Nokia, once the leading maker of mobile phones, has pushed back into the market with the release of new Windows smartphones.
Telecom has exclusive rights to the Nokia Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800 will be available through Telecom, Vodafone 2degrees and major retailers.
Having seen a demonstration of the new Nokia phones at a recent Gen-i technology briefing in Dunedin, I can attest they looked professional and had easy-to-use functionality.
The 710 is an entry level smartphone with a 5 megapixel camera and access to Nokia Drive - a fully featured sat nav with voiced guided navigation.
The 800 has an 8 megapixel camera, with a 28mm Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens and HD video.
It also has 16GB of internal storage and access to SkyDrive that lets the user store and share thousands of documents or photos.
Nokia New Zealand managing director Chris Carr says Nokia Lumia will change the way people think about Nokia.
"It signifies a new beginning for the company, bringing together the very best of Nokia's handset design and services with the latest Windows Phone software."
Gen-i Otago-Southland sales manager Peter Thomas said the phones would run seamlessly on the Telecom smartphone network.
"Kiwis want their phone to perform when and where it matters, whether it's uploading pictures to Facebook fromthe rugby or checking their email on the bus."
The Windows Phone 7 operating system let business users take Sharepoint, Outlook email and calendar on the road through the integration with the Microsoft Office suite, he said.
Vodafone director of sales Grant Hopkins said the 800 felt great straight out of the box and was simple to use.
"You'll have all your Microsoft Exchange contacts, Twitter feeds and Facebook friends up and running within minutes."
• The Lumia 710 has a recommended retail price of $549 and the 800 has a recommended retail price of $899. The 800 is available in black, blue and white and the 710 will be available in black through Telecom.
