AT&T may launch Nokia Lumia 900 on March 19 for just $99

Nokia’s Lumia 900 Windows Phone, one of the most promising products we saw at CES 2012, may be available through AT&T on March 19 for just $99, according to a report from BGR.

Two weeks ago, we heard from Windows guru Paul Thurrott that the Nokia Lumia 900 could arrive March 18. A first quarter launch for the Nokia Lumia 900 would be a great move for Nokia and Microsoft as they begin converting customers to the Windows Phone 7 operating system. Nokia phones could determine the success or failure of Windows Phone 7, and analysts have estimated Nokia’s other Lumia phones have sold at least one million units since their November 2011 debut.

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The most eye-popping part of the report is that the Lumia 900 will be available for just $99 on a 2-year contract. Currently, almost every top-notch smartphone retails between $199 and $299 on a 2-year contract. Apple’s iPhone 4S, for example, starts at $199 and the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket Android phone also retails for $199 on contract.

From my hands on time with the phone, I think the Nokia Lumia 900 may be the single best phone Nokia has produced in years. It features a beautiful 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black display that makes Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system pop. For specs, it has a single-core 1.4-GHz processor, an 8-megapixel camera with an LED flash, and a front-facing camera for video conferencing. While it’s disappointing that the processor is only single-core, Windows Phone’s lightweight OS makes it very responsive.

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