New Delhi: Microsoft at its event on Tuesday unveiled three new Windows 10 phones - the flagship Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL smartphones, and the affordable Lumia 550. The Lumia 950 and 950 XL will have starting prices of $549 and $649 respectively when they go on sale in November, while the Lumia 550 will cost $139 when it becomes available in December.
The Lumia 950 includes a 5.2-inch display and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor with hexacore CPUs. The Lumia 950 XL, on the other hand, has a 5.7-inch display and a Snapdragon 810 processor with octa-core CPUs. The Lumia 550 has a 4.7-inch HD display and runs on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 210 processor.
Microsoft's new flagship smartphones promise the same productivity as a Windows 10 computer but in a form factor small enough to fit in a pocket.
The lines blur with Microsoft's new Lumia 950 phones. With an optional dock, you can attack a regular monitor, keyboard and mouse and work with apps on the phone just like you would on a Windows 10 desktop.
This clever productivity trick is thanks to Continuum, the name Microsoft is giving to its digital continuity system that means a file created on a Windows-powered computer is accessible on the Xbox and can be edited on a smartphone and then recreated on a Surface Pro.
If that were the extent of the latest Lumia's tricks, it could be enough for a business user to get excited, but the new flagship handsets are also packed with so many well-considered features that it's possible that Microsoft's handset may also tempt an Android user into a new ecosystem.
The Lumia 950 and 950 XL have 20-megapixel cameras with optical image stabilisation - so no blurs - and a triple flash to ensure that pictures shot at night look real and that no one's got red eye.
The 950 and 950 XL handsets have up to 32GB of storage, 4K video and use liquid cooling technology. Microsoft said storage on the phones could be extended to up to 2 terabytes using a memory card.
Both the top-of-the-line Lumia phones can also be unlocked via facial recognition, and can charge to over 50 per cent of battery power in less than 30 minutes thanks to USB Type C connectors.
Even the dual antenna system is designed to automatically understand how the handset is positioned, or how it's being held in order to ensure the best possible connection at any given moment.
The new Lumia 950 phones also come with Windows Hello, an automatic biometric sign-in option introduced earlier this year. The feature allows users to scan their face, iris or fingerprints to verify their identity and give them access to Windows phones, laptops and personal computers.
Microsoft is hoping to lure those who use Windows desktops and laptops regularly. The new phones are better at complementing those devices than iPhones and Android phones.
Lumia 550
Lumia 950
Lumia 950 XL
(With inputs from agencies)
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