The new Nokia X Software Platform
he new Nokia X Software Platform unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2014 is kind of like the wedding adage: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Here,
the phone-maker borrows, bends, and recombines elements of Android,
Windows Phone, and Nokia's own Asha OS as a response to a particularly
sticky conundrum: how to make users' beloved Android apps run on a
non-Google-looking phone, thereby avoiding a betrayal of
partner-and-soon-to-be-parent Microsoft.
The result is an awkward amalgamation that doesn't do justice to any of the hybrid platform's component parts. For someone familiar with all three inspirations, the Nokia X OS mashup is an ill-fitting mix at best and an unholy union at worst.
I'm one for full disclosure here: this rundown represents my first impressions after a very short period with the Nokia X phone, but I'll update this after spending more hands-on time with the device here at MWC -- so my views are subject to change.
Start screen
First things first. The Nokia X OS does give you a Glance screen that beams out information from the lock screen, like the time and message alerts.
When you unlock the device, you're greeted by a start screen that looks like a Bizarro version of Windows Phone OS. To put it bluntly, the cheap knock-off visuals could use some work. Just because Nokia X phones are purposely low cost, it doesn't mean that the OS should have to look low-rent, too.
Blocks of tiles run together on the interface (though it looks like the Phone, People, and Messaging icons are static.) Even if you manually drag tiles down to create a gutter between rows, the effect is messy overall. It doesn't appear that you can separate the fused columns. On the plus side, some tiles are dynamic a la Windows Phone -- like the calendar, for instance -- and you can reorder them with a drag and a drop.
You can resize tiles, too, much the way that you would in Windows Phone, by pressing and holding the tile and selecting the larger or smaller of two sizes. You're also able to add widgets to your home screen, and create folders that looks just like tiles, a trick that Nokia pushed out in its "Black" update.
http://reviews.cnet.com/operating-systems/nokia-x-software-platform/4505-3671_7-35835188.html
The result is an awkward amalgamation that doesn't do justice to any of the hybrid platform's component parts. For someone familiar with all three inspirations, the Nokia X OS mashup is an ill-fitting mix at best and an unholy union at worst.
I'm one for full disclosure here: this rundown represents my first impressions after a very short period with the Nokia X phone, but I'll update this after spending more hands-on time with the device here at MWC -- so my views are subject to change.
Start screen
First things first. The Nokia X OS does give you a Glance screen that beams out information from the lock screen, like the time and message alerts.
When you unlock the device, you're greeted by a start screen that looks like a Bizarro version of Windows Phone OS. To put it bluntly, the cheap knock-off visuals could use some work. Just because Nokia X phones are purposely low cost, it doesn't mean that the OS should have to look low-rent, too.
Blocks of tiles run together on the interface (though it looks like the Phone, People, and Messaging icons are static.) Even if you manually drag tiles down to create a gutter between rows, the effect is messy overall. It doesn't appear that you can separate the fused columns. On the plus side, some tiles are dynamic a la Windows Phone -- like the calendar, for instance -- and you can reorder them with a drag and a drop.
You can resize tiles, too, much the way that you would in Windows Phone, by pressing and holding the tile and selecting the larger or smaller of two sizes. You're also able to add widgets to your home screen, and create folders that looks just like tiles, a trick that Nokia pushed out in its "Black" update.
http://reviews.cnet.com/operating-systems/nokia-x-software-platform/4505-3671_7-35835188.html
No comments:
Post a Comment