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10/31/2024 07:46:25 pm

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Microsoft Launches Lumia 535 Without Any Nokia Branding

Lumia 535

(Photo : Microsoft) The Lumia 535, the first Lumia smartphone without Nokia branding.

Microsoft has officially unveiled its first Lumia device without any Nokia branding, following the decision to remove the Nokia brand from the smartphone entirely.

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The Lumia 535 is the first fruit of the $7.2 billion acquisition Microsoft completed earlier this year, ending the decade-long decline of Nokia's mobile division.

The new smartphone is looking to target the low-end market in South-East Asia, where Microsoft has had the most inroads with the Windows Phone platform. The Lumia 520 and 521 account for over 50 percent of the Windows Phone platform sales.

Microsoft has added a 5-inch 960x540 display, 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory. On the back, the Lumia 535 will feature a 5MP wide-angle camera, along with the Microsoft logo.

Even with the change in names, Microsoft is sticking to the previous Lumia aesthetic. Bright polycarbonate color options will be available, alongside a minimalist front with nothing showing but the screen and the Microsoft logo on top.

To interest buyers in India, China and other developing tech nations, Microsoft has added dual-SIM support, alongside a microSD slot for up to 128GB more storage. Users will be given 15GB of free OneDrive cloud storage when they purchase the device.

Microsoft will start sales in Asia and Europe, costing €110 ($136), no word on if the Lumia 535 will hit the U.S., it seems unlikely considering it is a low-end device.

Even though this is a big step in terms of naming conventions, the Lumia 535 doesn't have much appeal, even to low-end customers in developing nations. The resolution is the same as last year's model and Microsoft has not had a large software update for mobile since Windows Phone 8 was released.

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