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Nokia releases 41MP Lumia 1020 Windows Phone

Finnish phone maker Nokia today released its flagship Windows Phone 8 handset Lumia 1020 which boasts of a 41 megapixel sensor than provides the device’s camera with enhanced zoom and sharper imaging capabilities.

The model comes with Nokia’s PureView technology which includes optical image stabilization as well as the company’s Pro Camera application which makes it easier for novice users to produce professional-looking pictures, edit images and share them, according to Nokia.
The 41 MP sensor is used in the Symbian-powered Nokia 808 (not sold here) and is larger than most used in compact cameras. (It measures 1 ½”). The number of pixels might surprise some people – not even full size DSLRs have than many pixels. But the 1020’s default still image setting is 5 MP (it can also be set at 3 MP, 8 MP and 38 MP). Nokia argues the high pixel count enables the camera to delivery very high quality images at lower resolutions.
 

The Lumia 1020 will start selling in the United States for $299.99 on a two-year contract. There is no word yet on which Canadian carriers will be offering the device.

The coupling of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Phone 8 software with the 41MP over-sampling camera technology sets a “new benchmark” in smart phone engineering, according to Tony Cripps, principal device analyst at technology analyst firm Ovum.

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“At a time when macro-level innovation has seemed to be lacking in smartphones – due to the homogeneity of smartphone operating systems and the drive to appeal to the mass market – Nokia’s Lumia 1020 demonstrates that there is still considerable scope to drive forward the user experience in core smartphone capabilities,” said Cripps. “Both imaging and audio are key areas of investment for Nokia and crucial to its long-term strategy of rebuilding market differentiation.”

Nokia also released a new imaging software development kit (SDK) that provides key image editing features of the Nokia Lumia 1020 to developers. The SDK is available today at developer.nokia.com with a number of developers including Vyclone, Yelp and CNN integrating these features into future releases.

While the Lumia 1020 showcases Nokia research and development capabilities, the company still has to overcome incumbent rivals, a modest marketing budget and the slow adoption rate for Windows Phone in order to reverse the Nokia’s financial fortunes, said Cripps.

“…Nokia, and Windows Phone more generally, still suffers from a lack of consumer awareness and marketing dollars compared with their key rivals, Apple and Samsung-plus-Android,” he said.

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