Nokia primes Lumias for Windows Phone 8 push
Flashy snappers sets 'em apart
Nokia hopes to make a splash in the Windows Phone 8 pool when its Lumia 920 and 820 hits shelves later this week.
The hotly anticipated Lumia 920 takes Nokia's PureView photography tech into the WinPho arena with an 8.7Mp sensor and f/2.0 aperture.
The results - unlikely to be as impressive as the fake footage used in Nokia's advertisements - should still look pretty crisp on the phone's 4.5in, 1280 x 768 LCD screen.
This boasts 16.7m colours, Corning Gorilla Glass protection and sensitive touch technology, which allows customers to use the display with gloves on.
A dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip keeps things ticking over alongside 1GB of Ram and 32GB of on-board storage. There's no slot to use to expand the capacity, although it does at least pack double that of its competitor - the HTC 8X - which also rolls out this week.
As with its rival, Nokia offers a stripped down WinPho 8 model too, the Lumia 820.
Here you'll get a 4.3in, 800 x 480 display, with increased brightness and the glove-friendly sensitive touch feature found in its saucier sibling.
The Lumia 820 doesn't cut too many corners either, boasting a dual-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and 1GB of Ram. OK, so there's only 8GB of internal storage, but this does have the option to expand by 32GB through Micro SD.
There's also a focus on camera tech, with an 8Mp sensor, Carl Zeiss Optics and a pair of LED flashes for extremely low-light conditions. Both handsets shoot 1080p HD video at 30fps.
Another trait each blower shares is Qi wireless charging support, which makes use of various peripherals - including Nokia's DT-900 (pictured above) - to re-juice devices without a cable connected.
The Nokia Lumia 920 will be available exclusively on the EE network from launch with Phones4U the only UK retailer to stock it. Prices start from £20 on 24 month contracts, or £46 for 4G.
Meanwhile, the Nokia Lumia 820 will be offered through O2, Carphone Warehouse and Tesco. Both devices ship early November. ®
COMMENTS
I've never felt so annoyed at a company that I've considered writing to them before now. But I think Ballmer and Elop need to realise that exclusivity deals just piss off the consumer, piss off the other networks, piss off the other stores and ultimately piss off the competition regulators.
Apple may have gone for exclusivity with the iPhone 1 but they didn't know if it was going to be a success and they didn't have the experience needed in that market so a business partner was useful.
Nokia have been around since the ark, so don't need to do such bullshit deals.
Got to agree here!
Nokia need to win the hearts and minds of consumers, and making their flagship device a network exclusive is not the way to do it.
Hint for you Nokia - most people don't choose their network based on the phones they carry! They choose their network mostly on price (including allowances), coverage and network reliability (not necessarily in that order!). Orange/TMo/EE fail on 2 of the 3 criteria for me (Price/allowances and coverage) so there's no way I will move to them.
Re: Meh - 2010 specs - no thanks.
To be fair the Palm Pre had wireless charging in 2009.
(Though I've never seen how hard it is to plug a cable in, TBH)
Re: Meh - 2010 specs - no thanks.
Windows Phone 8 has 120,000 apps available and 46/50 of the most popular apps on iOS/Android
Yeah dual-core krait, 4.5" screen, image optical stabilisation, wireless charging, capacitive touch you can use with gloves, etc is soooo 2010 isn't it?
On the pricing I do agree somewhat; the EE tariffs/prices are horrendous.
Currently the best WP8 device is available in the UK only on a 4G tariff, only on one network and in black and white colours rather than the bright ones Nokia was so keen to promote.
If I can the canary yellow sim free somewhere without too extortionate a price, I might just pull the trigger.
Meh - 2010 specs - no thanks.
The lack of apps, 2010 specs and premium pricetag are enough to put me off, let alone Windows Phone miserable track record.
I see the LG Nexus 4 is out. Sounds like a much better prospect to me....
