Nokia unveils new Lumia Windows phone
— -- Nokia on Wednesday introduced a new smartphone that will serve as the flagship handset in its alliance with Microsoft.
Trailing its competitors globally in market share, Nokia unveiled several features in the new Lumia 920 that are designed to win back customers who have flocked to the Apple iPhone and phones that operate on the popular Android operating system. The new Nokia phone, its fourth Lumia model, will run on the latest version of Microsoft's mobile operating system, Windows Phone 8. Nokia also introduced Lumia 820, a lower-end model that has a 4.3-inch screen.
Among the Lumia 920's features:
•Wireless charging: The phone has a built-in feature that allows it to be charged wirelessly when the device is placed on a charging pad, which is sold separately. The system uses the Qi standard, developed by a consortium of companies that are pursuing a common technology for wirelessly charging other products.
•Enhanced camera: The phone's "PureView" 8-megapixel camera uses a technique that produces high-definition clarity. It captures five to 10 times the amount of light of other smartphone cameras, the company says. Its "floating lens" technology moves and reacts to the movement in the lens, allowing more light to come in. "The technology reacts to minute movements in your hand," says Jo Harlow, a Nokia executive at the New York press conference to introduce the phone.
•Built-in navigation:Nokia Maps, Drive, and Transport, a turn-by-turn voice navigation app, will be pre-installed. It will also contain public transportation details and real-time traffic alerts. The map will be available off-line, meaning users don't need Internet access to use it.
•Place finder: City Lens is an augmented-reality app that shows names of shops and restaurants overlaid on the surfaces of buildings on the camera screen.
•High-definition screen: Its PureMotion HD + screen is "better than" other HD screens, Harlow says. "The video will just pop off the screen," she says.
It'll also have the largest battery to date installed on Nokia phones, a faster Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and a 4.5-inch HD screen. The phone will be available to AT&T customers later this year.
As part of a corporate restructuring in 2011, Nokia struck a partnership with Microsoft that would feature the Windows Phone operating system in most of Nokia's smartphones. Nokia's applications also were integrated into the operating system. And Bing, developed by Microsoft, became the search engine for all Nokia phones.
But the companies' partnership has struggled against Google's Android and Apple's iOS operating systems. Android, which is used by Samsung's phones, continues to be the most dominant operating system worldwide, accounting for 68% of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC.
Apple's iOS accounts for 17% of the global market. Apple is scheduled to launch its next generation iPhone next week, which could help drive its market share.
Android and iOS powered 85% of all smartphones shipped in the second quarter, establishing a new combined high for the two operating systems.
Windows Phone has closed in on the third spot to overtake BlackBerry, but it "is still a distant competitor to Android and iOS," IDC's report says. "Microsoft will need to generate additional momentum from Windows Phone 8 devices if it is to narrow the share gap further."