Former mobile phone pioneer Nokia has confirmed to participate in the next year's globally acclaimed MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017, hinting the Finnish company is ready for the second innings in smartphone business.
Nokia (via Twitter) announced that the company's CEO Rajeev Suri will present keynote speech at MWC 2017, which is scheduled to kick off at Barcelona (February 27-March 02).
The revelation comes days after Nokia became legally free to start work on mobiles phones.
Also read: Samsung brings Galaxy Note7's key display feature to Galaxy S7 series via software update
In 2014, the Finnish company, while parting the mobile division to Microsoft, had agreed not to launch a Nokia-branded phone until the fourth quarter of 2016. Nokia had only sold its smartphone division to Microsoft, while its Nokia-branded feature phone business was sold to HMD Global Oy and Foxconn.
With the period of the non-compete clause coming to an end in September, Nokia's affiliate HMD Global Oy last week re-hired ex-Nokia veteran Pekka Rantala (former Rovio CEO), as their new chief marketing officer to lead the mobile division.
Just a two months ago, Mike Wang, president, joint management team, Nokia China, confirmed that the company planned to launch two smartphones and two tablets and probably debut around December.
We're excited to share the news: our CEO Rajeev Suri will deliver a keynote at #MWC17. Read more: https://t.co/HNdnn46tED pic.twitter.com/mU9XPXFHMd
— Nokia (@nokia) October 15, 2016
With the new announcement, it looks like Nokia might delay the launch of the devices by a couple of months.
That said, specifications of the Android-powered two flagship Nokia phones and a tablet (code-named D1C) have surfaced online suggesting, Nokia has commenced the testing of the prototypes and may probably see the light of the day in late February, where rival Samsung is speculated to announce the new marquee phone, the Galaxy S8.
Word on the street is that, Nokia, known for its expertise in cameras in top-notch Lumia-branded smartphones, is expected to incorporate superior SoC (System-on-Chip) and high-grade construction materials to take on the incumbent players—Samsung, Apple and Huawei.
Nokia's Android phones: What we know so far
It is widely reported that Nokia is working on two flagship phones with different sizes, one a 5.2-inch screen and another with 5.5-inch display. Except the size, both the devices are said to share similar internal hardware.
They are expected to come with QHD OLED-based screen with 2560x1440p (2K) resolution and high-grade metal-based shell on the back with IP68 water-and-dust resistant certifications similar to Samsung's Galaxy S7 series.
Nokia D1C tablet: What we know so far
Unlike the smartphones, Nokia D1C is said to be mid-range tablet and come with 13.8-inch full HD display having Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core CPU, Adreno 505 GPU, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, Android 7.0 Nougat, 13MP primary camera on the back and an 8MP front camera.
Keep an eye on this space for more updates.
