Nokia’s first smartphone based on the Windows Phone 7 OS will be launched “later this year” and ship in early 2012, president and CEO Stephen Elop revealed at CommunicAsia 2011.
“We have the device in hand now, and it is an absolute beauty with a very fast interface that will have tremendous impact on the market,” said Elop of the device. But industry watchers hoping for further details on the Nokia-Microsoft partnership were left disappointed, as Nokia centered the event around its upcoming N9 Meego-based smartphone and its strategy for emerging markets.
Three new low-cost handsets with dual-SIM options likely targeted at emerging markets were announced – the C2-02, C2-03 and C2-06, all priced under EUR 80 ($114.5) and based on the S40 platform.
“There are 1.2 billion people in the world who only have SMS without any data plan, while 1.5 billion people don’t use the web. This gap creates opportunities for us to connect the next billion people to the internet,” said Nokia’s head of smart devices for the Southeast Asia and Pacific region Andrej Sonkin.
Nokia reaffirmed its commitment to the Symbian platform, Sonkin said 10 new Symbian-based handsets will hit the market in the coming year. Software updates and services for Symbian phone owners will be provided through to 2016, Sonkin added.
The N9 sports a 3.9-inch scratch-resistant AMOLED screen, an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera and HD video capture. Other features include built-in NFC for pairing between NFC-enabled devices such as Nokia’s Play 360° wireless music speakers.
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