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News, Rumours , Specs, Release dates and Prices of Nokia Android phones in 2017

Nokia Android Phones (2017)

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW NOKIA ANDROID PHONES

It’s official: New Nokia smartphones are on the way. Here’s what we know so far, including the Nokia Android phones’ release date, specs, price, as well as all the latest news and rumours.

In December, we heard official word that new Nokia handsets were in development, and that they would run on Google’s Android OS. This is a big deal, because it’s been quite a while since we saw authentic Nokia phones.

Nokia started making portable phones in 1987, and became the best-selling handset brand by 1998. But despite strong beginnings, it wasn’t long before Nokia slumped. In 2011, after a sales slump caused by competition from Android and the iPhone, Nokia signed its own death warrant by agreeing a pact with Microsoft to ship all its phones on the ailing Windows Phone OS. Nokia eventually stopped making phones in 2014, selling its mobile business to Microsoft and switching focus to mobile network equipment.

Microsoft sold phones under Nokia’s Lumia brand for a while, but that’s basically been killed off now – cue the new Surface Phone, expected 2017. Microsoft’s ownership of the Nokia brand license eventually expired this year, and that’s why we’re now about to see new Nokia handsets – stay tuned.

Unfortunately, it’s still early days, so many of the actual hardware details are a mystery. Here’s what we know so far.

1. THE PHONES ARE COMING IN EARLY 2017

The good news is that the first new Nokia smartphones will be released “in the first half of 2017”. That’s not very specific, but we can take a guess at when the handsets might launch.

The first major opportunity is CES 2017, the big Las Vegas-based technology tradeshow that takes place in January each year. However, we’re not entirely convinced the Nokia smartphones will be ready for launch that early.

The next big chance is Mobile World Congress, a similar tradeshow that’s focused on mobile technology. That kicks off in Barcelona on February 27, and is sure to be a hotbed of smartphone launches. There’s no reason why a new Nokia smartphone couldn’t debut at the show.

Alternatively, the new Nokia phones could get their own dedicated launch event, bypassing trade shows altogether.

2. BUT THE HANDSETS AREN’T BEING BUILT BY NOKIA

It’s very important to note that Nokia isn’t actually building the handsets.

After Microsoft’s ownership of the Nokia brand license expired, new Finland-based company HMD Global Oy secured rights to the brand. HMD has exclusive rights for the next decade, which means no other company will be able to launch Nokia-branded handsets during that time.

On the software front, HMD has partnered up with Google so the new phones will run on Android. And although HMD will design the hardware, the actual handset will be built by FIH Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of Foxconn – one of the companies that builds the iPhone.

3. NOKIA IS STILL VERY MUCH INVOLVED

Just because Nokia isn’t building the phones doesn’t mean it’s not involved. Nokia will have a representative on HMD’s board of members, and will set performance and brand requirements – as per the licensing agreement. Nokia will also receive royalty payments for the use of its patents, and will let HMD use its research and development properties.

Microsoft's Lumia handsets are no more – long live Nokia?

“We’ve been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm shown around the world for the return of the Nokia brand to smartphones,” said Brad Rodrigues, Interim President of Nokia Technologies. “The HMD Global team has the ambition, talent and resources to bring a new generation of Nokia-branded phones to market, and we wish them every success. I’m sure our millions of Nokia fans will be excited to see their new products!”

But perhaps most importantly, HMD Global Oy is comprised almost entirely of former Nokia staffers. For instance, CEO Arto Nummela, Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas, and President of HMD Global Florian Seiche all previously held senior positions

If we had to take a guess though, we’d expect a flagship smartphone launching in the first half of 2017 to be running Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 chipset. But that’s all we can guess at, for now.

6. ANDROID GUARANTEED – BUT WHICH VERSION?

As we mentioned earlier, HMD Global Oy has teamed up with Google to launch the new smartphones with Android. That’s a welcome change from the old Windows Phone-powered Nokia handsets of yore.

However, it’s not quite clear what operating system the phones will run on. The most likely bet is Android 7.0 Nougat, the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system. It rolled out this autumn, and is likely to appear on many of the handsets launching in the first half of 2017 – Nokia phones included.

But there are two other alternatives: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, or the currently unannounced Android 8.0. We’d say the former is unlikely, but it could feature if HMD has already developed the phones and plans to release them very early on in 2017. Alternatively, if the handsets miss their 1H2017 deadline, we could see them running on Android 8.0, which we’re expecting to be announced between May and July next year.

App to help Tackle Mental Health

How a former model decided to launch an app to tackle Mental Health

Mental health is one of the buzzwords of the moment, especially now Royalty like Prince William and Duchess Katherine have been championing it, along with Kid Cudi, Cara Delevingne and others saying that they would be open to sending their children to counselling.

One in five people have suffered from depression, one in two will suffer of some other mental disturbance in their lifetimes. If you haven’t been through a mental health issue, you will likely know someone who has.

After encountering it in amongst those closest to her, former international model Silja Litvindecided to do something about it: “I learned about depression when I was a young teenager: a friend died through suicide, leaving me shocked and determined to fight depression.”

Starting with the knowledge from her own PhD thesis in clinical psychology, it became clear to here that fighting depression with an app could be possible. By “psycho-educating” with a test app she found the symptoms of depression could be significantly reduced. The next step of finding quick and professional help locally could be achieved with a client-therapist matching system in the app.

So she launched PsycApps which does both of the the above, and brings therapy to the ultimate comfort-zone: an iOS smartphone app, now launched.

At its essence, PsycApps helps you find out whether you or a loved one is suffering from depression, what to expect if that is the case, how to help them or yourself and how to get professional help fast. “We also lower the 6-week on average search for a therapist down to 20-30 minutes,” says Litvin.

She says the app is anonymous and highly secure, it asks a few demographic questions and then goes straight to the menu. There you can choose between information (what is depression), the screening (3 tests with 1, 7 and 21 questions), the therapeutic features (morning immune-booster: exercises to help activate clients in the morning, CBT exercises, visualisation exercises and positive psychology exercises), ‘find my therapist’ and stats (the outcome of the screening as well as everyday mood tracking).

Once the user/client has gone through the screening he/she will get one of five results showing the probability that they are suffering from depression (no symptoms to high-probability). Directly after the results they are shown a number of tips to self-stabilize and are directed to both the therapeutic features and the ‘find my therapist’ option.

Competitor apps include SAM, The Big White Wall and apps like Headspace and Calm.com.

But Litvin says app developers, especially in the medical industry tend to either be all about the medical space, neglecting UX and UI, or all about marketing, not ensuring evidence based practice. “We go on a journey with our clients, our user experience being non-intrusive and intuitive making the threshold to dealing with mental health issues as small as possible, while ensuring up-to-date psychological care,” she says.

So far the startup has raised £250,000 seed money from Angels but hopes to raise more. Eventually Litvin hopes to take a referral fee from the therapists and later and subscription model for a premium model.