Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has just concluded his CES 2012 Keynote, where as well as reinforcing their companies intent to assertively re-enter the North American market, the fabled Lumia 900 was finally confirmed as reality. Following on from the award-winning designs of the previously released Lumia 800 and 710 devices, the Lumia 900 makes for a bold entry into the Windows Phone device field – with LTE for the US markets, a front-facing camera, improved 8MP (f2.2!) main camera and a heap more.  With blindingly fast 4G performance, the only question is of course, when will we see it here?

Nokia Lumia 900 LTE (c) Nokia

From their Press release:

“Coming exclusively to AT&T in the coming months in cyan and matte black, the Nokia Lumia 900 has a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack Display for rich, bright images both indoors and out, faster connection speeds based on cutting-edge 4G LTE technology, and a long-lasting 1830 mAH battery for enjoying content all day.

The primary camera includes Nokia’s exclusive Carl Zeiss optics, with large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm) for high-quality, uncropped images even in low-light conditions. In addition, the Nokia Lumia 900 includes a front-facing camera boasting a large aperture and a wide angle lens that ensures sharp, bright images for high-quality video calling, right out of the box”

This is a gorgeous looking phone – with a great spec. set! Now the only question is just how long we Aussie will have to wait for this to become available Down Under?  Personally, WPDownUnder can see this becoming the perfect replacement for our current phone of choice, the Samsung Focus. The phone features an 8-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a dual LED flash. Despite the Titan II’s announcement of a 16MP model (we will wait to see real performance testing on that) – this Nokia model incorporates a larger, f2.2/28mm aperture.  Why is this important? Well one of the main failings of most smartphone cameras is the low-light performance and motion handling…..so more light into the camera equates to faster performance, as well as reduced motion blur and better low-light shots.

Here’s a video Nokia have put together on their Conversations site detailing this great new handset:

WPDownUnder has been advised that Telstra are using the 1800band for their 4G network.  Given the Lumia 900 LTE North American device was confirmed as: Networks: GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/1900/2100, LTE Band 4 (1700/2100) & 17 (700), this would mean that a localised hardware version (different radio/config) would need to be manufactured for the Australian market (with WPDownUnder receiving tip-off’s suggesting this will be the case for Telstra at a minimum).

It will also be interesting to see what services, which Nokia are highlighting as a major complimentary part of the Nokia Windows Phone value proposition will also make their way to Australia:

The Nokia Lumia 900 benefits from a range of leading content experiences:

- The AT&T U-verse Mobile** app lets U-verse TV subscribers browse the U-verse TV program guide, schedule and manage their DVR recordings, and watch hit TV shows while on the go. The U-verse Mobile library includes more than 100 TV series and more than 700 TV shows from a variety of genres (US)

- Nokia Drive, available to download from Windows Phone Marketplace, provides free voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation with a dedicated in-car user interface that turns the Nokia Lumia 900 into a GPS navigation device.

- The exclusive ESPN sports hub is pre-loaded on Nokia Lumia smartphones, and provides a one-stop sports application for news, videos and scores. (US)

- The CNN App for Windows Phones provides the latest news and video from CNN’s reporting around the globe and direct access to iReport, CNN’s participatory news community. Launching globally for free in the next month, the CNN App will be exclusive to Nokia users for 90 days. (US)

- The Univision App will be exclusive to Nokia Lumia users in the U.S. and Puerto Rico for 18 months, delivering unique and exclusive Spanish-language content experiences, including Univision entertainment, sports and soccer coverage, plus news, cooking and local content for different U.S. markets – all in one App.

- A partnership with EA to bring over 20 of the world’s most popular games to the Windows Phone marketplace, coming first to Nokia Lumia devices.

All-in-all, one very exciting announcement.  Stay tuned to WPDownUnder for additional coverage of the CES 2012 announcements.  It is hoped a video link to the earlier keynote will be made available shortly.

Sheeds.

Links: Nokia Conversations, WP7 Blog

UPDATE: Interview with Stephen ELOP (CEO NOKIA) from the Nokia Conversations site (link) below:

UPDATE2:  Here is the Video link of today’s Nokia Press Conference: HERE