Nokia shows off ‘MD-12’ Bluetooth speaker to match its new smartphones

It’s not all fun phones and games at Nokia’s Build shindig here in San Francisco. In addition to giving us a closer look at the new Lumia 930, 630 and 635, the company is showing off a Bluetooth speaker to accompany them. The MD-12 (even Stephen Elop seemed embarrassed by the name) is available in the same cheerful color palette as the new handsets, including a bright orange hue. On the audio front, this is really just a companion device, but Nokia is claiming the bass is still better than you’d expect on a device like this. As for size, it’s especially compact — this thing is about the size of a hockey puck, making it even smaller than, say, the Mini Jambox. That said, there appears to still be a robust battery inside: Nokia is claiming 15 hours of audio playback, compared with 10 hours for the Mini Jambox. No word on when, exactly, it will go on sale, but Elop himself said it will cost $55.

Filed under: Peripherals, Microsoft, Nokia

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The Nokia Lumia 930 is a global version of the Icon (hands-on)

The Nokia Lumia Icon is a fantastic Windows Phone that comes with a bunch of top features that most Windows Phone users haven’t been able to enjoy until recently, but it had one critical flaw: it was an exclusive to Verizon, which meant that only a handful of users in the US could buy it. For the rest of the world, the only way to get a top-of-the-line Windows Phone (in nearly every spec, that is) has been to buy the Lumia 1520, but its large 6-inch display — though beautiful at 1080p — simply made it too big for a lot of people. Fortunately, that’s about to end because Nokia announced a global version of the Icon known as the Lumia 930.

Interestingly enough, there’s not much of a difference between the two devices. This actually is a bit surprising, considering Verizon has historically landed design exclusives with Nokia like the Lumia 822 and 928. The resemblance is definitely striking, with the only major hardware changes manifest in the presence of GSM bands instead of CDMA and the additional colors that Nokia will offer.

Unlike the Icon, Stephen Elop mentioned that we likely won’t be seeing the 930 in the US — at least, not on a carrier, and not anytime soon. Still, this will be an ideal Windows Phone for many folks in other corners of the globe; it comes with pentaband LTE (bands 1, 3, 7, 8 and 20), quad-band HSPA+ (up to 42.2Mbps) and quad-band GSM/EDGE, so you should be able to get solid speeds nearly anywhere you go, even if you’re not getting LTE in your neck of the woods.

The 930 will come in four color options: white, black, bright orange and bright green. Just like on the Icon, these colors are mainly reflected as part of the polycarbonate panel on the back, and aren’t swappable like the covers on the 630 and 635, also announced earlier today.

Ultimately, Nokia’s latest high-end device takes the Lumia Icon and resolves a lot of our primary concerns with it: it now has global LTE and HSPA+ for international users around the world, it comes in more colors and isn’t limited to just one specific carrier. And if the 5-inch 1080p display and Snapdragon 800 processor fit the bill, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for it starting in June for around $599 (though price may vary on market and operator).

We’ll have a video and a bunch more images ready for you shortly, but here are a few to get you started.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Nokia Lumia 630 and 635 bring Windows Phone 8.1 to budget seekers (hands-on)

Nokia may not be an official part of Microsoft yet — that should finally happen later this month, if you ask either company — but that doesn’t stop the phone maker from cranking out more devices at the software giant’s developer conference. This morning at Build, Stephen Elop announced three new Lumia devices, although two of them are about as close to twins as you can possibly get: the Lumia 630, which is a 3G device that comes in single and dual-SIM flavors, and the 635, which adds LTE. Both are sub-$200 smartphones aimed squarely at both emerging markets and anyone else who just wants a Windows Phone 8.1 device without spending a lot of money in the process.

At 4.5 inches, the pair of devices hit a sweet spot in display size, but its 854×480 FWVGA resolution isn’t going to bedazzle. It’s an inexpensive phone, however, so it’s not horrible given what you’re paying for. The handsets aren’t necessarily designed from a premium perspective, but just like the 620 and 625 before them, these phones are colorful and offer interchangeable shells, which make them a lot more personable and customizable. In addition to the standard black and white hues, you’ll be able to choose from green, orange and yellow (all bright).

When we played with the new devices, we saw two different types of covers. One of the options is matte, while the other is a two-toned option that is essentially an inverted version of the Lumia 620′s cover. They’re easy to swap and they add an element of fun to the phones. It’s 9.2mm thick and has blunt edges that slant slightly, and this actually works in the handset’s favor — sure, it’s not the thinnest device on the market, but it’s very comfortable and easy to hold.

Thanks to this morning’s update to Windows Phone, the Lumia 630 comes with a whole bunch of firsts for a Windows Phone: the inaugural dual-SIM device, the first we’ve seen with virtual soft keys and the first without a physical shutter button on the right-hand side. If you’re going to be using the 5MP rear camera on a regular basis, you’ll at least be able to add the camera into the action center as a quick access shortcut. You’ll also be able to take advantage of Cortana, the new virtual assistant on Windows Phone 8.1.

It comes with a Snapdragon 400 chipset and a mere 512MB of RAM, which means it doesn’t have that much extra horsepower. Fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised in our first impressions; when we played with the 630, it felt a lot snappier than we originally expected. Of course, we’ll have to see if that translates into regular real-world use in our full review when the time comes, but at least for now we’ll take this as a good sign.

When the devices come to market in May, the single-SIM 630 will be $159, while you’ll be able to get the dual-SIM variant for $169 and the Lumia 635 for $189. This may not be quite as inexpensive as the tremendously successful Lumia 520, but we’d be very surprised if we don’t see a Lumia 530 or similar with Windows Phone 8.1 sometime in the near future.

Dana Wollman contributed to this report.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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