Nokia’s Lumia 900 rumored to land on March 18

Nokia’s Lumia 900 Windows Phone pretty much owned the smartphone field at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show and is now expected to launch on March 18.

That’s according to Windows guru Paul Thurrott, who dropped the date on the most recent Windows Weekly podcast. Thurrott isn’t one to share spurious rumors, and he’s often equipped with insider Microsoft knowledge, so there’s good reason to believe him. He also previously mentioned the March 18 date in December when discussing Microsoft’s Windows Phone LTE plans.

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Thurrott was on the podcast with ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley and named the March 18 release date when the conversation turned to a potential March launch date for the Lumia 900 based on Nokia developer documentation.

The Lumia 900′s specs and features are tempting, though not surprising if you’ve been keeping up with rumors. It sports a 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black display — a big improvement over the Lumia 800′s 3.7-inch screen, 1.4 gigahertz CPU (though unfortunately not dual-core — those Windows Phones are expected later this year), and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. Notably, the Lumia 900 also features a very large battery (1830mah), which should help it survive a day’s worth of heavy usage.

The phone will initially be available in black and cyan, sporting the same gorgeous polycarbonate case as the Lumia 800 and N9 MeeGo phone.

We’re still awaiting pricing details on the Lumia 900, though if Nokia and Microsoft are wise, they’ll aim for $150 instead of the standard $200 with contract. We’ve also heard that both companies are planning a major push for the new phone. Thurrott previously said the marketing campaign could cost around $200 million.

Via Engadget