AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) will launch an LTE variant of Nokia's (NYSE:NOK) Lumia 800 smartphone, Nokia's flagship device running Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone, according to a report in The Verge.
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Click here for pictures and specs of Nokia's Lumia 800 and 710. |
The blog, which cited unnamed sources, said Nokia will either launch the device through AT&T with a new version of Windows Phone software--since the current version, Mango, does not support LTE devices--or will modify Mango software to support LTE. Currently, the blog said, there are no indications right now that Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), the nation's largest LTE carrier, will launch an LTE-enabled Lumia 800.
A Nokia spokesman declined to comment and an AT&T spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said last month that Nokia will release LTE and CDMA devices for specific markets, and Nokia has reportedly been working closely with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile USA on its first Windows Phone devices, to hit the U.S. early next year. Historically, GSM carriers AT&T and T-Mobile have been Nokia's strongest U.S. partners. There have also been rumors recently that T-Mobile will launch the Lumia 710, Nokia's mid-range Windows Phone device.
Nokia intends to target its first Windows Phone gadgets at first-time U.S. smartphone buyers, according to a top Nokia executive. Chris Weber, Nokia's North America chief, said the strategy is part of a broader one of working more closely with U.S. carriers. He said Nokia has been developing a partnership model with U.S. carriers that works for them, which doesn't include stealing away potential customers buying Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone or phones running Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android platform. "We have to be additive to their business," he recently told the Wall Street Journal.
For more:
- see this The Verge article
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