Earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas we saw Nokia unveil their first high end Windows Phone device for the U.S. market, the Lumia 900. On the surface it’s pretty much exactly what we were expecting it to be, nothing more than a blown up Lumia 800. Under the hood there’s the same 1.4 GHz single core Qualcomm processor, the same 512 MB of RAM, and the same 8 megapixel rear camera. What’s new is the front facing camera, 4.3 inch screen, and support for AT&T’s 4G LTE network. This got people on the other side of the pond thinking, would the Lumia 900 ever come to Europe and would it be the exact same model that’s going to be released in FreedomLand? According to a the UK retailer Carphone Warehouse the answer to that question is yes and no. Yes, the Lumia 900 is coming to the UK (and likely the rest of Europe), but it’s not going to have 4G LTE support. Considering that not a single European operator has yet to launch a 4G LTE smartphone, this doesn’t really come as too much of a surprise.
What is a bit strange is that Carphone Warehouse is saying the Lumia 900 will not get a better camera. Last week we heard that a rumor that said AT&T has a 45 day exclusivity deal on the Lumia 900, and that after it expires it might come to other operators, but with an updated 12 megapixel camera sensor. That wouldn’t be uncommon, to see the European version of Nokia product have better hardware specs than the equivalent U.S. variant. It especially makes sense when you consider that not including 4G LTE support in an EU Lumia 900 would not only lower the bill of materials, but give Nokia some additional space inside the device to shove a better sensor inside.
Anyway, June isn’t that far off, and by that time we’ll be frothing at the mouth waiting for Windows 8 to ship on desktops/laptops and for Windows Phone Apollo to be released.