Nokia has unveiled its first two Windows smartphones, which will launch next month in Europe and Asia. The Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone offers a mix of classic Nokia features and Microsoft software. It will come in three colours and feature a 3.7-inch Amoled ClearBlack curved display, 1.4GHz processor, 8 megapixel camera, 16GB of internal memory and 25GB free storage with the SkyDrive service. Expected to retail before subsidies at EUR 420, the phone will launch first in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK, with support from 31 networks and retailers.
For the lower end of the market, Nokia introduced the Nokia Lumia 710. Available in black and white with changeable back covers, the Lumia 710 comes with the same 1.4 GHz processor, hardware acceleration and graphics processor as the Lumia 800, 5 megapixel camera and 8GB internal memory, and a lower price of EUR 270. It will launch first in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan toward the end of the year, alongside the Lumia 800. Additional markets will get the two phones in early 2012.
Both smartphones come with Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango), Internet Explorer 9, the Nokia Drive free personal navigation service and the new Nokia Music service. The latter starts with MixRadio, a free music streaming application offering 'hundreds' of channels of locally-relevant music. In an update delivered later this year, Nokia Lumia users will also be able to create personalized channels from a global catalogue of millions of tracks. Also integrated in Nokia Music is Gigfinder, providing the ability to search for live local music, share discoveries on social networks and buy concert tickets. Nokia also announced two new headsets designed with audio specialist Monster.
Nokia also announced it plans to introduce a range of products in the US in early 2012 and in mainland China in the first half of 2012. In addition to existing 3G phones, Nokia plans LTE and CDMA products to address specific local market requirements. The company also unveiled the new Asha range of phones, which blend features of traditional phones and smartphones. The Asha range, which comes from the Hindi word 'hope', will include three models launching in Q4 and another in Q1 2012. At the top of the range is the Asha 303, with a 2.6-inch touchscreen, 1GHz processor, 3G and Wi-Fi support and qwerty keypad. The phone is powered by the cloud-based Nokia Browser, which compresses websites by up to 90 percent to accelerate browsing. It will also come with Angry Birds Lite installed and support for apps such as Facebook Chat, Whatsapp and the latest Nokia Maps for Series 40. The price before taxes and subsidies is EUR 115. The Asha 300 offers similar specifications, with a touch screen, qwerty keypad and 5 megapixel camera for a retail price of EUR 85, while the Asha 200 is a dual-Sim device with qwerty keypad, numerous social networking apps and up to 32GB storage, for a retail price of EUR 60. Available in Q1 is the Asha 201, a single-Sim version of the 200 device aimed at price-conscious consumers who like music and social networking. It will sell for EUR 60.
Other announcements at the Nokia World event in London included new versions of Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive for Windows Phone, the Nokia Public Transport app, the augmented reality app Nokia Live View, and Nokia Pulse, an app to add location info to messages. All the apps are available from Nokia's Beta Labs. In addition, Nokia said its Maps service is now powering Yahoo! Maps in the US and Canada, and it has signed an agreement with the New York transport authority to develop a NFC-based ticketing service to pilot on commuter trains before year-end.
