It was a big news day for Nokia today, as the company made two back-to-back announcements (within hours of each other and on separate continents, no less) that we’re pretty excited about. Here’s the wrap up.
First Windows Phone on China Mobile
First, at a ceremony in Guangzhou, Nokia and China Mobile announced the Lumia 920T, which is important for a couple of reasons. It’s the first Windows Phone 8 device in the country and the first to support the TD-SCDMA wireless 3G standard there. It’s also the first Windows Phone on China Mobile, the world’s largest cellular carrier.
“People around the world are responding positively to the new Lumia devices, and we’re confident that the enthusiasm will extend to China with the Lumia 920T,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said in a statement.
The Lumia 920T will go on sale by year’s end and come in four colors: black, white, yellow, and red. You’ll find more details on the Nokia Conversations blog and in the official press release.
Meet the compact, affordable Lumia 620
That would be been enough great news for one day. But a few hours later at LeWeb, one of Europe’s biggest tech conferences, Nokia unveiled the Lumia 620, the company’s third and most affordable Windows Phone.
With a compact 3.8-inch display, it’s the smallest Nokia Lumia available today and was designed as an affordable alternative to the mid-range Lumia 820 and flagship Lumia 920. Estimated price: $249.
The Lumia 620 has a dual-core 1Ghz processor, 5MP rear camera and a 8GB of internal storage (alongside a microSD slot through which you can add another 64GB), and of course comes with all of Windows Phone 8’s features and Nokia’s super useful app suite that includes Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps, Nokia City Lens, Nokia Transit, and more.
The new phone is also the first Lumia to use Nokia’s new “dual-shot polycarbonate molding process,” which layers one color over another for a really cool effect. Nokia standard colors like white, black, cyan and magenta are part of the Lumia 620 lineup, as are newcomers orange and lime green. Like the Lumia 820, the Lumia 620’s shells are interchangeable and you get a second shell included in every box.
As the Nokia Conversations blog notes, the phones will go on sale in Asia and Africa in early 2013, followed soon after by Europe and South America. Here’s the official Nokia press release.
