Nokia's Android phone might escape Microsoft's cull

Nokia just might be able to debut its first and only Android phone before it is entirely acquired by Microsoft.

The new handset, codenamed "Normandy", was leaked by popular Twitter account @evleaks on November 25. The leak came two months after a cryptic tweet from the account:

Project N, and "Normandy", are allegedly Nokia's first serious attempt at creating a low-cost Android phone. According to The Verge, the handset has been in the works for months, even throughout the process of the company's Devices and Services division being sold off to Microsoft.

The Project N smartphone looks nearly identical to a Nokia Lumia 625 but only has a single capacitive button on the lower bezel, where Windows Phone devices have three. According to sources, the smartphone runs a forked version of Android, using proprietary Nokia code over the basic Android kernel in the same way as Android's Kindle Fire tablets.

The Verge says the project is running at "full steam ahead" and that the smartphone is on track for a release next year. Microsoft's imminent acquisition of Nokia's devices division might put a stop to that, since its Windows Phone handsets have a firm grip on the cheaper end of the market that Nokia's "Normandy" challenges.