Could Nokia's (NYSE:NOK) first U.S. device running Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone land on T-Mobile USA?
Click here to see the invitation. |
It certainly appears that way, based on the invitation sent by the companies to a Dec. 14 media event in New York City at 7 p.m. The invitation doesn't reveal much but said the companies "have something exciting in the works." Further, the style of the initiation imitates the tiles that are the hallmark of the Windows Phone user interface.
Representatives from Nokia and T-Mobile declined to comment beyond the invitation.
According to a report on the blog WPCentral, which unearthed FCC documents related to device testing, T-Mobile will launch Nokia's mid-range Lumia 710. The blog said test documents and diagrams showed the Lumia 710 with T-Mobile branding.
Nokia has repeatedly said it will introduce Windows Phone devices specifically for the U.S. market early next year, and the early speculation was that Nokia would use the Consumer Electronics Show in January as a launching pad for the devices. Nokia has reportedly been working with Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) and T-Mobile on its Windows Phone devices.
In November, rumors began circulating that AT&T might release an LTE version of Nokia's flagship Lumia 800 device. Nokia unveiled the Lumia 800 in late October alogn with the Lumia 710, and said it would sell the gadget in Europe and elsewhere.
Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ), however, thinks Microsoft needs to bring LTE to its Windows Phone platform for the devices to truly take off with the carrier, according to Verizon CMO Marni Walden. "We've communicated to Microsoft that LTE is critical to us," Walden recently told CNET. "We need to see a timeline that makes sense if we want to continue to represent them." Verizon currently offers one Windows Phone device, the HTC Trophy, but has not been nearly as aggressive as AT&T and T-Mobile in promoting the platform.
For more:
- see this PC Magazine article
- see this The Verge article
- see this WPCentral post
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