Apparently Nokia didn't feel like waiting around for its event later today to show off its new Lumia hardware.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop took to the Build stage today to officially introduce the Lumia 930. Looking like a GSM version of Verizon's Lumia Icon, the Lumia 930 sports a 5-inch 1080p display on its face and a 20-megapixel PureView camera on its backside. The rear shooter also offers optical image stabilization and Zeiss optics. Built in to the Lumia 930 is wireless charging support, a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and four high-performance microphones for rich audio recording.
Elop says that the Lumia 930 will begin rolling out globally in July, hitting places in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and more. The device is expected to be available from more than 100 carriers at a price of $599. As for when the Lumia 930 might be available stateside, Elop only said that it plans to continue to focus on the Verizon-branded Lumia Icon here in the U.S.
Stepping down in the specs range a bit, we were also introduced to the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 today. These devices both sport a 4.5-inch ClearBlack display, 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processors and changeable shells. They'll also come preloaded with Windows Phone 8.1.
So what's the difference between the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635? Well, the Lumia 630 will be available in single-SIM and dual-SIM variants, both of which will sport 3G connectivity. The Lumia 635 steps its wireless connectivity game up a bit by offering 4G LTE connectivity.
The Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 will be the first Windows Phone 8.1 devices to market when they begin launching in May. Nokia says that the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 will hit in Asia first followed by launches in India, the Middle East and Europe. A U.S. launch is planned for July.
Rounding out Nokia's hardware announcements for today is a new color of an existing device. Nokia has revealed that the Lumia 1520, which originally debuted in October 2013 in red, yellow, white and black color options, will soon be available in green as well. Nokia hasn't said when the green Lumia 1520 will be available, but a recent rumor suggested that it could hit AT&T alongside the Lumia 1520's update to Windows Phone 8.1. An image of the green Lumia 1520 is available in the gallery below.
UPDATE: AT&T and T-Mobile and MetroPCS have announced that they plan to sell the Lumia 635 later this year. No specific launch or pricing info has been shared by any of the carriers, but I'm sure that we'll hear more as we get closer to their release dates.
