Microsoft unveiled the Nokia X2 yesterday and along with the hardware upgrades the device brings, the software was also upgraded to Nokia X Platform 2.0. We were hoping that the new software enhancements that Nokia X Platform 2.0 brings comes to the Nokia X, X+ and XL. Sadly, that ain’t going to happen.
Microsoft has announced that the latest X Platform won’t make it the original Nokia X range due to lack of hardware requirements. Yannis Paniaras, Head of the Mobile Phones UX Design Studio at Microsoft in Beijing said, “Because of the necessary hardware upgrades, the Nokia X software platform 2.0 won’t be available on Nokia X, Nokia X+ or Nokia XL. However, more updates will be coming to further improve the experience of those devices in the coming months.”
Microsoft hasn’t revealed what hardware requirements does the original Nokia X devices lack. The Nokia X2 has more RAM, 1 GB compared to 512/768 MB on the Nokia X and XL. There’s better CPU, Cortex A7 cores compared to Cortex A5 on the Nokia X. Then there’s the home key, which is missing on the Nokia X, X+ and XL.
While the Nokia X has been on sale for sometime now, the X+ and XL went on sale recently. This news would surely infuriated customers who have just bought those devices. Microsoft seems to be in a habit of doing this. Microsoft got a lot of flak in the past when they announced that Windows Phone 7 users won’t get the Windows Phone 8 update and it’s the same story repeated albeit on a smaller scale.
The Nokia X Platform 2.0 brings a number of changes. It finally brings a notification shade, a new multitasking interface, updated Start Screen, improved Fastlane, new camera UI, better keyboard and more. The new X Platform 2.0 surely improves the experience from the Nokia X, which was a disappointing experience. Sadly, Nokia X users hoping for a new update to fix things will be disappointed.
