Microsoft today announced three Lumia smartphones based on Windows Phone 8.1, its new OS — at Build, its annual developer conference in San Francisco.
American telecoms T-Mobile US and its joint venture MetroPCS announced the availability of the new Nokia Lumia 930, Nokia Lumia 635 and Nokia Lumia 630.
Nokia Lumia 930 will cost you $599 plus taxes. The flagship smartphone is expected to roll out globally in June starting with Europe, Asia, Middle East and India
Priced at $159 (for single SIM model) plus taxes, Nokia Lumia 630 will be available in May, beginning with Asia, India/Middle East, South America and Europe. Nokia Lumia 630 will be the first Lumia with dual-SIM, targeted for growth markets like China and India.
The cost of Nokia Lumia 635 will be $189 plus taxes. It is expected to be broadly available, including in the U.S. starting in this summer. While Lumia 630 is available in 3G single SIM, 3G dual SIM, Lumia 635 is a 4G/LTE smartphone.
With the three new smartphones, Microsoft is building its smartphone business for both emerging and developed telecom markets. Its strategy is focused on dual SIM, 3G and 4G mobile markets. At present, Nokia is far behind in smartphone as compared with Apple and Samsung.
Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Nokia’s Devices & Services, who was in the race to become the CEO of Microsoft before the IT giant announced Indian-born Satya Nadella as its new chief, made the announcement on Wednesday.
New devices introduce SensorCore, which provides low-power motion sensing with Bing Health and Fitness – SensorCore SDK also being piloted with select partners ahead of public release.
Microsoft said Windows Phone 8.1 will start rolling out to current Windows Phone 8 users over the coming months. It will also come pre-installed on new phones starting this month. Cortana will launch shortly in the U.S. as a beta, in the U.K. and China in the second half of 2014, and in other countries in 2015.
