Nokia Lumia 900 Release: The Start of Windows Phone Domination?
Nokia, the Finland-based phone manufacturer, recently announced the U.S. release of its latest Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 900. Through this release, would Windows Phone be able to regain its place in the smartphone market?
Before answering this question, it would be best if interested customers would be able to have an idea on the different specifications and features of the Nokia Lumia 900. Here are the specifications and features of this Windows Phone:
Dimensions: Height - 5.03 inches, Width - 2.7 inches, Thickness - 0.45 inches, and Weight - 5.6 ounces
Display: 4.3-inch display size with 800x480 800 x 480 pixels Super AMOLED Plus capacitive ClearBlack touch-screen with Corning Gorilla Glass display protection.
Processor and Memory Size: 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor, Qualcomm APQ8055 + MDM9200 (WCDMA), Adreno 205 GPU and 512MB RAM. 16GB internal memory plus SkyDrive cloud storage. No option for microSD.
Camera: 8MP main camera with 3264 x 2448 pixels, dual LED flash as well as Auto Focus and 1MP secondary camera with 1280 x 720 pixels for video calling.
Local Connectivity: Micro USB, WiFi, USB 2.0 High-Speed, Bluetooth Stereo Audio, 3.5mm AHJ Connector, and Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR.
Battery Life: 7 hours talk time
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
Price and Availability: US$99.99 with 2-year lock down period with AT&T (No official announcement for release and availability in Australia)
Preston Galla from Computerworld reviewed the Nokia Lumia 900 and here is an excerpt from his review:
The Lumia 900 is clearly the best Windows Phone you can buy today, with a sleek design and top performance that rivals the best Android phones and the iPhone. Combine all that with an attractive $99 price, and you have a winner.
Even though it makes some compromises, such as only 16GB of storage with no SD card and no NFC support, those are relatively minimal compared to the strengths of the phone. And despite having a single-core processor, the phone is a snappy performer. In short, you won't give up much for that $99 pricetag.
Overall, the Nokia Lumia 900 has a sophisticated design and can perform well. The only problem here is that many customers are not familiar with Windows Phone which makes it hard to sell the product. In addition to that, the release date of Nokia Lumia 900 was timed to Easter Sunday and majority of AT&T stores are closed for this date. This makes it harder for customers to get a hand of this Windows Phone which can hurt Nokia since first day sales are considered important in any product release.