Before selling to MS,Nokia had Lumia Android phones in work

As it turns out, not only was an Nokia Android device discussed, it was a reality. The New York Times is reporting “a team within Nokia had Android up and running on Lumia handsets” before the company was sold to Microsoft.

While we’re not surprised Nokia would have been discussing an Android device internally, it could have meant their Windows Phone favoritism was ending. The deal Nokia had in place for Windows Phone devices was in place until the end of 2014, and the Finnish smartphone company would have been free to do as they pleased thereafter. As the biggest fish in a very small pond, it makes sense to pursue other means of revenue, like one that doesn’t charge a licensing fee.

We’re not sure just how deep the Android device rabbit hole went for Nokia, but the fact they spent time and effort toying with the open source OS means quite a bit. It could have been a precursor to the buyout, too. If Microsoft was under any impression they’d lose their biggest — and almost only — ally for Windows Phones, they may have pulled the trigger and locked up hardware for the foreseeable future.

The bottom line is, a Nokia Android handset was real. Really real. Commence cursing…

Now.​