From today, Vodacom and Cell C will have the new, lower priced Nokia Lumia 710 phone available at R3999.

The new colorful device was designed to bring the Windows Phone smartphone experience to a new lower price point, without sacrifices. It combines the powerful social and Internet experience of Windows Phone with the ability to take pictures in almost any conditions and share with friends in seconds, as well as access to thousands of the most popular apps and exclusive Nokia services, like Nokia Drive.

Based on the Windows Phone 7.5 release, the Nokia Lumia 710 smartphone has a broad range of social-network focussed features:

• People Hub in Windows Phone displays all call, text, email and social network interactions with any individual contact in an integrated view, with the ability to group contacts and pin favourite groups and individuals to the start screen for live updates and easy access to the people who matter most.
• Faster, easier Web browsing experience with Internet Explorer 9 and one-touch Bing search.
• Nokia Drive delivers a full-fledged personal navigation device (PND) with free, turn-by-turn navigation and dedicated in-car-user-interface.
• Nokia Music introduces MixRadio, a free mobile music-streaming application that delivers 100s of channels of global and locally-relevant music. Also integrated in Nokia Music is Gigfinder, providing the ability to search for live local music events.
• With the 5MP camera, anyone can take pictures and share on social networks in seconds, even when the phone is locked.

The Nokia Lumia 710 can be personalised with a choice of white or black front finish and additional inter-changeable back coloured covers, very much like the covers from the Nokia 5110 days.

“We are very excited to be bringing the next device in the Lumia range to South Africa. The Lumia 710 offers the same functionality as the Lumia 800 at a lower price point, and is perfect for consumers that thrive on being socially connected. This again highlights Nokia’s commitment to delivering the latest smartphones with localized services to the South African market,” says Colin Baumgart, Nokia South Africa General Manager.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is still one of our favourite handsets, so we cannot wait to get our hands on the Lumia 710.