Nokia has unveiled the Lumia 900, a 4G Windows Phone smartphone that it hopes will help it reclaim lost market share in the US.
Nokia is hoping its 4G-equipped, Windows Phone-based Lumia 900 will help it regain share in the US. Image credit: Nokia
The Finnish handset maker announced the LTE-equipped device ahead of CES 2012 in Las Vegas on Monday. The Lumia 900 uses the Mango — Windows Phone 7.5 — version of the Microsoft operating system. It includes Nokia's bespoke Music and Drive apps, both of which are on the Lumia 710 and 800, which have been available in the UK since November.
At a press event, Nokia described the introduction of the Lumia 900, and the launch of the Lumia 710 smartphone in the US on Wednesday, as its "re-entry" into the US market.
"We believe that the industry has shifted from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems, and nowhere is that more evident than in the US," Stephen Elop, Nokia's chief executive, said at the event. "Across our portfolio, Lumia is aimed at the heart of our new strategy and our need to engage in this war of ecosystems."
In October, Elop described the Lumia range as the "first real Windows Phone" and said its arrival marked a new dawn for the company, after it had fallen "years behind" its rivals. A lot is riding on the handsets as Nokia transitions from self-developed mobile OSes to the Microsoft platform.
Elop acknowledged that the device will launch into a competitive marketplace in the US. "Clearly, there are strong contenders already on the field," he said. HTC and other phone makers sell Windows Phone-based products in the US, and they are set to release competing handsets, such the Titan II.
Lumia 900 features
The Lumia 900 — which will be an exclusive on the AT&T network at launch in the US — is the first Windows Phone handset from Nokia with 4G capabilities. The device is unlikely to appear in the UK any time soon, as British operators do not have the infrastructure or spectrum licence agreements in place to offer higher-speed LTE services.
The smartphone provides business features — including PowerPoint, Word, Excel, SharePoint and Lync support — via the Microsoft Office package native to Windows Phone Mango. It has 14.5GB of internal storage and a 1-megapixel forward-facing camera for video calls or for videoconferencing use with Microsoft Lync on Windows Phone.
Windows Phone devices do not currently include support for hardware with microSD slots. The Lumia 900 does, however, come with additional storage in the form of Microsoft's SkyDrive, which provides up to 25GB for free.
The 4G handset, which is available in black or cyan, has a multimedia emphasis, with features such as a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display, 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor and an 8-megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics.
Nokia did not reveal pricing or a US release date for the Lumia 900, saying only that it will arrive "in the coming months". In addition to the US announcement, the company said it plans to start selling the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 in Canada for the first time soon.
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Talkback
They can hope all they like, but with an crap product like Windows Phone, even Americans surely wouldn't be stupid enough to buy one would they?
I would think so.....They've been stupid enough to buy into Android and iOS based products, so maybe there is hope yet.
What a strange comment.
Pro's - looks slim, lightweight and sleek.
Con's - With no microSD this phone will not be purchased by me. The front facing camera at only 1 megapixel seems like a last minute rethought and redesign albeit a decent functionality addition. Mickey mouse Os.
Overall the fact that nokia decided to go with microsoft will ultimately kill any chance they had of reclaiming any market share they lost. Nokia is now retro!!
There is nothing strange about my comment.....If you understand sarcasm.
People can throw as many uneducated comments at WP7 as they wish (And in 99% of cases the comments are coming from fan boys who have not even used the OS or just troll MS hate for fun), but it doesn't alter the fact that when you actually hear proper opinion based on real usage of a WP7 device, the comments in most cases are miles away from negative.
Guess what? The reason is WP7 is quite good.
Windows phone is a fantastic OS. I was getting to the point of wanting to throw my iphone at the wall, I'm so glad I made the switch. The only negative comments I've heard are from people who haven't actually used it because they couldn't possibly believe the whole world doesn't revolve around Apple.
My dev friends all seem quite excited at developing for WP7, especially since they've had a look at the Lumia.
@Anthonyk07
> What a strange comment.
I thought Adolf_Littler's was a rather smart response. If you've got a better way of dealing with that sort of ignorant fanboy stupidity, I'd love to hear it. How would you respond politely to an obviously clueless comment like "Mickey mouse Os", for example?
@Jack
Saying someone might buy a phone, the phone you like and think is great, because they are stupid, is smart?
Clueless comments.....glass houses and all that.
@Wenig Kampf
Sarcasm, please. 99% of all statistics are made up on the spot and prove that 100% of the time the person making things up, is making things up, a la strawmans argument.
I am a windows fan but they need to improve multiple functions on the OS before it can be insulting to compare it to a disney character.
@Anthonykok7.
Don't worry, I understand sarcasm can run a little high in the intelligence stakes for some individuals to understand. Although I'm sure If you can try to tap the buttons to type a reasonable search request for actual owner reviews of WP7, you'll find my made up statistics aren't far off the mark.
I'm unsure of what features you need in a device, but for now my HD7 is doing my bidding and will most likely continue to do so without any envy of the mobile market alternatives.
Looks like a great phone. I don't notice any deficiencies in WP7. used IOS before, that's pretty good. I don't spend much time in Apps, all i need is in the gui. does that make me stupid? the device is there for me. Other mobile devices with their sea of apps (yes, windows mobile, etc.) I was the slave, having to adjust the way I expect to do things to suit the gui or system. you dive in with windows live/xbox live and it just works. nokia phone looks great too.