Following the recent announcement of Microsoft’s plans to transfer Nokia X series to the Windows Phone family, the company is now acting to shut down the Nokia feature phone lineups and end the support of the platform.
Currently, Nokia’s feature phones run on various platforms such as the Asha, Series 40, and of course, the young Nokia X handsets. These platforms will now shift to a phase Microsoft calls “maintenance mode” and will halt in development and investment. Once this begins, there will be no new features or updates on these platforms.
Microsoft will work on driving their current Nokia’s feature handset users to Microsoft services and applications through the Lumia hardware, where the company is expected to deliver even more affordable handsets running on the Windows Phone platform. Aside from that, the company plans to introduce Nokia MixRadio as a third-party service and has also moved it into maintenance mode.
It is definitely a busy period for Microsoft. In addition to the massive layoff and the disbandment of Microsoft Entertainment Studio, the elimination of Nokia X Platform, Asha Platform, and Series 40 in favour of the company’s Windows Phone ambition is certainly another big moment in the new era of Microsoft under Satya Nadella.
[Source: The Verge]
