Nokia back into smartphones with WP7 devices
Nokia World is used to launch the new onslaught for Nokia and Mango WP7
Published: 26 October, 2011
READ MORE: Europe | Handset | Windows Phone
When Nokia chose to switch operating system horses mid-stream and dump Symbian, it told the world that it would take almost a year before a new smart phone emerged. In a sense it was saying "I'll be back" in the style of the terminator, and today it announced its return to the market with 6 new phones, two of which are Windows smart phones, using the new Mango version of WP7.
The name chosen for its new smartphone brand is Lumia and the first two models, the 800 and 710 were shown at Nokia World yesterday and one of the critical weapons in its arsenal, Nokia Maps, has been re-tuned to work with Windows - every Nokia smartphone will have free turn by turn instructions and maps, with these devices shipping in November.
The Lumia 800 comes in cyan, magenta and black, and Nokia says it is the best social and Internet performance it has produced, which, let's face it can't be too hard. It offers one-touch access to Facebook and other social networks, easy ways to group communications from different types of contacts, and uses the Internet Explorer 9 browser. The devices comes with 3.7 inch AMOLED ClearBlack curved display and is driven by a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm SnapDragon processor, and it also has hardware acceleration and a graphics processor. The Lumia 800 also has what Nokia is calling an instant-share camera, which is a one touch transfer to Facebook and as usual it is based on the exclusive it has with Carl Zeiss optics. It offers HD video playback, 16GB memory and 25GB of free web content storage which it calls SkyDrive storage for storing images and music. The price is €420 and already it has lined up 31 operators in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.
Nokia said it also plans to introduce a portfolio of products into the US in early 2012 and into mainland China in the first half of 2012. In addition to the existing products, which include coverage for WCDMA and HSPA, Nokia also plans LTE and CDMA products to address specific local market requirements.
The Lumia 710 is being described as "affordable" and a no-nonsense smartphone to bring the Lumia experience to the rest of the world. It has personalized exchangeable covers, thousands of apps and is also designed for instant social and image sharing, with IE9 on board. It has the same 1.4 GHz processor, but is built for emerging markets and so is priced at €270 and will be sold initially in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan.
Both smartphones will have Nokia menus adapted for Windows Phone, and the renamed Nokia Drive, for a fully-fledged personal navigation experience. Also included is MixRadio, a free mobile music-streaming app delivering hundreds of channels of locally-relevant music. A later update will offer personalized channels from a catalog of millions of tracks. Nokia Music has added Gigfinder, a way to search for music concerts in your area and in a tie-up with partner Monster, it will offer a variety of advanced music headsets.
Pages: 1 | 2
More EUROPE News
More FEMTOCELL News
More WINDOWS PHONE News
COMMENTS
Carrier Broadband Performance: Africa & Middle East
Carriers are using mobile broadband as their weapon of choice in the fight against the commoditization of voice and falling ARPU. This...
Voice over LTE: Market Analysis and Forecasts
VoLTE offer unique advantages in lowering a carrier's voice infrastructure economics and promises to improve voice quality, device...
Satellite Phones: Will Dual Mode Help the Phoenix Rise from the Ashes?
Satellite phones have followed an arduous path since their much-hyped launch more than a decade ago. The hype was followed by an e...
