Following Microsoft ditching the Nokia brand, it was later picked up by HMD who started to churn out Nokia-branded smartphones for a few years. Earlier this year, HMD announced that they would start producing smartphones under its own brand, but it seems that they won't be so quick to ditch the Nokia Lumia design just yet.

According to the latest reports, it seems that HMD is working on a new smartphone that will apparently be called the HMD Skyline G2. This handset is said to take some design inspiration from the Nokia Lumia series, which is interesting. The Nokia Lumia lineup, while a bit of a failure, was kind of iconic.

In a sea of smartphones with somewhat dull and somber colors, the Lumia series stood out with its bright and colorful designs. Adding more information to this leak is @smashx_60 on X. They claim that the handset will feature a triple camera setup with some serious hardware. Apparently HMD wants this phone to appeal to photographers.

Not much else was revealed about the Skyline G2. One thing to note is that this is actually the second Skyline phone by HMD that we're hearing about. We're not sure if they will be released separately, or if one model will be the designated flagship and the other a more budget-friendly handset. Either way, hopefully we'll have that information soon enough.

While Finnish company HMD Global is slowly moving towards its branding for new (and old) smartphones, it looks like it's still committed to using the Nokia brand for more basic feature phones, as seen with the launch of the new 2024 edition of the Nokia 3210.

Similar to the modernized 3310 model from a few years back, the new 3210 features the same overall form factor as seen on the original, although it does come with newer features such as a larger 2.4-inch color display, a 2MP camera with LED flash, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C connectivity, and a 1450 mAh battery.

Additionally, the handset supports 4G connectivity, up to 32GB of micro SD card storage, and there's even a 3.5mm headphone jack for users who prefer wired audio solutions.

For software, the phone runs on the S30+ platform, and comes with the bare essentials - with that said though, Nokia promises that it comes with the popular Snake mobile game onboard. Available in Scuba Blue, Y2K Gold, and Grunge Black, the phone is priced starting at around $95.

The onslaught of 5G-enabled hardware during the start of the 2020s was certainly something to remember. At the time there was a bit of uncertainty as to how 5G technology will progress (remember the memes?), although at this point in time, it's clear that it's become a staple of modern consumer electronics, smart homes, and more.

With that in mind though, Finnish telecommunication giant Nokia believes it's time to start investing in the next generation of internet connectivity. For those unaware, the company invests a considerable amount of funding and R&D into its networking hardware, and it recently announced that it was working towards the development of 6G technology.

In a lengthy post, Nokia states that it's been busy with its Bell Labs research division in collaborating with various partner institutions for 6G testing, including companies such as NTT, Docomo, and SKT. Part of its official post from Chief Strategy and Technology Officer (CSTO) Nishant Batra reads:

"We are partnering with industry powerhouses and enterprise-solutions makers to examine how new wireless technologies will redefine the workplace. With Bosch, Nokia Bell Labs is evaluating industrial use cases for 6G joint communication and sensing. And with Hololight, we are investigating how new wireless technologies will allow networks to support multiple simultaneous XR sessions without sacrificing quality of experience."

"Nokia aims to create a broad 6G ecosystem. To that end, we are working closely with Qualcomm to explore the potential interoperability challenges between 6G networks and devices - then innovating ways to overcome those challenges. And just last week, Nokia and Nvidia announced we are investigating how the power of a digital twin could be used to simulate the entirety of a 6G network without ever venturing outside of a lab."

It's clear that 6G technology still has a long way to go before becoming readily available for both manufacturers and consumers, but given how fast the modern consumer electronics industry adapts and evolves, it shouldn't be too long now before we see 6G sail into view.

HMD Global was founded in 2016 where the company started to make Nokia smartphones. It looks like after about 8 years, that journey is coming to an end. The company has announced on its website that they will be moving on from Nokia phones and creating their own brand of smartphones.

This does not mean that HMD will be abandoning Nokia completely. Based on the post on their website, they claim to still be "makers of Nokia smartphones and Nokia dumbphones". This means that they could still technically produce Nokia phones, but maybe their focus will be on their own brand instead.

HMD says that they will still sell Nokia phones and that existing Nokia handsets will continue to receive support and are covered by their warranties.

This announcement doesn't come as a huge surprise. Just last month, a leaked image revealed an upcoming HMD phone without the Nokia branding. It was also reported that the company has about six new smartphone models in the works.

We are excited to see what kind of devices HMD will be able to put out in the market. At the same time, we're cautiously optimistic. The smartphone market has some stiff competition. The Nokia branding definitely played a role in the company's success. Whether or not that success can continue sans Nokia branding remains to be seen.

It's no longer a surprise that Finnish company HMD will start releasing its own-branded phones this year. Although no release date has leaked yet, we expect the first HMD smartphones to appear as early as next month when MWC 2024 is scheduled to kick off.

The first picture of an HMD-branded phone with model number N159V leaked last week, and according to Evan Blass, at least one US carrier will offer the phone, Verizon.

Recently, Evan returned with even more details about HMD's smartphone plans. Apparently, the Finnish handset make is working to bring at least six different HMD-branded smartphones to the market in the not-so-distant future.

Nothing is known about the phone yet, except that they are known under these codenames: Pulse, Legend, Pulse+, Legend Plus, Pulse Pro, and Legend Pro. It's unclear whether all or just some of these phones will be launched in the US, so February can't come soon enough.

HMD Global has been considering dropping the Nokia brand in order to diversify its offering for a few years now. It looks like 2024 will the year that the Finnish company will bring its own-branded products to the market.

Hopefully, these will be just as reliable and affordable as the Nokia-branded phones we know and love. HMD surely isn't lacking the experience to turn this into a successful story considering that it's been making Nokia phones for nearly seven years.