news Pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 800, the first Nokia smartphone with Windows Phone 7 operating system, are now available, with exclusive online offers announced by Optus in a statement this week. The offers (valid until 29 February) come as a precursor to the much anticipated launch of the handset in Australia on 1 March.

The statement said that Optus customers can snap up (subject to conditions) the stylish smartphone through one of two offers exclusive to online orders. One offer is $0 monthly handset repayment costs upfront on a $49 Optus Cap Plan for consumers (24 month contract, min total cost $1176). The other is similarly a $0 upfront deal on a $49 Business Complete plan for small and medium business (SMBs) customers (24 month contract, min total cost $1176).

From 1 March, the Nokia Lumia 800 will also be available from Optus retail outlets and call centres for $0 upfront on the $59 Optus Cap and Business Complete plans (24 month contract, min total cost $1416). Optus customers looking for an alternative have the option of the Nokia Lumia 710, a lower-end, lower-cost Windows Phone 7 phone that will be launched on the same day and made available for $0 upfront on the $29 Optus Cap or Business Complete Plan (24 month contract, min total cost $696).

The Nokia Lumia 800 features 16GB of storage, an 8 megapixel camera, 512MB of RAM, a single-core 1.4GHZ Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7 inch touch screen running at a resolution of 800×480, and Windows Phone 7.5. It also comes with a micro-USB port. In Delimiter’s review of the Lumia 800, reviewer Jenneth Orantia was all praise for the phone.

In the review, Orantia wrote: “There’s no doubt about it, the Lumia 800 is a gorgeous phone. The simplicity, elegance and fully-stocked feature set of Windows Phone 7.5 paired with the stunning hardware design of the Lumia 800 amounts to a lethal combination that will change the game for both Nokia and Microsoft.“

“For Nokia, it’s the first smartphone that really innovates on all levels since the N95, and for Microsoft, it puts a much sexier face on its Windows Phone operating system, which is key for winning over more users. The distinctive design and eye-catching colour options will go a long way towards attracting everyday users, while the huge improvements in Windows Phone 7.5 should prove appealing for geeks and power users that are keen for something different.”

The Lumia 800 is similar in design to Nokia’s N9 handset launched in Australia last year. However, while the N9 ran the now-obsolete Meego operating system, the Lumia 800 will run Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 operating system, which Nokia is standardising on, following a management shake-up in late 2010 which resulted in former Microsoft executive Stephen Elop taking the help at the Finnish firm.

Australia has not seen a major launch of a new smartphone running Windows Phone 7 since late 2010, when Microsoft and its smartphone hardware partners HTC, Samsung and LG worked closely with Telstra to bring a swathe of models running the operating system to market. Over the past six months, a number of local Windows Phone 7 enthusiasts have started to question the major telcos as to when new launches would occur.

Image credit: Nokia, Optus

Related posts:

1. Nokia: Lumia 800 hits Australia in March
2. Nokia previews Lumia 900, 610 in Australia
3. Will Telstra skip Nokia’s Lumia 900?
4. Nokia Lumia 710: Review
5. Nokia Lumia 800: Review

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