Microsoft's upcoming Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL are rumored for launch in October, going against earlier reports that the Windows maker could be gearing up for IFA in September.
The latest rumor comes from Windows Central, which says that Microsoft could hold its own event in New York City in October instead of joining all the other smartphone manufacturers at the yearly consumer electronics trade show in Berlin earlier this year.
According to the website, Microsoft could be looking to avoid many of the Android bigwigs that are looking to unveil their new smartphones at the trade show, which might overshadow Microsoft's own Lumia phones if they do.
If Microsoft has learned anything from Tuesday's launch of the new Motorola smartphones and OnePlus' virtual reality lunch for the OnePlus 2, it is that it helps for companies to control the launch environment and deliver the perfect message without the specter of competitors just looming nearby to take other people's attention away.
If the phones are indeed coming later this year, we can expect a couple of high-flying Microsoft handsets in Microsoft's Lumia brand. Codenamed Talkman and Cityman, both phones have been the subject of several rumors that, if patched together, create a picture of two high-end phones that Microsoft will use to bear the flag for Windows 10 for mobile devices.
The Lumia 950, known internally as Talkman, is believed to sport a 5.2-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. It will purportedly run a 64-bit, hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor from Qualcomm and 3 GB of RAM. Microsoft will also want to brandish its news security features for Windows 10, so the rumors that the Lumia 950 will have an eye scanner for Windows Hello are not unfounded.
Meanwhile, the Lumia 950, as its name implies, will be a bigger device, with a 5.7-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. It will reportedly have a more powerful octa-core Snapdragon 810 chipset inside but the same 3 GB of RAM and iris scanner.
Both phones are said to have 32 GB of internal storage, and Microsoft definitely wants to woo a lot of switchers with a microSD slot for expanding storage. On the rear panel is a 20 MP PureView camera paired with a 5 MP shooter in front. Both phones will also have support for USB Type-C and wireless charging as the rumors go.
The Lumia 950 XL, however, is said to feature triple LED flash and a premium feel brought about by aluminum side buttons and a 1mm silver ring within the camera pod. Unlike Microsoft's brightly colored earlier devices, Talkman and Cityman will reportedly come only in black and white but in the same matte polycarbonate shell covering earlier Lumias.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr
