The Windows Phone 7 working system, featured here on the Nokia Lumia 900, features tiles in lieu of icons to launch apps.
Image courtesy of Nokia
In February 2011, Nokia made probably the most stunning and dramatic selections of the smartphone period: They announced plans to maneuver away from Symbian cellphone development and formed a partnership with Microsoft. The young Windows Phone 7 brand suddenly had a significant hardware supporter in Nokia — HTC, LG and Samsung devoted most of their mobile improvement to Android phones — and Nokia saw an influx in funding because of platform support payments from Microsoft. Within the fourth quarter of 2011, Microsoft forked over $250 million for Nokia’s help [source: SlashGear]. A yr after the partnership started, Nokia had something to show Windows Phone fans: the Lumia 800, a sleek Windows Phone modeled after an present Nokia telephone called the N9.
The Lumia 800 was only a heat up for what adopted in early 2012: the Lumia 900, Nokia’s first flagship Windows Phone 7 smartphone. The Lumia 900 lives inside the same polycarbonate unibody as the N9 and 800, however Nokia stretched out the display from 3.7 inches (9.Four centimeters) to 4.3 inches (10.9 centimeters). Inside, it is running some of the perfect hardware any Windows Phone has seen. With the backing of a solid operating system, the Lumia 900’s guaranteed to perform better than some of Nokia’s previous flops just like the N-Gage. But Microsoft and Nokia need an enormous hit to provide Windows Phone 7 a boost in the battle towards Android and iOS.
Here’s what Nokia cooked up with the Lumia 900. Nokia targeted on design elegance with the Lumia 900. The phones that share its body design. The telephone is built with a polycarbonate unibody — there is not any removable again, and consequently, the Lumia 900 appears to be like unusually smooth. Like other unibody gadgets, like Apple’s laptops, meaning there isn’t any simply removable backplate to allow entry to a swappable battery. Is it a worthy commerce-off of type over function? Usually — and in the Lumia 900’s case, every part however the battery is accessible from the top of the machine.
The Lumia 900 has no microSD port, however the machine’s SIM slot and a micro USB port for charging and transferring recordsdata are hidden behind panels on top of the cellphone. A headphone audio jack also sits on high of the gadget. Because of Nokia’s “ClearBlack” technology, the black background of Windows Phone 7 blends into the plastic bezel surrounding the display, making the telephone physique look like a natural extension of the show. From there, we now have to show to the Lumia 900’s innards to search out out what sort of hardware it is operating on.
The ClearBlack Display DifferenceNokia brags that the Lumia 900, like some of its other telephones, makes use of ClearBlack show know-how to create truer blacks than other displays. The ClearBlack displays use polarizing filters to cut out mirrored mild. The less mild shining again in your face, the brighter and extra vivid the display screen! A linear polarizer, a circular polarizer and the reflective floor of the active-matrix natural gentle-emitting diode (AMOLED) display all work together to weed out unwanted reflections.
Lumia 900 Hardware and Specs
The Lumia 900 display is huge — much larger than the screens on the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. The 900 follows within the tracks of Android cellphone development, trending away from the 3.7-inch (9.4 centimeter) display of the iPhone into 4.3-inch (10.9-centimeter) territory. The Lumia 900 displays Windows Phone 7 on an AMOLED contact display screen at a resolution of 800 by 480 pixels. That’s a regular resolution for Windows Phone 7. Common on the Android platform as well. In actual fact, a 4.3-inch (10.9-centimeter), 800 by 480 display is just one of many hardware guidelines Microsoft set out for Windows Phone 7 to make sure consistency across the model.
The platform’s initial requirements included a 1 GHz processor, touchscreen, particular buttons below the cellphone display, and sensors like an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer [supply: CNET]. The Lumia 900 matches these requirements with a 1.Four GHz single-core processor, neon led flex the anticipated array of sensors and 512MB of RAM. A 1MP digicam sits on the front of the telephone for video calls. Nokia’s affinity for cameras gels with the Windows Phone 7 as a result of Microsoft prioritized speedy digital camera access in its working system. All Windows Phone 7 gadgets embody hardware shutter buttons for instantly launching the camera app and snapping photos.
The Lumia 900 and Windows Phone 7.5
Windows Phone 7’s graphical user interface is predicated on the “Metro” type Microsoft initially designed for the Zune MP3 participant. The OS eschews the app icons acquainted to iOS and Android users for brightly colored square and rectangular tiles, some of which receive dwell updates to display new info like current text messages or the present weather forecast. The coloured tiles and strict hardware requirements promote the same purpose: a constant model across gadgets.
Since Windows Phone 7’s launch in late 2010, Microsoft has up to date the operating system to include a wide range of options, together with copy and paste, multitasking, extra live tiles, threaded messaging, and custom ringtones. This is the model of Windows Phone 7 that ships on the Lumia 900 — Microsoft calls it Windows Phone 7.5. Windows Phone 7 will turn out to be Windows Phone 8 when Microsoft releases the subsequent major update for the platform; it is anticipated to happen around the launch of the Windows 8 desktop operating system at the tip of 2012 [supply: WinSupersite]. Windows Phone 7’s app market contains official apps for widespread companies like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Netflix and Kindle. Microsoft also gives apps for its companies like SkyDrive, Office and Skype, which the corporate bought in 2011.
Those apps are productive staples of any cell ecosystem, but Microsoft pushed a very completely different focus when it launched Windows Phone 7: fun. Thanks to the Xbox Live brand, Windows Phone is brimming with video games — a few of which had been initially revealed on the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade. While Apple’s iOS nonetheless has the strongest library of video games, a few of its hottest titles like “Angry Birds” and “Fruit Ninja” can be found on Windows Phone, and Microsoft presents various exclusives by Xbox Live.
Nokia’s Lumia 900 will run those games and apps like another Windows Phone, but Nokia consists of a bit of of its personal software on the side. The phone’s predecessor, the Lumia 800, shipped with Nokia Maps and Nokia Music pre-put in. The previous offers offline turn-by-flip navigation based on map information, while the latter features a free music streaming service called Mix Radio [source: TheVerge]. While the included apps may differ by area, Nokia will also provide Nokia Reading on the Lumia 900, an app that guarantees to convey all your digital written media together for quick access each on- and offline.
FaceTime and Tango Video CallingApple’s video chat service, FaceTime, Wall Waher light works between Apple gadgets which have built-in webcams: the iPhone 4 and 4S, iPad 2 and iPad 3, and MacBook laptops. The free app only works over WiFi. Tango, a free app obtainable in the Windows Phone Market, supports video calling on multiple platforms — WP7, iOS, Android and Pc. SkypeBeta, obtainable for Windows Phone, can make free video calls to different Skype customers. FaceTime is proscribed to Apple units, however in typical Apple trend has a catchy identify and is simple to use. However, the corporate’s primary business is in decrease-end phones; as smartphones take over extra of the cell market, Nokia struggles to retain its juggernaut position. Enter the deal with Microsoft, the leap to Windows Phone 7 and a trio of international smartphones: the funds Lumia 710, the mid-level Lumia 800 and the massive shot Lumia 900. Because Nokia designs telephones for the worldwide market, the Lumia 900 will probably be out there on a number of different carriers. And it will not quite be the identical cellphone on all of them.
In the United States, the Lumia 900 shall be out there completely on AT&T’s cellular community. The phone will assist AT&T’s 3G information network. Can even characteristic a 4G LTE modem to faucet into the excessive pace community. AT&T continues to broaden its LTE protection to extra markets in the United States, but the Lumia 900 is one in every of the first telephones on the provider to support the LTE network. LTE can present sooner data, but typically at a worth of battery life. Smartphones launched in late 2012 and past will be able to take advantage of built-in LTE radios in chipsets from mobile hardware makers like Qualcomm [source: Anandtech]. European international locations will see a 3G-only variant that helps HSPA+ information. Nokia is expected to launch the Lumia 900 in April 2012 on AT&T’s network within the United States [supply: TheVerge]. And it could be as low cost as $ninety nine with a two-year contract, which can be an unbelievable price — smartphones sometimes launch at a $200 price-level on-contract [source: BGR].
Author’s Note
The Lumia 900 is probably the most thrilling cellphone Nokia’s made in years, and easily the very best-looking Windows Phone 7 device in existence. The unibody design diverges from just about every part in the marketplace, and Windows Phone 7 is a lovely operating system. Even so, it should be powerful for Nokia to compete with Android and iOS. Windows Phone 7 has a small set up base, and the Lumia 900’s hardware would not push the envelope like the most recent Android phones. Still, I really like the type a lot I might make it my subsequent smartphone. Not even the iPhone can compete with that excellent design.
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