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Part of thestylish mid-range Lumia series that is said to have brought Nokia into the big league in terms of smartphones, previously dominated by Samsung and Apple, the 820 is targeted at the middle class in developing countries, and more so in Africa, which remains the world’s fastest growing phone market.
Among features that are expected to be the biggest crowd pullers are Nokia Drive+, Nokia Maps and Nokia Location, giving users a new experience in traversing a largely unmapped continent.
The ability to sync content between Windows Phone 8 smartphones, Windows 8-based PCs and tablets or Xbox is also expected to give it a big advantage as the region largely uses Microsoft products.
“The Lumia 820 smartphone brings together incredible innovation in a beautiful design that will turn heads. Today, I am pleased to announce the first of our Lumia Smartphones based on Windows Phone 8 to the local market, and to bring the signature Nokia Lumia experience to our valued Kenyan consumers,” said Nokia East Africa’s general manager Bruce Howe.
Bruce adds that the increasing customer base demanding for richer features and services has called for the quick succession in releases of Nokia’s products into the market.
The smartphone’s debut into the Kenyan market comes days after the company launched Lumia’s cheapest version Nokia Lumia 620 in South Africa, which it says will target the youth.
Nokia expects to announce deals with local Kenyan telecom operators in the coming days.
