Nokia today unveiled its first Windows tablet, the 2520 (pictured), along with two phablet devices and three new handsets in its emerging market-focused Asha range.
The announcement marks the first Lumia and Asha launches for Nokia’s devices unit since it announced in September it is set to be acquired by Microsoft in a €5.4 billion deal.
Nokia will hope that the new models will boost sales, following a 39 per cent decrease in mobile phone sales during the second quarter of the year. However, the 7.4 million Lumia devices shipped during the period represented the highest to date.
Speaking at the Nokia World event in Abu Dhabi, Stephen Elop, executive VP for Devices & Services at Nokia, said: “With our latest range of Lumia and Asha products, we’re delivering industry leading design and imaging innovation to bigger devices at more accessible prices.”
“And clearly, with Lumia and Asha smartphones enjoying quarter-on-quarter volume growth in Q3 2013, that quality and value is resonating with consumers around the world,” he added.
The 10.1 inch Lumia 2520 tablet runs Windows RT 8.1, uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 800 2.2GHz quadcore processor and supports both Wi-Fi and LTE technology. It features a 6.7MP rear camera with Carl Ziess optics and 2MP front-facing camera. Its screen is designed for outdoor usage with high peak brightness and low reflectance.
The tablet features Nokia’s Storyteller app which combines the Here location technology to allow users to place their photos in terms of location and when they were taken.
Nokia also touted its Power Keyboard which can be attached to the Lumia 2520 to make it into a laptop device and provide five extra hours of battery life.
The tablet is expected to ship this quarter, priced at $499.
Elop also announced two six-inch phablet devices, the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320. The larger display provides room for a third column of tiles on the Windows Phone interface.
The higher-end 1520 has a full 1080p HD screen, which Elop said is the sharpest display ever seen on a Nokia device, and a 20MP PureView camera with enhanced sensor technology and optical image stabilisation.
It uses the same Qualcomm processor as the Lumia 2520 and has 32GB of internal memory with the option to add another 64GB.
Elop also touted the device for enterprise apps: “The six-inch screen also creates a great experience for business app users on the go.”
The 1320 has a 720p HD display, 5MP camera and 1.7GHz Qualcomm dualcore processor.
The 1520 will be available this quarter, initially in Hong Kong, Singapore and the US, for $749. The $339 Lumia 1320 will launch in China and Vietnam early next year.
The company also announced three new additions to its Asha line—the Asha 500, 502 and 503, the latter of which is the first device using the new Asha Platform to support 3G.
The 502 and 503 have a 5MP camera while the 500 has a 2MP camera. The 500 and 503 are available as single SIM or easy-swap dual SIM configuration.
The Asha devices will be launched in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America in the current quarter with the 500 priced at $69, the 502 at $89 and the 503 at $99.
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