Nokia welcomes Android developers, BBM and other new apps

Nokia XL photographed by Susan Wong, Barcelona 2014

At last week’s Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona, Spain; 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.

“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.”

With billing agreements in more than 60 markets and with more than 160 operators, Nokia provides developers with access to one of the largest mobile operator billing network in the world, offering the scale and global reach needed to successfully monetize their apps and generate higher revenues.

“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 as is. 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.

At launch, leading global apps will be available for the Nokia X family of devices, including Facebook, LINE Free Voice and Messages, LINE Camera, LINE Bubble, Picsart, Plants vs. Zombies 2, Real Football 2014, Skype, Spotify, Swiftkey, Twitter, Viber, Vine and WeChat, among others. And in a first for Nokia customers around the world, 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.”

Many partners such as Facebook, BBM, Twitter, LINE, Viber, Electronic Arts, Gameloft and Rovio are also making their key apps available across Nokia’s device portfolio of feature phones, Asha, Nokia X and Lumia.  Facebook Messenger, a fast, free and reliable way to stay in touch, will also be coming soon across Nokia’s four tiers of products. Global food delivery app, Foodpanda/hellofood, will also launch across the Nokia Asha, Lumia and X family of devices.

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. European mobile payment provider JUSP will launch across Windows PCs, tablets and smartphones in the coming weeks, while Facetune will soon let users create high-end portraits from everyday photos with intuitive and powerful tools previously reserved for the pros.

“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.”

 

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