Communications
Nokia Windows Phone US release
19 December 2011
Nokia will release its first Windows Phone in the US on 11 January – the Lumia 710 will be available on T-Mobile.
The smartphone has a 3.7-inch ClearBlack WVGA touchscreen, a Qualcomm 1.4 GHz Snapdragon processor, and a five-megapixel autofocus camera.
It will run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) operating system and is available in black and white.
The Nokia Lumia 710 is expected to retail as low as $US49.99 on the T-Mobile website and in stores, marking it out as an entry-level phone.
The intended audience (of the Lumia 710) is the first-time smartphone buyers
Chris Weber, Nokia “The intended audience is the first-time smartphone buyers,” Chris Weber, president of Nokia’s US division, told eWEEK. “That is by far the biggest opportunity for us in the US.”
Apps that will feature on the smartphone include ESPN, Netflix, T-Mobile TV and Nokia Drive for voice-guided navigation. SkyDrive and Lync 2010 will also be available on the Windows Phone.
Nokia released the Lumia 800, its first Windows Phone, in November in Europe. This smartphone is a higher-end offering.
This smartphone comes with an eight-megapixel camera, 3.7 inch AMOLED curved display, 16 gigabytes of mass memory and 1.4GHz processor.
These smartphones are a result of the Microsoft-Nokia partnership announced eight months ago by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Nokia chief Stephen Elop, who is a former Microsoft employee.
The announcement of this release follows the news that Andy Lees, president of Microsoft’s Windows Phone division, is being replaced by vice president Terry Myerson.
Ballmer sent an e-mail to Microsoft employees last Monday 12 December, which Mary-Jo Foley covers in full over on ZDNet, saying: “I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8.”
Karen McCandless
For more news on Windows Phone and other Microsoft announcements in this industry, check out the communications news section.
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