Nokia has thrown its punches at the upcoming Apple iPhone 5 at the recently concluded Nokia World. Ever since Nokia announced its partnership with Microsoft to adopt Windows Phone as their sole platform for making smartphones, expectations of a third front compared to Android and iOS came up. Nokia delivered its first set of Lumia phones last year, the 800 and 710 created enough buzz for the re-branding of Nokia smartphone line-up.
As they phase out Symbian OS, Windows Phone is maturing. Microsoft is about to integrate its desktop and mobile platforms with Windows 8 and Nokia is betting big with the 2nd gen Lumia products. Nokia announced the Lumia 920 and 820 this week and Espoo would hope to compete with the movers and shakers of smartphone industry, be it the Android powered HTC One X & Samsung Galaxy S3 or the Apple iPhone series.
The new Lumias carries the same design ethos of the 800 and 900 while adding several hardware features. Nokia has powered the 920 / 820 with S4 Snapdragon processor, the screen on the 920 is 4.5″ whereas the 820 as a 4.3″ display. They have used a new technology to enable the touch screen to be used with gloves on. This is a first for any capacitive touchscreen powered smartphone. Nokia is also resurrecting a technology that Palm introduced with the WebOS powered Pre series, wireless charging. The new Lumia phones support wireless charging, provided you purchase the optional accessories.
Nokia has also brought a PureView camera to the 920. The 920 brings a new optical image stabilizing technology that significantly reduces camera shake when recording videos. The PureView technology in 920 also improves quality of photos possible in low light conditions, while reducing blur.
With Nokia making a leap with the Lumia hardware, Apple has its work cutout for the coming week where it would announce the next gen iPhone. The iPhone 5 is expected to sport a larger screen, re-designed shell and a new charging connector amongst other upgrades. Given the last iPhone had a 8MP camera, Apple might well upgrade the camera tech as well.