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Visualized: the inside of Nokia Lumia 1020's six-element, 41-megapixel camera
Optical engineering is something that we take for granted these days, with almost every smartphone packing its very own camera for our convenience. But if you take a look at the delicate structure inside a mobile camera module, you may appreciate the technology more every time you snap a shot. Like this cut-out diagram of the Nokia Lumia 1020's camera, for instance: you can see how the six lens elements and other tiny parts are tightly packed together above the 41-megapixel sensor. The elements are actually a combination of five plastic lenses plus one glass lens, with the reason being a taller module would've been made if all the lenses were made of glass. And to enable optical image stabilization, ball bearings are used to counteract hand movement -- there's one near the bottom right corner of the above image. Luckily, the module is also designed to withstand normal drops, so neither the bearings nor lenses would fall out of place unless you try really hard. One more shot after the break to compare sensor sizes. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Path's Windows Phone beta app on the Lumia 1020 hands-on (video)
Today's 41 Million Reasons event was all about the hardware -- and, to a lesser extent, proprietary software -- so it's no surprise that third-party app developers weren't exactly front and center. Nokia did give them a little more time after the show, however, with tables stationed around Lumia 1020 demos. We used the opportunity to take a gander at a beta version of Path's forthcoming Windows Phone app, which the company was, naturally, showing off on Nokia's hot new offering. And there's no question why, really, as this version takes plenty of advantage of the Lumia's photo focus. The app also takes some visual cues from Microsoft's mobile operating system. On the phone's homescreen, Path's tile offers a number, cluing you in to how many new posts you've got. Fire it up, and you'll get your feed, as with Android and iOS, including photos, videos, check-ins and the like. Swipe to the right and the app uses the Windows Pivot navigation to take you to tiles with pending friend requests and your existing friends. As for Nokia exclusives, the company's early access to handset maker's imaging SDK brings 50 additional filters for pictures. The app is scheduled for the "coming months". In the meantime, you can check out a video demo below. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia Lumia 1020's Pro Camera app to hit 920, 925 and 928 (hands-on video)
One of Lumia 1020's main attractions is its Nokia Pro Camera app, which completes the phone's 41-megapixel camera with a bunch of handy features. In our video after the break, you can see Niina (not a typo) from Nokia demonstrating the manual focusing and lossless digital zooming. The latter actually works both ways: even if you've zoomed in before capture (and still get native 5-megapixel resolution), you can also zoom back out while browsing these photos, as the app captures both the zoomed-in 5-megapixel image as well as the full 38-megapixel image simultaneously. This way you can reframe the image and even focus on a different subject, as CEO Stephen Elop showed us in our earlier interview. But if you don't need this feature, you can simply set the app to capture just 5-megapixel images by default.
The Engadget Interview: Nokia head of sales operations Matt Rothschild
More interviews? Don't mind if we do. Nokia's got plenty to talk about on the Lumia 1020 front, and it also has plenty of people to do the talking. After a sadly brief interview with CEO Stephen Elop, we thankfully got to spend a bit more time with the Matt Rothschild, the company's head of sales operation for North America. Like Elop before him, Rothschild seemed visibly excited to show off the company's latest flagship device, locking it into the camera grip in front of him, which was itself screwed into a magnetic Gorilla Pod. "The next time you're at one of these," he said with a smile, "you'll be shooting it on a Lumia." As his Australian accent betrays, Rothschild's done his fair share of traveling, a fact that's certainly given him a bit of a global perspective on what truly is a global company. We kicked things off by asking the executive how the North American market stacks up to the rest of the globe. Rothschild seems positive on that front, suggesting that, in spite of having stumbled a bit over the past few years (our words, not his, incidentally), Nokia is in a good position to offer an alternative to a smartphone field so dominated by the likes of Samsung and Apple.
The Engadget Interview: Nokia's Stephen Elop on the Lumia 1020
As expected, the Nokia Lumia 1020 arrived with 41 megapixels in tow at today's event in New York City. Got questions? Yeah, us too. Thankfully, we had a bit of time to sit down with none other than Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who was fresh off the on-stage Q&A, wearing a slick pair of bright yellow Converse All-Stars, in honor of the eye-popping color scheme of the handset he showed off earlier today. Elop seemed genuinely excited by his new device (even jokingly correcting me when I called it his "new toy"), taking a picture of us immediately after entering the room -- or, rather, he took a picture of our own Richard Lai and zoomed out to reveal me. The concept of re-framing is a huge part of what Nokia's selling -- take a picture first and worry about framing it later. With 41 megapixels, it's easy enough to zoom in or out after the fact. Richard brought along a trio of handsets for comparison, including the N8, 808 PureView and the recent Lumia 925, so naturally we started with a little history -- much like the press conference itself. Of interest was at precisely what point Nokia began to envision optics as one of, if not the, key focus of its handsets. It was an appropriate visual from Elop's point of view -- the executive sees all of the above as entries in the company's evolutionary line. Nokia's focusing on improving the experience a bit with each and every link, says Elop, with the latest handset building atop of the lessons learned. The Lumia 1020 is, naturally, a culmination of those lessons.
Spot the pattern: Nokia Lumia 1020 hangs out with 808 PureView and N8
Since Nokia's released yet another phone with a big camera, we thought it'd be fun to let this Lumia 1020 meet its glorious pixel-loving forerunners. These are, of course, the 808 PureView and the N8 that bucked the trend of phone photography during their time. In terms of sensors, the 1020 comes with a new 1/1.5-inch, 41-megapixel BSI sensor, which is smaller than the 808's 1/1.2-inch, non-BSI offering of the same resolution. Still, both chips are understandably larger than the N8's 1/1.83-inch, 12-megapixel sensor, which may sound less exciting but was well ahead of its time. We'll try and get some sample shots from each of these in a moment for a quick comparison, so until then, enjoy our hands-on photos below. Update: Sadly, we weren't allowed to extract sample shots from the Lumia 1020, but we'll come back to this once we get hold of a review unit. For now, you can check out Nokia's own sample shots. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub! %Gallery-193633%
Nokia Lumia 1020 to launch in the UK this quarter on O2 and Three
That 41-megapixel Windows Phone you've been hearing all about? Well, despite the NY launch event, it will indeed launch in the UK. In fact, it'll get here later this quarter. O2 and Three have announced that they'll be offering the Lumia 1020 in stores and online and while both networks currently aren't running an LTE service, Three has promised the phone it offers will be Ultrafast ready, broadly meaning it might run on 4G, but it'll certainly offer up to DC-HSPA speeds at launch. Telefonica, the parent company of O2, has promised that an "exclusive variant of the device" will make an appearance in select European and Latin American markets. More news from the other networks when we hear it. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Path partners with Nokia to bring app to Lumia 1020, 'all Windows Phones'
After months of anticipation, Path is finally bringing its social network to the Windows Phone, and it's starting with the Nokia Lumia 1020. The app, which is still in the works and hasn't been assigned a launch date, will take advantage of the company's new imaging SDK and its plethora of photo filters. Although the main focus of Path's announcement was centered on the new Lumia, it also mentioned that the app will indeed come to "all Windows Phones." No word on if the launch will occur across the board at the same time (nor if this includes Windows Phone 7.5 or only affects WP8 users) or if it will be featured only on the 1020 at first, but we'll update you as soon as we know. In the meantime, there's a press release for you to digest below the break. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia Lumia 1020 hands-on (update: video and camera grip impressions)
And here she is, in all of her glory. We've been hearing plenty about the Lumia 1020 in the lead up to this event, and now, after a proper on-stage unveiling, we've finally got our hands on one. Granted, it's not the eye-popping yellow version Elop showed off on-stage (we got to play with the white and black versions), but it'll do nicely. As expected, the hardware's a beauty on this thing. There's that slick unibody design we've come to expect from recent Lumia devices, and in spite of amped up optics, the company hasn't really done too much to sacrifice weight and profile. On the front is an eye-catching 4.5-inch AMOLED PureMotion HD+, 1,280 x 768-pixel display, which nicely complements Windows Phone 8's bright UI. Nokia's also promised that the Gorilla Glass 3 display works well with gloves and is still readable in sunlight, but we'll have to get back to you on both of those. Remember that thing we said about the slim profile? Well there's one important, but understandable caveat to that. The lens juts out a bit on the back of the thing, so if you try to lay it on that side, it won't sit flatly -- but as Elop said, the back is the new front, so maybe rest it on that shiny display, we guess... About a third of the back side is monopolized by that big lens. Along the top, you'll see a large flash along with three buttons -- one for volume (for that amped up speaker Nokia's built in), one for power and one, naturally, for the camera. That, after all, is kind of the point here.%Gallery-193609% %Gallery-193610% Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia Lumia 1020 vs. 925 vs. 920 vs. 808 PureView: what's changed?
Nokia's sure taken its time, but its 41-megapixel Windows Phone beast is now finally out of the bag. Naturally, we have to compare this Lumia 1020 with its recent siblings: externally it's closer to the 920 than the slimmer 925 or 928, except for its earpiece and, well, the camera. That said, the 1020 is somehow a lot lighter and a little thinner than the bulky 920, while packing the same 2,000mAh battery. Clearly, the lack of built-in Qi wireless charging and perhaps that Gorilla Glass 3 screen are responsible for this weight loss. And needless to say, the Symbian-powered 808 PureView didn't come with as many goodies compared to its Windows Phone cousin -- even the newer lens is faster with six elements instead of five. Feel free to check out our detailed comparison table after the break. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia announces Lumia 1020 Imaging SDK, enlists CNN, Yelp and others for custom enhancements
Nokia's Lumia 1020 has finally gone official today and, no surprise here, it's all about imaging. To complement the handset's 41-megapixel BSI sensor and accompanying ProCamera software, Nokia's released an imaging SDK to devs that want to impose their own camera customizations. As of now, the Finnish company's seeded the SDK out to the likes of CNN, Vyclone, Panagraph, Snapcam, Foursquare, Hipstamatic's Oggl Pro, Yelp, Flipboard and Path -- all of which have already been working on custom applications for the 1020. So what does that mean for the end user? Most likely, these third-party tweaks will entail high-res photo sharing and custom filters, as in the case of Path's Lumia app. Nokia's posted the SDK on its site for all developers today, so if you're interested in seeing what the Lumia 1020's beastly sensor can do for your app or what its SDK can do for WP8 apps in general, you know where to look. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Vine and Flipboard coming soon to Windows Phone 8
Here's another app that's finally made it to Microsoft's mobile OS, Flipboard. We'll admit, we're fans, so it was great to see the news aggregator's icon line up alongside several other apps looking to take advantage of Nokia's new imaging SDK. Vine, however, wasn't mentioned there and was nestled within Nokia's official press release Unfortunately, there was no mention of a release date for either (although Hipstamatic will finally arrive when the Lumia 1020 does), but we'll update you when we hear more. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia announces new location-based AR features for Here Maps
At its Nokia Lumia 1020 launch event, Nokia's just announced a new version of its Here Maps app that's bringing more features to Livesight location-based augmented reality. On top of letting you pan around on the view finder and see info for shops and other landmarks as before, you'll also be able to tap the "virtual signs" in the view and see more details and similar location categories. As before, the app will work without a data connection, "much to the regret of our AT&T partners," as CEO Stephen Elop put it. There's no firm date for the update as of yet, But Nokia said it'll hit all its Lumia devices when it does, as with all the recently announced Here updates. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia Lumia 1020 coming to AT&T July 26th for $300
We had a, um, sneaking suspicion something like this might be happening -- but we wanted to see it in person, just to make sure. After an accidental tip off, Nokia and AT&T are finally ready to show off the latest flagship Lumia for real. Meet the Nokia Lumia 1020, complete with all 41 million of those reasons we've been hearing about for a while now. That, naturally, is a not so subtle reference to the second-gen PureView 41-megapixel sensor, packed with what the company's calling the "largest back side illuminated sensor available on a smartphone." Around the front, you'll find a 4.5-inch 1,280 x 768 pixels (at a 16:9 aspect ratio) AMOLED PureMotion HD+ display protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and -- the company adds -- offering super-sensitive touch, even when the user's got a pair of gloves on (not that we're thinking about such things in mid July). The image-focused Windows Phone handset also features six-lens Zeiss optics, manual shutter, xenon flash for different light levels and second-gen optical stabilization. On the software side, you'll get a Nokia Pro Camera app, so you can manually adjust flash, focus, ISO, white balance, shutter speed and exposure -- you know, like on a real camera. On the video side of things, you'll be able to shot 1080p at 30 frames a second with 4x zoom (and 6x in 720p), while the built-in mics promise high quality even in loud settings. Using the app, you can also reframe photos, zoom, change orientation and more.%Gallery-193579% Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
Nokia officially announces the Lumia 1020: 41MP camera, OIS, six lenses
We can't say we were really taken aback with shock at the news, but Nokia has officially unveiled its latest imaging flagship, the Lumia 1020. The 41MP Windows Phone, which has been anticipated by many enthusiasts since the 808 PureView was introduced, is looked at Nokia as "the next chapter in smartphone photography." With the phone only offered in yellow, black and white hues, it's not the most colorful device in the Finnish company's repertoire, but Elop's gang is hopeful that it can make up for the lack of color with a stellar imaging experience: in addition to the high megapixel count, the 1020 will feature OIS, BSI, lossless zoom, six Carl Zeiss lenses, 1080p video capture, xenon flash for stills and LED flash for video. While the resolution is top-notch -- you'll be able to take 34 and 38MP pictures, depending on your desired aspect ratio -- the 1020 will also simultaneously take 5MP oversampled shots that are much more friendly for Facebook and SkyDrive sharing (not to mention capped data plans). The phone also has ball bearings and tiny magnetic motors built-in to aid in optical image stabilization. If you're worried about being able to change settings or do other imaging adjustments, the 1020 offers a Pro Camera lens app that includes white balance, ISO, exposure and others. Still not enough? Nokia's also adding an optional camera grip which adds external battery and a tripod mount.
Live from Nokia's 41 Million Reasons event!
Nokia's got 41 million reasons, and odds seem pretty good that a new photo-focused Lumia is one of them. The festivities kick off at around 11AM here in New York City, so be sure to join in, after the break. July 11, 2013 11:00:00 AM EDT
Nokia details its new Pro Camera app, offers manual adjustment to shutter speed and focus
Ready to pair with Nokia's new Lumia 1020 is a new Pro Camera app to go with all those megapixels. Its new Pro Camera app, not to be confused with the Lumia 925's Smart Camera app, looks to offer users more control over camera settings, with a new concentric circle system offering access to flash, focus, ISO, shutter speed, white balance and exposure. In video mode, you can shoot at 1080p at 30 frames per seconds with 4x zoom, or up to 6x zoom in 720p. You'll also be able to reframe your shots within the app too, making better use of that high-resolution 3x zoom feature and manual focus. Check out all the news from today's Nokia event at our hub!
We'll be liveblogging from Nokia's 41 Million Reasons event, join us at 11AM ET!
We have the sneaking suspicion we know what we'll be seeing when 11AM ET time rolls around, but we've certainly been surprised in the past. We're here in New York City, eagerly waiting Nokia's next big announcement. Be sure to join along to get a play by play of all 41 million of those aforementioned reasons.
