A GSM version of the Nokia Lumia 900 is Possible

There’s been a lot of curiosity and interest surrounding the Nokia Lumia 900. Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas earlier this month, Nokia’s first LTE device features a larger 4.3-inch AMOLED Clear Black Display (compared to the smaller 3.7-inch AMOLED CBD on the Lumia 800) and a 1.3MP front-facing camera (the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 do not have forward-facing cameras). Aside from that, the other vital specs of the Lumia 900 are almost identical to that of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 including the single-core 1.4Ghz processor, the 512MB and the same 8MP camera as the Lumia 800.

Still, many of you asked if the Lumia 900 will be available here in Malaysia. Initially, we dismissed the possibility due to the fact that the Lumia 900 is an LTE device. There are currently no commercially available LTE networks in Malaysia and none will be available until sometime in 2013.

However, Nokia have been dropping clues of the possibility of a GSM version of the Lumia 900. We didn’t post anything about these clues because they didn’t carry enough credence for a vaguely readable let alone interesting article, that is, until now…

A prominent UK online retailer has put up – and promptly taken down – a pre-registration page for the Nokia Lumia 900. The site indicated that the device will be available in stores at the UK sometime in June. Considering that there are no LTE networks in the UK as well and considering that it is virtually impossible for one to be available commercially in June, it’s very likely that UK will be getting a GSM version of the Nokia Lumia 900.

Why is this a big deal? Well closer to closer to home, sources close to the matter have revealed that a GSM version of Nokia Lumia 900 is indeed possible. This is because the Lumia 900 was developed from the ground up to work on either LTE or GSM networks. All that is required is some minor changes to the antenna array and tweaks to the software for the Lumia 900 to work on GSM networks.

Naturally, Nokia has declined to comment officially on this. This reaction is expected considering the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 are not yet available in all of the markets that Nokia has presence and intends to sell the two devices in. Nokia will want to maximise the sales of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. The prospect of a slightly better Nokia device being available in the immediate future will be detrimental to potential sale of the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. Nokia will not risk potential buyers taking the wait and see approach hoping for a better-specced Nokia to be available soon.

Does this mean the Lumia 900 is coming to Malaysia? From what we’ve gathered, it’s definitely possible but we can’t say for sure right now. Should you wait for the Lumia 900? We wouldn’t hold our breath if we were you. Performance-wise there’s very little separating the Lumia 900 and the Lumia 800 or the Lumia 710 for that matter. In fact, there’s really nothing differentiating them as all have the same processing capabilities and RAM. Whether the 0.6-inch increase in screen real-estate is appreciable is up to debate, if you ask us, it’s not going to be much of a difference. And although the addition of a front camera is nice, it’s not something critical or of much use, honestly speaking.

So, the Lumia 900 coming to Malaysia, we’ll notch that up as a possibility but in all honesty, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.