Zee Media Bureau/ Deepak Nagpal
New Delhi: Finnish handset maker Nokia this week launched in India its budget smartphone Lumia 525. It could be another smartphone launch for many, but the same could prove to be a milestone in the history of Microsoft's Windows Phone.
Here's why?
It is an established fact that Nokia Lumia 520 is the world's largest selling Windows platform-based smartphone.
According to AdDuplex, as of December 30, 2013 data, Lumia 520 owns over 30% of the Windows Phone market and 39.3% of the Windows Phone 8 market.
It might not be a powerhouse smartphone (eg, it lacks a flash and front-facing camera) like its costlier cousins 720, 820 and 920 but the phone has everything to be an aspiring smartphone – Windows Phone 8 operating system, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 1GHz dual core processor, an ultra-sensitive 4-inch touch screen with a WVGA 800x480 display (pixel density of 235ppi), 512MB RAM, 8GB internal memory expandable upto 64Gb with the use of a MicroSD card, a powerful 5MP camera, a decent 1430mAh battery, and 3G connectivity.
With a prevailing price of around Rs 8,000 coupled with the beautiful colours in which it comes, the phone has become a favourite for the younger generation.
Jump to Lumia 525: the phone's features are almost similar to the 520, but with a RAM of 1GB – coupled with a launch price of Rs 10,399 – it has hit the bull's eye.
Forgetting for a moment that the phone doesn't have a flash for night-time photography, rest of the features are what phones in the range of Rs 15,000-25,000 offer.
What's more, Lumia 525 offers the durability and reliability of Nokia – once India's favourite handset brand – unlike similarly-priced Android phones from Indian and Chinese manufacturers.
To youngsters, it offers colour, choice, entry-level price point, a 21st century and growing mobile platform (Windows Phone 8), and an app store that now has over 2,00,000 applications.
By including 1GB RAM, Nokia has ensured its users will not miss out on a single app that is available in the Microsoft Store, unlike the owners of Lumia 520. All major applications and games are now available on the Windows Phone Store.
The Nokia Lumia 525 is being shipped with the Lumia Black update, meaning its users will get to use the best of Windows Phone 8.
It remains to be seen how the market reacts to Lumia 525, but one thing is for sure – the next few months are going to be interesting for Nokia and Microsoft.
