Microsoft release lumia without nokia label 1st time

The Microsoft Lumia 535 made its
debut Monday, notable for being
the first Lumia handset to lose the
Nokia label.
Microsoft bought Nokia's phone
business in April for $7.2 billion in
a deal that allowed the division to
continue to produce phones with
the Lumia name adorned on them.
The deal also allowed Microsoft to
keep using the name Nokia on new
phones for a brief time, but that
brand is being phased out in favor
of the name Microsoft Lumia.
Although the new handset runs
Windows Phone 8.1, the latest
version of Microsoft's mobile
operating system, the sequel to
the Lumia 530 is decidedly aimed
at the lower end of the market. It
sports a quad-core 1.2GHz
Qualcomm Snapdragon 200
processor and a 5-inch 960x540-
pixel display. Like its predecessor,
the Lumia 535 has a plastic back
and clean lines with rounded
corners, though in a bigger and
slimmer package.
While the new handset doesn't
represent much of a rebirth for the
handset lineup, the new branding
signifies a new chapter for the
mobile devices, which have
struggled in the marketplace. The
smartphones, which have featured
bright colors and a reputation for
powerful cameras, barely make a
dent as far as sales go, except in a
few emerging markets. But
Microsoft's branding may mean a
new lease on life for Lumia
smartphones.
Microsoft's Windows Phone
platform could use a jumpstart as
well. The OS has yet to gain much
traction with consumers, powering
just 2.5 percent of the world's
mobile devices, according to market
researcher IDC. In comparison,
Google's Android OS runs on nearly
85 percent of mobile devices
worldwide.
In the short term, making phones
isn't proving lucrative for Microsoft:
restructuring costs associated with
its absorption of Nokia have proved
a drag on profit in its most recent
financial results, although
Microsoft sold 9.3 million Lumia
phones in the quarter, up 5.6
percent from the record 8.3 million
devices sold this time last year.
Check out CNET's hands-on
impressions of the Lumia 535 here.