Microsoft releases first Lumia smartphone without Nokia label

While not a great departure from its predecessor, the handset's branding represents a new chapter for the mobile devices.

The Lumia 535 is the first handset from the line to dump the Nokia brand.

The Microsoft Lumia 535 made its debut Monday, notable for being the first Lumia handset to lose the Nokia label.

Microsoft bought Nokia's phone business in April for $7.2 billion in a deal that allowed the division to continue to produce phones with the Lumia name adorned on them. The deal also allowed Microsoft to keep using the name Nokia on new phones for a brief time, but that brand is being phased out in favor of the name Microsoft Lumia.

Although the new handset runs Windows Phone 8.1, the latest version of Microsoft's mobile operating system, the sequel to the Lumia 530 is decidedly aimed at the lower end of the market. It sports a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and a 5-inch 960x540-pixel display. Like its predecessor, the Lumia 535 has a plastic back and clean lines with rounded corners, though in a bigger and slimmer package.

While the new handset doesn't represent much of a rebirth for the handset lineup, the new branding signifies a new chapter for the mobile devices, which have struggled in the marketplace. The smartphones, which have featured bright colors and a reputation for powerful cameras, barely make a dent as far as sales go, except in a few emerging markets. But Microsoft's branding may mean a new lease on life for Lumia smartphones.

Microsoft's Windows Phone platform could use a jumpstart as well. The OS has yet to gain much traction with consumers, powering just 2.5 percent of the world's mobile devices, according to market researcher IDC. In comparison, Google's Android OS runs on nearly 85 percent of mobile devices worldwide.

In the short term, making phones isn't proving lucrative for Microsoft: restructuring costs associated with its absorption of Nokia have proved a drag on profit in its most recent financial results, although Microsoft sold 9.3 million Lumia phones in the quarter, up 5.6 percent from the record 8.3 million devices sold this time last year.....