Will Nokia unveil a touchscreen Android smartphone in September or won't it? News reports circulated earlier today that it was planning on doing so, an indication that it is giving up the fight to make its own Symbian platform a rival to Google's Android. But Nokia has issued an official statement denying such plans, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, details have also been leaked about a Sony Ericsson (SE) Android smartphone that will one-up competitive Android phones already on the market.
Nokia has steadily seen its power in the mobile phone market erode. Although the phone maker still builds around four out of every 10 mobile phones sold, according to analysts at HSBC, its market share has been halved by smartphone superstars Apple and RIM. If Nokia were to announce an Android phone, it would be throwing in the towel over its would-be rivalry with Android. Its platform, Symbian, is also available free of charge to all manufacturers. But the iPhone and Android customers continue to grow far faster than Symbian adoption.
However Reuters reports that Nokia is not going to give up the fight.
"British daily The Guardian said on Monday the Finnish mobile phone maker was understood by industry insiders to be developing a smartphone that runs on Google's Android software, to be introduced in September. 'Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever,' said a Nokia spokesman."
However, details of SE's Android entry have been leaked. Pictures show the SE's upcoming Android phone to be sporting an 8.1-megapixel camera with autofocus and flash. This would be the most sophisticated camera to date on an Android phone (and it compares to a 3-megapixel camera on the latest iPhone). The SE phone is even expected to run on the upcoming 2.0 version of Google Android.
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