So this morning, many other Android blogs were publishing stories regarding Nokia’s new job posting. They are looking for a Linux Developer. Well the full name of the position as posted on Linkedin is “Principal Software Engineer, Embedded Linux Middleware” and it’s also no longer active. So it appears that Nokia has taken it down, or they’ve found their new employee already. Here’s what the entire Job posting stated before it was taken down:
We are looking for an expert C/C++ & JAVA engineers to develop embedded linux device software and hardware drivers for our exciting new products. The candidate must have knowledge and experience working with mobile phone technology. Strong knowledge of embedded linux drivers and resource optimizations such as scheduler/governor is a must. Experience with network stack, RF driver, display driver, and imaging pipeline are also essential.
You will be a hands-on leader of the team that builds innovative products and services using the latest mobile, imaging, and location technologies. You should have shipped commercial software, great team collaboration skills, and strong communication skills. You should also be passionate for mobile devices, be self-driven and motivated and be adaptable to the ever-changing mobile market. You will also be closely involved in architecture, system design and product specification.
But after Nokia posted that job on Linkedin, all the Android fan boys at certain other Android blogs got all up in arms thinking that Nokia is heading to Android. Well why wouldn’t they be? They are already struggling, and working with Windows Phone wasn’t a good idea. Especially where Android has over 75% of the smartphone market share, and Windows phone has around 5% behind Apple’s iPhone.
Now Nokia has been around for a long time. All their devices used to run Symbian, but that all changed when Nokia entered and agreement with Windows Phone to create new Windows Phone 7 & 8 devices. Their Windows Phone 8 devices look pretty good, and have been selling “okay” considering they are Windows Phone 8 devices and that OS has never done to well in the smartphone marketplace. Especially with Android and iOS around.
So why won’t Nokia be making Android devices? It’s quite simple. They are basically married to Windows Phone. They’ve also spent so much on their Windows Phone devices in making them, updating them, and marketing them. Sure Nokia isn’t doing to well financially, but I don’t think they can just throw all that away and transition over to Android.
Now this Linux developer job opening is kind of confusing. Because it doesn’t necessarily mean that Nokia is going over to Android anytime. Nokia could be looking to work on Symbian again or even MeeGo. It’ll be interesting to see what Nokia is up to with this new job posting. But be sure that if it is anything to do with Android, we will have you covered.
So you know now my thoughts about this, what do you think? Is Nokia getting ready to go “all in” on Android? Let us know in the comments.