Nokia's had to make some tough decisions recently, from agreeing to work with Microsoft only, to selling their devices and services division. Decisions that certainly didn't come lightly, but ideas that probably seemed like good ones at the time. So now that Nokia has essentially sold off the part of its business that makes new hardware, along with it the Lumia brand name, we're all done seeing new devices from the Finnish-based company.
Well, almost.
The acquisition hasn't gone through quite yet, and so Nokia has a little bit of a window where they can still announce, unveil, and showcase what they've been working on under their own name and prowess. With that in mind, they held an event today in Abu Dhabi, and they took the wraps off plenty of new devices.
For instance, they had three new Asha-based devices find the light of day during a primarily Windows Phone-focused event. We all knew that Asha would find its place on stage during the event, so it wasn't a big surprise. The devices are still meant for the low-end, with the most expensive device running at $99, with a 3-inch QVGA curved Gorilla Glass display and 3G-connectivity.
The main focus was obviously the new Lumia devices, though. We've seen plenty of leaks of just about every device that was announced today, including the Lumia 2520 tablet, and Nokia's 6-inch powerhouse, the Lumia 1520. We may have seen versions of the other device, the Lumia 1320, but since it's so similar to the 1520, we may have been calling it something else by mistake.
With the new devices, Nokia is showing that they still have what it takes to grow their device family lineup. The Lumia 2520 Windows 8.1 RT tablet is a new step for them, and it's good to see that design cue from their Lumia handsets translates so well into a 10.1-inch tablet.
I don't think I've ever even considered buying a cyan tablet before today.
The question of whether or not the Lumia 1520 is too big for a phone, at six-inches, will have to be addressed solely by AT&T customers, unfortunately, as the Big Blue carrier landed the exclusive deal to launch the device, but there's no word on when that might be or for how much money. (I think we can assume it won't be cheap.)
The Lumia 1520 certainly packs a lot of specifications under the hood, and the 6-inch display is indeed a 1080p HD panel, but at six inches it just may be too big for most consumers to consider. That is probably not what Nokia is even thinking about right now, to be honest. Their fate is pretty much already decided with Microsoft. This event was about showing off what they've been working on, how they planned on expanding the Lumia family, and they did that. They did that with a bang.
If this was Nokia's last hoo-rah (and it probably was), then they did a good job with it. Nokia is still the best company for support with Windows Phone devices, as they add plenty of benefits with software upgrades that launch with Microsoft's own mobile OS updates. They bring their own apps, and get support from companies that may not have given Windows Phone a look otherwise.
It will indeed be interesting to see how that translates going into 2014, and Nokia's role in the Windows Phone market swallowed up into the company that runs the whole show. Can Microsoft keep that support, that family of devices, going? We'll have to wait and see.
What did you think of Nokia's event? Do you plan on picking up a new Lumia device that was announced today? Or are you still staying away from Windows Phone? Let me know!
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