A lot of excitement and anticipation surrounded the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone, released on April 8, Easter Sunday. Many even pondered whether to ditch their iPhones for this cheaper, but still high-end smartphone, on which Nokia, AT&T and Microsoft have invested millions of dollars.

Despite all efforts, however, the much-anticipated Nokia Lumia 900 seems to be off to a rocky start. First of all, the launch date, set on Easter Sunday, raised many eyebrows. On one of the world's biggest holidays, many of the stores were closed, which prompted several reports indicating that much of the effort and money put into this launch was wasted.

"Nearly all 39 AT&T stores within proximity of Times Square in Manhattan were either closed for Easter Sunday or did not answer phone calls. The few that were open did not have the handset in stock," reported The New York Times.

Why Launch on Easter Sunday?

This decision to launch the Nokia Lumia 900 on Easter Sunday, when most stores are closed, had many marketing experts wondering just what Nokia and its partners, Microsoft and AT&T, were thinking. According to some experts, this launch date could be a strategy to provide some cover, in case the first-day sales slumped.

Although most traditional stores were closed, some online retailers did report strong pre-orders and sales. Amazon, for instance, reported that the black Nokia Lumia 900 was its No.1 best-seller among phones with service plans, while the cyan version followed closely at No.2 as of Monday evening, April 9. The white version is expected to launch on April 22.

Connectivity Issues

However, the launch date set on Easter Sunday is not the only issue. Several owners of the new Nokia Lumia 900 have reported problems with data network connection, complaining that their new phones are not connecting to AT&T's data networks.

"Got my new lumia 900 yesterday from at&t, everything's fine EXCEPT THE WEB," reads one user post on Nokia's Support Discussions. "Any 1 has the same issue?" Well, according to Nokia's Support Discussions, a lot of people actually do have the same issue. Apparently, the phones are able to connect at first, but they no longer get data reception if powered off and turned back on.

A few owners were able to fix this problem by removing their SIM card and performing a "master reset," or by replacing the SIM card altogether, but there are many users who still experience connectivity issues.

The Nokia Lumia 900 features a 4.3-inch display, an 8-megapixel camera, 4G LTE support and other high-end features, all for the meager price of $100 with a 2-year contract. Nokia, AT&T and Microsoft went on an overdrive to promote the flagship Windows smartphone and set it off to a great start, but could this connectivity issue render all efforts useless? We hope not, but it's an issue to be addressed pronto.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Dave Clark)