Nokia has finally picked itself off of the floor, dusted off its recent failures, and jumped back into the smartphone game as a serious player by unveiling its first Windows 8 phones, the Lumia 820 and 920.
Packed into the Lumias’ glossy, colorful polycarbonate shells are some great features:
Sensitive screen: The Lumia 820 and 920 each have 4.5-inch displays with “ClearPad Series 3” and “Super Sensitive Touch” technology designed by Synaptics. ClearPad Series 3 sensors can track up to 10 fingers at a time, detecting each one clearly and separately; and in the demo presentation, the phone was handled with a thick glove to prove that point. Nokia’s new Lumia 920 also uses a display technology called PureMotion HD+, which offers resolution greater than the regular HD and lets you better view the screen under bright sunlight.
Processor: Thanks to Windows Phone 8’s new capabilities, the Lumia 920 packs the same dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor as found in high-end phones in the US like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X.
Camera: The Lumia 920 includes the PureView algorithms of the Nokia 808 PureView, but without requiring 808’s 41-megapixel lens. Instead, the Lumia 920 has an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera withan F/2.0 aperture “floating lens” image stabilizer that autofocuses and corrects for shaking. Nokia claims that the lens captures five to ten times the amount of light as any other smartphone competitors’ camera. At the Lumia launch event, Microsoft also revealed new Windows Phone 8 camera features.
Wireless charging: The Lumia 920 is also the first phone to offer Qi (pronounced chee), the wireless charging standard lets you place the phone on any compatible charger when you need to charge it. Several companies will offer wireless charging docks and accessories, and Nokia has partnered with Virgin Atlantic and the coffee chain Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to set up wireless charging stations in airport lounges. The Lumia 920 packs a 2,000 mAh battery, which Nokia says will get most users through an average day.
Windows Phone 8: The Lumias of course run Microsoft’s all new operating system, which has lots of nice new features, including “Tap+Share” sharing over NFC, and the ability to take a screenshot by holding the power and home buttons.
Augmented Reality: Nokia also added its own apps, including City Lens augmented reality. To use City Lens, you simply point the phone camera at any street, and the app overlays nearby businesses on the screen when you point your phone in their direction. Tapping a specific business reveals full details, including contact information, reviews, walking distance, and directions. You can also filter search results to include or exclude businesses outside of the line of sight. City Lens is now available as for the current Lumia 900, 800, and 710 Windows Phone 7 handsets, and Nokia is including a specific version in the Lumia 920 and 820.
Nokia stopped short of providing specific release dates for the new Lumias, but sources are hinting at a November release in select markets.
Here’s a roundup of Lumia 920 hands-on previews:
CNET: hands-on photos and video
Engadget: hands-on photos and video
Gizmodo: hands-on photos and video
