Bits Blog: Yearning for a Nokia Windows Phone 7

photos via NokiaThe Nokia Lumia 900 running Windows Phone 7.

The new Nokia Lumia 900 sure is pretty.

Yes, that’s right, I just publicly lusted after a non-Apple smartphone. A phone that runs Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 operating system, no less.

Before you call the smartphone police on me, I’m not alone. Microsoft said Thursday that the phone won a number of awards this week.

My colleague Nick Wingfield also reported earlier this week from the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that “the initial buzz about the device among gadget watchers has been positive.” (In Sunday’s New York Times, he chronicled how Microsoft came up with the idea for the phone and its design.) Farhad Manjoo, a technology writer for Slate, also received applause on Twitter when he posted this message: “The Lumia 900 is the first phone since the iPhone that I want without even touching it.”

So will people flock to this new sexy Nokia phone? Some will, but it might be a bit longer before the Apple and Google fanboys jump ship.

Personally, as much as I would like to switch to the Nokia Lumia 900, there is one thing that is holding me back: apps. The apps that I use the most on my iPhone, including Instagram, Path, Instapaper and NPR, don’t exist for Windows Phone 7.

That said, as much as it pains my ego to write this, I might not be the target audience for Microsoft and Nokia.

“The blue ocean that Nokia and Microsoft are going after are actually consumers who don’t yet have smartphones,” Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester, said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. “These are people who haven’t opted into Android or iPhone yet.”

Ms. Epps should know; she recently converted to a Windows Phone 7 smartphone from a RIM BlackBerry Curve.

Why Windows? “On a personal level, I didn’t really identify with iOS or Android phone platforms,” she said. “Plus, I wasn’t predisposed to be an Apple-fan or Google-fan in terms of my personal phone choice.”

So rather than try to convert people who love their iPhones or Android phones, Windows can go after a big segment of the smartphone market — BlackBerry users and those who have not yet switched to a smartphone from other mobile devices.

As for the apps? A number of start-ups I’ve spoken with in the past have said they plan to build apps for Windows Phone 7 as more consumers adopt the platform. Continuing to offer affordable sleek phones from Nokia will help increase the number of users quicker than people might expect.

As for me, until those apps exist, I’ll just sit lusting after the Nokia Lumia 900, wondering what it’s like to live in a Windows Phone world.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=8773bf568b28615ff47afeea7ce12e21