Windows Phone 8 Release Date: Nokia Prepares Latest Releases to Compete With iPhone 5
Nokia's second generation Windows Phones - based on Windows Phone 8 - will be launched on Wednesday. Microsoft and Nokia are set to present the new devices which will feature a new start screen, dual core processors as well as an improved camera.
Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight, has said, "The challenge that Microsoft faces with the timing of the launch is that it risks being drowned out by the deafening noise generated by iPhone 5. That is going to be a challenge for Microsoft and its licensees, the most important of which is Nokia."
A flurry of reports emerged Tuesday as it was revealed that official Apple invitations had been sent out for the latest Apple event on September 12, 2012.
The invitation is in classic Apple style; being kept simple and white, but generating huge excitement with its minimal wording.
Despite not specifically mentioning the iPhone 5, Apple still manages to leave no one in doubt that the iPhone 5 will be unveiled at the event. The invitation has a large number 12 on the face - which corresponds to the date of the event - and this huge number casts a shadow, which is of the number 5 - clearly indicating the iPhone 5 will be made public on that date.
The iPhone 5 is probably the most highly anticipated smartphone to ever be released. For more than a year now Apple fans have touted its release. Many were left slightly disappointed last year by the release of the iPhone 4S instead of the 5, and that unveiling was a revamped iPhone 4 rather than a radical upgrade - which the iPhone 5 promises.
The invitation also builds anticipation to boiling point with the words: "It's almost here."
The event will take place at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, which is where the company has given presentations and made unveilings in the past.
The Nokia event being held on Wednesday meanwhile will launch two new phones; the Lumia 920 and then Lumia 820. It is believed that the Lumia 920 will have a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels. The Lumia 820 is rumored to have a smaller 4.3-inch screen but the same resolution.
However, analysts have been concerned for Nokia's Lumia range given the massive successes of both Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Apple's next generation iPhone. Some doubt whether Nokia will be able to generate the same levels of excitement about its new range of phones.
