Rumoured: Nokia C1, the next Android smartphone by Nokia

Nokia, the well-known Finnish mobile phone and smartphone manufacturer, was finally acquired by Microsoft this year. The smartphone brand was finally taken over by Microsoft and the Lumia devices will now be known as Microsoft Lumia, and will be shipped with Microsoft Windows Phone operating system.

However, Nokia was said to stop all hardware manufacturing and concentrate in other services. A few rumours about Nokia launching their own brand of smartphones with Android was in the air, till Nokia announced that they will not directly manufacture their own hardware, but give out the license to another firm to manufacture the devices.

Recently, Nokia was rumoured to be on an Android smartphone, completely under the Nokia brand, post Microsoft acquisition. PhoneArena reported that Tech.163.com, a Chinese website, has information about a new smartphone from Nokia, codenamed C1, is on the verge of being unveiled.

The Nokia C1 looks similar to the Xiaomi Mi2, and is rumoured to sport specifications including an Intel processor (instead of a Snapdragon or an MTK chipset), with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The Nokia C1 will sport a 5-inch IPS HD display and a possible 8MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera. The Nokia smartphone will feature Google Android Lollipop v5.0.x out of the box.

Nokia has no option but to manufacture the smartphones by licensing the deal to a third-party manufacturer. In this case, it seems no other than Foxconn, the famous smartphone manufacturing factory, which also caters to many top brands, including Apple and Xiaomi.

Sources state that Nokia will announce the new smartphone in the first quarter of 2015. Stay tuned for more information and leaks about the Nokia smartphone.