Nokia Denies Android Phone Rumors

British Daily The Guardian reported that Nokia was working on a smartphone based on Google Android...and Nokia has issued a flat denial.

There has been industry speculation that Finnish phone maker Nokia might be interested in Google’s Android smartphone platform since Android was first announced, although there has never been any concrete evidence that Nokia, which is heavily invested in the Symbian platform, has ever given any serious thought to Android. Now, the British news daily The Guardian reported that Nokia is working on an Android-based smartphone to be unveiled at the Nokia World conference in September; according to the report, Nokia is looking to Android as a way to regain market share in the smartphone arena, where it is seeing serious competition from the likes of RIM and Apple.

Now, Nokia has issued a flat denial of the Guardian story, with a spokesperson declaring there is "absolutely no truth" to the report, and re-iterating Symbian remains the focus of Nokia’s smartphone efforts.

So far, only a handful of Android-based devices have reached the marketplace, with the T-Mobile G1 perhaps being the best-known device. However, a large number of manufacturers are planning to bring Android-based mobile devices to market by the end of the year, and some are even eyeing using android in netbook PCs and other non-smartphone devices.