new york city

Friday night we gave you a sneak peak of Nokia's launch party for the Lumia 900 that took place in New York City's Times Square. Surrounded by thousands of tourists and New Yorkers alike, Nicki Minaj took the stage to perform numerous songs in support of her new album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.

In addition to the show, a remix of her popular single "Starships" debuted along with a full-production video shot by Nokia to coincide with the AT&T Lumia 900's official introduction to the world.

If one thing can be said of Nokia it's they know how to go big for a launch party (see London and the Lumia 800). For some reason, we can't imagine HTC, Samsung or LG ever throwing such a massive media event and for that we're excited to see Nokia championing Windows Phone (as opposed to Android).

While it remains to be see if the Lumia 900 will be the hit that it is expected to be, it certainly seems to be off to a very good start.

Source: Nokia (YouTube)

We knew Nokia wasn't going to just sit by and let the AT&T Lumia 900 launch without an "event" to go with it. Low and behold, that whole countdown on the SmartphoneBetatest.com site was counting down to this very day.

The launch party is happening in New York City, specifically Times Square at 7 pm and is open to the public. There will be a live performance from....someone and we're hoping for something awesome visually (Lasers? Can we get some lasers?).

Of course being that we're in New York City, heck we're not too far from Times Square right now, we should be able to be there to cover the event with video, photos and a full report.

Stay tuned...

Source: Twitter

Now that we're a bit recovered from yesterday, we can share with you how the first of many Windows Phone night parties went.

Kicking of in New York City and heading to Chicago, Dallas, LA and finally San Francisco, the show last night (and tonight) were sold out. There were so many people there last night that the line wrapped around the block--yes, New York, you came out in full force. VIPers had a special line which was much shorter, allowing them be let in first. In addition, you VIP folks get a special lounge to go to where you can relax and play with the new Windows Phones in a more relaxed atmosphere. And you get free drinks.

The event itself was pretty amazing. You had a section where you can dress like an Angry Bird and get your photo taken, there was a digital wall-of-apps, a Fruit Ninja area where you can sit and play on a dozen Windows Phones, stations everywhere with the HTC Tian, HTC Radar 4G, Samsung Focus S and the Focus Flash on display and helpful attendants to walk you through the new features. There are digital stations everywhere where you can scan your ID bracelet for a chance to win a Windows Phone as well as a Twitter contest to win some there too. The food was excellent (you get 3 food tokens) as well as some great drink mixers.

The Brooklyn native band 'Matt & Kim' took the stage at 9pm and rocked the whole place and DJs spun some great music in between. To say 'Mat & Kim' were well received is an understatement--even they had a great time as the venue turned into a full on concert at the point, with everyone enjoying their set.

All in all the mood was very festive--people were genuinely having a great time. Most importantly, they were toying with the phones, playing the games and really getting into the whole 'socially connected' theme of the party. We're told the exact same setup is traveling around to the other four cities, meaning you're in for one heck of a treat. (Note, you do have to be 21 to get into the event and they were checking IDs.)

Microsoft had a big publicity day yesterday and dare we say, they nailed it. If you can attend one of these night parties, we strongly encourage you do so as you'll have a blast. T'was a very cool time.

Take a look at some more pics after the break!