Microsoft recently launched its newest addition to its Lumia brand of smartphones. Dubbed the Lumia 650, the smartphone runs on Windows 10 and is one of the only four devices that run on Microsoft's universal operating system.
The Lumia 650 will be released in two color variants; black and white. Initial price starts at $199 before taxes and will be released on select European markets only. Reports claim that the device will hit the market on Feb. 18.
Microsoft is marketing the smartphone as a "business" device with strong focus on productivity and security.
In a statement acquired by Venture Beat, Microsoft general manager for phone program management Samuli Hanninen said, "By providing a consistent experience across PC and phone through the power of Windows 10, we think professionals and Windows fans alike will love using it every day."
The Lumia 650 has a 5-inch OLED display protected by an aluminum frame. The display has a 720 x 1280 resolution. It is powered by a quad-core 1.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor with 1GB of memory.
In terms of connectivity, the Lumia 650 supports 2G, 3G and 4G LTE networks. It also supports Bluetooth 4.1, near-field communication, Wi-Fi and GPS. It has dual -SIM support and has a 2000mAh non-removable battery pack.
It has an 8-megapixel rear facing camera and a 5-megapixel front facing camera with wide-angle shot feature. In terms of storage, it only comes in 16GB model which can be expanded to 200GB via microSD.
Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile is the company's latest attempt to remain relevant in the smartphone market, an industry currently dominated by iOS and Android. As a spiritual successor to the mildly successful Windows Phone, Windows 10 Mobile is tightly synced with Windows 10 operating system as part of Microsoft's plan to create a single universal OS that encompasses several platforms.
As part of its effort to unify all of its supported platforms, Microsoft released a slew of middleware tools which will help developers in easily porting their apps from Android or iOS to Window 10 Mobile.
Microsoft posted on the company's official blog, "As we've sharpened our mobile strategy with a new focus in phones, the Lumia 650 is another step towards bringing Windows 10 to more than a billion devices."