Nokia Lumia 930, Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 with Windows Phone 8.1 unveiled

Nokia unveiled three new Windows Phone 8.1 smartphones at Microsoft's Build 2014 conference on Wednesday - the Lumia 630, Lumia 635 and Lumia 930. The company also announced the Windows Phone 8.1 update will be available for the entire Lumia Windows Phone 8 portfolio as an over-the-air (OTA) update this summer - the Nokia-specific update will be called Lumia Cyan.

Stephen Elop, executive vice president of Nokia's Devices & Services division, made the announcements at the Build 2014 developer conference, after Microsoft's Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update announcements.

Starting with the Nokia Lumia 930 - a device that the company calls a 'flagship smartphone which delivers the best of Microsoft and Lumia for the ultimate video and imaging experience.' Priced at $599 (roughly Rs. 35,800) before taxes and subsidies, the Lumia 930 will be available from June beginning in Europe, Asia, India, Middle East and Latin America, and then roll-out globally over the summer. The device won't be available in the US, as it is a variant of the Lumia Icon.

The Nokia Lumia 930 features a 5-inch (1080x1920 pixel) display with a pixel density of 441ppi. The display boasts of a Gorilla Glass 3 screen, the 'Super Sensitive Touch' feature, and 'a near 180-degree viewing angle'. The Lumia 930 is powered by a 2.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC coupled with 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in storage (7GB free OneDrive cloud storage).

The Lumia 930 (seen below) also sports a 20-megapixel PureView camera, which has optical image stabilization (OIS) and Carl Zeiss optics. A front-facing 1.2-megapixel wide-angle camera is onboard as well, apart from four directional microphones and integrated Dolby Surround Sound. A LTE quad-band chip and Bluetooth 4.0 LE support is featured.

Featuring an aluminium frame with metallic accents, and a curved polycarbonate back with Bright Orange, Bright Green, Black and White colours, the Lumia 930 runs on a 2420mAh battery, and boasts of built-in wireless charging.

The Nokia Lumia 930 comes with OneDrive, MS Office, Nokia Camera, MixRadio and HERE Maps, as well as specific imaging apps, such as Nokia Camera, Nokia Storyteller, Nokia Creative Studio and Nokia Refocus, pre-installed.

(Also see: Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update)

The Nokia Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 smartphones were announced at the event as well, said to offer an "uncompromised Windows Phone 8.1 experience at an affordable price." The Lumia 630 will be available in single-SIM and dual-SIM (called Nokia Lumia 630 Dual SIM) variants that feature only 3G connectivity; while the Lumia 635 will offer 4G/LTE connectivity, but no dual-SIM variant.

The Lumia 630 (seen above) will start rolling out in May, beginning with Asia, Russia, China, India and Europe, starting at $159 (roughly Rs. 9,500) for the single-SIM variant, and $169 (roughly Rs. 10,100) for the dual-SIM variant. The Nokia Lumia 635 will be broadly available, including in the US, starting in July, from $189 (roughly Rs. 11,300). The polycarbonate devices feature changeable shells.

The common specifications of the Nokia Lumia 630 (Lumia 630 Dual SIM) and Lumia 635 include a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480x854 pixels) ClearBlack LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3 and a pixel density of 221ppi, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with 512MB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, a 5-megapixel rear autofocus camera, no front-facing camera, and a 1830mAh battery. MicroSD card storage expansion of up to 128GB is also supported.

The Nokia Lumia 635 and Nokia Lumia 630 will come with WhatsApp, WeChat, Nokia Camera, HERE Maps, and free Nokia MixRadio pre-installed. They also have the 'SensorCore' low-power sensing feature, meant for 'the next generation of exercise and exploration apps' like Bing Health and Fitness.

Nokia announces April 2 event, may unveil Lumia 630 and Lumia 930

Nokia has announced an event scheduled for 2 April 2014, the first day of the Build Developer Conference, where the Finnish firm is expected to announce some new Windows Phone 8.1 hardware, such as the Lumia 630 and Lumia 930.

The event was announced on the Nokia Conversations website, in a post titled as "If you BUILD it, they will come..." While Nokia is rumoured to announce its rumoured handsets, Microsoft might concentrate on its Windows Phone 8.1 operating system. It is highly likely that both the firms may team-up and release the new Nokia handsets running the Windows Phone 8.1 OS at the Build Developer Conference event.

"What makes 2014 so special is the exciting Microsoft and Nokia partnership, and boy, have we got some treats lined up for you," added the announcement post.

Nokia is expected to unveil its anticipated Nokia Lumia 630 (thought to be codenamed Moneypenny) and Nokia Lumia 930 (thought to be codenamed Martini) handsets at the upcoming Microsoft Build 2014 conference event.

Earlier this month, it was rumoured that Nokia might reveal its 'Martini' handset on the firm's reported 19 April 2014 event, alongside other devices such as Nokia Lumia 1820, Lumia 1525 and Lumia 1520 V.

Reports suggest the Lumia 630 will arrive in both single-SIM and dual-SIM variants (making it the first dual-SIM Windows Phone). It is further said to arrive without a rear camera flash, hinting it will fall in the budget segment.

No details have been reported about the Lumia 930 (Martini) handset, except for the speculated Build conference launch. The long-rumoured Windows Phone device codenamed 'Goldfinger' has been mentioned in the report however, as possibly due to launch at the same event, as a high-end device with a 3D touch interface.

The chances of Microsoft releasing its Windows Phone 8.1 OS also seem bright as the firm has already rolled-out the 'confidential' SDK files to developers, which revealed a number of upcoming features via leaks.

A report in February indicated Windows Phone 8. 1 will roll out to users sometime between July and August, with an announcement at the Build Conference 2014.