Microsoft launched Lumia 550, its most affordable 4G LTE smartphone

Microsoft launched it's most affordable Lumia smartphone, Lumia 550, on Monday in select markets in Europe. The 4G LTE smartphone is preloaded with Windows 10 and is priced at $139.

The Microsoft Lumia 550 smartphone features a 4.7-inch HD display with 1280×720 pixels resolution and pixel density of 315 ppi. The Lumia 550 also includes Glance Screen that makes sure you never miss out on what is important by displaying time, date, notifications, and calendar entries without having to unlock or activate your phone.

The handset is powered by a 1.1 GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 (MSM8909) processor coupled with 1GB RAM. It offers an internal storage of 8GB which can be expanded up to 200GB via micro SD card.

The Lumia 550 sports a 5MP auto-focus rear camera with with LED flash and f/2.4 aperture and it can shoot 720p videos at a frame rate of 30fps. The handset also features a 2MP front-facing camera for taking selfies. The handset is backed by a 2100 mAh removable battery.

The Lumia 550 supports 4G LTE with download speed up to 150 Mbps and upload speed up to 50 Mbps. It also comes with the all-new Microsoft Edge browser. Microsoft's most affordable 4G LTE phone, the Lumia 550 is preloaded with Windows 10 and signature Microsoft apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Cortana, OneDrive, Outlook Mail, Calendar and Skype.

The new Lumia 550 comes in matte black and glossy white and is priced at $139. It is now available in select markets in Europe and will be available in other regions around the globe within the coming weeks.

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Windows 10 Will Be Available From July 29

Microsoft confirmed that Windows 10 is coming on July 29. The software is coming to 190 countries. Windows is currently used by 1.5 billion people globally. The consumers can reserve their copy of the new operating system starting Monday. The software is free during the first year if you're upgrading a new or existing Windows 7, or Windows 8.1 device; Microsoft hasn't specified pricing beyond that.

Owners of PCs with Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 will receive pop-up notifications alerting them of Windows 10's impending arrival. Windows XP and older systems are not compatible with Windows 10.

"I think Windows 10 represents us listening and understanding what real people need better than we have before," says Joe Belfiore, Microsoft's corporate vice president for the operating systems group.

In the past, upgrading a Windows computer to a newly-minted version of the operating system has been too often a messy experience. Belfiore is confident that the path to Windows 10 "is going to be way, way, way better."

Over the past six to nine months, Microsoft has been updating the installed base of Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs — hundreds of millions of machines. Microsoft has essentially been rehearsing for the upgrade with the more than 4 million people testing builds of Windows 10 as part of the Windows Insider program.The promise is that PCs will boot up and run apps faster, be more secure, and, in the case of laptops, boast longer battery life.

On its 20th anniversary, the Start menu for launching apps has been dramatically improved. It gains "live tiles" and is fully customizable. Windows 10 also unveils a snappy new Edge browser that pushes Internet Explorer into retirement and Microsoft's virtual voice assistant Cortana is at your beck and call.

On newer hardware you'll also be able to exploit a Continuum feature to seamlessly transform from a mouse/keyboard-driven PC to a touch-oriented tablet or vice versa. On some systems, you'll be able to log in with your face, iris or fingerprint.

There's also a fresh version of Office, improved support for gamers and new built-in Photos, Maps, Music and other apps. Universal apps are meant to run across the entire Windows 10 ecosystem: PCs, tablets, phones, Xbox One.

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