Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

By Anthony Myers | March 27 2012 10:25 AM

Photo: Nokia

#1 Drive - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

A great navigational guide only available to Nokia phones. Other Windows Phone devices, like the soon-to-be-released HTC Titan II, will not have access. It’s a free app for Nokia owners and its nearly as good as Google Maps. A major new update allows for using the app offline, so there’s no need to accrue roaming charges if you’re travelling far from home.

Photo: Nokia

#2 Maps - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

This comes in handy when using the Drive app, obviously, but Maps also adds live traffic updates in many countries. Again, it’s not as powerful as Google Maps, but it’s the closest thing we’ve seen so far.

Photo: Nokia

#3 Transport - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

Taking public transit will be a snap with this app, thanks to Nokia. It works in over 500 cities in nearly 50 countries, and even includes walking directions between shuttle and train stops.

Photo: Engadget

#4 Reading - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

This is an rss reader, but also a hub for magazines and ebooks. One great feature is the app can be pinned to the live tiles screen so you can see updates in real time without leaving the homescreen. This app as well as the first three on the list are Lumia phone exclusives.

Photo: Nokia

#5 Play To - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

This is Nokia’s version of AirPlay. It’s a wireless streaming app for sending movies and music to a compatible HDTV using DLNA technology. Show pictures from your gallery on the big screen while you search for a video to show. Swipe through your photos and the same action shows up on the television.

Photo: Engadget

#6 Creative Studio - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

This photo editing app has real-time effects like face-warp and dweeb (pinches face down). Then there is Live Styles that turns everything into a sketch. Like most photo apps, there are effects, and the effects are adjustable. But, there is a neat trick where you can put a filter over the image and slide it back and forth to get a before and after view of the applied effect. Both Live Styles and Effects work with photos taken with the camera or with photos imported to the album.

Photo: Nokia

#7 Music - Nokia Lumia 900 Release: Best Nokia Apps for the New $100 Windows Phone Flagship

Nokia Music

Nokia's big push into the U.S. smartphone wars begins April 9, and when the Lumia 900 releases on AT&T for $100 on contract, people will want the best new apps for their new toy. Lucky for them, Nokia has been hard at work on new apps for quite a while. Most of that work has gone into Nokia's own operating system Symbian, but now its Microsoft partnership will be the focus. That's why Nokia has a few free apps that are only available to Lumia phone owners.

Because the Windows Phone operating system is so new, there aren't nearly as many apps as there are for the iOS and Android system. Microsoft and Nokia are each spending up to $12 million to build up a Finnish program called AppCampus. The program will help build more apps for the Windows Phone system, Wired.com's Gadget Lab blog reported.

As for the Lumia itself, Microsoft is spending $25 million in order for AT&T employees to be given one each as their company-given freebie. That way, the people selling the phones in stores will be better able to tell people about them. Will Windows Phone overtake the BlackBerry system as the third most popular in the U.S? Begin the slideshow to find out about some new Nokia apps and see if they're compelling enough for people to adopt the Lumia as their own. Let us know in the comments if you're convinced or if you plan to head to the AT&T store and check out the new phone.

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