If you had a mobile phone five to ten years ago - less, perhaps - chances are that the mobile phone that you owned was a Nokia. The Finnish communications giant dominated the market like no other company in its field, leaving Siemens and many other competitors trailing far behind. Ten years ago, the Nokia 3310 (remember those? I bet that you had one) was one of the biggest selling mobile phones in the world, and Nokia’s most recognizable device.
That's why it's so surprising that, in recent years, Nokia was so astonishingly slow to adapt to the smartphone revolution led by Apple and Samsung. Yes, it launched the Lumia 920 Windows Phone and its successors, the 925 and the 928, but not one of these products posed any real threat to Apple or Samsung; all of this, however, could be about to change.
Last week, Nokia rolled out the Lumia 1020, its most ambitious product yet, to compete directly with Apple and Samsung in the smartphone market. The Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows Phone won’t hit our shores until September, but will retail in the US at about $299, placing it at about $100 more expensive than it’s competitors.
Here’s the spec:
- 41 Megapixel camera, which will have the potential to record video in 1080p and a Xenon flash
- 3X zoom and six-lens camera, and secondary camera with wide-angle lens
- 4.5" AMOLED HD+ display with resolution of 1280x768
- Screen made of Gorilla Glass 3
- 1.5GHz dual-core processor supplied by Snapdragon
- 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory.
- Talk-time of 13.3 hours on 3G, extending to 16 days standby time
- Available in three different colors – black, white and yellow
- Optional camera grip and tripod attachment, and dedicated shutter button
The biggest draw for 90% of potential buyers will be the 41MP camera, which will also record video in 1080p. The Finnish tech giant clearly understands that most smartphone users take full advantage of the camera on their phones. The only drawback to all of this, however, is that Windows Phones are thin on those photo and video apps that are almost synonymous with Apple and Samsung devices - apps such as Instagram, for example.
So would you be tempted in any way to buy the Nokia Lumia 1020 Windows Phone? Would you convert from the Apple iPhone / Samsung Android devices?
Let us know your thoughts.
Words: Philip Cummins
