During Nokia World 2011 in London, Nokia has announced its first Windows Phone 7-based smartphones in the form of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710, both featuring 3.7-inch touchscreen displays and 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm CPU’s.

Nokia World is the company’s annual event, where new devices, software solutions and the company’s objectives are unveiled. Held October 26-27 in London, this year’s event is particularly significant, due to the release of the first Nokia Windows-based smartphones, expected since Nokia inked a deal with Microsoft in a somewhat surprising move this February.

Nokia Lumia 800

The Lumia 800 is similar to the MeeGo-based Nokia N9 in terms of design. The 800′s polycarbonate unibody comes with the same dimensions and curved glass screen coating as the N9, while the main differences are hardware buttons on the Lumia’s front (Back, Start and Search) and a physical camera button. The Lumia 800 features a 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display running at 800 x 480 resolution. Its 8-megapixel camera is equipped with Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, as well as HD 720p 30fps video recording capability.

Processing is provided by a 1.4GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 with the same Scorpion CPU as the one utilized in the Windows Phone-based HTC Titan and Samsung OMNIA W. There’s also 512 MB of RAM and 16GB of built-in memory, with an additional 25GB accessible online via SkyDrive. The Lumia 800 has a 1450mAh battery, with 13 hours of rated talktime in 2G, 9.5 hours in 3G and 335 hours of standby time.

Running Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) with browsing provided by Internet Explorer 9, the Lumia 800 comes with Nokia-specific software including Nokia Drive turn-by-turn free offline navigation with in-car user interface, MixRadio music-streaming app offering channels with “locally-relevant music,” as well as Gigfinder, allowing users to search for live local music, share discoveries on social networks and buy concert tickets.

Offered in cyan, magenta and black, the Nokia Lumia 800 is priced at EUR420 (US$584) before taxes. It’s scheduled to be rolled out in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK this November, as well as in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan by the end of the year. Other markets will obtain the 800 in early 2012.

Nokia Lumia 710

The second Windows-based Nokia arrival, the Lumia 710, comes with a 3.7-inch 800 x 480 ClearBlack TFT display. It will be offered in black or white with choice of black, white, cyan, fuchsia and yellow interchangeable back covers to suite the user’s preferences. Smartphone photography enthusiasts can use its 5-megapixel snapper with autofocus, LED flash and 30fps HD 720p video recording.

As with the Lumia 800, the 710 runs Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) and comes equipped with Nokia Drive turn-by-turn free offline navigation. The unit is powered via the same 1.4GHz Qualcomm CPU, while it offers less built-in storage at 8GB. When it comes to connectivity, 3G up to HSDPA 14.4Mbps, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.1 are available. Equipped with a 1300mAh battery, the smartphone weighs in at 126 grams (4.4 oz) and it measures 119 x 62.4 x 12.5 mm (4.7 x 2.4 x 0.5 in).

Priced at EUR270 (US$375) before taxes, the Nokia Lumia 710 will appear first in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan by the end of the year.

Tags: nokia, windows