CES: Nokia looks to crack the US market with its Lumia 900

FINNISH PHONE MAKER Nokia has unveiled the latest edition to its Lumia smartphone line at CES with the Lumia 900 handset.

The company said that the device is primarily aimed at the North American market with a number of features optimised for US carrier AT&T's LTE wireless broadband network.

Nokia president and CEO Stephen Elop told reporters that the 4.3in handset will sport an AMOLED Clearblack display and a Carl Zeiss rear-mounted F2.2 aperture camera. Nokia has yet to announce details on pricing and availability for the handset.

The Lumia 900 will be the third model in Nokia's Lumia line, following in the footsteps of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 models. As with previous devices, Nokia will fine-tune the device for its targeted region.

"We have been working in very close partnership with AT&T to ensure we have the right approach for the North American market," Elop said.

Joining Elop on stage at the press conference was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Both noted that the close partnership between Nokia and Windows was essential for establishing the Microsoft mobile operating system in a smartphone market that has of late been dominated by IOS and Android.

"Nokia got off to a fast start, [but] in a sense you can say everything takes a long time," Ballmer said. "To go from concept to discussions to real engineering to delivery is fantastic."

Elop said that the release is the latest in a strategy of establishing "beachheads" in an effort to gain footholds in key markets. Getting those beachheads, said Elop, will require the cooperation of all Windows Phone developers, including some of Nokia's natural competitors.

"I am so happy that companies like Samsung and HTC are introducing Windows Phone devices," Elop said. "Our principal competitors are the other ecosystems, and that is where we have to focus." µ