DHAKA: Nokia, soon to be acquired by Microsoft Corp, is turning to software created by arch-rival Google for a new line of phones it hopes will make it a late contender in the dynamic low-cost smartphone market.

Its first model, the Nokia X, will rely upon an open version of the Android mobile software system created by Google that has become the world’s most popular software used in smartphones.

The release of the phone just days before Nokia sells its handset business to Microsoft in a US$7.2-billion deal, is an attempt to stay relevant in emerging markets, where low-cost Android phones are being snapped up by hundreds of millions of buyers.

But the strategy shift underlines the many missteps made by the Finnish company since Apple launched its ground-breaking iPhone in 2007, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1615 HRS, FEB 24, 2014