Barcelona, Spain :
At Mobile World Congress, Nokia unveiled five new affordable handsets including a new family of smartphones debuting on the Nokia X software platform.
Based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), and backed by Nokia's deep ties with operators, the Nokia X platform gives Android(TM) developers the chance to tap into, and profit from, a rapidly expanding part of the market. The launch builds on Nokia's leadership in delivering innovation to more price points with its family of Lumia smartphones, and the latest momentum for Windows Phone.
"Today Windows Phone is the fastest growing mobile ecosystem in the world, and we continue to see incredible momentum with our Lumia smartphones," said Bryan Biniak, Vice President and General Manager, Developer Experience at Nokia. "Now, with the introduction of the Nokia X family of devices, we're delivering the same design, quality and innovation Nokia is known to lower price points to capture the fastest-growing segment of the smartphone market."
"The reach of Nokia's operator billing network provides developers with a powerful revenue driver - up to five times that of credit-card billing offered within other platforms," said Amit Patel, Vice President, Developer Relations at Nokia. "Combined with Nokia In-App Payment, developers have the freedom to build on the model that works best for them."
The vast majority of Android apps can be published to the Nokia Store. For those that require modifications, the Nokia X analyzer tool significantly reduces porting time by identifying the required changes. To make porting even easier, developers only need to maintain one code base and distribute a single application package file (APK) to target multiple stores.
BBM, a premier mobile messaging platform, will also be available on the Nokia X family of devices in addition to Windows Phone.
"BBM continues to provide a best-in-class mobile messaging platform with productivity, collaboration, and community-building as cornerstones," said David Proulx, Senior Director, BBM at BlackBerry. "We continue to see great enthusiasm for the BBM experience around the globe and we are thrilled to work with Nokia to preload BBM on devices beginning with Nokia X in select markets. We welcome Nokia X users to the BBM community."
"LINE's partnership with a global player such as Nokia is indeed an honor. Delivering LINE on Nokia X represents our commitment of ensuring that people around the world will experience the joy of communication through LINE on Nokia X smartphones," said Shin Jung-ho, CEO of LINE Plus Corporation. "We are pleased to announce that LINE will continuously offer a variety of features to the Nokia X platform to enhance users' exciting experience in communication, social sharing, imaging, and gaming."
Developer innovation on Nokia Lumia continues, which reflects Windows Phone's status as the fastest-growing mobile ecosystem in the world. Nokia also announced that leading partners, including Adobe Photoshop Express, Facetune, and JUSP will soon launch for Windows Phone - joining other must-have apps and games including Instagram, Vine, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and Subway Surfers, among others that have recently launched.
Adobe's Photoshop Express app, already available on Windows 8, is coming to Windows Phone later this year to allow consumers to edit easily across Windows PCs, tablets and smartphones.
"In a world of mobile development, speed and time-to-market is of the utmost importance," said Biniak. "At Nokia, we're focused on helping developers accelerate the development process across platforms, while also providing access to the latest innovation and tools to help them focus on what they do best - creating the next great app."
Built on the technology that powers Nokia's own imaging apps like Nokia Storyteller and Nokia Camera, Nokia introduced a key update to the latest Nokia Imaging SDK - version 1.1.
Nokia's Imaging SDK 1.1 brings powerful image editing features to Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1 tablets and PCs
The Nokia Imaging SDK 1.1 is available at developer.nokia.com.
Nokia now offers premium merchandising slots in 181 countries to its key partners through the Nokia Developer Exchange Marketplace. This new offer represents an expansion of the Campaign feature introduced in October 2013 for DVLUP, Nokia's rewards program for developers. Inaugural partners participating in the exchange include Electronic Arts, Gameloft, AE Mobile, Miniclip, and Outfit7.
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