This news will probably fall through the cracks in most reporting about Microsoft’s massive layoffs, but aside from the Nokia X, Microsoft is also killing off Series 40 and Asha.
Nokia might have been famous for its feature phones, but Microsoft is planning to wind that business down over the course of the next 18 months. In an internal memo sent to Microsoft employees, Jo Harlow, who heads up the phone business under Microsoft devices, reveals the focus is very much on Windows Phone. Development and investment for Asha, Series 40, and Nokia X handsets will shift to what is described as “maintenance mode,” and services to support existing devices will be shut down over the next 18 months. “This means there will be no new features or updates to services on any mobile phones platform as a result of these plans,” says Harlow, in the internal memo seen by The Verge.
The story of Series 40 started in 1999 with the iconic Nokia 7110, and it will now end with the Nokia Asha 210 (I think?), or the Nokia Asha 230 if you consider the Asha Software Platform to be Series 40 (nobody really seems to know for sure just how related the two are). In 2012 Nokia announced it had sold over 1.5 billion Series 40 devices, making it one of the most successful software platforms of all time.
It makes sense for Microsoft to kill these platforms. Windows Phone handles devices with lower specifications relatively well, something which the company will hopefully only improve. It does mean the end of an iconic operating system that is intrinsically tied to Nokia, a company who spread the mobile phone and its infrastructure to all four corners in the world, paving the way for pompous phone upstarts like Apple and Google.
One small tidbit I will always associate with Series 40 and Nokia are the signal reception and battery life bars flanking the sides of the early Series 40 user interface like the pillars of the Parthenon. Beautifully elegant and clever use of the limited screen real estate available at the time.
Windows Phone handles devices with lower specifications relatively well
This is something I can confirm, I don’t know how, but Windows phone do wonders with just 512 of ram, I own the Lumia 625.
Because it’s not Android? I am an Android user, but I gotta admit Android requiring 1GB to run smoothly is too much.
Someday, I would love to see a breakdown of what occupies all the RAM Android occupies. Is it the backround services? The UI? The fact every app runs inside it’s own VM?
PS: Even KitKat’s Project Svelte is not about making Android slimmer, but it’s basically about making the “activity killer” and “app killer” of Android more agressive and the ability to swap to zram. Aka wearing a corset instead of losing weight.
Edited 2014-07-17 18:23 UTC
NSA and Google data mining services in the background?
I agree, although i think google have recognised this with the ‘L’ release and the aim of getting android to run quickly on 512MB ram, the android one looks interesting but i would need to see how well it works in my hand to know if they have managed it. I wouldn’t be that surprised if they do pull it off. I own a Motorola G for testing and it only has 1GB, is pretty much stock android and is on 4.4.2 (kitkat) and it’s really smooth and very quick.
I think the two things that really sucked the RAM down on android devices is the sometimes awful skins and bloatware like Touchwiz and also the java / JIT environment of the Apps, moving to ART and getting a more stock android will help with RAM a lot.
There’s a linux kernel behind it all so it is possible to get information about the different processes. I’m guessing someone will have implemented something like the Linux “top” command for android.
So if you’re really curious, I’m sure the data is there.
“Something like” this?:
~$ adb shell
shell@ghost:/ $ top
User 2%, System 3%, IOW 0%, IRQ 0%
User 7 + Nice 0 + Sys 11 + Idle 286 + IOW 0 + IRQ 0 + SIRQ 0 = 304
PID PR CPU% S #THR VSS RSS PCY UID Name
21868 0 3% R 1 1592K 604K shell top
20802 1 0% S 57 659172K 87772K bg u0_a128 com.overdrive.mobile.android.mediaconsole
1153 0 0% S 33 592264K 66632K fg u0_a26 com.android.systemui
1029 0 0% S 86 725616K 106208K fg system system_server
400 0 0% S 25 27308K 976K root /system/bin/thermald
14456 0 0% S 1 460K 72K bg u0_a149 su
21011 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root kworker/0:2
27065 0 0% S 84 634980K 111036K fg u0_a134 com.tul.aviate
17 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/203-msmdata
33 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root sync_supers
34 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root bdi-default
35 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root kblockd
36 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root msm_slim_ctrl_r
37 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root sb-1
38 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root khubd
39 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/84-msm_iomm
40 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/84-msm_iomm
41 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/96-msm_iomm
42 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/96-msm_iomm
43 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/94-msm_iomm
44 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/94-msm_iomm
45 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/92-msm_iomm
46 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/92-msm_iomm
47 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/100-msm_iom
48 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/100-msm_iom
49 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/86-msm_iomm
50 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/86-msm_iomm
51 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/90-msm_iomm
52 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/90-msm_iomm
53 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/88-msm_iomm
54 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/102-msm_iom
55 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/102-msm_iom
56 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/98-msm_iomm
57 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/98-msm_iomm
58 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/243-msm_iom
59 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/243-msm_iom
60 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root l2cap
61 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root a2mp
62 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root cfg80211
63 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root modem_notifier
64 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smd_channel_clo
65 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smsm_cb_wq
66 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root qmi
67 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root nmea
68 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root msm_ipc_router
69 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root apr_driver
70 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root kswapd0
71 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root fsnotify_mark
72 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root crypto
89 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mdp_dma_wq
90 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mdp_vsync_wq
91 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mdp_pipe_ctrl_w
92 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mdp_cursor_ctrl
93 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mot_panel_esd
94 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root vidc_worker_que
95 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root vidc_timer_wq
96 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smux_notify_wq
97 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smux_tx_wq
98 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smux_rx_wq
99 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smux_loopback_w
100 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root k_hsuart
101 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root diag_wq
102 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root hsic_diag_wq
103 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root hsic_2_diag_wq
104 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root smux_diag_wq
105 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root diag_cntl_wq
106 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root diag_dci_wq
107 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root kgsl-3d0
108 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root msp430_wq
109 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root msp430_quickpee
110 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/353-c55_ctr
111 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root irq/350-wcd9xxx
112 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root spi_qsd.0
119 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root usbnet
120 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mdm_bridge
121 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ks_bridge:1
122 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ks_bridge:2
123 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ks_bridge:3
124 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ks_bridge:4
126 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root k_rmnet_mux_wor
127 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root f_mtp
128 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root file-storage
129 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root uether
130 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root kpsmoused
131 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root rmi_det_workque
132 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root w1_bus_master1
134 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root mmi_batt_wq
135 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root iewq
136 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root cfinteractive
137 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root cfinteractive
138 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root binder
139 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root tfa9890
140 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root tpa6165
145 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root mmcqd/0
146 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root krfcommd
147 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root msm-cpufreq
148 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root bam_dmux_rx
149 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root bam_dmux_tx
150 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root rq_stats
151 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root deferwq
1 0 0% S 1 852K 648K root /init
154 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root jbd2/mmcblk0p38
155 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ext4-dio-unwrit
156 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ext4-dio-unwrit
253 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root flush-179:0
258 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root jbd2/mmcblk0p1-
259 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ext4-dio-unwrit
262 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root f2fs_gc-259:8
267 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root jbd2/mmcblk0p36
268 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ext4-dio-unwrit
269 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root jbd2/mmcblk0p23
270 1 0% S 1 0K 0K root ext4-dio-unwrit
273 0 0% S 1 0K 0K root kjournald
282 0 0% S 1 1196K 624K mot_pwri /system/bin/batt_health
308 0 0% S 1 1432K 4K fg root /sbin/healthd
309 1 0% S 1 1312K 596K system /system/bin/servicemanager
310 0 0% S 3 5012K 976K root /system/bin/vold
312 0 0% S 6 30260K 9804K camera /system/bin/mm-qcamera-daemon
318 0 0% S 8 11720K 2540K root /system/bin/netd
319 0 0% S 1 1292K 572K root /system/bin/debuggerd
322 0 0% S 17 25628K 3756K radio /system/bin/rild
323 0 0% S 13 61324K 7684K fg sy
or maybe more eye candy app os monitor https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=com.eolwral.osmonitor
Edited 2014-07-20 20:34 UTC
+1 for suggesting a free/libre app from F-Droid!
And + another 1 for an app that doesn’t just do top-stuff:
OS Monitor
Monitor the Operating System
Process: monitor all processes and display detail information about each.
Connection: display every tcp or udp network connection, and query it via WHOIS. There is an option to display the reverse-ip lookup map in OpenStreetMap.
Misc: monitor processor, battery and file system.
Message: check dmesg or logcat in real-time.
And my eyes said “Yummy” when they saw the way the info-candy was displayed.
was going to say exactly the same thing. I don’t know how they’ve done it but it does work really well.
I own a Nokia 625 in the UK, just last night i got the 8.1 update and somehow the phone runs even faster! This may sound like a marketing/spam post, but it’s utterly amazing how a device with quite low specs runs so smoothly. I threw evernote, onenote, browsing etc.. at it.
The only thing i didn’t bother with is games as i don’t like games on mobile phones, prefer my 3DS.
Simply amazing and rock solid too.
Maybe yes but no, not at all.
When winpho need “at least” 512mo, s40 one the current asha 230, Ã selling product, not an old phone, have just 64mo…..
In fact, winpho is as hungry as android. Winpho need a sh*t loads of ram to even barely multi task, when maemo and symbian^3 can act as a truly multitasking os with 256mo, yeah, you heard it right, the good old hardware of a nokia 510, not even a 520…..
winpho is as hungry as android. Winpho need a sh*t loads of ram to even barely multi task
Not in my experience, I can have the browser, YouTube, music, mail and whatsapp and Windows phone still working smoothly with just 512 of ram.
Edited 2014-07-18 21:07 UTC
Multitasking on Symbian in general or Maemo with 256 MiB of RAM isn’t a pleasant experience.
Nope, sorry. I’ve used an HTC Arrive WP7 phone with 576MB RAM, a Lumia 521 WP8 phone with 512MB, and an HTC 8XT with 1GB. Multitasking was never an issue with any of them, and I only ever had one app force-close due to a lack of RAM situation. It was consistent across all three devices, and was ultimately determined to be a memory leak in that third-party app that was fixed in later versions. I still have the 8XT and Arrive, and still don’t have any multitasking issues.
As for Maemo, at least on the N900, that 256MB was on-chip but it also had 768MB swap via the eMMC, so of course it never had issues with RAM and multitasking.
Why do I get the feeling you’ve never used any of the above devices?
The much more limited array of OS features, tombstoning instead of multitasking and, the only real benefit, the lack of the virtual machine CPU/RAM overhead needed to run apps?
Well, that’s a shame, but oh well.
Many of the Microsoft phones will inherit some of the Nokia build quality; I would have loved to own/use one… if it wasn’t “powered” by Microsoft.
This is so disapointing. Series 40 was my favourite Mobile OS, it just did what was needed. Asha seemed to show it was developing in interesting directions, now this…
Anyone recommend a good Asha phone?
Yeah but the feature phone market is where Mozilla and Jolla are going to be targeting. Theres already a $25 FirefoxOS phone.
The jolla phone isn’t really that cheap (especially not with those specs). Where did you get information about jolla focusing on that part of the market?
The pilot device isn’t cheap, but the OS is designed to run on a wide range of hardware, and can even be installed on any CM10 compatible Android device (for testing purposes at the moment, obviously). I’d be willing to bet that future releases will be able to run on the same low-end hardware that FirefoxOS runs on now.
Because thats their stated goal right now? Go for the low end in the developing world instead of the futility of going after iOS and Android in the developed world.
The Mozilla Flame developer phone is $170, but as I stated, the cheapest phone is only $25. I’m sure that there will be similarly priced Sailfish phones soon enough for the billions of people on earth whose only piece of modern high technology is a cellphone.
Give them a year or 2 and you’ll see bottom end prepaid smartphones starting at $10 that you can pick up at a convenience store like you can/could for feature phones from companies like Net10/Tracphone.
Edited 2014-07-18 14:28 UTC
We live in an area with marginal cell phone coverage, and nothing pulls in the signal like a Nokia. It’s a measurable difference, and I’ve since given up on buying anything else.
Not everybody wants a smartphone. My wife has no interest in apps, a data plan, a big screen with a virtual keyboard, or a battery that requires a recharge every day or two. So when I recently went looking for a replacement phone for her, I settled on a bright red Asha 303. It fits the bill with its diminutive physical size, actual QWERTY keyboard, good build quality, and solid battery life. And most importantly, it has enough signal strength to keep her calls connected wherever she might roam.
You can’t search or sort the phonebook by first name, which is annoying, but other than that, it has been a great device.
I knew Nokia would never again make anything as nifty as my N9, and I guess it was just a matter of time before Microsoft killed off the feature phones, too. It’s sad to see them go.
I thought that Asha was developing at a better pace than Windows Phone for a long time. This was coming from a Nokia C3-00 which we both used for two years, to an Asha 311, which I gave up last summer. I still recommend that phone with its small size and Gorilla Glass display at around $100 USD, but the writing was on the wall.
Another good device is the Nokia 515, although it is a traditional S40 device and does not have any of the Asha improvements. I had one for about two months, very solidly built, but I recommend you get the white one because the black one showed wear on the keypad too easily.
… Samsung executives are laughing to their heart’s content.
True….
Samsung makes feature phones too. Now… That asha is down, they will be making more money from this type of product…. Bad move from Microsoft.
Well… We have seen bad choices from MS before.
Edited 2014-07-18 08:31 UTC
I give it another two or three years and there won’t be any more “feature phones” as they exist today. There will be simple phone/SMS only devices on the bottom, and simple smartphones like FirefoxOS will take the place of current feature phones, jumping to Android/WP/iOS/BlackBerry after that.
my last non-android phone was the nokia c3-00
the battery on that thing lasted over weeks at a time.
And I used to make phone calls and play little games on it all the time.