Nokia: Imaging SDK set for Android Nokia X Platform

NOKIA HAS REVEALED to The E-Information that its Imaging software development kit (SDK) likely will come to its Nokia X platform, enabling developers to build high-end photography apps for its low-end, Android-based smartphones.Nokia's Imaging SDK allows developers to create imaging apps for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8.1, such as Nokia's own Creative Studio app that it boasts was built using the developer kit.However, Windows Phones didn't feature heavily at this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC), as Nokia instead focused on showcasing its Android-based Nokia X smartphone line, comprising the Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL.While you'll find some of Nokia's usual apps onboard, such as Music and Here maps, there are none of the high-end camera applications found on the Nokia Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1020 handsets, due to the Nokia X devices' low prices. However, Nokia said that its Imaging SDK might appear on the Nokia X range "when the time is right".During an interview with The INQUIRER, Amit Patel, VP of developer relations at Nokia, said that the firm hopes to open the Imaging SDK to developers working on Nokia X apps, with imaging still a "key differentiator" for the firm. Patel said, "On the hardware side, it's bill of materials, so you may not get a Nokia X handset with a 41MP camera. However, the important thing will be the software manipulation and imaging features, which is going to be something that we can bring down to the low end when the time is right.

"A lot of those software techniques are actually portable from the high end to the low end. If you've got a reasonable processor in the device, you can run a lot of those capabilities. Imaging is of course one of the key differentiators, not just on the Lumia side, but in the affordable smartphone space as well."

During our interview, Patel also spoke about what developers can expect when submitting apps to the Nokia X Store, promising that the firm will carefully vet apps before they are approved. Thanks to this thorough apps validation process, he added that out of 100,000 Android apps tested for the Nokia X, nine percent were found to contain malware.