Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone to Cost $100 on AT&T

No doubt about it: Microsoft and Nokia are serious about Windows Phone becoming a third contender in the U.S. smartphone race. The Nokia Lumia 900, a Windows Phone handset that debuted to rave reviews at CES previously this month, will reportedly launch on the AT&T network in March at the barnburner price of $99.99.

Boy Genius Report says it got its hands on part of AT&T's 2012 product-rollout strategy, which shows the Lumia 900 is slated for a March 18 release date. During the launch date isn't a surprise, the phone's price truly is: $100 with a 2-year contract.

Featuring such high-end attributes as a curved, 4.3-inch AMOLED display, LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) support, and an 8-megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, the Lumia 900 sports some lofty specs for a hundred-dollar phone.

The Lumia 900's low price

The Lumia 900's low price would be a second strike in Nokia's aggressive attack on the U.S. smartphone market. Before this month, Walmart began offering the Nokia Lumia 710 for free with a two-year T-Mobile contract.

A capable, relatively low-end phone, the Lumia 710 runs Windows Phone 7.5, and features a 3.7-inch display, a 5-megapixel camera, and a Qualcomm 1.4 GHz Snapdragon processor.

Certainly, the price is right for the Nokia's new series of sleek-and-slim Windows Phones. Nevertheless will shoppers be lured away from the siren call of Androids and iPhones?