Nokia recently launched a small Q&A series over at the Nokia Connects website with the Nokia 808 PureView as the first topic. This time around, for their second featured product, is the Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone. Plenty of great questions and plenty of honest answers from Nokia. Some great questions we enjoyed the answers to were GLONASS support, gorilla glass specifications, and most importantly the fact that the entire Nokia Windows Phone lineup will have tethering support, either at launch (Lumia 610 and Lumia 900) or via Zune update (Lumia 800 and Lumia 710).
You can read the full Q&A here, but we will highlight the best parts quoted below for you get-to-the-point readers.
Q: Why is there no 3D Gorilla glass on the Lumia 900 as on the Lumia 800?
A: We do have Gorilla Glass on the 900 but not the curved glass, this is to maintain balance for thinness and weight.
Q: How soon will we know worldwide availability of the Lumia 900? I’m thinking in markets like South Africa?
A: Worldwide distribution will be confirmed in the second quarter of 2012.
Q: Is the camera on the Lumia 900 better than that on the Lumia 800?
A: The Lumia 900 incorporates camera optimisation for focus and colour balance.
Q: When will the tethering update for the Lumia devices be pushed out?
A: It will be in coming soon for 800 and 710 via Zune update, for 610 and 900 it will be available at launch.
Q: Does the 900 have the same audio hardware as the 800 or has it been improved? I also find the speaker volume low on the 800, is it better on the 900?
A: It’s the same speaker module on the Lumia 900 as the 800 but based on feedback from the market we have improved the audio tunings.
Q: With the Tango update will Nokia be able to replace the WP stock camera application with an in-house solution? I love the Lumia 800 but the camera application, especially the video recording part, is sub-par, so I was hoping for a better one from Nokia.
A: We can’t comment with anything concrete but we are always looking for ways to optimise the camera experience.
Q: Will the 900 be available in the Australian market?
A: Yes but timing is not confirmed at the moment.
Q: The Lumia 800 won’t get GLONASS support like you said…what improvement do we see on the 900 in terms of pinpointing, since the Lumia 800 was giddily fast at locating…?
A: With GLONASS we do see greater accuracy plus there is better cover as you can rely on GPS and/or GLONASS systems.
Q: Will AT&T Lumia run on a European network?
A: Yes!
Q: Will there be further differentiation from the standard WP with the Lumia 900? If so what can we expect?
A: At Mobile World Congress, we announced several key areas of WP differentiation: Design, Imaging, Nokia Drive (voice-guided turn by turn navigation), Nokia Transport, Nokia Reading, Nokia Music (Mix Radio).
In the next Q&A series Nokia will answer questions about the Lumia 610, of course we will post that up for your reading once it’s available. Nokia never ceases to impress at this rate with Windows Phone.
When will the Lumia 900 be available for Verizon in the U.S. Or if not will you have a phone that is just as good or better coming anytime soon?
Available for Verizon???!!! Good luck…we are switching to AT&T just to be able to get this phone. We have not had problems with Verizon other than the fact that they are unwilling to go with new technology which makes me wonder why they are still #1. This is the same problem they had with the iPhone. Trust me I am NOT an apple fan, but why the hell did Verizon turn down the initial contract from Apple and let AT&T get it…hell AT&T might not be here if Verizon accepted…either way…I am tired of their crap and am really wanting the 900 which I am hoping the new release date of April 8th is accurate!!!!
Welcome back Nokia to the US (real phones…not the crap ones they’ve had)
April 8th is Easter Sunday and all retailers are closed. Hopefully we’ll see it on 4/15!