Nokia Lumia 930 Release Date and Specs: Coming with New Phone Windows 8.1

Jun 07, 2014 01:01 AM EDT

Nokia's Lumia 930 flagship device is available for pre-order at £525 (about $922 USD) in Great Britain, while a release date for the rest of Europe and Asia is pending. The U.S. release date remains unknown.

At this time, the Lumia 930 device is on sale only in the UK, but other countries will be getting the handset this summer. So far, the regions confirmed to see a release date include Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Nokia has yet to confirm whether or not it is going to bring the Lumia 930 to the States. It is quite possible that the Lumia 930 will see a U.S. launch date, given the size and scale North American market.

Recent developments reveal Nokia's latest attempt at regaining some of its lost glory in the mobile market. For years now, Nokia has released a line of handset devices targeted at more budget-conscious users. The result is that Nokia keeps churning out devices that have good cameras, but weaker processors. This is not to suggest that all Nokia smartphones are cheap. The higher-end Nokia Lumia 925 currently retails between $400-$600 USD.

The Lumia 930 flagship device may be Nokia's answer to complaints revolving around the shortcomings of the previous Lumia 925 flagship, which suffers from the same weak processor problem. This time around, Nokia may have gotten it right with the Lumia 930. The device will come powered by a Qualcomm MS874 Snapdragon 800 chipset and Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400, and have 2 GB RAM. Storage capacity in the Lumia 930 has increased to 32 GB, which is double the capacity of the previous Lumia 925. Beside improved performance, the Lumia 930 is coming with the new Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. Regarding the display, the Lumia 930 has a 5-inch full HD 1080p display at 441 ppi. The touchscreen comes with Super Sensitive Touch Technology, which allows users to operate the device while wearing gloves.

Unfortunately, the Lumia 930 does not have a cardslot for storing extra data. Considering that the Lumia 930 is supposed to be a flagship device, there is no excuse for this. Another downside is the battery life provided by the Lumia 930's Li-Ion 2420 mAh battery (BV-5QW), which brings a battery life that is slightly longer than that of the Lumia 925. Considering that the Lumia 930 is expensive, one would have expected Nokia to make major improvements in battery life.

Last month, the Lumia 930 failed to make an appearance at the 2014 Microsoft Build Developer Conference, despite rumors that it will be featured there alongside its lower-budget Lumia 630 cousin. It seems that Nokia went straight for launch with the Lumia 930 without much fanfare. Now, what remains to be seen is whether the Lumia 930 will see sales similar to other hot-item smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy s5, Apple iPhone 5, and the upcoming Sony Xperia Z2.