Nokia coding two new proprietary apps for its Windows Phone handsets

Finnish handset OEM Nokia has two new pieces of software in the works for its popular Windows Phone handsets. The apps, called ‘Nokia Transport’ and ‘City Lens’ join a handful of other programs that Nokia hopes will set its phones apart from the larger Windows Phone ecosystem.

Nokia Transport, as you might have guessed, deals with public transit, and getting around. City Lens, by contrast, allows for the exploration of local environments using augmented reality. You can think of it as a sort of Bing Local Scout, with more eye candy.

We have a video clip of each, via The Nokia Blog, for your education:

Nokia has been more than busy at this year’s CES, announcing its Lumia 900 handset, and helping to lay bare its larger plans for the US market. The Lumia 710 will be for sale on T-Mobile, while the Lumia 800 handset will be sold unlocked in Microsoft Stores around the nation. The Lumia 900 itself is heading to AT&T and is LTE enabled.

We went hands-on with the Lumia 900 yesterday, and this was our impression:

Even though we had just a brief time with the device, we came to the conclusion that almost everything we liked about the Lumia 800 made the move to the new model. The design translates well to the larger size needed to house the 4.3″ AMOLED screen, never feeling too large.

Likely this is because of the rounded edges, which allow for easier swiping. I’ve been vocal about the fact that anything over 4″ is ‘too big’ in a smartphone screen and I’m going to stick by that, as the 4.3″ was just a bit wider than comfort allows you to explore with an easy thumb motion. But the curved design of the Lumia 900′s body did a lot to alleviate that and to extend the reach of your hand comfortably.

Both City Lens and Nokia Transport should work on the Lumia 900, once both it and the software hit the larger market.

You can find all our CES coverage here.