Not long ago, Research In Motion was sitting pretty on the
smartphone throne. Now the BlackBerry maker's ranks are thinner and RIM
is refocusing on its core business customer base, while largely ceding
the consumer kingdom to rivals Google and Apple.
Nokia hopes for a
more favorable outcome as it competes for the affections of the U.S.
smartphone buyer with the Lumia 900, which reaches AT&T and other
retailers today.
Its latest efforts are indelibly linked to
Microsoft and the fortunes of the well-reviewed Windows Phone mobile
operating system. (Devices based on the OS are not quite leaping off
store shelves.)
The Lumia 900 I've tested runs Windows Phone
version 7.5, or Mango. I like the hardware, and I like the operating
system. Windows Phone offers a strong alternative to the status quo.
Windows
Phone is built around a people-first interface of colorful,
customizable tiles that are dynamically updated with pictures, or to
show, say, the number of emails in your inbox. Tap the People hub tile
to see folks you recently called, or to see updated posts and activities
from pals or those you follow on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and
Windows Live, all conveniently collected in one place.
Nokia,
Microsoft and exclusive U.S. carrier AT&T are betting big on Lumia
900. It initially arrives in black or blue versions; two weeks later, a
white model becomes available.
The launch will be backed by
enormous TV and in-store marketing. And the phone's alluring $99.99
price (with the requisite two-year AT&T data plan) is a disruptive
sum for a smartphone of this caliber.
Pricing appears to be a
critical piece of Nokia's comeback strategy. Earlier this year, it
launched a cheaper entry-level smartphone, the Lumia 710, with T-Mobile
for about $50. That phone is now free some places with a contract.
Nokia's
flagship Lumia 900 is thin, but at 5.6 ounces, it's not the lightest .
You can't expand the 16GB of internal memory, though free cloud storage
is available through Microsoft's SkyDrive. Techies may decry the
single-core Snapdragon processor, but Lumia 900 never felt like a
laggard.
The phone can tap into AT&T's zippy 4G LTE network in
the 31 markets where it is available. If LTE is out of reach, Lumia 900
operates off a slower flavor of 4G known as HSPA+, up to four times
faster than 3G. Battery life is always a concern with 4G, but I got
through a workday of mixed usage on the device's large, sealed battery.
You can use the phone as a mobile hot spot to provide wireless Internet to up to five other devices ($50 for 5GB).
The
Lumia 900 has a decent 4.3-inch Amoled display. Inside is a cellphone
camera system based on Carl Zeiss optics: wide-angle lens, f/2.2
aperture, and dual LED flash. It can record up to the 720p HD video
standard, not the higher-quality 1080p standard on the iPhone or other
devices.
Overall, there are about 70,000 apps available for the
Lumia 900, a respectable total that still falls far short of the number
for iOS or Android.
Microsoft's ecosystem is evident via tie-ins
to Bing, Xbox Live, Office and Zune. You can buy music from the phone
but not movies or TV shows. A mobile version of AT&T's U-verse is on
board for subscribers to that video service.
Nokia faces
formidable competition. But with an attractive price, refreshing
operating system and a growing supply of apps, it may be well on the way
to crafting a compelling comeback story.
Source: indystar.com
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