Nokia, facing fierce competition from Apple and Samsung, to remain the world’s top mobile phone maker, launched on Wednesday in London, its much anticipated first smartphones using the windows platform. Speaking at Nokia World in London, the CEO of the company unveiled two new major developments in their smart phone range, as well as a multitude of services and accessories, to keep the most avid early adopter pleased.
Nokia has launched the Lumia 800, the flagship Windows Mobile smartphone it hopes will revive its fortunes in the mobile market. The device, which was unveiled at Nokia World alongside its little brother – the Lumia 710, is available in magenta, black and cyan and has been designed based closely on the company’s N9 device, which it greatly resembles.
Nokia is describing the Lumia devices as “stylish and smart” and both devices include support for Nokia Maps, and a range of co-branded accessories with Monster. A welcome addition to the Nokia family will be the companies first Windows Phone based smartphones in the Lumia family range.
Lumia means light and this is a new dawn for Nokia.
Both will feature Nokia Drive, a personal navigation device as well as Nokia music with built in gig finder, a global music streaming app with a live music finder for on the go use. Nokia have also teamed up with Monster who have co-designed and co-developed the on/in ear purity earpieces accompanying the smartphones.
Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 will feature a 3.7″ inch screen perfect for watching movies, viewing pictures, emails and anything you require on the go. In terms of the processor, anyone considering the Lumia 710 will be pleased to hear Nokia has used the same 1.4 GHz processor as the 800 model. While Lumia 800 is packed with 16 GB of internal memory the 700 doesn’t come in far behind boasting 8 GB for music and entertainment. Both phones feature the Windows mango OS while the 800 series will feature an 8MP instant share camera and the 700 a 5MP camera based on top end Carl Zeiss optics.
To market the phones, Nokia plans to put the devices in the hands of more salespeople and professionals than they have ever put in their history. In addition, 31 operators and retailers have committed to significant levels of exposure for the phone, displaying it as their “hero smartphone” he said.
Availability And Cost Of Lumia
By first launching in other countries, Nokia will avoid the holiday season in the U.S.A, where competition is expected to be heavy with the likes of the iPhone 4S and phones featuring the latest Android 4.0 (or Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system. In Europe, Lumia 800 will retail for 420 Euros ($585) and Lumia 710 for Euros 270.
Lumia will go on sale in UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain in November, 2011 and in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan by the end of the year 2011. It will reach the US early next year and mainland China in mid 2012.
