Nokia today unveiled its latest flagship phone, the Lumia 920 with PureView image sensor.
The Windows Phone 8 smartphone is a successor to the Windows 7-based Lumia 900, which launched to favorable reviews but only tepid sales.
The 920 is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and features a 4.3-inch touchscreen with curved glass surface, 2000 mAh battery, NFC, 32GB internal memory with 7GB free SkyDrive storage, as well the Wireless Power Consortium’s Qi wireless charging technology.
Nokia appears to be betting big on its camera and navigation technology, two of the company’s strengths.
The Nokia 920 includes a 8.7-megapixel lens with Nokia PureView imaging stabilization. Using what the company is calling “floating lens technology,” the camera in the 920 is able to take in additional light without using a flash. The technology is supposed to make it possible to capture better pictures and video indoors and at night. It also compensates for hand movement while the photo is being taken.
Microsoft has designed Windows Phone 8 to integrate apps with the camera. Users can press a dedicated camera button to reveal a variety of apps to which they might want to send that photo. For instance, a user might choose CNN to submit the photo they are about to take to CNN’s iReporter.
The phone also comes packing an extensive suite of navigation capabilities that range from turn-by-turn navigation to hyper-local contextual information via an augmented reality app called City Lens. By pointing the camera at a city street, City Lens overlays information about restaurants, shops, hotels and more on the surfaces of buildings.
Microsoft and Nokia showcased a number of accessories for the 920, including a wireless charging plate and NFC-enabled speakers and headphones which will allow users to listen to music without cords.
Nokia also unveiled the mid-range Nokia Lumia 820, which is a step down from the 920.
The Nokia Lumia 920 comes in yellow, red, grey, white and black. The Nokia Lumia 820 comes in red, yellow, grey, cyan, purple, white and black.
Both phones will be available in pentaband LTE and HSPA+ variants and are expected to start shipping in select markets later in the year. Nokia will announce pricing and specific roll-out dates country by country when sales are due to begin.