AT&T promises biggest launch ever for Lumia 900

[RadioRaiders]

.
This phone has been available in Europe for at least a few weeks already. I played with one in the store a few times, and I have to say the User Interface is very slick, I think it will give iOS a good run for it's money in the respect of it appealing to "average" people (ie: non-techies), and being easy to use. And with AT&T pricing it aggressively at $99, it has a good chance to wind up in alot of "average" customers hands. I just wonder if AT&T/Nokia/MS will be able to generate an "iPhone-like hysteria" around it to trigger massive sales. It's hard to hit that marketing nail on the head like Apple manages to do.

AT&T promises biggest launch ever for Lumia 900

The carrier's device guru, Jeff Bradley, promises this will be a "notch above anything we've ever done." That includes the iPhone launch.


AT&T and Nokia are bringing out the big guns when they launch the Lumia 900 next month.

"At all levels, this is a notch above anything we've ever done," AT&T device head Jeff Bradley said in an interview with CNET, noting that includes the launch of the iPhone.

The resources behind this campaign and the attention given underscore the importance of ensuring the Lumia 900 succeeds in the U.S. The device represents the best -- and some would argue last -- chance for for Nokia and the Windows Phone platform to have a breakout hit, something both have struggled to do in the past.

For consumers, the blitzkrieg will begin right around when the phone launches on April 8. AT&T and Nokia are readying a massive television marketing campaign to raise consumer awareness. The Lumia 900 will be the centerpiece at AT&T stores, with massive signs and posters promoting the device. Nokia and AT&T spent considerable time training store reps, and a majority of them will be carrying one with them at all times. The phone will launch with a number of accessories, which Bradley said sends an indirect message to consumers that the device is unique and important enough to get significant support.

"Before you walk in to the store, you know this is our hero phone," Bradley said, referring to the Lumia 900's flagship status.

The campaign is expected to last about six to eight weeks, according to people familiar with the situation.

Bradley and Chris Weber, president of Nokia's North America business, both declined to comment on an exact figure for the campaign, but Weber said it was comparable to what it takes to promote a successful smartphone in the market.

"To re-enter the U.S. market, we know we have to be aggressive," Weber said.

Windows Phones, however, have struggled to really make a dent in the market, with the platform controlling only a sliver of the market share for smartphone platforms. The market is dominated by the iPhone and a wave of Android smartphones. While each major U.S. carrier offers a Windows Phone product, there has been lackluster interest, although the low-cost Lumia 710 for T-Mobile has seen moderate success.

AT&T was fairly dismissive of the Lumia 710, with Bradley calling the Lumia 900 the effective re-launch of the Nokia brand. AT&T and Nokia believe they can succeed with the Lumia 900 where other companies have failed with older Windows Phone devices. Bradley said the combination of improved design and software, the 4G LTE service, a stronger catalog of applications, and better marketing and sales will drive higher sales.

The app issue was a major problem for Windows Phone. Bradley said Microsoft has largely shored up its weaker app library with a solid offering, and said AT&T salespeople have been trained to help customers track down the same apps or comparable ones that they used in iOS or Android.

"AT&T's retail execution has been fantastic," Weber said.

The $99.99 price makes it the most affordable flagship phone AT&T has ever offered. Bradley and Weber declined to comment on how much of a subsidy was placed on the device, but Weber noted that Nokia was under a mandate to supply a quality phone at a lower price. He would only say Nokia was being aggressive with the price accordance to its strong push to get into the U.S.

[AnthroMatt]

I really like the specs of the phone, but I am just not at all a fan of the WP interface. I'd sooner use iOS again...and I don't see that happening any time soon, so I guess I am "stuck" with Android.

[Charlyee]

In my brief stint withWP7 on the Focus Flash, I really like how mooth, fluid, and efficient the OS was. However, it felt rather restrictive in the iOS way, it was almost eerily similar. In way even more restrictive due to the lack of apps and means of "jailbreaking".

Having said that, I have had my eyes on the Lumia 900 ever since it was first announced and I am still interested. Nokia with WP is a great combination and I do hope it is a smashing success.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I was a die hard Win Mobile user for many years, but the way they handled the announcement and release of WP7 left me out in the cold with a 2 month old Win Mobile 6.5 device that nobody wanted to support anymore. The day it got run over by a car was my happiest day with it by far, because it meant my suffering was over. I've been extremely happy with both Android devices I've had since (HTC Inspire 4G and HTC Vivid LTE) Microsoft would have to develop an extraordinary OS for me to even consider switching back from Android now.

[budney]

I hope AT&T really does push this device. The OS is very nice, and I like that it's centered around the content, and not graphics (eye candy). But it will come down to the sales rep understanding the OS and not being bias. The only drawback is most big app developers are not making apps & games or have thrown together a app and not updating it as needed.

[dmapr]

I read somewhere (pardon me if it was here) that there will be special incentives (extra $$$) for sales people to sell the 900 coming out of Nokia pocket and that MS has dumped a considerable amount of money into it. Whether or not anything will come out of it remains to be seen...

[RadioRaiders]

left me out in the cold with a 2 month old Win Mobile 6.5 device that nobody wanted to support anymore. The day it got run over by a car was my happiest day with it by far, because it meant my suffering was over.

Was it an accident, or was a guy named Vinny from New Jersey involved?

[RadioRaiders]

I The only drawback is most big app developers are not making apps & games or have thrown together a app and not updating it as needed.

Yea, the whole "app ecosystem" is kind of a funny thing. Developers don't bother to make apps for OS's with a low user base. But OS's can't get large user-bases unless they have alot of apps

I heard RIM was giving incentives to developers, like giving free PlayBooks to people who put apps in the RIM app store, I wonder if MS will do something similar?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Was it an accident, or was a guy named Vinny from New Jersey involved?

Actually, it was my fault, no Italians were implicated in the destruction of my HTC Pure. I put my phone in my jacket pocket, jumped on my motorcycle, and left for work. When I got to work I realized I didn't have my phone, and my jacket pocket was not zipped shut. I retraced my path home, scanning the road for my phone, and praying that I forgot, and left it on the kitchen counter. I found it 300 yards from home in the middle of a 4 way intersection, and it had obviously been run over several times.

[RadioRaiders]

Looks like the propaganda machine is starting to turn it's wheels with some swipes at Apple:

http://www.smartphonebetatest.com/

[Jay2TheRescue]

The "Death Grip" video is funny, but I'm still not buying a Windows Phone.

[Irish Rose]

I doubt very highly that this device will even come close to seeing the amount of lines that are seen all over the country on iPhone release dates. Not trying to say that this phone will or won't sell well in AT&T's line up, but I don't see it taking out the iPhone any time soon. The next iPhone is sure to be another crowd pleaser as well, just as all the iPhones that have come before it.... We'll see, though. As much as I like iOS, I do like to keep an open mind when it comes to the competition.


Sent from my iPad 4G using Tapatalk HD.

[Irish Rose]

Looks like the propaganda machine is starting to turn it's wheels with some swipes at Apple:

http://www.smartphonebetatest.com/

Looks like they are also taking a swipe at Android as well.

Android users continue to be frustrated by the lack of timely updates to their phones. Microsoft has an excellent opportunity to offer an alternative to that.

WILLIAMS: Lumia 900 part of teamup with Microsoft ŧ Evansville Courier & Press Mobile

[RadioRaiders]

Looks like they are also taking a swipe at Android as well.



WILLIAMS: Lumia 900 part of teamup with Microsoft ŧ Evansville Courier & Press Mobile

It's more fun when there is comical videos involved



Some initial reviews of AT&T's Lumia 900 are in, and both CNET and Engadget are giving big thumbs-up

Nokia Lumia 900 Review - Watch CNET's Video Review

Nokia Lumia 900 review -- Engadget

I didn't realize it packed an AMOLED screen as well as LTE. With the slick Windows interface and the cheap price ($0-100), as well as the Nokia reputation, it's got a really good shot at mass adoption.

[Irish Rose]

It's more fun when there is comical videos involved



Some initial reviews of AT&T's Lumia 900 are in, and both CNET and Engadget are giving big thumbs-up

Nokia Lumia 900 Review - Watch CNET's Video Review

Nokia Lumia 900 review -- Engadget

I didn't realize it packed an AMOLED screen as well as LTE. With the slick Windows interface and the cheap price ($0-100), as well as the Nokia reputation, it's got a really good shot at mass adoption.

Thanks for the links. I could be very wrong here but I don't believe this will appeal to the media hungry, as there is only 16GB of on board storage with no expandable memory, it only shoots 720P video not 1080P like most other big named phones that are coming out today. Also mentioned in the review and I agree after seeing the photo quality on this new Nokia; "The designer camera optics are good, but they don't live up to the hype." Overall I would say it looks nice but way too early to tell whether it will share the spotlight with "Android or iOS" anytime soon......

[viewfly]

I read the phonescoop review on this one. Built in battery, no memory slot and only 16Gb. Single core processor, although it runs fast.

Maybe at the low price point they are aiming at the low market (3GS). But it seems to leave the Android high end market users in the cold.

Sounds so much like the Nokia of old


Sent from my iPhone 4S using Tapatalk

[RadioRaiders]

I don't think they are targeting the "spec-hungry" or "phone-connoisseur" with this (altho the specs aren't too bad). I think they are targeting the "average" person who walks into the store and is looking for a nice phone at a nice price.

I played with one in the store, and the AMOLED screen and slick Windows interface really grabs you when you pick it up. I was really impressed by that. I think it is comparable to iOS at first look, maybe even nicer (in my humble opinion Definitely more "friendly" to a casual user than Android). Coupled with the low price-point and massive AT&T sales push, I think it has a good chance.

How far will it go? Who knows. Would I buy one? Probably not. The physical design didn't appeal to me, and the Windows OS, altho very visually appealing, felt restrictive and the customization abilities seemed lacking compared to Android. But again, for an average person this could be a very appealing phone. And the bulk of people buying phones aren't the "technophiles" like we at WA are

[Jay2TheRescue]

And the bulk of people buying phones aren't the "technophiles" like we at WA are

Yeah, my roommate upgraded her phone last night. She wanted a smartphone, and I was trying to steer her towards the Vivid. Although she agreed the specs of the Vivid were better, the Inspire was available in red, and she wanted a phone that didn't look like everyone else's.

[RadioRaiders]

I read a slew of reviews on the phone today, not just the tech-sites like Gizmodo, Engadget, etc, but also main-stream sites like Time, USA Today, etc. and every one of them were giving surprisingly good reviews, and saying pretty much the same thing: that it's a very nice device, and altho may not stack up spec-wise to all the high-end iPhones and Androids, it's got a strong over-all appeal to it and offers a great experience, and that this may well be Nokia's come-back device.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/05/te...soft.html?_r=1

Nokia Lumia 900 review

If you jump to about 1:30 of this video you can see a demo of the user interface, which is getting rave reviews:

Nokia Lumia 900 Review - ABC News

PS- I just realized the Lumia 800 is what's been on sale in Europe the last few weeks/months, not the 900. But I think it's pretty much the same, at least the look the same and both run WP 7.5.

[Charlyee]

Phonescoop's wrap up is pretty positive:

The Nokia Lumia 900 is the best overall device I've seen from Nokia in years. It doesn't hit every nail on the head, but it's a strong framework on which I hope to see Nokia build further.

The 900 really gets the basics right: it has great hardware, an excellent display, solid signal/voice performance, and the battery even manages to impress for a 4G device. The only limitation I saw in the hardware was the camera, which simply isn't as good as it needs to be to compete with other flagship devices in the market.

On the software side, Nokia didn't do much to spruce up Windows Phone, but it is a capable platform that takes a different approach from Android and iOS. It is speedy, efficient, just not as customizable as Android.

In the world of Windows Phone, the Nokia Lumia 900 is as good as it gets for the moment.

As is their intro page:

This is it. With the Lumia 900, Nokia is going for broke. This flagship Windows Phone from Nokia hits all the key specs for a modern smartphone: huge screen, powerful camera, support for 4G, and a modern, edgy design. With aggressive pricing from AT&T, the Nokia Lumia 900 is tempting for many reasons and poised to be a hit. If you're even marginally interested in a Windows Phone device, this is the one you should look at first.

Review: Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (Phone Scoop)

[AnthroMatt]

Not that I really have any interest in a Windows device anyway, but somehow I didn't realize until now that there is not expandable memory. I won't ever consider such a device without a minimum of 32gb of internal storage.

[budney]

Not that I really have any interest in a Windows device anyway, but somehow I didn't realize until now that there is not expandable memory. I won't ever consider such a device without a minimum of 32gb of internal storage.

Expandable memory is coming to the next update "Apallo".

Nice to see all the positive reviews. Always good to have more options to choose from.

[RadioRaiders]

Interesting, I was wondering why the Lumia screen was so eye-grabbing. It's not a "regular" AMOLED screen, but an AMOLED screen with "ClearBlack" technology:

Soneira discovered that Nokia's Lumia 900 screen manages to skirt the dilemma with that ClearBlack display technology, with "circularly polarized" glare-suppressing optics.

The Lumia 900 has "the lowest screen reflectance of any mobile device I have ever measured," Soneira told CNET. "4.4 percent, which is almost 40 percent lower than the iPhone 4.

Why Nokia's Lumia 900 screen looks so darn good | Mobile - CNET News

Right now in my office, if I look at my Droid screen I can not only see the screen, but my reflection in the screen as well. When I was looking at the Lumia in a store, I was wondering why I was sucked into the phones screen so much, and now I realize that it was because there was no reflection of me or anything behind me, there was only screen to look at. It really makes a big difference, albeit in a subtle way. I'd hope to see this technology spread out to other phones. (Isn't AMOLED a Samsung thing? I guess they license it out to Nokia?)

[Irish Rose]

Phonescoop's wrap up is pretty positive:

Review: Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T (Phone Scoop)

I like Phone Scoop reviews and hearing what they have to say. I don't always agree with some of things that they have to say but for the most part I think they do a good job at doing thorough review.


Sent from my iPad 4G using Tapatalk HD.

[Irish Rose]

Right now in my office, if I look at my Droid screen I can not only see the screen, but my reflection in the screen as well. When I was looking at the Lumia in a store, I was wondering why I was sucked into the phones screen so much, and now I realize that it was because there was no reflection of me or anything behind me, there was only screen to look at. It really makes a big difference, albeit in a subtle way. I'd hope to see this technology spread out to other phones. (Isn't AMOLED a Samsung thing? I guess they license it out to Nokia?)

Funny you should mention the reflection issue. That was the one thing on my past Androids that I had to get used to. It is rather distracting at times to see other things on the screen when your're trying to read. Interesting that this new Nokia doesn't have that problem. Hopefully some of the other manufacturers will pick up on this type of screen.



Sent from my iPad 4G using Tapatalk HD.

[Irish Rose]

Expandable memory is coming to the next update "Apallo".

Nice to see all the positive reviews. Always good to have more options to choose from.

+1. I think more choices like you said here is the key. It's a win/win for consumers because it keeps the competition looking and working to improve. Apple started out the same way as the Lumia. The first iPhone was only 8GB with other updated models getting 16, 32, and now a 64GB model. Unlike Apple, I hope The Nokia update goes in the direction of expandable memory which gives the customers the option to add memory depending on their needs.


Sent from my iPad 4G using Tapatalk HD.

[RadioRaiders]

Funny you should mention the reflection issue. That was the one thing on my past Androids that I had to get used to. It is rather distracting at times to see other things on the screen when your're trying to read. Interesting that this new Nokia doesn't have that problem. Hopefully some of the other manufacturers will pick up on this type of screen.

The glare on your iPhone should be the same as the Android phones, no? As far as I know, this is the only phone with "ClearBlack" AMOLED screen.

BTW, I picked up FOUR new Nokia(n)'s today!!!
http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/th...tml#post569432

[viewfly]

The glare on your iPhone should be the same as the Android phones, no? As far as I know, this is the only phone with "ClearBlack" AMOLED screen.

BTW,

The ClearBlack physics is not unique, and there are easy ways to achieve similar results. It depends on screen glass construction, and it is only one parameter that gives the impression of a 'better screen'. Nevertheless, smaller is better, for high lighting conditions.

Around 4% is the smallest one can get, unless Anti-Reflection coatings are used. That is because all normal glasses will reflect 4% off the front surface, before light enters the phone.

I often why they are not coated, as they can achieve levels down to 1%. If you think of your eyeglasses that have AR coatings...they can have a greenish-yellowish reflection, and that may be unattractive. Plus placing an AR coating over an Oleophobic screen is not easy.

For comparisons, reflections from various phones/tablets.

Motorola Droid
12.1%

iPhone 4
7.0%

Samsung Galaxy S
4.4% (same as Nokia Lumia 900 )

Nexus One
15.5%

New iPad
7.7%

Xoom
13.0%

Asus Transformer
15.1%

[RadioRaiders]

Thanks VF! Interesting post!

Where did you find those phone reflection specs? I see the Galaxy S has the same index as the Lumia at 4% or so. I see the Galaxy S has "Super AMOLED", maybe it has similar properties? Also the Moto RAZR has "Super MOLED Advanced", what's the reflection index on that?
AMOLED - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Suddenly theres a bunch of articles popping up on this topic. Here's one:
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Here-...-works_id26552

Ok, this isn't really about glare, but interesting anyway, without looking ahead, and without bias, which screen shows the best and clearest colors?



The answer is here:
Display battle: NOVA Display vs Super AMOLED vs Retina Display vs ClearBlack AMOLED

[Charlyee]

Around 4% is the smallest one can get, unless Anti-Reflection coatings are used. That is because all normal glasses will reflect 4% off the front surface, before light enters the phone.

For comparisons, reflections from various phones/tablets.

viewfly, very interesting information, thank you.

Is there a link or website you can point us to, so we can look up other phones and devices?


Thanks much.