With Indian handset companies like Micromax and Karbonn already eying low cost handset smartphones market, Nokia on Friday gave further fillip to this segment with the launch of Lumia 610 at 12,999.

The devise has a 3.7 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 800x480 pixels. It also sports a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash.

Weighing 131.5g, the Nokia Lumia 610 offers 8 GB memory (the phone doesn't have a micro-SD slot) plus SkyDrive cloud storage. The phone has 256 MB RAM.

What the Lumia 610 offers is a low cost Windows Phone experience. It seems perfectly suited for emerging markets, where Nokia should have built a strong customer base of potential first time smartphone users by now. Carriers on the old continent will most certainly be interested in the Lumia 610, too, and if you think an entry-level Windows smartphone is worth a look, this review will hopefully help you know it better. We start with the hardware right after the break.

The Nokia Lumia 610 runs Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. Users can use the phone as a WiFi Hotspot for up to 5 WiFi enabled devices.

Nokia also announced a limited edition Dark Knight Rises Nokia Lumia 800 phone. Only 200 units of the special edition device will be made available in India.