So, Sept 5, 2012 and Nokia rolls out their much anticipated announcement of their first Windows Phone 8 powered devices, the feature-rich and impressive Nokia Lumia 920 and the slightly smaller, more lightweight 820 – it seems Nokia is following a theme whereas the “900″ series is the higher end, “wow” device that the true mobile geeks and Nokia fanatics drool after, whereas the 800 series is reserved for the masses, sports slightly less functionality but will likely be more widely available and at a pretty sweet price point.

The live Nokia event featured not only Nokia CEO Stephen Elop on stage but he was also joined and supported by Microsoft CEO and legend Steve Ballmer. I admit I was a little late to the event, although I did manage to get a good look at the two new devices. The devices impressed me and they were pretty much what I expected. the 920 is sweet, it sports a very rugged and solid design, the camera seems amazing, and the Windows Phone 8 inside is much needed. The 920 boasts the City Lense service, which I really found to be just another Augmented Reality (AR) app – perhaps being supported by Nokia map and POI data will make it more impressive but on stage it didn’t really wow me. The camera, the solid build, the durability, and Windows Phone 8 experience did impress me though.

Some cool features in the Lumia 920:

• Available in several hot, new colors (red, yellow, grey)
• Fast LCD transition and display
• Super high resolution
• Super sensitive touch (swipe and touch using gloves also!)
• Wireless charging (plates, stands)
• Out of the box location services, Nokia city lense – use camera to explore the real world around you (think AR layer)
• New, enhanced camera and camera apps
• Win Phone 8 and a more personal smartphone experience
• According to Elop… “Lumia, the World’s most innovative smartphone”

Overall, Nokia indeed had to come out with their Windows Phone 8 solution and this event served to address that.  I’m sure Nokia execs were cringing a darn near crapped themselves recently when Samsung trumped them by announcing their own Windows Phone 8 device at the IFA show in Berlin (ouch!) indeed an embarrassment for Nokia.  PErhaps that announcement was cause for Nokia to move up the date of today’s event which was initially set to be co-hosted along with Nokia World event from Helsinki… In familiar Nokia fashion there is no release data or specifics on the device availability but look for them sometime near Q4 2012-ish. Note, my friend Lenny @the_truth34 seemed to have the date of Nov 19 on his mind and indicated to me that may be the release date so stay tuned!

Finally, in a bit of an embarrassing moment for Nokia, it seems that video shared during the livestream event that was thought to have been shot with the 920 was in fact captured with a prototype device – this tidbit of info wasn’t shared with viewers and as a result a bit of an outcry by some bloggers and journalists, in particular the cry-babies at Gizmodo, resulted. Nokia has made available via Nokia Conversations an apology and a new video (below). On the right is a Lumia 920 prototype with OIS. On the left is a smartphone without OIS.

For more details about the devices see New Nokia Lumia Range Delivers Latest PureView Camera Innovation, New Navigation Experiences

See also this first hands-on video with the Lumia 920 from Nokia Conversations blog