Nokia is hiring for its return to the smartphone business

Once the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer by a considerable margin, Nokia exited the handset business last year, with the sale of its devices and services unit to Microsoft. Nokia had arrived too late to the smartphone game, and when it put all of its eggs in the Windows Phone basket - an OS that was also playing catchup with its rivals - it ultimately sealed its fate.

But that isn't stopping Nokia from jumping back into the fiercely competitive smartphone market - and it's already hiring ahead of its return.

It's worth remembering that Nokia has already returned to the consumer device market, with the launch of its N1 Android tablet last year. But the N1 is, to some degree, a Nokia in name only - Nokia had a hand in designing the device, and it wears the Finnish company's logo, but the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and support for the tablet are all handled by Chinese white-label manufacturer Foxconn.

A similar arrangement will be in place when Nokia eventually returns to the smartphone market - indeed, the company actually confirmed as much, in a statement commenting on recent media speculation suggesting that the firm would be launching a new phone in the very near future.

Those deceived by such carelessly researched articles should be aware that Nokia and Microsoft have a standing agreement that prevents Nokia from using its brand on smartphones until late 2016. But there's nothing stopping Nokia from developing its new handset before then - and it seems work is indeed under way.

Reuters reports that Nokia is now hiring, posting dozens of LinkedIn ads for jobs in areas that will directly benefit its smartphone efforts, including product development specialists and Android engineers. The company has already dipped its toe into Android smartphone software with the rollout of its Z Launcher app last year.

On top of this, an unnamed source claims that Nokia intends to halve the 70 redundancies it had planned for its technologies division, allowing it to retain employees who can contribute to its smartphone program.

Nokia recently announced another new device too - albeit one that's emphatically not intended for consumers. The Ozo, a stylish new virtual reality camera, was unveiled last week, and is aimed at professional content producers and Hollywood movie-makers.

Source: Reuters