Though not an exhibitor at IFA, Microsoft chose the...

Though not an exhibitor at IFA, Microsoft chose the second of two IFA media days Thursday to hold its first global event for Nokia Lumia smartphones since taking over the Nokia Devices and Services business in the spring (CED April 28 p5). The venue, a weddings and conference center called Kaufhaus Jandorf, is seven miles east of the Messe Berlin fairgrounds, so the event’s 10 a.m. start time of the event ensured that no one attending the Microsoft event could also make it to an 11 a.m. Samsung news conference at Hall 7.3 on the IFA grounds. In the end, Samsung devoted its news conference to Ultra HD TVs and home appliances, not to smartphones and tablets (See the separate report in this issue). But Chris Weber, Microsoft corporate vice president-mobile device sales, missed no opportunity at the event to compare smartphones from competitors Apple and Samsung unfavorably with Nokia Lumia devices. The rival products carry “an expense premium,” Weber said. Photos taken in low light with a Galaxy phone “were not worth the PowerPoint space” when compared with similar shots taken with a new Lumia 830 phone, he said. Microsoft hailed the Lumia 830 as an “affordable flagship that delivers high-end innovations such as optical image stabilization and PureView imaging to more people.”