Washington: Microsoft yesterday unveiled two new low-cost smartphones aimed at pushing its Windows Phone operating system to users in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The two Lumia handsets — made by the unit of Finnish-based Nokia which Microsoft acquired last year — will begin rolling out in February, with prices starting at ¤69 to 79 ($81 to $93).
The launch is part of a goal by Microsoft aimed at “bringing devices to as many people and price points as possible,” said Jo Harlow, corporate vice president for phones at Microsoft.
“With the Lumia 435 and Lumia 532, we’ve realized our goal of creating the most affordable Lumia devices to date, opening up the opportunity to reach those people who are buying a smartphone for the very first time.”
Both smartphones come with latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, Microsoft’s Office suite including Word, Outlook for email, Skype, and up to 30GB of free cloud storage.AFP
