Let there be Lumia…

Let there be Lumia, and there was. In the pantheon of the Microsoft Lumia series, the Nokia Lumia 930 seats quite comfortably there above the clouds upon the Mount Olympus of Smartphone technology. A brainchild of Microsoft Mobile, the Nokia Lumia collection has set the Interweb ablaze in its glorious brilliance. The Lumia line was a clarion call that software giant Microsoft was entering the dance that is the lucrative Smartphone industry, which is worth 150 billion dollars as of the year our Lord, 2014. Translation, Bill Gates needs to make more money whilst he lays his head on the pillow, dreaming of dollar candies and pots of gold. The figure is the reckoning of the entity, Markets and Markets, which computes that 32.2% and 18.9% of the market will be occupied by the Symbian and Blackberry OS respectively. Believably, this is good news for Accenture and Research in Motion (RIM). The global Smartphone technology is growing at a highly rapid rate, already accounting for 14% of the global phone market (Kenya achieved 67% Smartphone penetration, that's basically, 4.3 million folks boinking away on their touch screens, it absolutely bonkers).

A daunting task is to attempt to enact a historiographical rendition of the Lumia series. Effectively, one cannot begin to extol the virtues and vices of the Nokia Lumia 930 without tracing its historicity; how it came forth and its rise to the top of the pantheon. It was (the Lumia Series) birthed in the close of the Fall of November 2011, a consequence of the long-enduring relationship between Microsoft and Nokia which saw, two years later, Microsoft purchase the Mobile section of Nokia business beginning of Fall, September 2013; and in October 2014, fully phased out the Nokia brand in preference to its own branding (okay, Microsoft has a thing for Fall, perhaps a favorable omen). As such, we observe that the Lumia phones run the Windows Phone Operating System. The rest is history, as they say.

And so, the Spring of 2014 (April 2) saw the Nokia Lumia being announced at the Microsoft Build 2014, later to be released in the Summer. Obviously, the design was meant to give competition to the flagship devices of Android OS and iOS, and gaining headway upon my word! As a matter of cold fact, according to a report by IDC, by 2018 the Smartphone market will not have changed much, but Microsoft's Window Phone architecture will slowly close in on Apple's iPhone. Nokia 930 was the progeny of 925, culminating that line.

What's in a name: an Etymology

The naming of the Lumia series brought in its wake what could only be described as 'semantic disintegration'. For those concerned  with the pedantry of naming things, would eventually find that the etymology, and therefore the semantic outlay proceeds from three languages- Finnish, Latin, and Spanish. In the first two languages respectively, the semantically-built bridge is passable, if one was holding on to the harness of semiotics. The Finnish version, 'lumi' bears the meaning of 'snow'.

The Latin version, 'l?men', which is to mean 'light', and finally we have, 'lumia'  that carries the burdening meaning of 'prostitute', 'strumpet', 'courtesan' in Old Spanish. Actually, it is as obscure as the mist, and if you ask modern-day Spaniards what it meant before you told them, you'd have a very quizzical Spaniard. Well, that is because, the term occurs in varieties of Español such as those much influenced by the Romani (Gypsy) language. There, now you have been well-acquainted with the pertinent etymology, the question holds, guv'nah or duchess, do you give a Queen's cuppa, does your noetical-consciousness regarding Nokia Lumia 930 influence your purchase or chattel (if you already own one) disposal? Surely, you will have that "aaah, okaaay" moment, then you'll remember all the other meanings, and you'll smile again. That brings up back to the question, did Nokia know this? The answer, ladies and gentlemen, is yes; having carried out its due-diligence from a linguistic and trademark angle. Evidence to that supposition can be had from their blog (http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/11/02/naming-the-nokia-lumia/) in which they claim:

"From an initial list of nearly 200 names only a handful made it through this stage for what was eventually the Nokia Lumia," says Chris George.

Then experts in 84 dialects started work, checking for any negative associations in different languages and assessing how easy they are to pronounce. Some letters like J, L R and V are difficult to pronounce in certain countries. Some languages don't have certain letters in their alphabet (like Q in Polish). This process is never foolproof – as a couple of comments pointed out lumi, or lumia, is a very old Spanish word, long fallen into disuse. Chris George says "Although it was slang, we did pick that up and decided to run consumer research to check the connotations.  The results showed that over 60% of Spanish consumers thought it was a great name for mobile technology. They thought firstly of 'light' and 'style' rather than the more obscure, negative meaning".

Now, does this not inspire you to greater exertions, like go out and get yourself a Nokia 930, well, be that as it may, to understand a product, we must first grasp its name and the motive behind it. It is the very essence of branding.

Facts and Figures:

First off, global Lumia phones sales stand at 9.3 million on a study of the most recent quarter, a 5.6 percent increase from 8.8 million hand-sets. The high end phone market is enjoying very wide margins, as currently the worldwide phone subscription stands at 6.8 billion by the close of first-quarter, 2014, of which 2.3 billion are smartphones. According to a recent survey of the best smartphones in the market, Nokia Lumia 930 emerged sixth edging out OnePlusOne, Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and Motorola Moto G. It is meant to be an improved version of the Lumia Icon with little differences from its progeny, the Nokia Lumia 1520. It's a top-end piece of technology, almost three months old, pricing is set at $599 before taxes and subsidies in Europe, Middle East, and Asia and then globally. The U.S. had been left out because of the existence of its predecessor Lumia Icon, and it is retailing exclusively on Verizon wireless.

It comes clad in black and white, bright orange, and bright green with a 2.2 GHz Qualcomm SnapDragon 800 quad-core processor, operating on Windows Phone 8.1. Optically, it is possessed of a 20-megapixel PureView Camera with ZEISS lens and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) for crystal videos and images. In the front, you get a 1.3 MP camera for you to enjoy your selfies and video calls. Word is, that Nokia Lumia 930 is dressed in a sleek aluminum frame with a curved polycarbonate frame at the back, and get this, sculpted glass. Revelations from the Nokia website indicate that the phone has a five-inch touch screen with a display resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and a 441 ppi (pixels per inch) image density. In league with the 20MP Camera, the device spots dual LED Flash plus four multidirectional microphones containing surround sound. Lumia 930 is the first phone in the world to feature Dolby 5.1 audio recording, so that's a win for Microsoft, one that is being considered to be incorporated in Lumia Icon and 1520 versions. Memorably, you get 32 giga-byte of storage and 2 giga-byte of RAM, and unfortunately, there is no expandable memory card support. Nevertheless, you do get OneDrive cloud support of 7giga-byte.

Notably, in the beginning of Fall, Microsoft announced that it was rolling out new software update for the Nokia Lumia 930, cumulating the firmware version figure up to 14353, up from 14252; the OS being 14157. OS 14157 is the Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1, what this translates to- users do not need to enroll in the Preview structure. It is akin to the current Preview for Developers.  Another feather on its hat, Nokia Lumia 930 is the prime official, non-Preview phone to get Update 1 besides the HTC One Phone for Windows.

For ordinary folk who do not have a care or a whim, this means as follows:

-Significant imaging enhancements

-Ameliorated stability and performance

-For UK and China, Cortana support is ensured. Cortana is just assistive software meant to make your life manageable; it's your PA (personal assistant).

-Customizable snooze for your alarm (wake up the way you want) and utility improvements, and start screen folders.

-You enjoy enriched display performance.

Lumia-osity: Looking to the Future

The thing that is usually thrown at the Windows Phone is little or lack thereof of Apps.  The latest 8.1 version include the usual suspects, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram, et cetera. Additionally, it possesses some exclusive Lumia creations such as Video Tuner, which is an onboard application for video editing. That brings vibe to it. Nonetheless, it misses some popular games such as King Fans, for instance, ergo; it cannot compete on a gaming platform (strange, considering Microsoft owns X-Box).

Vexing mistakes of previous Windows Phone OS are done away with and aside from its non-competing gaming platform; the operating software for Nokia Lumia 930 is the best it has been, especially with regard to accessibility. No more is the app and call volume adjusted as one, there are quick access actions via a swipe-down action, calendar adds the obvious week view, whilst a much beautiful interface offers multiple tile sizes. Granted, additional customization would be in order, for one, the settings menu is a potpourri of confusion, the seemingly never-ending list of apps in alphabetical order is a veritable dozefest.

However, the inclusion of distinct features such as WiFi Sense for intelligent auto-network sign-up rockets Windows Phone (Nokia Lumia 930) point of difference. Point of fact, when you finish browsing, you can delete browser history, your private data and internet files, Nokia Lumia 930 does that for you (thus avoiding awkward conversations when someone gets a hold of your phone). Financially, Microsoft's Windows Phone will hold 6.4 percent market share by 2018 according to a report by International Data Corp., Lumia 930 will set the pace towards this reality and then some.