After weeks of speculation, Nokia has unveiled its Android fork – Nokia X – at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, with the Finnish giant looking to reach more low-end consumers.

The company claims the new Nokia X range will build on the range of price points its been able to offer consumers with Microsoft's Windows Phone, with the style and pitch of the platform heavily inspired by its Lumia handsets.

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"Today Windows Phone is the fastest growing mobile ecosystem in the world, and we continue to see incredible momentum with our Lumia smartphones," said VP and GM of developer experience at Nokia, Bryan Biniak.

"Now, with the introduction of the Nokia X family of devices, we're delivering the same design, quality and innovation Nokia is known to lower price points to capture the fastest-growing segment of the smartphone market."

As well as serving up cheap handsets, part of Nokia X's strength will be enabling consumers to spend their money once they have the devices, with the firm having signed billing agreements with more than 160 operators across more that 60 markets.

This makes Nokia one of the largest players in the mobile operating billing network in the world, reaching out to consumers without a credit card to attach to their account.

We are family

Nokia claims the "vast majority" of Android apps will run on Nokia X unaided, with the company naturally opting to link the platform to its own Nokia Store rather than Google Play.

Left to right, Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL

"Nokia has connected billions of people around the world, and today we demonstrated how our portfolio is designed to connect the next billion people to great experiences," concluded former CEO and now VP of devices and services Stephen Elop.

"Our deliberate approach is to offer four tiers of products including our affordable entry-level devices like the new Nokia 220; our entry-level Asha touch phones like the new Nokia Asha 230; our new Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL smartphones primarily for growth economies; and our Lumia portfolio, which is where we introduce the greatest innovation and provide full compatibility with the Microsoft experience."