CES 2012: Nokia Announces LTE Lumia 900 Smartphone

Nokia has formally announced its third Windows Phone smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 900 at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The Lumia 900 will be available exclusively on operator AT&T in the US and is the Finnish manufacturer’s first 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) phone.

Speedy Browsing

CEO Stephen Elop said that the company had established a “beachhead” in the UK and Europe and was now looking to start “a new dawn for Nokia in the US”, adding that he believed that the device to would appeal to those who had not already made the jump to the smartphone.

The Lumia 900 features Nokia’s largest display, a 4.3 inch AMOLED ClearBlack display capable of displaying bright images both indoors and outside as well as a long lasting 1839 mAH battery which allows for long periods between charges.

The company claims that AT&T’s LTE network will result in faster connection speeds, permitting speedy browsing in Internet Explorer Mobile. Other software available for the phone includes GPS application Nokia drive and dedicated apps for the likes of CNN and ESPN.

Chris Weber, president of Nokia Americas, labelled the announcement a “significant milestone”, while senior vice president of devices at AT&T, Jeff Bradley added, “Together, we are working to supercharge the ecosystem around the Nokia Lumia 900 and the Windows Phone platform.”

Recent Struggles

The announcement of the Lumia 900 was widely expected after weeks of speculation and leaked images of the device, however some have suggested that its appearance supports rumours that the company’s first Windows Phone smartphone was a “quick fix” to maintain market presence and that this new phone is the first model completely designed to run on the platform.

Nokia’s first two Windows Phone devices, the Lumia 710 and 800, were unveiled at the Nokia World event in London last October and were the product of a strategic agreement signed between the manufacturer and Microsoft earlier last year.

The move was designed to expand the reach of the Windows Phone operating system and also to help Nokia recover its share of the smartphone market, which has been eroded in recent years as a result of increased competition from rival operating systems such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Nokia has enjoyed success with its feature phone range and has announced a new Asha range of phones, which are targeted at customers in developing markets. Nokia recently announced plans to strengthen its strategy to get the next billion users online via mobile devices through the acquisition of mobile operating system developer Smarterphone.