Nokia launches Lumia 720 and 520 with Windows Phone 8

The ongoing Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, has seen Nokia make two big announcements for smartphones. It has launched two new Windows 8 Lumia devices, the Lumia 720 and the Lumia 520. Nokia Lumia 720 is aimed at offering a high end camera experience, and comes with Nokia’s latest music and navigation experiences. “The Nokia Lumia 720 clearly demonstrates our portfolio strategy”, said Jo Harlow, Nokia’s executive vice president for Smart Devices. “By taking select innovations from our high end products and matching them to the priorities of a given audience, we’re driving these advanced technologies to new price points for an incredible midrange smartphone experience.” The Lumia 720 is aimed at China and India and should be available in Indian stores by Q2 of 2013. According to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, China Mobile, the world’s largest cellphone company, will sell both models in China soon. Key features of the Lumia 720 are: It has a 4.3 inch WVGA LCD screen with Gorilla Glass 2.0 and Super Sensitive Touch which allows users to use the phone even with nail and gloves on. It has a 1.0 GHz Dual-core Snapdragon S4. It has a 6.7 megapixel camera with F1.9 aperture and a Carl Zeiss lens which Nokia claims will offer the best picture taking experience. The camera has LED flash and is capable of HD video recording at 720 pixels at the rate of 30 frames per second. It has a Skype HD wide angle front camera with 1.3 megapixel range. [caption id=“attachment_639420” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nokia Lumia 520( L) and Lumia 720 (R)Image from Nokia.[/caption] In terms of space, the Lumia 720 has 512 MB RAM, 8GB mass memory and support for micro SD cards up to 64GB. It also comes with 7GB free SkyDrive storage. The Nokia 720 also comes with apps like Cinemagraph, Smart Shoot and Glam Me. The device will be available in five colours. It will also comes with an optional wireless charging shell. Nokia Lumia 720 comes with the ‘HERE’ suite of applications, including HERE Maps, HERE Drive for free turn by turn navigation and HERE Transit. Nokia Music offers unlimited music streaming, free of adverts or subscription charges, it also includes the ability to download playlists to listen offline. With NFC connectivity, music can be streamed from the Nokia Lumia 720 directly to NFC enabled accessories such as the JBL PlayUp portable speaker, simply by tapping the two devices together. The Nokia Lumia 520 comes with 4 inch IPS LCD WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) screen. It also has Super sensitive touch for nail and glove use. It has a 1 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon with 512 MB RAM and 8GB mass memory and support for micro SD cards up to 64GB plus 7GB free SkyDrive storage. It has a 5 megapixel camera with video recording HD 720p 30fps. Nokia Lumia 520 is available in yellow, red, cyan, white, and black and with changeable shells. The device runs Windows 8. This is likely to be a low-end device. Nokia said it will start selling the phone soon in Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa, and that T-Mobile USA intends to sell it at some unspecified date. The phone should hit India by Q2 of 2013. “The Lumia 520, we believe, delivers the best performance of any smartphone at this price point,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said.