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]

Motorola reminds us they’re still working on the DROID Turbo’s Android 5.1 update

DROID Turbo owners are at their wits end (well the few that care about software updates anyway). Sure, the phone currently runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat like a champ, but Android die-hards got Lollipop on the brain and are fuming that they haven’t received even a taste.

We know the phone will skip all those initial buggy Lollipop releases and jump straight to Android 5.1. The best Android. Motorola told us as much back towards the end of March. Well, in case you thought the phone was forgotten (especially after Motorola posted Android 5.1 release notes for a handful of their devices, even the low-end Moto E), Motorola is once again reminding us that they’re still actively working on the update and is, in fact, coming. Soon. Really soon. Sooner than ever. Unfortunately they weren’t able to provide general release timing, so we’re still left guessing. But hang in there.

The update is said to bring full VoLTE support, which means Verizon has their hands all over the update, probably more so than usual. Many assumed that because the DROID Turbo had such high-end specs, it automatically made it a flagship. Yes and no. The phone is more or less Verizon’s flagship — where it remains a carrier exclusive in North America — than it is Motorola’s. That being said, the Latin American/Mexican version (Motorola Moto Maxx) received Lollipop back in February.

If you’ve been in this Android thang long enough, you’d know Verizon likes to take their time with software updates. The fact that the DROID Turbo is their special little baby means they want to make sure everything works perfectly and properly on their network. We can’t blame ’em. Lollipop is great, there’s no doubt about that. But it’s only great when it’s working properly, and if you’ve seen the havoc it’s wreaked on other Android devices, you’d want to make sure they took their time too.

We’ll keep you posted if we hear anything else.