Nokia Lumia 1520 gets November 15th release date on AT&T; phablet is $199 on contract

AT&T has finally given Windows Phone fans what they have been waiting for, a release date for the Nokia Lumia 1520. The phablet will ship on November 15th which is a week from this Thursday. The price will be $199 with a signed two-year pact and sans contract, the price is $549. Color options are yellow, red, white and black. The Microsoft Store is accepting pre-orders now for the phone.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is the first Windows Phone model to come with the GDR3 update which allows it to offer features like Driving Mode. This automatically blocks calls and texts sent to you while you're behind the wheel. It also allows you to reply with a pre-written text message explaining that you are driving a car and can't be reached. Another feature of the update allows you to lock your screen in portrait or landscape. You can also set Data Sense to restrict background data while roaming. And the 3G and Wi-Fi icons will also show when you are transmitting data on your phone.

More importantly for those looking to buy the Nokia Lumia 1520, the GDR3 update allows Nokia to put a 6 inch 1080 x 1920 resolution LCD screen on the device, resulting in a pixel density of 368ppi. A quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor is running the show with the Adreno 330 handling graphics. Inside you will find 2GB of RAM. Unlike the international version of the phone, AT&T's model has 16GB of native storage (as opposed to 32GB out of the country) although there is a 64GB capacity microSD slot. 

Another difference between the AT&T and international versions of the phone, the former does not support wireless charging like the latter model does. AT&T supports the PMA wireless standard and as a result, wireless charging is an extra for those buying the phablet in the states. The 20MP PureView camera on back features OIS and the front facing snapper weighs in at 1.2MP. A 3400mAh battery keeps the lights on.

This model, and the yet to be announced Nokia Lumia 929 for Verizon, are two top-shelf handsets that will tell us how competitive Windows Phone is going to be with its high-end models in the year ahead. On Tuesday, we told you that Windows Phone showed some momentum globally during the third quarter while Android and iOS stalled. The Nokia Lumia 1520 and Nokia Lumia 929 have specs that match up with just about any high-end Android model.


source: MicrosoftStore via WPCentral