Microsoft Launches First Nokia Phone Since Acquisition, Lumia 630 Set to Arrive in Mid-May

Microsoft has announced that it will be launching its first mobile phone since acquiring Nokia earlier this year. On Monday during a presentation in Bangladore, Microsoft revealed the Lumia 630, which is also set to become the first first Windows Phone with a dual SIM card. The phone will launch in India initially and will be available at the price tag of a little more than 11,000 Rs (about $192).

Confusion Over Launch Date

Although we know the phone will be arriving in stores in mid-May, it is not yet clear whether it will be on May 16th (as stated by the Times of India newspaper) or May 14th (as stated by the International Business Times and several other sources). Cnet has apparently contacted Microsoft for an exact date and is currently waiting on a response.

Whenever the Lumia 630 does reach consumers it will be equipped with the recently revamped Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. This means users will enjoy all of the latest features of the OS, including Cortana - the artificially intelligent personal assistant.

Marketed as High-End Entry Level Phone

Despite the launch price of $190+, the Lumia 630 is being marketed as a budget phone and has the specs to match. With a modest screen resolution of 854x480, a nothing-to-write-home-about 1.2 Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and only 8GB of internal memory, this phone is certainly not top of the line.

It appears that Microsoft could be using this launch as more of an international testing ground to see how well a dual-SIM Windows phone would do in foreign markets before staging a bigger launch of a better phone in the US or Europe.

Microsoft will also be releasing a single-SIM variant of the Lumia 630, but that version won't be available until June, according to Times of India. The company bought Nokia last month and officially took custody of the Lumia line of phones on April 25th.

To see a new phone being released only weeks after the acquisition is somewhat surprising to many people, but it shows that Microsoft is anxious to get involved in the burgeoning smartphone hardware market.

So Why Make it a Dual-SIM Phone?

Dual SIM smartphones have been increasing in popularity lately due to the fact that they let you hold two different phone numbers and mobile identities on the same device. For example, a Lumia 630 user could have one SIM card activated with Sprint and the other SIM card activated with Verizon.

It could be speculated that Microsoft is introducing their first Lumia phone with dual-SIM functionality to not only show their willingness to keep up with the trend but also to give buyers the opportunity to try the product through multiple networks.

The ability to instantly switch SIM cards and access two different mobile networks, contact groups, text message libraries and phone logs within a centralized interface is certainly a perk that will attract many new customers in the low to mid range smartphone market.