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Topic: Mobility

Nokia and T-Mobile announce the exclusive Windows Phone 8 Nokia Lumia 810

Summary: Nokia and T-Mobile today announced that the Lumia 810 will be coming to the carrier in the coming weeks. With the news that the Lumia 920 is going to be an AT&T exclusive, it makes sense that all other carriers announce the mid-level device.

Matthew Miller

By for Smartphones and Cell Phones |

Nokia and T-Mobile announce an exclusive Windows Phone 8 Nokia Lumia 810

I think Nokia is making a big mistake by limiting the Lumia 920 WP8 device to AT&T when they need to get this high end device on EVERY major US carrier. It comes as no surprise that the other carriers are revealing Lumia 8xx availability with T-Mobile getting an "exclusive" Lumia 810. I am not sure how it differs from the 820 the others are supposedly getting, but maybe it is the LTE limitation since T-Mobile doesn't yet support the LTE network. WPCentral put together a post that describes the differences between the Lumia 810 and 820 so check it out.

The Nokia Lumia 810 will support the fast T-Mobile HSPA+ network (trying to find out if it supports their 42 Mbps top speed). The device sports a 4.3 inch OLED display with Clear Black technology, 8 megapixel rear camera, 1.2 megapixel front facing camera, and all the great Nokia services such as Nokia Maps, Nokia Music, and more. There is no pricing are definite availability information yet.

This looks to be a nice WP8 smartphone, but given that Windows Phone has such a slow adoption rate I am still disappointed that only AT&T will get the high end 920 with all the Nokia innovation inside. Microsoft and Nokia need to get ALL new Windows Phone devices out on as many carriers as possible and stop messing around with stupid exclusives at this point in the smartphone battle.

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Topics: Mobility, Microsoft, Nokia, Smartphones

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24 comments
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  • I guess we'll have to wait a few more weeks...

    Rumor has it Verizon will be getting the 920:

    http://www.neowin.net/news/rumor-verizon-getting-the-lumia-920-htc-8x-and-ativ-s

    If this + microSD happened, that would be great.
    dtdono0
    Reply Vote

    • I think that article is before the AT&T announcment... but

      hopefully with this T-Mobile annoucement, Verizon will get their own verison of the 920, or at least a better version of the base 820 model.
      toph36
      Reply Vote

    • I propose 950

      I guess this does make it possible. I heard the 920 was AT&T exclusive, and figured that was the end of it......but maybe Verizon will get a 930 or 950.
      Tojuro
      Reply Vote

  • Nokia vs. HTC Distribution Strategy

    I believe the reason Nokia is taking the exclusivity route, is so that it can maximize the effectiveness of its handsets' retail experiences, which has been a choking point of WP handsets historically. HTC by contrast, seems to be taking a better route on the surface, by distributing its phones everywhere. But HTC's approach assumes that sales staff will sell its Windows phones fairly or even favorably - which historically, they have not done. So even though a lot of people are calling Nokia dumb for taking his approach, I think in fact it is brilliant. Nokia is maximizing the chances of its handset sales, by ensuring there are no choke points in the sales channel, where there have historically been; and HTC is either disregarding these choke points, or hoping that they will somehow go away.
    P. Douglas
    Reply Vote

    • Nokias ATT exclusivity approach makes the same assumption.

      ATT had the 900 exclusively and employees got them for personal use. They still pushed everyone towards iphone and android, even those asking to see the 900. ATT has proven 3 times, 7.0 launch, 7.5 launch, Nokia 900 launch, that they dont give a crap about WP. Where was the biggest launch ever they were going to have for the 900 that was supposed to out do the iphone launches? Their website is iphone everywhere. Have a WP, youll get upgrade to iphone emails from them.
      Johnny Vegas
      Reply Vote

      • Dunno about ATT

        But around me all the telcos have the Lumia and WP phones... and nobody is buying them anymore. Perhaps, people just don't want to spend that much money on something that can't receive software upgrades, possibly not even bug fixes... Might be, a new sales wave will rise with WP8, but for how long?

        At the same time, all media is *full* of WP and Lumia advertisements. Perhaps, it's because of Nokia and the good reputation they used to have here.
        danbi
        Reply 1 Vote

  • Forget all the drama...

    ...I am quite happy and will DEFINITELY be picking THIS one up! =D
    1. Exchange-able cases; Wi-Charge and Purple are mine!
    2. MicroSD support, finally...
    3. It DOES have a Front-Cam; I can finally VoIP some calls ;p
    4. STILL incredible Nokia build and quality; Who could ask for anything more?!
    (A buncha ingrates, that's who! lol)
    MediaCastleX
    Reply Vote

  • Dumb, dumb, dumb!

    It makes no sense for any phone maker to make exclusive deals with carriers for their products! I was ready to sign-up for the Lumia 920 in FEB when I am eligible for a new phone but why should I put up with a second-tier WP 8 phone just because I am a Verizon Wireless customer?

    I am sure not going to switch carriers just to get a Nokia device. Too bad ... Nokia just cost themselves my business! I guess I will be buying from Samsung or HTC!
    M Wagner
    Reply 1 Vote

    • Sure it makes sense

      The carriers want the exclusive deal. The hardware companies want to sell phones, and at least on the USA, that's the only way to get into the carriers' stores, unless you're selling something they think they need. Like the iPhone .. even the Galaxy S series has been made in custom, carrier exclusive versions.

      The Nokia 900 was a failure. The 920 will almost certainly be a success. But unless it's on the scale of the Galaxy, you can expect the same issues when the 930 or940 skip. Of course, without that success, it won't be a problem... Microsoft won't carry Nokia forever.
      Hazydave
      Reply 1 Vote

    • who knows

      If Nokia management is incompetent, so no matter how nice their phones may be, Nokia is toast. Alternatively, Nokia management isn't incompetent, and exclusive deals bring in either more revenue or bring it in sooner for selling a given number of phones to one carrier vs perhaps selling fewer phones in total to more carriers.

      Without a doubt exclusive deals with one carrier reduce carrier marketing costs.

      Then again, perhaps Nokia is more concerned with strengthening the odds of survival than with maximizing possible but uncertain sales.
      hrlngrv 
      Reply Vote

    • Or not?

      As AT&T and T-Mobile has different networks, it is clearly beneficial to offer separate devices optimized to their network. Like Lumia 820 and Lumia 810 now. For 920 exclusivity - Verizon is still relatively small player in US, so offering some exclusivity period to AT&T does not have major impact.

      Why on earth a T-Mobile customer should spend more money for less phone they would get with Lumia 920 (LTE is not HSDPA)? It is better to invest to 810. And to buy a wireless charging cover for it. After it the major difference to Lumia 920 is in screen resolution and camera (8 Mpix, no OIS?).

      And if T-Mobile would be interested to sell "Lumia 910" optimized to their network, why Nokia would not be interested to do it? But it would be for their network only.
      MP72
      Reply Vote

    • me too

      I'll be more than happy to switch and adopt windows phone 8 but i'm on t-mobile and i refuse to compromise on a sub par Nokia 810 or crap HTC. F..k You Microsoft Nokia and t-mobile, you have one less potential customer for promoting carrier exclusivity to AT&T with 920 and i'm sure there are many more like me. i also refuse to switch to crappy service AT&T. Not a very good way to promote a new product. if Samsung and HTC can introduce their flagship phones to all carriers simultaneously so can you. I'll go and buy a Nexus 4 this week, half the price and completely unlocked internet tethering and carrier sim.
      dhotiram
      Reply Vote

  • Maybe Lumia 9xx

    Will be available on other carriers? Maybe a Lumia 910 for Sprint, a 930 or Verizon, etc.
    rmark@...
    Reply Vote

    • That's my hope too, playing with the model numbers for "exclusivity"

      I too am hoping that Nokia is just playing games with exclusivity and model numbers and that we will see a Verizon 930 or something like that. However, I don't think that is very likely and AT&T may again end up being the only carrier with the high end Nokia WP device :(
      palmsolo (aka Matthew Miller)
      Reply Vote

      • sure looks that way, at least at the mid-range

        http://www.cnet.com/8301-17918_1-57528691-85/nokia-atlas-might-be-verizons-next-wp8-handset/

        let's hope they do the same with the 920
        brentgee
        Reply Vote

  • WOW

    They really know how to screw up a launch with choices, I can not have the 920 since AT&T service in key areas I inhabit day to day are dead zones as well as the overall service. But if
    I were to want to own both 920 and 810 since the latter is more of a bargain for my teenage child I would have to be on separate phone services. I will probably have to go with the HTC 8X and S from Verizon now. I would have liked to switch to tmobile before AT&T tried to buy them again as Verizon is stupid with caps also and got the two Nokia phones. Oh well.
    Willtur
    Reply 1 Vote

    • nm

      well if they come out with a 910 or some model with pureview that may be good but if AT&T gets the only model with it bummer.
      Willtur
      Reply 1 Vote

  • Carriers are in control

    Maybe AT&T and T-Molbile are taking advantage of the reletive newness of Nokia coming back into the US market with a "We'll carry you if we get an exclusive, as WP8 sales would definately help us, but we're getting by OK with other phones".

    Maybe the choice isn't all Nokia's?
    William Farrel
    Reply 3 Votes

  • Second rate crap as "exclusive"

    T-Mobile is only insulting their customers.
    Joe Acerbic
    Reply Vote

  • Exclusive doesnt always mean exclusive

    I remember when the Verizon Galaxy Nexus was labeled as an exclusive to the carrier. Than we come to fi d out that that just means they have exclusivity for a certain period of time. After a month or so being sold for Verizon, the Gnex was opened up to other carriers.

    I'm very interested in the 920 and if Verizon does offer it, I will check it out. I would not settle for the 2nd rate tech.
    Michael Grieco
    Reply Vote
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