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BARCELONA, Spain — Will Nokia finally go Android?
On the first official day of Mobile World Congress, Nokia is widely expected to unveil an Android-powered smartphone — a departure from its previous decision to solely stick with Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. The company will likely unveil a few Windows Phone devices as well, but an Android phone would certainly capture all of the headlines.
CNET senior editor Jessica Dolcourt, photographer Sarah Tew, and I will be bringing you all the details, photos, and commentary from the event. The event kicks off at 8:30 a.m. Monday local Barcelona time, 7:30 a.m. in London, 6:30 p.m. in Sydney, 3:30 p.m. in Singapore, and 11:30 p.m. Sunday in PT (calculate to your time zone).
You can tune in to the live blog here:
CNET’s live blog of Nokia’s Mobile World Congress press conference
The Nokia devices business, of course, is set to be absorbed into Microsoft later this quarter, making an Android device a somewhat awkward announcement for the two parties.
Microsoft will run Nokia as an independent business to avoid alienating its other Windows Phone partners, and the Nokia brand will remain alive.
Look for Nokia to follow last year’s playbook and debut a number of lower-end devices designed for the emerging markets. It had a number of impressively low-priced phones show up at Mobile World Congress 2013, running either Windows Phone or its Symbian-based Asha platform.
Indeed, Nokia has seen more success on the low end and in markets where cell phone and smartphone adoption is just beginning to ramp up. At the same time, its higher-profile flagship phones have struggled as consumers continue to gravitate toward the iPhone and other high-end Android smartphones.
We’ll see what Nokia has in store on Monday. As usual, we’ll be using ScribbleLive to bring you live text and photos, blow by blow. We’ll start the live blog about 15 minutes before Nokia officially kicks off its event.
Stay tuned to CNET for full coverage of Mobile World Congress.
