Nokia denies rumors that they’re looking to re-enter the smartphone arena

Nokia has been rumored to reenter the smartphone scene as soon as their “no smartphone” clause that was part of their departure from Microsoft runs dry. As much sense as those rumors might make, Nokia’s official word says they’re wholly inaccurate.

The company released a statement today to address the rumors (which doesn’t happen often) and reassured everyone that they have no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets. Here’s the full quote:

Nokia notes recent news reports claiming the company communicated an intention to manufacture consumer handsets out of a R&D facility in China. These reports are false, and include comments incorrectly attributed to a Nokia Networks executive.

Nokia reiterates it currently has no plans to manufacture or sell consumer handsets.

Key in on one word: “currently.” That alone leaves open the possibility that they’ll make a return someday. Will it be the day Microsoft’s clause expires? Five years from the day the clause expires? No one but Nokia knows, but for now they’re giving us no reason to believe that we’ll see a phone with a big “N” logo on it anytime soon.

[via Nokia]

Samsung chief JK Shin flat-out denies Galaxy Note 5 will get a July announcement

Earlier this week, a rumor suggested Samsung would look to challenge the iPhone 6S by bringing the Samsung Galaxy Note 5’s launch a lot sooner than we’re expecting. The rumor suggested a July revelation instead of Samsung taking to their , usual stage at IFA Berlin in September.

And those rumors are now rubbish. The company’s top dog of mobile himself JK Shin came out to put an end to the notion, suggesting that it’s completely false. It’s possible he’s trying to throw us off the trail, though in our experience a company doesn’t typically flat-out deny a rumor unless it is, in fact, false.

You might expect a look of disappointment on the face of those who can’t wait for the next generation of the Galaxy Note series, but most folks should be happy.

A September launch would mean they didn’t have to rush or cut any corners for the sake of helping their profits soar, which in turn will make for the quality smartphone we’re expecting the company to show off whenever the time for its coming out party arrives. In the meantime, the company will continue to let the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge shine in their own light (especially since it didn’t take long at all for them to reach 10 million units sold).

[via WhoWired]

HTC denies ever speaking with ASUS about a buyout, and they don’t think they ever will

HTC decided to go on the defensive side in relations to talk about ASUS buying them out. The company released an official statement saying they strongly deny any rumors about ASUS buying them out.

To be clear, the initial report was never that a buyout was attempted, but rather ASUS has at least talked or thought about it internally. For HTC’s part, they maintain that they’ve never spoken with ASUS in regards to any of that.

They also looked to reassure folks that they weren’t willing to sell, though that’s not an unexpected feeling for a proud Taiwanese company. The company isn’t currently in dire straits or in jeopardy of tanking, and while there have been better times we imagine things aren’t bad enough that they’re scrambling for a knight to whisk them off their feet.

HTC still has a lot riding on their future, including the HTC Re Vive VR headset, a new line of consumer electronics, as well as their long-standing smartphone business (though the latter arm has seen better days). There’s still time to turn the boat around, so unless HTC suddenly starts bleeding money in a profuse manner we ought to do away with fears that they’re going anywhere.

[via HTC]

Nintendo denies its gaming console will use Android

Welp, that was fast. A report out of a trusted Japanese publication yesterday told of possible plans for Nintendo to use Android on their upcoming game console, the NX. Naturally Nintendo was asked if the report was true, and they didn’t outright refuse to comment.

In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal Nintendo suggests the rumor is not accurate in any way, and that they have no plans to use Android as the console’s software platform. So did someone give Nikkei some false information? Here are a few common scenarios:

• Translation errors often lead to misinformation. Perhaps Nintendo was speaking about Android in a separate context.


• A source could have deliberately tried to throw Nikkei off the path.


• The rumor is actually true, but Nintendo is lying through their teeth.

That last one is not all that far-fetched. Nintendo has denied rumors before, only for those rumors to turn out to be 100% true (see: the Nintendo 3DS XL). We’ve also seen this same pattern with a number of gaming companies, but that only typically happens when a company is trying to lower expectations so their official announcement has a bigger impact. We wouldn’t say revealing which software platform the Nintendo NX will use charts high on the list of things Nintendo wants to keep under wraps.

So all of that is to say that this rumor may or may not be true. Officially it’s not true, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to keep our eye on the Nintendo NX for the off chance that it is.

[via Wii U Daily]