Nokia To Make Windows Debut With Lumia 710, 800

Nokia’s first two Windows Phones are called the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800, according to leaked materials posted on the blog Winrumors.

Nokia will supposedly unveil the phones during its Nokia World conference, which starts on 26 October.

Leaks

Based on Winrumors’ photos, the Lumia 700 bears a more-than-casual resemblance to leaked photos of a Nokia prototype code-named “Sabre”, while the Lumia 800 looks like the one previously known as “Sea Ray”. Indeed, multiple publications (including Winrumors and CNET UK) have already made that connection.

It’s no secret that Nokia plans on showing off Windows Phones at the event. During the Asia D conference on 19 October, Windows Phone division President Andy Lees told an audience that “next week it’s going to be Nokia World, where they’re going to announce their phones and how they’re going to make the most out of the Windows Phone opportunity.”

As to the exact nature of what Nokia would reveal, that remained more ambiguous. Over the summer, chief executive Stephen Elop (a former Microsoft executive) flashed a prototype smartphone running Windows Phone during a press conference.

A number of people in the audience snapped spy photos and video of the device, which looked like a Nokia N9 smartphone modified for Microsoft’s smartphone platform. In subsequent months, news and images leaked of similar devices, including the two code-named “Sea Ray” and “Sabre”.

Those Windows Phone prototypes resembled Nokia’s N9, a MeeGo-loaded smartphone with a 3.9-inch AMOLED screen and body engineered from a single piece of polycarbonate.

Windows switch

Having chucked its homegrown operating systems (including Symbian and MeeGo) in favour of Windows Phone, Nokia needs the upcoming devices to succeed in order to have a decent chance at a turnaround.

Nokia reported another dip in revenue and profit for the third quarter of 2011, with net sales totaling $12.3 billion (£7.6bn), a year-over-year decline of 13 percent, and operating losses of $98.4 million.

Nokia also has a New York City event scheduled for 26 October, where its new smartphones could make an appearance. Microsoft has begun updating its Windows Phone platform with hundreds of new tweaks and features, as part of its wide-ranging “Mango” update. In addition to Nokia, manufacturers such as Samsung are also apparently onboard to produce a new generation of Windows Phone devices.