Nokia unveils Lumia 820 as a cheap Windows Phone 8 handset

AS EXPECTED, Nokia has unveiled a second Windows Phone 8 handset at its launch event in New York today; the affordable Nokia Lumia 820.

Set to offer a cheap alternative to the Finnish phone firm's flagship Nokia Lumia 920 handset, the Lumia 820 features a smaller 4.3in Clearblack 480x800 touchscreen with "super sensitive touch", which means it can be fondled even when wearing gloves.

Unfortunately, but no doubt to keep the price down, the Nokia Lumia 820 doesn't feature the Pureview technology found on its higher-end sibling. Instead, it has an 8MP autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, a Carl Zeiss lens and the ability to shoot HD 1080p video.

Still, according to Nokia, it makes up for that with its unique exchangeable covers, available in red, yellow, grey, cyan, purple, white and black, which are also compatible with the Finnish firm's wireless charging pillow.

These colourful skins could help Nokia differntiate its phones from the incoming wave of other smartphones. Speaking at the launch event Nokia said, "We see opportunity as smartphones are becoming generic, we have strong differentiation."

Other specifications include the same dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor as found on the Lumia 920, 1GB of RAM, a VGA front-facing camera, a 1,650mAh battery and 8GB of internal storage with room to expand via microSD card. With Windows Phone 8 onboard it also has a host of unique apps and features, including Xbox Live gaming, Nokia Music and Nokia's City Lens application.

There's no word yet on a release date or pricing, but we're chasing Nokia for further information. µ