Microsoft launches Lumia phones
Eyeing emerging markets for its affordable smartphones, Microsoft on Tuesday launched its first Lumia device without the iconic brand name of Nokia.
New York: Eyeing emerging markets for its affordable smartphones, Microsoft on Tuesday launched its first Lumia device without the iconic brand name of Nokia, acquired by the global technology giant for $7.2 billion. The first phone launched by Microsoft with its own brand name has been priced at 110 euro (about Rs 8,400).
Incidentally, much before being taken over, Nokia had partnered with Microsoft in 2011 to launch its Lumia range of smartphones based on latter's Windows Phone operating system. Nokia had lost a considerable part of its market share to Samsung and Apple as it struggled to position itself among the fast changing needs of consumers. Affordable smartphones (sub Rs 10,000 category) from the stables of Asian handset makers like Huawei, ZTE, Micromax and Karbonn have been driving the growth in emerging markets of Asia and Africa. According to research firm Gartner, Microsoft (with mostly Lumia devices) had a 3.2 per cent share of the smartphone sales in 2013, up from 2.5 per cent in 2012. Featuring the Microsoft logo, the Lumia 535 has a 5-inch display, 1.2GHz quadcore processor and 1GB RAM.
Along with 8 GB internal storage and 15 GB of free OneDrive storage, the device supports expansion up to 128 GB through microSD cards. It has a 5 MP front and 5 MP rear camera and 1,905 mAh battery.
