Nokia announces budget-friendly Windows Phone 8 Lumia 620

Nokia today unveiled the Nokia Lumia 620, the third and most affordable smartphone in its range of Windows Phone 8 devices. Nokia claims that Lumia 620's body uses a new dual-shot colour technique to deliver a variety of color and texture effects. Dual-shot adds a second layer of coloured, transparent or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer to produce secondary colour blends and depth effects. One can add a personal feel to the handset as there are seven different exchangeable shells to choose from. The Nokia Lumia 620 is powered by Qualcomm's SnapdragonS4 Plus processors.

"We continue to execute on our strategy to reach new audiences and new markets," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president, Nokia Smart Devices. "With its innovative design, the latest Windows Phone 8 software and signature experiences from Nokia, like Nokia lenses, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music, the Nokia Lumia 620 is a highly competitive smartphone at this price point."

The features shared with the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are the camera lenses. The Cinemagraph lens adds simple animations to still photographs, while Smart Shoot creates a single shot from multiple images, and removes unwanted objects from the picture.

Budget Windows Phone 8 device announced

Bundled apps include Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport and the exclusive Nokia City Lens. Nokia City Lens displays information about local surroundings overlaid onto buildings as seen through the camera viewfinder. Nokia Music, which provides free streaming of ad-free tracks without registration or subscription and the ability to download playlists for listening offline, is also bundled.

Here is a quick look at some of the highlighted features of the Lumia 620

• 3.8-inch TFT ClearBlack display with a resolution 800 x 480
• 3G, EDGE, Wi-Fi, NFC
• Bluetooth 3.0
• GPS with A-GPS and Nokia Maps Suite
• 5MP camera with f/2.4 aperture and 720p video recording, front-facing camera with 480p recording
• 8GB mass memory with Micro SD support up to 64GB

With NFC support, the Lumia 620 can pair with NFC-enabled accessories like the JBL PlayUp Portable Speaker for Nokia. Open and secure NFC-connectivity makes it possible to share and receive content by tapping with compatible devices, or make secure payments using the Wallet application in Windows Phone 8.

Nokia claims that as it's powered by Windows Phone 8, the Lumia 620 delivers a personal smartphone experience. Adjustable Live Tiles update direct to the Start screen, while the People Hub pulls together contact information from multiple address books and social networks into a single location. People can check in to their location, post an update, set chat statuses, see what's new and monitor notifications across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter from the Me Tile.  Windows Phone 8 also includes Xbox Live, Microsoft Office, 7GB of online SkyDrive storage and web browsing with Internet Explorer 10.

The Nokia Lumia 620 will be available in a range of colors including, lime green, orange, magenta, yellow, cyan, white and black. Priced at USD 249, which roughly translates to approximately Rs 13,600, excluding taxes and subsidies, the Nokia Lumia 620 will begin selling in January 2013 in Asia, followed closely by Europe and the Middle East before expanding further.