Now here's grist for the rumour mill. Nokia has advertised for a Linux expert to join the company, working on mobile products, Gizmodo UK reports. Linux, of course, is the basis of Google's Android operating system.
What's more, the job advert has mysteriously disappeared. Hmm…
According to Gizmodo, the ad was looking for someone to work in a "start-up environment" to develop "exciting new products" for "mobile phone technology" the company is working on. Sounds to me like it could well be Android.
Nokia was said to be working on its own Linux-based OS, Meltemi. But that was purely for low-end mobiles, according to reports at the time. In the summer, news came that the Finnish phone firm had killed off the OS. And would Nokia really try and launch a whole new operating system when things aren't looking great for the company?
Or could it be hiring someone to work on Tizen, the Intel/Samsung OS that's also based on Linux? Well maybe, but I can't see Nokia getting behind a nascent operating system so soon after Windows Phone.
How about a revival of MeeGo then? Nokia canned its operating system with Intel before it really got going, so I doubt it would try to bring it back to life. Tizen has taken over where it left off anyway, so trying to reanimate MeeGo's corpse would be pointless.
Of course it could be a simple case of needing someone to port Nokia's Here maps to Android. But would Nokia really advertise that as a "start-up environment", with "exciting new products" (note the plural) for mobiles?
Nokia's chairman said last summer that the company had a plan B if Windows Phone failed, prompting speculation that it was Android. What do you reckon? Would you like to see Nokia make Google-powered handsets? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 25
Add your comment
Mark Anderson 2 December, 2012 09:46
No thanks. Android is nice (4.x versions only) but WP8 is miles better.
Peter Hudson 2 December, 2012 10:00
Yeah windows phone 8 is a much better fit on nokia hardware
Patrick Cantellow 2 December, 2012 10:12
Nokia need to focus on advertising on WP8 more and there Lumia phones, they need to show how great it is.
anonymous 2 December, 2012 11:11
nobody wants a wp8 nokia is realizing that
apple all the way
Ryan Simmons 2 December, 2012 11:34
Yeah no. Hiring -one- person for a vaguely titled position involving Linux =/= Android handsets.
Meleagru 2 December, 2012 11:52
Nokia should really diversify, betting the farm on WP 8 is very risky and they are the only manufacturer to do it. And Microsoft isn't even grateful, they didn't trust Nokia to make a tablet and they are bound to release their own phone next year. I don't understand Nokia's strategy.
anonymous 2 December, 2012 11:55
Nokia succeed to lose the price war! Good phones, but very expensive and you can get then only from EE!
Jed McInnes 2 December, 2012 12:13
Would like to see android running on a nokia device, especially if they left in vanilla. However given their 'it would be like giving in' comment a while back I cant see it....
anonymous 2 December, 2012 13:14
Too little too late, it's not Nokia's fault, but but the guy's on commission selling the phones to people who don't know what they're doing who are to blame. The number of people with galaxy s3's that have no idea how to use them is unbelievable. It's the easiest way to sell expensive contracts : "this is the best phone on the market, sold more than any other. It can do anything you ever need, and with unlimited calls and texts, yada yada." people don't buy the phone that's better for them, they buy the phone the dude in the shop tells them to. People are spending 25-35 quid a month on phones, and unbeknownst to them they would get the same experience with a 7quid sim only contract and a 50 quid htc salsa.. But the phone salesman doesn't get paid for that, now does he..? They're called smartphones for a reason (the clue is in the title) nokia and wp8 would be better for a lot of people, but they are not better, or more powerful than the best of what android has to offer.
Matt Winston. 2 December, 2012 13:22
Nokia has released some good phones, but what can they do, dozens of Droids can't do?? And pricing it's flagship above the S3 and and making it exclusive to EE is just ridiculous.
And it should have diversified years ago, but if they release an Android phone range, what can it do the Samsung Galaxy range can't do?? All Android manufacturers are struggling too, except for Samsung.
Nokia should concentrate on reducing its prices, surely the Lumia 920 didn't cost them over £300+ to make? If it did that's where they are going wrong they need to do things more efficiently.
anonymous 2 December, 2012 13:48
Some Android users are putting WP8 skin just to hide the ugliness of Andoid. Now, who's freking idea is starting this stupid rumor?
Jonathan Aze 2 December, 2012 14:40
I agree with @Matt Winston. Nokia are too late going into a market which is already dominated by Samsung. The fact that "nokia smartphone" is now assosiated with wp8 isn't going to help them either.
anonymous 2 December, 2012 16:42
serious win mobile is a piece of crap android is light years more advanced only people who haven't a clue would even consider buying one of these door stops, if Nokia actually get their heads out of their rectums and make an android phone i will buy one until then no way.
anonymous 2 December, 2012 17:17
I just use my Android phone when I have group meetings with the unions, but for stakeholders meeting, my Nokia 920 will always top the show.
Mark Anderson 2 December, 2012 18:05
"serious win mobile is a piece of crap android is light years more advanced only people who haven't a clue would even consider buying one of these door stops"
It's Windows Phone, sparky. Maybe you should find a clue of your own, 'k?
anonymous 2 December, 2012 19:17
The prior MS man at Nokia is the problem. I think the shareholders should sue.
Nokia should have gone Android, they would make a very competitive phone.
WP8 cannot survive, I don't there there is room for another closed system (like IOS).
Looking forward to seeing Nokias Android offering when they inevitably make one.
anonymous 2 December, 2012 21:59
Rumor has been killed by Nokia’s Doug Dawson, He said(tweeted) :“Our recently posted job is linked to our HERE Maps support for other platforms, including iOS and Android.”
Read more: http://www.dazeinfo.com/2012/12/02/whats-cooking-inside-nokia-an-android-phone/#ixzz2DvzJmhPA
Sam Insomniac 3 December, 2012 00:58
Why not maybe a Nokia Pc suit for linux :/
Sam Insomniac 3 December, 2012 01:04
Nokia phones are always a notch above other phones every time, even history shows us. The huge price is because of sturdy bullet-proof quality of the phones they make . Don't take my word for it, Drop a Lumia and any samsung from a height. We will see which phone will break itself and which 'ill break the floor. :/
anonymous 3 December, 2012 01:13
meego is not dead, it was spun off as Jolla sailfish and aspects of the UI was revealed to the public 2 weeks ago. Also Jolla has android app compatability. could they be hiring for Jolla integration?
anonymous 3 December, 2012 01:14
meego is not dead, it was spun off as Jolla sailfish (which is to be released in 2013) and aspects of the UI was revealed to the public 2 weeks ago. Also Jolla has android app compatability. could they be hiring for Jolla integration?
anonymous 3 December, 2012 01:16
meego is not dead, it was spun off as Jolla sailfish (which is to be released in 2013) and aspects of the UI was revealed to the public 2 weeks ago. Also Jolla has android app compatability. could they be hiring for Jolla integration?
anonymous 3 December, 2012 01:16
meego is not dead, it was spun off as Jolla sailfish (which is to be released in 2013) and aspects of the UI was revealed to the public 2 weeks ago. Also Jolla has android app compatability. could they be hiring for Jolla integration?
anonymous 3 December, 2012 01:18
meego is not dead, it was spun off as Jolla sailfish (which is to be released in 2013) and aspects of the UI was revealed to the public 2 weeks ago. Also Jolla has android app compatability. could they be hiring for Jolla integration?
el_perro_con_gas 3 December, 2012 16:40
Apparently Meego is not dead.