Nokia has announced a brand new Android-powered tablet running its new Z Launcher. Luckily, getting your hands on the Z Launcher doesn’t involve a three-month wait and a move to China (the only market the N1 will be available in at launch). Instead, Nokia has made the Z Launcher software available in beta on the Google Play Store.
This is an open beta, though Play Store tells us none of our devices are compatible, which leads us to believe that Canada isn’t invited. The Z Launcher’s most notable feature is that you can ‘scribble’ letters on the home screen to access certain applications. Instead of endlessly scrolling through your app drawer to find Pinterest, you just scrawl a ‘P’ on the screen and Z Launcher will show you all apps beginning with P. Neat.
Aside from serving as a quick filtering tool for your apps, Nokia says Z Launcher will monitor how you use your phone and “promote” your favourite apps so you can get to them faster and at the right times. In the morning it might show you social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, as well as Waze, and a few contacts you call most often first thing in the morning. The evening time presents a whole new selection of apps that you use more often after work, like Spotify and Uber.
Nokia’s Z Launcher is compatible with Android 4.1-4.4 on the Nexus 5, Galaxy S5, S4, S3, Moto X, Moto G, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z1.
[source]Nokia, Google Play[/source]
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