This is officially the first bit of news that we at Game of Phones are posting to our very empty Windows section of the site. But I can think of no better way to kick things off then to announce the price and release date of the much anticipated Lumia 900 here in the states.
According to several news sources (BGR and CNet) a "trusted source" (I'm guessing Microsoft PR) has announced that AT&T will be selling the device for $99.99 with a two year contract starting on March 18th. If the reports are true, this is very good news for Nokia, Microsoft, and AT&T. Each have had struggles in the smartphone arena with Microsoft and Nokia having virtually zero presence and AT&T trying to gain back an edge after losing exclusivity to the much loved iPhone.
Microsoft and Nokia are no doubt looking to make a splash and to correct prior failed attempts at breaking into the smartphone market and to compete with the likes of Android and Apple. They've definitely given themselves a great shot at achieving their goals with the Lumia 900 at this price.
On paper this is an amazing phone, but at $99 it becomes a no-brainer for those not willing to pay a premium for comparable Android and iOS devices. The Lumia 900 comes loaded with a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, 8 megapixel rear facing camera, 16GB of memory, a polycarbonate case in black or blue, a 4.3 inch ClearBlack AMOLED screen, 4G LTE support, and a 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor. Add to those impressive specs Microsoft's super smooth and sexy Windows Phone 7.5 OS and you have yourself a real contender.
The final bit that you need to consider is the massive amounts of money that Microsoft will be throwing at selling this device. The PR assault will be huge and you will not be able to avoid it. Microsoft's guns are locked and loaded…game on.