Live from Nokia's CES 2012 press conference!
Yes, we're here. It's been a few months since Nokia attempted to shake its smartphone foundations with the launch of its first Windows Phone devices. But it's CES 2012: there's Nokia phones out here now. But does Nokia have something else up its sleeve? Something flagship? Another white phone? Stay tuned because we're getting our liveblog on!
3:43PM "Thank you all for joining us here today." And we're done. Now we're off to seek out one of these Lumia 900s...
3:41PM Nokia's been working with Qualcomm to ensure its single-core smartphones will still perform admirably on AT&T's LTE network.
3:39PM The questions arrive at Nokia tablets. But Stephen's got nothing to add.
3:38PM Nokia will be supplementing carrier-based phone availability with SIM-free (carrier-unlocked) devices in Europe and other markets. No news, however, on which phones this would be and whether the US will get a piece of the action.
3:36PM Any new plans for outside of the US? "Market by market, we'll be taking the Lumia line broadly around the world." He's being coy.
3:34PM So we can expect cheaper handsets? Sounds good to us.
3:34PM "A deliberate part of our Windows Phone strategy is to broaden our range of price points."
3:32PM No pricing or timing specifics just yet. "Entering aggressively."
3:32PM Elop: "Our principal competition is the other ecosystems." Not rival manufacturers?
3:30PM So, no Verizon Lumia just yet.
3:30PM No plans for other networks -- at least not today. But Nokia's aspiration is to arrive on as many carriers as possible.
3:28PM Let the Q&A begin. Questions, anyone?
3:28PM Ralph and Steve have gone, and we're left with Nokia's fearless CEO.
3:28PM "Congratulations Steve, and welcome back!" Aww.
3:27PM The Lumia 900 will be arriving in the next few months, still in those black and cyan color options.
3:26PM "It's the best of Nokia's past with a terrifically bright future."
3:26PM Oh wait, It's Ralph de la Vega.
3:26PM And we're back to Stephen.
3:25PM "Lumia 900 is a very exciting launch." And that's it. Thanks Steve.
3:25PM Ballmer: "AT&T is critical to us."
3:24PM "Mmmm, love..."
3:24PM They didn't sign the Nokia-Microsoft tie-up until April 2011.
3:23PM "The strong third eco-system," says Steve. "The reviews have been fantastic."
3:22PM We're going into Windows Phone. Here's Ballmer. It's truly kicked off.
3:20PM And that's it. Kevin's gone, and Mr. Elop's back.
3:20PM He's pimping out more of those tie-in apps. CNN iReporter. Next!
3:19PM ESPN Sports hub is looking closer to a finished version than what we saw back at Nokia World.
3:18PM Nokia Drive's back. Remember that from Nokia World 2011?
3:18PM We're into the Windows Phone integration. Facebook chat, yah?
3:17PM Front-facer has a f/2.4 apeture lens. Wow. On the conference screens, it's looking damn good.
3:16PM With a dual-wide mode feature. Mr.Shields appears to be loving it.
3:15PM Rear-facer has a f/2.2 lens.
3:14PM Two cameras on this one.
3:14PM It's another beautiful slab of polycarbonate. Looks like those rumors were on the money. Scratch-fearless.
3:13PM There's a 1.4GHz processing ticking inside that shell.
3:12PM Kevin's arrived on stage. No shouting this time...
3:12PM Elop's rocking the cyan version. Good choice.
3:11PM Display? A 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display.
3:11PM It's an LTE phone, with an 1800mAh battery.
3:10PM Lumia 900 is apparently built for a rich media experience -- in black and cyan.
3:10PM "Designed especially for the US." Coming exclusively to AT&T.
3:09PM Carl Zeiss lens, baby!
3:09PM We've gone to the commercial now. It's glossy as heck...
3:09PM Introducing the Nokia Lumia 900.
3:08PM Everyone's paying attention -- but where are the new phones? He's talking about the US now.
3:08PM Nokia Lumia 710: "..brings an unparalleled quality and price to the smartphone area."
3:07PM "We've introduced the Lumia to Europe and a number of countries including Russia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Russia."
3:06PM Elop on Windows Phone: "All of the information that you're interested in is brought to the surface."
3:06PM "After six months, we introduced the first Windows Phones."
3:05PM Next: Nokia smartphones. "A war of eco-systems."
3:05PM He's bigging up the Nokia Asha series we saw back at Nokia World. And a whole load of countries. No mention of the US just yet...
3:04PM "We've been increasing our R&D investment"
3:04PM Stephen Elop is on-stage. The crowd went (kinda) wild.
3:03PM Oh! And we're a-go!
3:03PM There's a whole load of metro tiles. They're pretty refreshing to our weary CES eyes.
2:58PM The five minute warning claxon just went. The hall is packed.
2:54PM It's just about to kick off here. Get ready. Polycarbonate fingers crossed.
Brad Molen and Myriam Joire contributed to this liveblog.
