With the debut of Apple's iPhone 5 rumored to be Sept. 12, Nokia and Microsoft have officially taken the wraps off of new Lumia smartphone hardware and software. But when the Finnish company proudly unveiled its newest flagship devices, the Lumia 920, and lower-priced model, 820, Wednesday, not everyone was so impressed -- especially the technology giant's investors. Nokia, which once dominated the cell phone market, saw its shares plummet a startling 13 percent.
"People were looking for something that would dazzle. Most investors will view it as evolutionary, not revolutionary," said RBC Analyst Mark Sue.
The Lumia 920 takes many of the physical design elements from previous generations of Lumia handsets, but improves on internal hardware and display technology. Some of the new tech specs include PureMotion HD+ 4.5 inch display (1280 x 768 resolution), Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, NFC chip, 2,000mAh battery, and Wireless charging. Nokia is touting the Lumia 920′s premier feature as its new camera lens.
The mid-range Lumia 820, unlike the Lumia 920, includes a flatter back, a Carl Zeiss 8MP camera (versus PureView), wireless charging as an add-on, and a less crisp, 4.3-inch 800 x 480 resolution display.
Both handsets include a slew of new software and other neat features like usability with gloves and cool camera-based software features. Pricing and specific release information have yet to be announced.
"The challenge is that the world is working on the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions of their devices while Nokia is still trying to move from chapter 1. It still has quite a bit to catch up," said Sue.
While stocks plunged based on the lukewarm reception to Nokia's newest devices, the reasons for those tepid reactions are less clear. But, based on comments from around the web following the 920 and 820's release, we can certainly infer a few problems for Nokia.
The Battery
"Battery? Newest Samsungs have better ones."
"The 920 uses an embedded battery. Does anyone else realize you'll have to carry around a portable battery charger (even with its 2,000mAh battery) if you're a heavy user?"
What does "wireless charging" really mean?
"People need to stop calling this "wireless charging". Did you miss the wire that's sticking out the back of that charging pad? This is no more "wireless charging" than any dock ever made for a phone ever was. Lots of phones have docks available (and some used to even come with them) that allowed you to plop the phone down without fiddling with a wire. Sure, they charged through metal contacts, but they were just as "wireless" as this. It sounds like a huge innovation to say something "charges wirelessly" but the reality is all this allows you to do differently than a standard dock is put your phone down at a slightly different angle."
"Completely useless to me and it doesn't come free with the phone. Besides, Samsung did this earlier too."
Everyone's worried about the quality/quantity of apps
"If Google ever develops proper Gmail and Google Calendar and Google Talk apps for WP8, I would consider it... until then, I'm way too invested in all my Google apps to move to any other platform."
"As other people have mentioned, the only thing causing me pause are the apps. I love the looks of the phone though. The novelty of the color case will wear off, but even so, it's an appealing design."
"Let's see. No apps, and a high chance of it NEVER getting an OS update when the next version comes out in 9 months. No thanks. Maybe in 3 years when it has 1/2 the apps that android does."
"Yes, we're still worried about apps. That's the thing. This thing looks sexy as hell, but at the end of the day, apps is where I spend 95% of the time I'm holding the phone, not looking at the OS or fondling the hardware."
Size matters, but not like you think
"Give me a Lumia that's non-massive (there's a reason why the iPhone form factor hasn't changed all this time, people need to stop reinventing the wheel with these monstrosities), and I'm in. The 800 was perfect I don't know why they changed."
"I like it a lot. However at 185g it is definitely too heavy and pushing on 11mm, pocketability just is not there any longer."
Design problems
"I really like this and i'd think about switching. My only concern is that it looks too much like a toy for a man in his 20's. I know that it's a seriously good phone, but the guy whos interviewing me for a job might not think so."
Specs, etc.
"Processor? Worse than ie. S3 or Note 2. Memory? Less than ie. in S3 or Note 2"
"It's 'okay', but that isn't enough. It would have been good a year ago, but currently the main rivals are just that one step ahead in almost everything (specs, software). Of course, in the end it still comes down to WP8. That OS just isn't popular... and when it isn't popular it won't get enough apps. Nokia is the only company to rely on just one card, which is WP. I don't think it's a wise strategy, but what else can you expect when Elop and Microsoft has taken the lead in Nokia?
As a Finn, I wouldn't mind success of Nokia at all. Afterall it's still the biggest thing that ever came out of this country and I have never had an phone that isn't Nokia, just for principle. But I have to be honest, I'm planning on getting Note 2 as my next phone and it really makes this Lumia look outdated in comparison."
"While it has 32GB of onboard storage, the Lumia 920 doesn't have a microSD card slot. This may be enough storage for the casual user, but it won't be enough for music junkies or those who watch a lot of videos."