Nokia Lumia arrives in SA

The first two Nokia smartphones based on Windows Phone were launched in South Africa last night, and will be in store from 7 February.

Nokia announced the arrival of the Lumia range of smartphones in South Africa at an event at Vodacom World last night. The Nokia Lumia 800 brings content to life with familiar Nokia elements such as high end imaging capabilities, and social and Internet performance with one-touch social network access, easy grouping of contacts, integrated communication threads and Internet Explorer 9.

"This is the day that something unique, bold and exciting arrived in the South African smartphone market," says Gerard Brandjes, Vice-President for Nokia in South and East Africa. 

The Nokia Lumia 800 is expected to be available countrywide - together with Vodacom - on the 7th February 2012 on a Vodacom Business Call contract, with 100MB data per month for 24 months, at R279 per month.

"This is an important launch for us because the Nokia Lumia 800 is in line with our strategic focus, to drive data by bringing all the latest options and technologies to our customers, which includes offering devices with all the major operating systems. We're therefore excited to be the first operator to offer Nokia's Lumia 800 with Windows Phone to the South African market," says Romeo Kumalo, Vodacom's Chief Commercial Officer. 

The second device in the range the, Nokia Lumia 710, is a no-nonsense smartphone that can be personalised with interchangeable back covers and thousands of apps, and brings the same Nokia Lumia experience to more people around the world. The Nokia Lumia 710 is expected to arrive in South Africa in the second quarter.

Based on the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango release, the Nokia Lumia smartphones are designed to appeal to people with "lively social lives", providing instant social and image sharing and new signature Nokia experiences:

• Nokia Drive delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car-user-interface.
• Nokia Music introduces MixRadio, a free, global, mobile music-streaming application that delivers 100s of channels of locally-relevant music. In an update delivered later this year, Nokia Lumia users will also gain the ability to create personalized channels from a global catalogue of millions of tracks.

Completing the mobile audio offering, Nokia also introduced the on-ear Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster, co-designed and co-developed by Monster Cable, a recognized leader in high performance audio. This is the first output of the exclusive long-term partnership between Nokia and Monster Cable, intended to introduce a range of premium audio accessories to reflect the bold style of the Lumia range. The estimated retail price for the on-ear Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster is approximately R1 799, and should be available in a similar timeframe to the Nokia Lumia 800.

Product specifications, as described by Nokia:

Nokia Lumia 800: Stunningly social

• A unibody design with vivid colors: cyan, magenta, black
• Best social networking experience provided by Windows Phone release 7.5
• Best Internet browsing experience with Internet Explorer 9
• Vivid 3.7" AMOLED, ClearBlack display with WVGA 800x480 pixels, 16 million colours and 2.5D curved glass
• Leading imaging capabilities with Carl Zeiss optics, above the lock capture, 8MP camera with autofocus and touch focus capability, dual LED flash, high definition 720p video recording with 30FPS and one touch image sharing
• Nokia signature hubs: Nokia Drive, Nokia Music
• 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB program memory, 16GB internal user memory, and up to 9 hours of 3G talktime
  

Nokia Lumia 710: Designed to be personal and affordable

• Can be personalised with white or black body design, five vibrant exchangeable back covers (black, white, cyan, fuchsia and yellow) and thousands of apps
• Best social networking experience provided by Windows Phone release 7.5
• Best Internet browsing experience with Internet Explorer 9
• 3.7" WVGA TFT, ClearBlack capacitive touch screen with pinch zoom, 800 x 480 pixels and 16 million colours
• 5 MP camera with auto focus, LED flash, high definition 720p video recording with 30FPS and one-touch image sharing
• Nokia signature hubs: Nokia Drive, Nokia Music
• 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB program memory, 8GB internal user memory, and up to 7.6 hours of 3G talktime
  

The Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster - The ultimate mobile audio experience

• Iconic on-ear headset from two trusted brands
• Sleek, lightweight, bold design
• Advanced Monster driver technologies deliver accurate reproduction of low bass without distortion, clear mids and crisp highs for a pure listening experience
• Ultra-soft ear cushions for hours of comfortable audio listening
• Tangle-free cables and Integrated volume and call handling controls
• Includes premium carrying pouch and two colour-matched audio cables for maximum compatibility with various mobile devices
• Available initially in black and white