Nokia goes Windows Phone

It's been 8 months now since Nokia announced the strategic partnership with Microsoft, involving a complete adaptation of the Windows Phone operating system in all price categories. Yesterday at Nokia World, finally, the first Nokia Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" devices were introduced.

 Nokia Lumia 800 running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango

Since I've known for months that there would be a Nokia phone with WP7, I have patiently kept using my old phone in hope of a jump to the next level. I loved the design and simplistic aspects of N9 very much, but there were two major defects that I simply couldn't ignore: 1) high price 2) lack of future apps. Now just to make it clear: I'm not an app-fanatic but e.g. when searching for some cool photo/panorama apps for the N9 from Ovi Store, there just didn't seem to be anything to satisfy my needs.

Nokia's Lumia 800 was exactly what I was hoping for. Ok, front facing camera is missing, but in the end I figured I probably wouldn't need that so much. NFC would've been cool too, but it's more of the future features as well. But everything else was pretty much great stuff: The gorgeous N9 design, good camera and other decent specs + the benefits of the Windows Phone eco-system.

Then I realized they wouldn't release it in Finland, not this year anyway.

I was quite pissed off. Of course, I understand and approve CEO Elop's strategy to go to big markets with a rumble first, but still.. Finland is Nokia's homeyard and I wonder if they have ever before decided to skip the premiere launch of a flagship product here.

Anyway, so here I am, still patiently waiting.. or more to say, trying to figure the heck out on what phone to buy next. Yet, perhaps some hope remains. Thanks to the loose borders of the EU (at least in the economic terms), I might be able to order a phone for me all the way from UK or Germany. I surely hope I can somehow get the phone I want and all this wait hasn't been for nothing.