T-Mobile will carry Nokia's Lumia 710 Windows Phone, according to an FCC document discovered by WPCentral. T-Mobile and Nokia are hosting a New York City event Dec. 14.
T-Mobile
and Nokia will debut the Lumia 710 next week, if a new report about a Federal
Communications Commission filing proves correct.
The
blog WPCentral
reported Dec. 7 that T-Mobile has filed the manual
and associated materials for the Nokia 710 with the FCC.
T-Mobile
and Nokia have tried to maintain a veil of secrecy around their upcoming
announcement, set for Dec. 14 in New York City. A joint invitation sent to
media suggested "something exciting in the works" but was otherwise bereft of
detail. Nonetheless, given how Nokia is solely in the Windows Phone business, it
wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that some sort of Windows Phone device
was in the unveiling.
The
bigger question is whether T-Mobile and Nokia will unveil the Lumia 710 or 800,
or a new device altogether. The Lumia 710 is priced as more of a midmarket
phone, while the Lumia 800 targets the higher end of the price
range.
Earlier
this year, Nokia abandoned its homegrown operating systems, including Symbian,
in favor of Windows Phone. Both the Lumia 710 and 800 run the latest variant of
Microsoft's smartphone platform. With that software in place, the Finnish phone
maker hopes to retain its global presence in the face of fierce competition
from both Apple's iPhone and Google Android devices.
But
both Nokia and Windows Phone have an uphill battle for a substantial piece of
the U.S. smartphone market. Microsoft owned 7.3 percent of the U.S. smartphone
market in the third quarter, according to new data from Nielsen. That number
includes both Windows Phone and the older, largely discontinued Windows Mobile.
Moreover, that number trails Google Android at 42.8 percent, Apple's iPhone at
28.3 percent and Research In Motion's BlackBerry at 17.8 percent.
Earlier
this year, the firm placed Microsoft's share of the market at 9 percent,
trailing Android at 39 percent, Apple's iPhone at 28 percent and RIM's
BlackBerry at 20 percent. Microsoft routinely refuses to release any hard data
relating to smartphone sales, leaving it up to third parties like Nielsen to
offer their own numbers-and even then, the continuing presence of Windows
Mobile clouds the ability to tally Windows Phone.
Nokia
also has a small presence in U.S. smartphones, something it wants to change
over the next few quarters. Despite what will surely be a significant marketing
push, some analysts remain doubtful about Nokia and Microsoft's combined
chances.
"With
no breakthrough innovation, we believe Nokia's new phones are unlikely to get
traction in a highly concentrated high end," James Faucette, an analyst at
Pacific Crest Securities, wrote in a research note quoted by The New York Times
Nov.
22. With that in mind, Faucette set Nokia Windows Phone sales for the
quarter at 500,000 units, down from his previous projection of 2 million.
However,
Windows Phone has also attracted stronger developer and consumer interest,
according to other surveys, which could bode well for the platform's future
prospects.
Follow
Nicholas Kolakowski on Twitter
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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