$800

The spotlight is shining on Microsoft's Windows Phone platform with the recent launch of its Mango update and the new Nokia Lumia series of devices. But new hardware is still weeks, if not months, away in the United States. So what's an American consumer to do?

In this edition of Ask Maggie, I offer advice to one reader who is considering buying Nokia's Lumia 800 unlocked and using it on a U.S. carrier. I also offer some guidance to a longtime BlackBerry user about deciding between a new BlackBerry and the iPhone 4S.

Ask Maggie is … Read more

Nokia got its star turn this week when it finally unveiled its long-awaited Windows Phone 7 devices in London.

Of the two new handsets, the Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, the former definitely is the more interesting given its sleek design and high-end features. And of those features, we're particularly excited by the 8-megapixel camera with the high-quality Carl Zeiss optics and an f/2.2 aperture.

Given Nokia's strong history with camera phones (the N8 was a stellar shooter) our friends at CNET UK decided to put the Lumia 800 to the test to see just … Read more

In the tech news this week, Stephen and Brian bust me for buying an iPhone 4 on eBay to tide me over until there's a phone I really want--or until my Verizon contract is up. Nicole Lee joins us to talk about Nokia and Microsoft's new baby, the Lumia 800, and Sony's plans to get serious about making smart phones. Plus, stock advice from the gang, the coming nightmare that is the Stop Internet Piracy Act, and Computer Love.

Windows Phones just aren't selling (only 1 percent in the U.S., according to Nielsen in June). The new Mango OS is nice enough, but with shelves awash with so many excellent Android phones, what Windows Phone badly needs is a hardware hit.

If Nokia has its way, the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 will deliver it.

"It's a new dawn for Nokia," its CEO Stephen Elop said this week in London. "And we think we can break through."

Nokia's optimism and energy will certainly help. More important, so will its marketing dollars. Yet Nokia won't going anywhere if it doesn't produce the kinds of phones that people want to buy. On the surface, Nokia's two first Windows Phones are promising starts, and now it's time for a closer look. But I can already tell you this--it's going to be a long, tough, uphill trek for the company.… Read more

One of the first things we noticed about the Nokia Lumia 800 is that it looks strikingly like the Nokia N9, which runs Nokia's soon-to-be-extinct MeeGo OS.

Indeed, it has a similar unibody polycarbonite shell along with the same curved AMOLED display. But on probing further, we found that the differences between the two go far beyond just operating systems. Here we compare the two devices side by side.… Read more

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--Mere hours after Nokia launched the Lumia 800 and its lower-end sibling, the Lumia 710, in London, we headed on over to the Nokia offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., to get a hands-on look at the new devices for ourselves. (Read Jessica Dolcourt's take on the Nokia Lumia 710 here.)

Check out CNET UK's full review of the Nokia Lumia 800.

If the Nokia Lumia 800 looks at all familiar to you, you might be thinking of the Nokia N9. Indeed, the hardware looks remarkably similar, with its unibody polycarbonite shell. As our colleague Jessica Dolcourt said, … Read more

Nokia shows off its first Windows Phone handsets, Amazon's Kindle Fire is in hot demand, and Big Blue appoints Virginia Rometty as its new CEO.

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

LONDON - Nokia is launching an aggressive marketing campaign to sell the world on its new smartphones based on the Windows Phone operating system.

Wednesday marked Nokia's coming out party for the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, the first two Nokia smartphones that will use Micrsosoft's Windows Phone operating system. But it also marked the beginning of a marketing program that will Nokia hopes will get consumers excited about the new Lumia product line.

How Nokia markets and positions the Lumia phones against competitors, such as the Apple iPhone and a growing list of Google Android phones is … Read more

LONDON--Nokia announced its first two Windows Phone smartphones here today, in what could be the start to a recovery for the company's beleaguered smartphone product line. But U.S consumers will have to wait to get their hands on the new devices.

The Finnish company introduced the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, the first two devices in its revamped smartphone portfolio that will support the Microsoft Windows Phone platform. The new Lumia 800, the flagship smartphone, is already being packaged and sent out from the company's manufacturing facilities in Finland and will go on sale in November for a retail price of 420 euros ($584) at 31 carriers in six countries in Europe: the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain.

The Lumia 710, a lower-cost Windows Phone smartphone, won't be coming to market until later in the year. It will retail for 270 euros and will be available initially in Hong Kong, India, Russia, and Taiwan.… Read more