Nokia Normandy could be an Asha phone with large display, hints new leak

Nokia is back in the news, and this time with a new smartphone in the pipeline. Named the “Nokia Normandy”, the information came to us via prolific tipster @evleaks. The most intriguing part of the leak is the promise that “Nokia Normandy is the missing link”. The last bit of the leak leads to the obvious question: Missing link between what?

Since the original tweet, the tipster has put up another cryptic message along with an image of Normandy. The new tweet reads, “A real Asha. Or Lumia? The Nokia Normandy.” The tipster immediately followed up the post with a separate leak about an Asha handset, but did not reveal any other details about the same. From both these leaks, it looks like the missing link is referring to a connection between Asha and the Lumia line-up.

Nokia Normandy may be a large-screen Asha phone (Image credit: @evleaks)

The Nokia Normandy leak shows off a widescreen display and bright red form factor, which strongly resembles the Lumia design, but does away with the usual Windows Phone keys in favor of the large Asha-series back button. While the 500-series of Asha phones currently come with a wide array of colours to choose from, the latest leak hints at the possibility of Microsoft looking to expand the line-up with a new kind of smartphone: A Lumia-Asha combination.

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There hasn’t been any word from either Microsoft or Nokia about the existence of this smartphone, nor has there been any confirmed word about a prospective release date for the same, making it tough to validate this leak. There have, however, been quite a few reports regarding Microsoft’s prospective plans for the future. An earlier report had hinted at the software giant wooing struggling smartphone maker HTC to produce more Windows Phone models, with the former reportedly being open even to the thought of a dual-boot Android Windows Phone handset.

Julie Larson-Green, Head of Devices for the software giant also indicated that Microsoft may be planning for a unified Windows OS for all devices. Back in September, Windows Chief Terry Myerson hinted at the possibility of phablets being the future of Windows RT, hinting at the possibility of Windows Phone merging with Windows RT in the near future. It is still not clear how all these will come together, nor is it known if the Nokia Normandy is linked to any of these.