Nokia’s 808 PureView has landed, and we’re the most excited we’ve been about a Symbian phone in years. Gradually rolling out in Europe this month, and up for preorder – albeit with a hefty off-contract price tag of $699 – in the US with deliveries next month, the 808 has progressively wowed us since its MWC debut with its game-changing approach to photography. Little surprise, then, that we jumped at the chance to try out one of Nokia’s 808 PureView kits.
Nokia has big plans for PureView, including thinner handsets and Windows Phone support, though there’s more than just branding that’s getting in the way of slimming the smartphone camera tech. We grabbed some hands-on playtime with the Nokia 808 PureView in Germany this week, at the headquarters of long-time photography partner Carl Zeiss, where we not only discovered just what the camera is capable of, but some of the decisions – technical, product and otherwise – behind the PureView concept. And make no mistake: if any one thing signifies Nokia’s potential salvation in the mobile industry, PureView is it.
Nokia gave us no small surprise when it launched the Nokia 808 PureView and its new camera-phone technology. Promising a headline-grabbing 41-megapixel sensor, paired with image processing systems more akin to what you’d find in spy satellites than smartphones, it’s the first fruit of a project five years in the making. Until now, though, all the sample images we’ve seen have been produced by Nokia’s own hand, so we understandably jumped at the chance to join the PureView team at the headquarters of lens supplier and imaging specialist Carl Zeiss in Southern Germany to take some shots of our own. Read on for the full sample gallery – together with some comparison shots with the Nokia Lumia 900 – along with the full story as to why PureView is so special.
Jealous of your European friends who’ll have a chance to play with the Nokia 808 PureView? The 41-megapixel camera looks intriguing, but Nokia crushed some dreams when it announced that the phone wouldn’t be coming to the United States. In an interview with PCMag, Nokia’s US President, Chris Weber, said that while carriers won’t be offering the phone, an unlocked phone launch isn’t off the table.
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T-Mobile really wants you to jump ship from the carrier you're currently using and make your way over to the company represented by a magenta "T." It is currently offering a promotion through May 8 where customers can trade in their old phone, from any carrier, for a guaranteed $50, as long as it still works. And if they have a smartphone, they'll get even more, up to $200 for any version of the iPhone. This of course requires customers to sign a new two-year service agreement with T-Mobile.
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If this were any other Symbian phone, we would be looking at that large price tag with extreme skepticism, but the Nokia 808 PureView isn’t an ordinary Symbian phone. It’s packing Nokia’s PureView technology, bringing that famous 41 megapixel camera that stole the show at MWC 2012. We’ve seen some camera sample escape from China, and Nokia has put out a video comprised of photo and video footage from the 808 PureView.
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This week comScore has released its monthly numbers on who dominates the smartphone platform game in the USA, and it's Google's Android in the lead by a mile. This month has shown both RIM with BlackBerry and Microsoft with Windows Phone to be taking tiny dives with 3.2 and 1.3% losses in the market since February, RIM still sitting in the lead amongst the two at 13.4% to Microsoft's 3.9%. Apple sits in second place and has gained a 1.5% lead over last month's scores, and Symbian hasn't changed a bit - still sitting in the lowest position here with 1.5% of the mobile market.
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While we’re all waiting for Nokia’s 41 megapixel PureView technology to make its way to a Windows Phone, the Symbian-based 808 PureView is just around the corner. It won’t be making its way to the United States, but those in Europe and other far flung places around the globe will be treated to the handset. Chinese blog IT168 recently had some hands-on time with the phone, and took a handful of sample pictures for us to drool over.
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Microsoft and Nokia have jointly committed up to €18m ($24m) to train and support app developers as part of the new AppCampus program, though the cash will go to Symbian and S40 coders as well as Windows Phone. The new fund will support the freshly established mobile application development program at Aalto University in Finland, "to create a new generation of self-sustaining mobile startups" as well as ensuring that Windows Phone and the other platforms hopefully don't go without key titles in future.
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A new survey studying smartphone brand and buying trends has been released by video streaming company Vuclip. Over 560,000 users responded to the survey, hailing from 188 different countries, and the results may surprise you. Out of all the mobile brands, 36.9% said they wanted their next phone to be a Nokia.
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Microsoft’s market share in the United States may have been slipping as of late, but what about in the UK? According to market research firm Kantar Worldpanel, Microsoft and Nokia’s gambit may be paying off: Windows Phone 7 has outsold Symbian handsets for the first time, and the Nokia Lumia 800 is proving popular across Europe too.
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Nokia has confirmed that it has no North American launch plans for the Nokia 808 PureView 41-megapixel smartphone announced at MWC 2012 last week, leaving the US and Canada out of its otherwise global release. News of the omission was quietly snuck into the 808 PureView's Nokia Developers listing, though it's worth noting that unofficial imports will likely work thanks to the pentaband WCDMA radio.
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