Elop: Lumia Is the Smartest Of Them all
 Middle child Lumia 820 |
Nokia are back, looking to ruffle some iPhone and Android feathers, as it seeks to scrape back some credibility in the sticky mobile world.
“It’s time to switch,” declared CEO Stephen Elop yesterday, who says Lumias, as “the first working phones on the Windows Phone 8 platform,” are the smartest of them all.
But wait, first it must convince the fickle consumer.
The former mobile king unveiled the newest members in its colourful Lumia smartphone family in New York, Nokia Lumia 820 and 920, yesterday.
The 820 is the middle child in the Lumia set, while the 920 is the fancy-smancy top tier device, that will be jostling against the iPhone 5 (which we’ll know more about next week), Samsung’s Galaxy S3 and HTC’s One X.
“The two products, we believe are two of the most innovative smartphones in the world,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop told The Verge.
Nokia also says it is building on the Windows 8 platform to get the most “personal” experience for a smartphone user via pure view, AR navigation and Near Field Communications, amongst others goodies. Rival Samsung has announced a W8 smartie at IFA last week but no launch date as of yet.
 Lumia 920 |
Nokia says its Pure View camera technology on the 920, allows users to take a pic with a shaky hand (or even on a bike says Elop) or in low lighting but still get the best image thanks to its floating 8.7MP lens camera (slightly bigger than Samsung’s Galaxy S3).
Videos also wont “bounce around” either, says Elop.
The high end Lumia 920 has a Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor from Qualcomm, 4G modem and wireless battery charging.
“Second, we focused on making sure you can navigate through your world,” says Elop.
One key element of Nokia navigation is its new City Lens – looking at the world around you to find coffee shops or other services via Augmented Reality technology.
Nokia Drive, Maps and Transport are also part of the new navigation package.
Some of the software technology will be available for older devices, says Elop.
However, two key things which Nokia are not telling us – price and availability.
Elop said he is holding off on information until the official launch of the new Microsoft Windows 8 OS scheduled for October 26th. However, the Nokia boss did confirm the new smarties will be here in Q4, so in time for Christmas.
IDC analyst Aman Bajaj, described yesterday’s launch as “significant for Nokia as they were able to showcase the first batch of devices with the much anticipated Windows 8 Mobile OS.”
“Although the new Lumia devices have some swanky features, they would be competing with the new iPhone, Androids as well as any Windows 8 phones launched by the other Microsoft Mobile partners.”
“An important factor is pricing that is yet to be announced, we are expecting a gradual uptake rather than a sudden spike in demand for the devices,” Bajaj told Smarthouse.
So, with the iPhone 5 getting a head start, likely to be released a week after the September 12 launch and analysts Piper Jaffray estimating sales could hit 6-10 million in the first week alone, Nokia will have their work cut out.
Meanwhile Nokia’s other big headache – Samsung – already released its S3 superphone hailed as the one to beat earlier this year, which has already captured the imagination of smartphone lovers globally.
And analysts agree the Lumia maker is still playing catch up.
“The challenge is that the world is working on the 4th, 5th and 6th editions of their devices while Nokia is still trying to move from chapter 1. It still has quite a bit to catch up,” RBC analyst Mark Sue said.
“People were looking for something that would dazzle. Most investors will view it as evolutionary, not revolutionary.”
Windows Phone currently has under 4% of the smartphone market, compared to Android’s 68% and Apple’s 18% but could climb higher if Microsoft’s Windows 8 take off.
