Latest news coming from Finland tells us that Nokia finally has some aggressive plans to stay ahead of the huge number of low-cost Android-based mobile phones. We are told to keep an eye on Mobile World Congress to be held later this month, in Barcelona, where Nokia will unveil a series of budget Windows phones. These would include the much anticipated Nokia Lumia 610. This Tango-based Windows handset could give all those ICS- and other Android-based mobiles, as well as Apple phones, a run for their money.
That’s because Tango has stolen a march over the Android with support for 120 languages. A comparison clearly underscores the huge advantage Tango has over other OS-based mobiles. Apple’s iOS has support for only 34 languages, while Google’s Android supports 55 max. With Tango, the device is also streets ahead of the Windows-based Mango OS which can support only 40 languages.
With this OS, the Nokia Lumia 610 is battle-ready for a host of developing economies, including India where the market for low-cost mobile phones continues to be the largest. The company hasn’t released more information on other specs, but seeing Nokia’s success of all these years, one can expect a competitive package of features, despite the low cost that was facilitated by Tango.
Post launch at the Barcelona event, the Lumia 610, along with 5 other handsets from Nokia, will hit the markets sometime in March-April. The other five may likely include Lumia 900 and the Nokia PureView 808 which is Symbian-based. Nokia fans may also look forward to the Asha series – Asha 202, Asha 203 and Asha 302.
Incidentally, Microsoft had last month hinted at the possibilities of Windows phones with c++ native coding. A device of that kind could eliminate the only difference between Android-based phones on the one hand and mobiles running Tango or Apollo: the absence of apps. The c++ native coding will facilitate the development of apps that can give a further boost to the budget phone markets.