HMD Global has launched an upgrade to the Nokia 3310, only this time it comes in a 4G variant and runs on YunOS which is Android-based and supports most of the Android applications.
Rumours suggest that the YunOS is a forked version of Android and have been developed by Chinese tech giant Alibaba.
There haven’t been any changes made to the hardware on the outside. The phone still sports a 2.4-inch display and has 512MB of internal storage with an option to expand up to 64GB via microSD card.
The phone is powered by a 1,200 mAh battery and sports a 2-megapixel primary camera with LED flash.
The company launched the device in a very hush-hush manner and there haven’t been any announcements of the device’s availability in the international market.
One of the biggest additions to the phone is that now it comes with Wi-Fi and also supports the hotspot feature. The phone now supports 4G VoLTE which means it will be compatible with the Jio network (if it comes here). Clearly, this is the Nokia 3310 that should have been launched in India.
The Nokia 3310 that was launched last year is based on the Symbian 30 version which doesn’t support any Android apps. Apparently, the YunOS has been developed by making a few tweaks to the Android source code available as part of Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
This does allow possibilities for the phone to support basic Android applications – maybe even WhatsApp!
Alibaba claims that the YunOS has an install base of over 157 million users in China.
The 4G feature phone was reportedly spotted on China’s telecommunications authority’s website TEENA where it was showcased under the name TA-1077. The phone is expected to be launched at the Mobile World Congress this year in Barcelona with no news on the availability and pricing of the same.
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