows Phone sales figures for November. He claims that sales were up four times compared to the same period in 2011. However, he failed to reveal the exact figures.

At Qualcomm’s keynote speech at CES 2013, Ballmer took center stage to announce the news. However, experts claim that the platform suffered a fall in market shares in Q4 2012. So hard to say whether Windows Phone is doing well or not. We’ll just have wait and see until we see the exact figures.

According to AllAboutWindowsPhone.com, there were roughly 2.5 million units of Windows Phone handsets sold in Q4 2012. By comparison, Samsung sold 30 million units of the Galaxy S3 alone. So 2.5 million Windows Phone handsets isn’t a lot at all.

This 2013, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and RIM’s Blackberry 10 will be slugging it out for third place. Google’s Android is still the top dog in the market, while Apple’s iOS trials behind at second place.

Despite Microsoft spending a lot of money trying to market Windows Phone, the platform still struggles to gain ground in the market. RIM, on the other hand, has a lot riding on Blackberry 10 and were expecting the Canadian firm to come out guns blazing once it launches Blackberry 10 on the 30^th of January.

It will be interesting to see who snatches third place in 2013. Will it be Windows Phone, or will it be Blackberry 10? What do you think? Let us know through a comment on our Facebook page.

Tags: CES, Microsoft, Steve Ballmer, windows phone, windows phone 8, Windows Phone sales
Category OS News |

Nokia committed to Windows Phone but still considers Android?

Finnish phone maker Nokia is committed to Microsoft’s Windows Phone, launching handsets such as the Lumia 920. However, it still considers making Android-powered devices, suggests Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.

Speaking to El Pais, a Spanish newspaper, Elop said (translated to English), “Today we are engaged and satisfied with Microsoft, but any rotation is possible.” This suggests that the Finnish firm is still considering its options and Android is one of them.

It looks like, however, that the early translation wasn’t accurate. According to Nokia, what Elop said actually translates to, “What role does Android or other things play in the future? We’re looking further into the future, but in terms of what we’re bringing to market, and what we’re immediately focused on, we’re focused on Windows Phone.”

Windows Phone 8 is one of the most eye-catching mobile operating systems around. It runs smooth and is very user friendly. Sadly, this wasn’t enough to change the tides in Microsoft’s favor. Windows Phone is still struggling to gain an upper hand against today’s leaders, Android and iOS. Given this fact, it would make sense for Nokia to make hardware that runs Android as well. They don’t even have to ditch making Windows Phone devices. They can do what Samsung and HTC do: make handset that run Android and handsets that run Windows Phone.

Would it make sense for Nokia to make handset that run Android? Do you think the Finnish firm should ditch Windows Phone? Share your thoughts through a comment on our Facebook page.

Tags: Android, Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Stephen Elop, windows phone, windows phone 8
Category OS News |