Microsoft has officially dropped the Nokia name from its own brand in introducing its latest smartphone aimed at low-end markets, the Microsoft Lumia 535.
Just a few months after its $7 billion acquisition of Finland-based Nokia's phones and devices division, Microsoft has decided to scrap the Nokia branding, which it has licensed to use exclusively until 2016.
While the new Lumia 535 retains the same luminous colors of the older Nokia Lumia phones, the new smartphone showcases the Lumia brand name replacing the uppercase Nokia logo on the front of the device. Microsoft also stamped its own Windows Phone logo and brand name on the back..
The $136 phone, which comes with a Dual-SIM option, is targeted towards emerging markets such as India and other parts of Asia. Microsoft calls it a "5x5x5 phone", with each five referring to three features. First is the five-inch qHD (960 x 540) display, followed by the 5MP wide-angle front camera that is the same as the front camera on the mid-range Lumia 735.
The final "5" refers to the five core experiences users can have on the device: Skype, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook, 15GB free cloud storage on OneDrive and the Cortana personal digital assistant.
On the specs sheet, the Lumia 535 isn't very impressive. It is powered by a low-end 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 200 quad-core processor and has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, which is expandable to 128GB via microSD. Its battery is a meager 1,905 mAh lithium-ion battery that Microsoft says can accommodate up to 11 hours of talk time. Plus, it does not have the higher-end features that are found in the Lumia 730, such as support for 4G LTE and wireless charging.
"Innovation should be available to everyone, and we are doing this through the very best integrated Microsoft services free and out-of-the-box, a 5MP wide-angle front-facing camera and a spacious 5-inch qHD screen -- all at an affordable price," says Microsoft corporate vice president for phones Jo Harlow.
Microsoft is conducting a sweeping brand makeover to remove the Nokia brand name from its apps, websites and promotional materials.
On the company's Lumia Conversations blog, formerly the Nokia Conversations blog, Microsoft senior vice president of marketing for phones Tuula Rytilä explains which Microsoft products are going to receive the Lumia rebranding.
First to receive the makeover are Nokia apps, such as the Nokia Camera, which is now named the Lumia Camera. Rytilä says, aside from devices, its websites as well as social media pages are also undergoing a name change.
Microsoft, however, will continue to sell the Nokia Lumia smartphones already out on the market, including the new Lumia 830 and Lumia 735. Low-end feature phones, such as the $25 Nokia 130, which sold 300 million units last year, will also retain the Nokia name.
This is not the last of the iconic Nokia brand. As Microsoft's agreement with Nokia mandates, other smartphone manufacturers can license the valuable Nokia brand beginning in 2016.
Nokia itself has, in fact, earlier dropped hints that it might make its own smartphone to make a comeback in the industry it has once pioneered.
