Nokia to push wireless charging by bundling free chargers with Lumia 930

Nokia has unveiled plans to push wireless charging heavily with the Lumia 930 launch. By this we mean the company will be bundling a free wireless charging accessory with each purchase. It’s a move we expected to see with future hardware since Microsoft joined the Wireless Power Consortium alongside Nokia and other companies.
The Lumia 930 has gone back to Nokia’s roots of including wireless charging inside the chassis itself, rather than requiring the consumer to purchase an optional case accessory. Conor Pierce, VP of Nokia UK & Ireland explained to a media briefing yesterday how the company was going to drive wireless charging, a more convenient option.
We expect the Lumia 930 to launch later this year.
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Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.
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Er now that is a deal
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Wish they'd done this with my icon...
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I cannot talk myself into going back from wireless charging anytime soon. Its the real reason holding me from upgrading to AT&T 1520.
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Same here.
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If you buy the international version of the 1520, it has Qi charging built in, and you can get it with 32GB RAM in any of the offered colors.
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Microsoft store had free qi charger with $599 icon when I got mine...
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That's how Qi wins
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So now in $600 we get a 930+Qi charger ?
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Great idea. I thought wireless charging was a stupid feature until I got a good deal on a charger & tried it.
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I love it and won't go back
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I go back in my car and when I need a quick charge, but for standard charges and anytime I can't be bothered to plug in, I will drop it on one of the charging stands, they wife's fat boy, or the JBL PowerUP
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The Wireless car charger is awesome as well, one button release and squeeze to hold.... So easy jumping in and out of the vehicle!!
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Problem with that for me is, I burn power faster than that can charge and the phone would die on charge. But it would be nice.
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I have heard that from a couple of others as well... My wireless car charger with my 925 doesn't seem to do that... See I drive for 50% of every day for work running maps/music/fb etc constantly and haven't come across this issue myself yet??
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I'll have to try someone's out, I've made every phone since the G1 die on the full speed car charger my WinMo phones never did this even with the Bluetooth GPS modules. HD7, L710, L920, L1020 The G1, and even the LG Prototype WP7, we'll see when the international L1520 arrives if I can do that one too, the easiest test rather than going for a long drive is to run Civilization Revolution for an hour this has mad every windows phone I've tried run hot and lose charge on their OEM wall charger. It made my wife's 1520 run hot but I didn't get the chance to seethe drain.
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Link to Civ Rev if anyone's wanting to try it out, they have a free trial too. http://www.windowsphone.com/s?appid=f1126266-30a0-4bfc-8985-97cb1d6821b0
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Eh, nothing's changed guys- earlier it was an optional purchase, now it's a forced one......Nothing comes for free ;)
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lolwut
wireless charging case + charger costs 7-8k easily
now its within 30k
how is it forced if its a great feature
its like saying the 930 forces us to use the quad core cpu -
Well the icon was $777, about 45k INR. This is the same phone, a bit better maybe, for 36k INR ($600) with a wireless charger. Is it a bad deal ?
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Icon was $600. The $777 was a placeholder price until was released. Still, would have loved an included charger.
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Haha, forced huh? Ok.
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Yeah they are totally forcing us to have a mobile experience that is just awesome. Don't you just hate that.
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Edit- Guys, I'm pro- wireless charging, but I just pointed out a sensible fact. By the way, 930 is going to cost closer to 40k now, with the inclusion of the Wireless Charger.
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I still don't understand why you are saying it's "forced". How is it forced if it's bundled for free? And how is it forced if you can still just plug it in if you'd like?
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He's saying forced because companies like to include something"free" but they're really just adding the cost of the accessory to the phones final price.
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+920, exactly what I meant to convey, thanks.
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I still remember to this day how a vocal number of members at Soyacincau whined about the RM 2,499 price of the L1020 + Camera grip bundle last year (In fact, I called out some of them in that site as hypocrites for turning a blind eye to the RRPs of both the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Xperia Z1). Personally, I don't see what the big deal is because if someone is willing to fork out that amount of cash for it, at least having an extra is better than that nothing at all. Or just wait for a price drop until it reaches your desired price point and buy it. I'd say the same for this L930 + Wireless Charger case.
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Damn ! I was expecting to stretch my budget to that much, but if it costs 40k now, then i'm not game. Hope that the $600 was inclusive of charger. Otherwise i'd have to settle with a 32gb 920 when I buy a new phone in june.
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People in the US should read this Gentleman's post carefully. This is how buying decisions are made outside of the US and Canada where handsets are subsidized. Careful scrutiny is made of the price/value proposition, and the latest and greatest often fails to make the cut. This is why mid-range and low end phones, and the previous generation of top end phones are so important in the Worldwide market. Only Trust Fund Babies and complete phone geeks pay $700 for a phone in the US. Meanwhile, people elsewhere are asked to do so all the time.
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Yup. I'm in the UK. Have been waiting to see if the 930 had a microSD card slot, or if the price of the 1020 with 64GB would drop. A big fat zero on both counts, so I just picked up a brand new unlocked 920 for £140. For that price, I am willing to compromise on storage AND camera capability. There's no way I would pay £400 just for a much better camera or a slightly thinner body, but if there was also a microSD card slot in either the 930 OR the 1020, the decision would have been more difficult.
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Not to put a downer on things there, the 920 is a great device... But the 925 for not much more absolutely s$#Ts all over it... My partner has the 920 and I'm 925 and I haven't heard the end of it! But with no Glance, SD and no Cortana in OZ on 930 (which she loves the look of) It looks like she will be waiting for an upgrade for a while longer...
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Sorry, but for me the 925 doesn't fit the bill; it's way more expensive than the 920 in the UK. Most 925s on sale here have only 16GB and there's no wireless charging. By the time you add a wireless charging shell, the 'thinner and lighter' argument (which I'm guessing your partner values) no longer holds water. So, for an extra £100-150 in the UK, I'll pass on the 925 just for an extra lens element. I'm living in the real world of careful scrutiny that MadSci2 is talking about.
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I done the wireless charging mod on mine.. To keep the thinness and I would pay a 100 -150 more for not having the battery issues alone... We both use each others all the time... And the 925 is preferred by both of us by a long way... The storage being the only downside but still easily manageable... That is the real world.. ??
But your call, each to their own ;) -
Agreed. The 920 is still the overall better experience than the 925 because of the extra memory, and built-in wireless charging...also because it's thinner.
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I'm a fan of T-Mobile because they don't subsidize phones, never purchased a subsidized phone in my life, and never plan to. I did buy the 810 a month after it was released for $500, which felt like a fortune to me, and now I plan to buy a 1020 later this year when it starts seeing deals like the 925 has been lately.
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Who forced you? Is not the word "included" a more accurate description? Isnt an accesory that now comes bundled a change? Perhaps you can elaborate.
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Where's the "Except for AT&T" asterisk?
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This
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Where's the except for the rest of the world asterisk?
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Hmmm....might be that whole, probably not coming to the states rumor.
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They need to do this with ATT! To bypass there idiocy!
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This... Nokia needs to tell AT&T it's either QI or no phone for you.
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Exactly. I'm tired of att saying what we want or don't want/need. Let us decide!
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How does QI affect AT&T anyway? I've always wondered. Is not like they have to do anything but sell the phones. I always figured they didn't like the QI simply because it was a feature the IPhones didn't have, and win a Apple is their bread and butter, and they didn't want to risk new/existing customer trying this out and liking it.
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Because AT&T aligned with PMA which is a direct competitor to Qi.
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Perhaps when the microsoft-Nokia deal goes through microsoft can sell the global version themselves. Kinda like google with their play edition phones.
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I'm really hoping they do this
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I'm hoping they do this. I really want the 1520 RM-938 (U.S. compatible with 32GB and Qi) but for $625 that it costs on Newegg I would really like a warranty with it. Also Cyan please.
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With 3% marketshare for last 3 years Nokia can't dictate eventough i would like them to... The could also launch unlocked a few more people could switch.. Microsoft needs to support the changes faster .. else every release people wait for these to be copied over by samesung or IOS and move on.. Samsung copied nokia camera app Smartshoot in SG5 FYI
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You said it! I'm holding onto my 920 until at$t has a new flagship with built in Qi. If they don't, me and my 3 others on my plan are out.
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This is why I left AT&T last month. Qi over at Verizon on everything the family wanted. Plus, with Verizon's new plans, we're paying just slightly less than we were at AT&T. Now, if Verizon could resolve whatever is causing SMS sent from ATT phones to come over as multiple messages, life would be perfect
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This works, but my question remains, where is this phone going? Is it official it is NOT going to come to the US?
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IIRC it won't drop in the US until after some other countries (fair enough). technically its the same as the Icon (except for maybe missing a GSM band or two and having CDMA radio equipment onboard)
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CDMA networks are faster and have better connectivity than GSM, I suppose.
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Not true at all. First off GSM and CDMA are becoming irrelevant as LTE is implemented in more areas. It will still be a few years though. GSM allows both voice and data to transmit simultaneously. CDMA can not. Also GSM is the global standard. If anything the international L930 would lack CDMA. Verizon was really the only provider using CDMA and they have been pushing LTE faster than anyone else. There is no reliability difference in the technologies, The carriers on the other hand, have their own reliability issues.
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CDMA can certainly do simultaneous voice and data -- there have been phones on Verizon that had it (off the top of my head, the Thunderbolt, Rezound, and S3 all had SVDO over 3G). Sprint uses CDMA (and now LTE also) as well as hundreds of other carriers worldwide. And of course, the only data GSM is transmitting simultaneously is through GPRS and EDGE. 3/3.5/4G on the so called GSM networks is provided by (drumroll) WCDMA. ;)
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GSM was by far the most dominante technology (more than 8 times as many users). Again this is all changing due to LTE. Verizon was only able to do SDVO when they switched to CDMA2000 and the first phone was the thunderbolt in 2010. GSM, using EDGE, has been able to do this since 1991, almost 20 years... At the same time W-CDMA is about as similar to CDMA as a dirt road is to a 10 lane highway. The idea is similar but in no way can you say 3GSM used CDMA.
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It is not coming to the U.S.
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Not coming. As AT&T was the only one to get the 920, Only Verizon will get this phone.
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Nokia did say they are moving (trying to move?) towards a model of having one flagship device for all carriers also in the US. Whether the Icon/930 is yet that model (probably not) is a different matter.
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Need this on t-mobile
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I love wireless charging, but I think having it external and lame, not to mention excluding it from the 1520 is asinine.
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That's AT&T's fault that there is no wireless charging on their 1520. The international version has it.
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Does the international version of the 1520 work on AT&T?
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Yes, they all do if unlocked, only one or two variants other than Att's have the right LTE bands though, I've ordered an RM-938 Lumia 1520.3 to get an untainted device 32 GB and Qi plus LTE
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Once you get it, please let us know how it works on att. I'm looking to go that route, but I haven't heard how it works.
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Will do, I've got to find an ISIS nano SIM before it arrives this week.
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@myrandex
Having owned a 920 with QI built in and now a 1020 with QI as an option (via a replaceable cover) I have to say that the best solution for me is the one for the 1020.
For starters, the 1020 is thinner and lighter than the 920. Also, we really only need to worry about wireless charging when we actually need it (which would be at bed time perhaps) so there isn't much point in having the technology built in when we don't need it all the time.
I'm very comfortable having to just snap on my wireless cover and then dropping my 1020 onto its charging plate at bed time each evening. This frees my 1020 from bulk during the day (apart from when I'm using my camera grip accessory). I've said it before and I will say it again, wireless charging should always be an option to the end user and not forced as part of the phones design. Nokia have the ideal solution already because most of the technology is already there so all we need is just the addition of a slim shell. -
I have a charger bedside, kitchen, car, and work. Without the built-in I would need charging cages all over the place...too messy and complicated. Right now I drop it and forget it. And especially now that they are making the cup holders with qi charging...it has to be built-in.
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Amazing! Its nice to see that Nokia is promoting Qi and will no longer charge us 40$ for it. This is a good deal. I want to see how it will be packaged inside the box
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I love wireless charging. Another thing why is the 929 seemed forgotten now. The 930 is literally the same thing. I understand marketing but Icon should be in parentheses or something.
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Icon wasn't forgotten. It was mentioned at the keynote (albeit briefly) for the 930 equivalent in the US, IIRC.
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The 930 is the international version, The USA gets the Icon, also called the 929.
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I'm really upset that Canada isn't mentioned in the release of the 930. Windows phone has no support from Carriers here. We need the 930! I have friends who are waiting for this phone and are willing to switch to a more "mainstream phone" like the S5 because Windows phone is so unsupported here. Their making it hard for new people to buy one let alone people who are already on Windows phone to upgrade. Total BS and a way to make it a niche product
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For Canadians and the residents of United States, purchase an Icon later this month and update it to 8.1, you have your 930 ready. That simple.....
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Yeah if you want Black or White, and you want to use Verizon's network. (which BTW can't be used in Canada) Icon =/= 930
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Im not going to the states to pick up a verizon phone, then to find out i cant use LTE/and other various network features, or all of the network entirely, when i try to use it back in canada. Also theres a 10% currency issue now, gas bla bla bla. Its not that simple as you seem to think it is......
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Why can noone in the WPCentral comments get their "they're, there, and theirs" right? Haha. Sorry, had to ask! :P
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Because everyone is loosing there mind. ;P
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Good! I picked up a free wireless charging stand when I purchase my Icon at the Microsoft Store here in the US.
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Some people don't like the 1020 because of the extra camera bump, and want an all around phone. Canada getting the 930 is critical to the success of Windows Phone here. Also why the hell does Best Buy not have windows phones in the Windows Section? How stupid is that? Samsung and Apple have booths in Best Buy and their packed with phones. Absolutely stupid thinking on Microsoft's part. Windows phone should be there as its part of Windows. That's a big miss
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Doubt that we will see it soon. My bet is that Verizon has exclusivity with the Icon/930 for a few months at least.
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So the AT&T version will not have Qi and not have the bundled charger?
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There won't be an AT&T version of the 930. So it's not an issue.
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So AT&T finally does not get the flagship phone SMH
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And probably half the memory as well.
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Why don't they just reduce the price of the chargers they all ready have ?
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I love wireless charging. I hate when I have to plug in my phone now.
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They said that with the 920 and I never got one. They'll run out in the first week then make it a pain in the ass to get one everyone will just say a screw it.
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Pain in the ass? Amazon has always had the wireless chargers for sale.
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I want to know when we can expect the Lumia 1525 and will it have Qi charging?...My 920 is always telling me I'm out of storage space...In need of a micro SD slot ASAP!
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This is why I wanted the 1520 with the proper 32 GB my 1020 is forever running out of space between the handful of games and maps I keep. The couple podcasts and dusting of music. The ginormous pictures it takes are only 10% of my storage. An SD card for the media and maps alone will be great but with 8.1 the ability to put apps there will be nice too, depending on speed.
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I have a lot of photos, videos and games on my 920...I don't want to delete games because I will forget that I had them and most are games that I've purchased...Also, I have 2 Qi wireless charging pads and 1 Qi wireless charging stand that would all be useless if I purchase a 1520. The 1520 would be in my hand right now if AT&T hadn't screwed up and selected a different wireless charging partner....All I can do now is hurry up and wait for the 1525 announcement...I read that it may launch in September 2014...Sure hope it's before that!
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This is why I bought the 1520.3 RM-938 from Newegg, I need the full space and signal compatibility, and I'm heavily invested in Qi charging. Don't need their customizations.
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I'd rather see a cheaper Lumia 930 without wireless charging... I actually don't see the point of it? It's not faster than plugging in the charge cable?
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It's slower but easier as it has less hassle so you end up doing more opportunity charging
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I used to think that way too. That is until I got my Lumia 920 with a free wireless charging pad. Charging is a one handed operation now and I don't have to search for the end of the charging cord that fell down beside my bed. :) Oh, the USB port doesn't wear out either.
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LOL. I thought I was the only one who notice that about the USB cable and ports.
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so no Glance screen, but a wireless charger? I think I could live with that trade-off. Anybody else?
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I could live with that. But not with the lack of a microSD card slot.
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Did you want an SD card slot?...just curious.
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Integrated wireless charger is a must for me now. Glance is also a must now that I used it for a few mount on my 920....When glance is pair with wireless charging it make my co-worker jealouse of my setup at work! At home, I have 2 wireless charger. One next to my bed...I can see time, notification, alarm in a low light green. I can pick up the phone and put it back on the charger without the need of a light to connect a usb charger...My girls friend need to use "bad word" when she tried to connect her phone to a usb charger...she endup openning the light :) Now if wireless charger were available in all coffee chop, cars, public bathroom... I started using wireless charger with my webos phone...I miss my webos phone ;( NO I need wireless charger AND glance!!! Waiting for a 93X
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Hope they do this with the green 1520.
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This looks more like a "we screwed up. We need to put something in to try to justify the price we ask for a 9 month old phone" than a push for wireless charging.
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Really, that's what this move says to you?
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Yes.
Because there's no reason to start this now when they had Qi since the 920. More, if they really wanted to push Qi, they wouldn't have stripped it from the 925 and 1020. -
That's what it says to me. Nokia's flagship phones are fragmented in terms of features. Unacceptable from pretty much THE only WP manufacturer constantly putting hardware out.
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That should have been done ages ago starting with the Lumis 920. Still it does not make up for the lack of MicroSD and Glance on the 930, no matter what Nokia bundles.
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What will the 930 size/form factor GSM equivalent be in North America?
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The equivalent is the 929/Icon on Verizon. Actually not equivalent. It's a carbon copy.
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Yeah, I understand this. There will have to be an equivalent for GSM. They already said the 930 isn't coming.
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The international version has GSM so I would assume the USA version it is the exact same thing, minus whatever AT&T guts out of it.
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Exactly.
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Sad but true.
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It better be right inside the box with the damn phone. Not some BS buy the phone and get the charger for free later garbage. Dont matter for me either way since I won't get the 930.
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Qi, right??????????
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Nice! Still not getting it. Im so used to glance. Hopefully another handset gets announced later this year.
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How much does it weigh? My 920 feels like a brick:)
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Huh? Later this year? Are you serious this time?
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I love my Icon and its wireless charging ability. While I miss glance I am extremely happy with this device.
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Sold
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Oh, me likey... Posted via the WPC App for Android!
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I wish they did this all around when the ICON was released.
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920 is no more available in India. If it is then very limited. Nokia discontinued 920 to make way for 925 here. But I believe 920 is a better device any day in comparison to 925.
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Nice!
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Hmm, I was wondering if this was US-only, but the 930 won't be available in the US at first? Maybe we'll get those "free" wireless chargers here in Portugal as well for a change :D
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If at&t brings out this phone they better follow what they did with the 920 and keep the qi feature, this will save the headaches from switching cases and everyone wants this feature to come back.
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I like this move and think it goes a long way towards pushing wireless power. However... didn't someone end up giving a bunch of the chargers away anyway with their previous phones? Is it really free? Or has the cost of creating the chargers come down so much that it's now cost effective to just include them in the box rather than be a separate purchase?
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Omg why isn't this coming to the US
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That's good news, but the fact that it doesn't have glance screen still puzzles me
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I believe this will come once they "figure" it out for the HW.
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This is good, but then they need to stop carrier exclusives and tell AT&T to "hell" with your wireless charging standard, our phones have Qi so deal with it. Ah, what a perfect world that would be.
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Would a wireless charger for the 930 work with the 1520?
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Put it on tmobile usa and I will buy Posted via the WPC App for Android!
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Nobody cares about the 930, it has no glance!
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No SD Card support.
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It will be a USA only offer as usual from Microsoft/Nokia
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If you read the article, it says that the VP of Nokia UK announced this bundle. Do me a favour and put two and two together...
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US only I presume?
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The VP of Nokia UK announced this bundle. Do me a favour and put two and two together...
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Ugh, I am seriously interested in this! Damn you Verizon and BS exclusives... Oh well, looks like I'll have to wait and see what the successor to the 1020 looks like.
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Now if only this phone was available in North America! Nokia's biggest mistake up till now has been the exclusivity they've had with carriers and very little availability in Canada. Hopefully Microsoft will change this!