Google-Microsoft field smartphones to take on iPhone 5

NEW YORK —

Google and Microsoft have introduced new champions in the fiercely competitive smartphone arena a week ahead of what is likely to be the hotly-anticipated debut of a next-generation iPhone by Apple. Microsoft and Nokia joined to boost their smartphone arsenal with two new Lumia handsets powered by Windows 8 software.

The Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 are part of the Finnish-based company’s strategy of offering an alternative to the faceless black and grey monoblocs that you see out there, This is Lumia, the world’s most innovative smartphone.

The media events in Manhattan shined early spotlights on Microsoft and Android mobile gadget platforms that compete with Apple iOS and drew attention to handsets that will compete with iPhones for holiday shoppers’ cash.

Microsoft and Google platforms are really out-innovating Apple but that might not matter to consumers, The consumer goes into a store with a heavy bias to buy an Apple product and you have to do a lot to unseat them from that love affair.

Delaney predicted that if Apple debuts an iPhone 5 as expected in San Francisco on Sept 12, it will be a monster event that sets the stage for blockbuster sales.

Leaks and rumors portray the new iPhone as having a larger touch-screen than its predecessor and say that it will be available by the end of the month. Demand for what is being referred to as iPhone 5 is likely to be hot, with analysts convinced that many people in the market for handsets have put off purchases to wait for the latest offering from Apple.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has gone on record predicting that Apple could sell as many as 10 million iPhone 5 handsets the week of its release. Smartphones powered by Google’s Android software continued to dominate with 52.2% of the U.S. market, but Apple’s iOS was the second most popular smartphone platform with 33.4%, 

Nokia, once the leader in mobile phones, has been losing market share as consumers move to smartphones powered by Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android operating system. The Finnish company’s new strategy is phasing out its Symbian smartphones in favor of a partnership with Microsoft.

Nokia created great hardware for the Lumia line and loaded it with software that out-distances it in a number of areas from Google and Apple, Investors were disappointed by the lack of specifics regarding when the new Lumia smartphones will be available.

Nokia’s a shadow of its old self and success of the new Lumia devices is critical,