Nokia launches Pureview 808 smartphone @ Rs 33,899

NEW DELHI: Nokia on Wednesday launched its much-awaited cameraphone 808 Pureview in India. It will be sold at a Best Buy price of Rs 33,899.

The smartphone has a 4-inch wide screen and runs on Symbian Belle. It boasts of 41 MP sensor and the advanced imaging innovation featuring Nokia's award-winning Pureview technology and Carl Zeiss optics. This makes it among the best smartphones available in India currently.

Nokia has a tie-up with Dolby Laboratories that has helped it introduce a rich cinematic sound output in 808 Pureview which features both Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Headphones technology. In addition, Nokia is bundling a Dolby Headphone with Pureview 808.

Besides, Pureview has two microphones that capture a near perfect sound recording to make the videos with rich CD-like audio recording enabled by Nokia Rich Recording, earlier only possible with external microphones.

Above all, its new pixel oversampling technology, superior low-light performance and the ability to save in compact file sizes for sharing in email, MMS, and on social networks, the Nokia 808 Pureview promises the users to capture high-quality images in any conditions. Pureview also has full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom.

Significantly, a software upgrade promised by Nokia with the latest Belle feature pack software upgrade for its other smartphones will add cinematic 5.1 Dolby surround sound for better music and movies experience to handsets like Nokia 700, 701 and Nokia 603.

With Dolby technologies in its smartphones, Nokia claims to turn them into devices which can deliver high-definition (HD) content with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel surround sound to HDTVs, audio/video receivers, and home theater systems.

Pureview 808 comes in only black and white colours and will be available across Nokia retail outlets starting Thursday with an MRP of Rs 34,999. It is powered by a single core 1.3Ghz microprocessor which seems inadequate but according to Nokia, the phone has another processor dedicated to the camera function, thus ensuring a reasonably good performance. It has a 16GB internal storage, expendable up to 32GB with a microSD card. The RAM seems rather low at 512MB.

Speaking at the launch, Vipul Mehrotra, director and head of smart devices, Nokia India said, "Nokia has always been known for its imaging legacy. What started off with a simple objective to create the most advanced imaging device, the Nokia 808 Pureview has evolved into something extremely revolutionary.

PTI adds: Mehrotra, however, clarified that the handset would not compete with cameras per se. "We are not looking at competing with cameras. Users can do other things with Pureview 808 apart from just clicking pictures," he said.

Asked if one would see the Pureview technology coming to its other handsets, Mehrotra said, "We would like to introduce this technology across our lines of products."

"Nokia is a full line player with focus across product lines. Our aim is to bring innovation at every price point, be it the Asha series or the Lumia devices. We would look at taking the Pureview technology, which has taken five years to develop, across categories," he added.

Priced at Rs 33,899 MRP, the phone is also placed cheaper than Samsung's SIII (Rs 43,180) and HTC One (42,999).

Till now, Nokia was offering 12MP as the highest available capacity for cameras with its N8. It offers low-cost phones, especially under its Asha series, while its high-end smartphones include the Windows-powered Lumia series.

Nokia has struggled in the past in the smartphone segment with Korean giant Samsung and Apple grabbing major share of the global pie. It is betting big on its tie-up with Microsoft (to bring Windows operating system to mobile phones) and Pureview 808 to help it reclaim its numero uno spot.

As per a Gartner study, Samsung topped mobile phone sales (with 86.6 million units) in the January-March 2012 quarter, dethroning Nokia which could sell only 83.2 million units.

 

Click here to read our special article on The New Nokia Pureview 808 

 

Courtesy: The Times Of India

Nokia unveils cheap touch screen models

HELSINKI: Struggling mobile phone firm Nokia unveiled its first three basic phone models with large touch screens, filling a gap in its suite of products.

THE NOKIA ASHA 306

Consumer demand for such devices has been rising fast especially in emerging markets. Last year 105 million low-end touch screen handsets were sold globally, according to Strategy Analytics.

Nokia said its Asha 305 model would go on sale this month for 63 euros ($78.52), excluding subsidies and taxes. The Asha 306 and Asha 311 models will go on sale next quarter for 68 euros and 92 euros, respectively.

41MP Nokia 808 PureView smartphone launching in India soon

NEW DELHI: Nokia's much-anticipated 41MP smartphone Nokia 808 PureView is set to launch in the country soon. A countdown timer on www.nokiapureview.in, a dedicated website for the upcoming smartphone, suggests that the phone should reach the country in next few hours.

PIXEL KING: THE NEW NOKIA 808 PUREVIEW

India is expected to be among the first few countries in which the phone will make its global debut. The first markets to begin selling Nokia 808 PureView reportedly include Russia and India.

Nokia PureView 808 has generated a lot of interest due to the gigantic 41-megapixel camera sensor on-board. The high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor camera comes with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology.

The PureView runs on the Symbian Belle OS. Other technical specifications include, 16 GB internal storage, 4.0-inch AMOLED display, 1.3 GHz ARM 11 processor and 512 MB RAM.

Nokia PureView 808 also includes NFC, Stereo FM Radio with FM transmitter, HDMI, 3G, Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi b/g/n, DLNA and Dolby Digital Plus for 5.1 channel surround sound playback.

Though the price of the smartphone has not been disclosed, it is rumoured to be launching at a price tag of Rs 30,000 approximately.


You can also check our review of Nokia 808 Pureview here.

Nokia launches low-end cellphones

HELSINKI: Nokia launched two low-end cellphones on Tuesday, aiming to regain its footing in emerging markets.

The Nokia 110 model will be sold for 35 euros and will start shipping in the second quarter, while the 112 model will be sold for 38 euros from the third quarter, the Finnish phone maker said.

The company has been losing market share not just in high-end smartphones but also in cheaper, basic phones popular among customers in emerging markets.

Nokia Pureview 808 coming to India in may

The 41 Megapixel King: The Nokia Pureview 808

Nokia's 41-megapixel smartphone PureView 808 is expected to see its India launch in May. Russia will also be one of the first countries to receive the device. 

The Symbian S60-powered Nokia PureView 808 was one of the major highlights of this year's Mobile World Congress held at Barcelona. 

Nokia 808 PureView features a high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performanceCarl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology. At standard resolutions (2/3, 5 and 8 megapixels) this means the ability to zoom without loss of clarity and capture seven pixels of information, condensing into one pixel for the sharpest images imaginable. 

Nokia 808 PureView also includes full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom and the world's first use of Nokia Rich Recording. Rich Recording claims audio recording at CD-like levels of quality. PureView also features Dolby Headphone technology. 

According to reports, Nokia so far has no plans of launching the device in the US. The company has also not yet revealed the official pricing.

NMR brings out its contest fest!

Here we are! Happy to announce National Mobile Review's first online contest! Answer this question and 3 of you could win a Nokia C3! 


Q) Which of these Nokia handsets has astonished the telecom world by introducing a 41 mega pixel camera?


i) Nokia Lumia


ii) Nokia Pureview 808


Send your answers to +91.9342.100100 via SMS and the winner will be declared through lucky draw. No terms and conditions! Winners will be announced 1st of May' 2012. Competition open till 30th of April' 2012. Happy Hour!


Prizes sponsored by
Rishab Telecom (P) Ltd. India

Nokia Pureview 808: Putting 41 megapixels in a phone!

Text Courtesy: Times Of India

THE NEW NOKIA PUREVIEW 808

"We want to stop the endless megapixel race." says Vesa Jutila, Nokia's global head of marketing for smart devices. 
Coming from a senior Nokia executive, this is a strange statement. The company shocked smartphone industry in February when it announced Pureview 808, a smartphone that packs in a huge 41 megapixel image sensor. This is the kind of pixel power that not even DSLRs boast off. But as Jutila rolls back his sleeves, takes out his laptop, and explains what the company is doing with 41 megapixels (MP) in Pureview 808, it begins to make sense. 

For nearly an hour, we listen to him, taking in the details of why Nokia crammed in so many pixels in a smartphone and why the default image captured with Pureview 808 camera will be just 5MP in size! The massive amount of pixels is just a coincidence. That's not the goal for Nokia, says Jutila. "The goal is better image quality from smartphone cameras." 

The beginning
Nokia says it started developing Pureview five years ago. "We found that our consumers wanted better zoom. And better low-light photography. So, we looked for some solutions," says Jutila. 

Initially, Nokia engineers worked to increase optical zoom. At the same time, they tried to lower aperture to tackle low-light photography. 

"While a better lens is a solution, it also increases the size of the camera module. High quality lenses have bigger size. They can't fit in smartphone. Not yet," adds Jutila. 

After much research, the company found a solution. But it is a combination of hardware and software. It is the technology that powers Pureview. Yes, Pureview 808 has a significantly bigger image sensor and lens module compared to what other smartphones pack, but much of the pixel magic happens in the software. 

Why 41 megapixels
Pureview at its basic is a clever solution to the problems like lack of optical zoom and poor low-light photography that tiny cameras in smartphones face. In a unique twist to the way cameras process images, Nokia is utilizing a 41MP image sensor to produce 5MP images. If users want they can change it and go up to 38MP image size but the default is five and Nokia advocates sticking to it for best results. 

"For most people a very high quality 5MP image is more than enough. Our focus is on the quality and not quantity," says Jutila. 

The 41MP sensor but 5MP default images has enabled Nokia to do two things: offer a lossless zoom up to 3X. And significantly better image quality, especially in low light. 

Let's tackle the zoom part first. In the conventional approach digital zoom means scaling an image from the low resolution to the native resolution. But in Pureview 808, the image is not scaled up. "When zoom is used in Pureview 808, it means just selecting the relevant area of the sensor," says Jutila. This means there is no scaling. There is no loss in pixel quality. 

As far as image quality is concerned, compared to other smartphones in the market Nokia is promising significantly better results with Pure 808. In fact, Jutila is confident that with something like Pureview in people's pocket, a point-and-shoot camera is dead. "DSLR camera is still relevant. But there is no need to carry a point-and-shoot camera anymore," he says. 

The secret sauce with Pureview that enables better image quality, as Jutila terms it, is "super pixel". When a photo is snapped with Pureview it captures all the details with its massive 41Mp sensor. However, because the default image size is just 5MP, the image-processing chip - Pureview 808, just like a few other smartphones, has a dedicated chip - takes all these pixels and create super pixels by combing details from them. This makes the image sharper. In low-light photography this also means that Pureview 808 image processor, which can handle nearly a billion pixels in one second, can discard visual noise, providing users with sharper images. 

The future
Evidently, Nokia is very proud of Pureview technology. This is something unique and has never been done before. The technology can help camera makers who are still cramming more mega pixels in their phones without caring much about image quality but Nokia is not willing to share it. 

"Pureview is our strategic asset. We are not going to licence it to anyone. Yes, some companies may want to follow our lead but we can say that it is not going to be easy. We have done it and we know it is not easy," says Jutila. 

In the near future, Pureview 808 is likely to be the only model with the technology. But more devices will come, including those running Windows Phone OS. "We have invested lot of money and resources in developing Pureview. It can't be all for just one platform," says Jutila. 

Hands-on with Pureview 808
Nokia says that Pureview 808 is not yet ready for the prime time. The image-processing algorithm needs work in the way it handles white balance. But the proof of the pudding is in eating and we insisted on seeing the technology in action. The request was accepted but with two conditions: One, we were not allowed to take the device outside the building and two, a Nokia executive accompanied us while we clicked photos to make sure that we do not share or upload the pictures taken with the handset.

As far as design is concerned, Pureview 808 looks better than N8, the phone it is going to replace. Subjectively, we also found its screen to be better compared to that of N8. It runs on Belle, the latest version of Symbian OS. At nearly 170 gram, the phone feels rather heavy and solid compared to most other smartphones in the market. 

The settings for photography were rather limited as we were inside a building. Yet, we shot many pictures with the phone. The level of details it captures is astounding. Compared to images taken with One X, a phone with a very good 8MP camera, the pictures from Pureview have tons of more detail. 

Sadly, we can't say the same about the overall picture quality. We found them lacking in contrast and colours. We suspect it was due to the white balance issue as well as the fact that the rooms we were shooting in were lit with bright fluorescent lights which made the job of Pureview 808 all the more difficult. 

Given the white balance issue we feel it may be little early to talk about images from Pureview 808. On the paper, the device looks fantastic. The technology is very impressive. And there is no reason why it wouldn't work as advertised. We are sure that come May and all our doubts will be put to rest. 




Text Courtesy: Times Of India