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Nokia’s top-end Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 900, will only appear in the US, thanks to its 4G LTE technology.
Following the launch of the smaller Nokia Lumia 800 in Europe, the 900 is the first Nokia Windows Phone to appear in America. It looks a lot like the 800, itself based on the abortive Nokia N9, with a polycarbonate body in black or blue. Like the 800 it has a 1.4GHz processor and an 8-megapixel camera.
But the screen is a larger 4.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen, up from the 800’s 3.7-inch display. And it’s powered by the extra-fast data connection LTE, which is marketed as 4G in the US. Even though it technically isn’t.
4G is being tried out in Cornwall, but thanks to abysmal messing about from the phone networks we’re not set to get a 4G network until 2015, according to Ofcom.
Nokia announced the 900 at techstravaganza CES in Las Vegas this week, where it was revealed the phone would be available through network AT&T. With the combined marketing might of AT&T, Nokia and Microsoft behind it, the 900 is the biggest chance — and the biggest gamble — for Nokia to estabish itself in the smart phone market and Microsoft’s Windows Phone to compete with Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
This means it’s not all bad news for UK Windows Phone fans — if the 900 is a massive success in the US, it’ll mean many more customers for makers of apps, so the system will attract more developers and more exclusive games and tools.
Is the Nokia Lumia 900 the phone to give Nokia a foothold in the US market? Will it help Windows Phone establish a bridgehead against the iPhone and Android phones? Tell us your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page. For more big new phones and other gadgets announced this week, check out ces.cnet.com.
