Nokia Lumia 822 announced for Verizon Wireless

Nokia Lumia 822

Nokia has so far confirmed that it would offer its Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 Windows Phone 8 handsets in the United States, but the Finnish manufacturer today announced a unique model, the Lumia 822, coming exclusively to Verizon. The Nokia Lumia 822 is a custom version of the Lumia 820, replacing the straight rectangular shape with a more curved body. The 4G LTE-capable phone also has interchangeable shells that can change the phone's color and add the ability to wirelessly charge the phone on a Qi-powered charging device.

Despite the exterior changes, the Lumia 822 features specifications that put it on pace with the company's midrange lineup. The phone has an 8 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera, and several software additions made to Windows Phone 8. The Lumia 822 has Nokia Drive+ turn-by-turn navigation with offline maps, Nokia City Lens augmented reality mapping information, and Nokia Transit to get travel directions using public transportation.

Other features include:
- 1.5 GHz dual-core processor - 4.3-inch AMOLED touch screen with ClearBlack
- 800 x 480 resolution
- 127.8mm x 68.4mm x 11.2mm (5.03in x 2.69in x 0.44in)
- 142g (5oz)
- Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Near field communication (NFC)
- 1024MB RAM
- 16GB internal storage, 7GB in SkyDrive cloud storage
- microSD slot (up to 64GB)
- 1,800 mAh battery

Nokia and Verizon have not yet disclosed price or date of availability. More information may be released later today at Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 launch event.