Nokia has been busy showing off its new wares in Abu Dabi this morning. We just wrote about the new Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet launch separately, but here we have details of the rest of the morning’s revelations including two Lumia phablets, three affordable new Ashas and details of big-hitting new software on the way.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 and Lumia 1320, 6-inch smartphonesare Nokia’s first phablets, both sporting 6-inch screens. The new larger form factor can accommodate more live tiles on the Windows Phone home screen; three standard tiles wide (six small tiles). The big screens should also make these smartphones better for productivity tasks, balanced against their reduced portability.
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Nokia Lumia 1520 |
Nokia Lumia 1320 |
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Nokia Lumia 1520
This new large high-end smartphone features a 6-inch 1080p ClearBlack screen and a 20-megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilisation (OIS). Imaging features are at the forefront of this phablet’s capabilities and several new apps are included to make the most of its camera hardware. There’s a new Nokia Camera app, Nokia Storyteller, and a Refocus app for Lytro-like capabilities. Nokia Beamer is installed as standard to let you easily share your pixel masterpieces with any compatible net-connected screen.
The Lumia 1520 will be made available in white, yellow, red and black this quarter in Hong Kong, Singapore, the United States, China and Europe. It will be priced at around $750 before tax.
Nokia Lumia 1320
This is a lower priced Nokia phablet shown off today. It’s not just a bit cheaper; it’s going to be less than half the price at an estimated $339 before tax. “But this does not mean that there was a compromise on quality,” says the Nokia blog.
What has been cut to make this Lumia 1320 more affordable? Just about every key specification. However what is on offer might work well in the smartphone market; a 720p IPS super-sensitive touch screen covered with Gorilla Glass 3. A 1.7GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 is paired with 1GB of RAM. The 8GB of built-in storage can be supplemented with an up to 64GB microSD card. Also there are big spec reductions in the cameras with the Lumia 1320 offering a so-so 5MP primary snapper and 0.3MP front facing web cam.
The Lumia 1320 will be made available in orange, yellow, black, or white and roll out in early 2014 starting in China and Vietnam before making it to the rest of Asia and Europe.
New Windows Phone apps
The headlining new apps coming to Windows Phone as announced by Nokia this morning are; Instagram, Vine and Flipboard. Other new apps on the way include Papyrus, a vector graphics powered note taking app and the game Asphalt 8: Airborne. Read more about these apps and many more here.
Nokia has also got some important new apps for its Asha platform. The very popular instant messengers LINE and WhatsApp were both announced for the Asha today as well as a series of Asha Developer Competition winning games.
Nokia Asha 500, 502 and 503
Nokia bolstered its Asha line of mobiles today. The new range takes cues from the Asha 501 with its coloured polycarbonate shell looking like it’s been ‘dipped in ice’ for a smart looking visual effect which offers strength and robustness. Again Nokia has been tuning the imaging and image sharing software to make these devices appealing. “New to the platform are an improved imaging experience, with much faster, swipe access to the camera, the gallery and social sharing, supported by improved hardware. It’s one tap to share a photo, while a single swipe takes you between the viewfinder and the gallery,” explains the Nokia blog.
The three new additions all look pretty much alike but offer varying connectivity options and camera capabilities. Only the top model, the Asha 503 offers WCDMA data connectivity. It also offers a 5-megapixel with flash LED, 3-inch QVGA screen covered with curved Gorrila Glass and standby time of up to 35 days.
The Nokia Asha 500, 502 and 503 will cost approximately US$69, $89 and $99 respectively and availability starts in Asia-Pacific this quarter.
