The first Nokia with Windows Phones will be sold in New Zealand from March 2012. The Nokia Lumia 800 will be available through Telecom, Vodafone and major retailers. The Nokia Lumia 710 will be sold exclusively through Telecom and major retailers.

The Nokia Lumia 800 (pictured) is elegant, intuitive and easy-to-use, delivering a great all-round smartphone experience. It combines Nokia’s strength in design, navigation and camera quality with the latest Windows Phone experiences - including out-of-the-box integrated social networking, access to Marketplace apps and Xbox gaming.

The Nokia Lumia 710, an entry-level smartphone, has an impressive stack of features with excellent social networking integration, a 5 MP camera and access to Nokia Drive – a fully featured sat nav with voice guided turn-by-turn navigation.

Nokia New Zealand’s managing director, Chris Carr, said, “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.”

Telecom’s chief marketing officer, Jason Paris, said Telecom is pleased to be bringing the Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 devices to its smartphone range. 

“The Windows Phone 7 operating system, backed up by the smartphone-spec’d XT network, gives customers a fantastic social networking and mobile data experience. 

“For business users, the devices are fully integrated with the Microsoft platform, creating a seamless experience across desktop and mobile applications,” Mr Paris said. 

The sleek, curved casing of the Nokia Lumia 800, together with the 3.7” ClearBlack AMOLED display and precision finishing, heighten the Windows Phone experience.The Nokia Lumia 800 has an 8 MP camera with 28mm Carl Zeiss wide-angle lens and HD video. As well as instant photo share capabilities, the phone features touch-to-focus - a function that is unique to Nokia. The handset comes with 16GB of internal user memory plus access to SkyDrive that lets you store and share thousands of docs or photos.

The Nokia Lumia 710 has excellent social networking integration and a slick internet browsing experience with Internet Explorer 9. The Nokia Lumia 710 has a 5 MP camera with auto focus and LED flash. It comes with 8GB of internal user memory plus access to SkyDrive that lets you store and share thousands of docs or photos.

Exclusive to Nokia is Nokia Drive, available in 95 countries, that turns your handset into a fully featured sat nav with voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, info on traffic, speed limits and cameras.

The Nokia Lumia 800 will be available in black and blue (cyan) through Telecom. The Nokia Lumia 710 will be available in black through Telecom. The Nokia Lumia 800 will be available in black through Vodafone.

Customers who pre-register online with Telecom before 22 February at www.telecom.co.nz/lumiaprereg could receive up to NZ$100 off their handset if they purchase it online in March. The first 130 customers to purchase the Nokia Lumia 800 on a 24 month plan online will also receive a bonus gift.