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Nokia Unveils Its First Windows Phone 8 Devices

[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Nokia revealed two new Windows Phone 8 Lumia phones at a press event in New York City on Wednesday. The new phones – the Nokia Lumia 820 and the Nokia Lumia 920 — are based on Windows Phone 8, Microsoft’s forthcoming phone operating system. The news phones come with an augmented reality boost, wireless charging, and a camera that Nokia assures will take professional-quality pictures even at night.

The Lumia 920 is the flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone from the Finnish giant, and Nokia is using the camera in the phone as a unique selling proposition . Using advanced floating lens technology, the Nokia Lumia 920 is able to take in five times more light than competing smartphones without using flash, making it possible to capture clear, bright pictures and video indoors and at night. It also compensates for hand movement while the photo is being taken.

Jo Harlow (Executive vice president, Nokia Smart Devices): Nokia PureView continues to deliver cutting-edge technology to make it possible for a smartphone camera to take the kind of images usually only seen on a standalone SLR camera. With the Nokia Lumia 920 we have made it possible to shoot pictures and video at home, outdoors, in a restaurant or even at night, and come out with professional-looking results.

The Nokia Lumia 920 also comes with Nokia City Lens, the latest addition to the Nokia location suite. By pointing the camera at a city street, City Lens overlays information about restaurants, shops, hotels and more on the surfaces of buildings. Nokia City Lens is the start of a new augmented reality experience that also enhances Nokia Maps, making it possible to move between maps view and augmented reality view to help people check their direction and surroundings.

The Nokia Lumia 920 also comes with Nokia’s largest ever battery (2000mAh) and, for the first time, built-in wireless charging. The Nokia Lumia 920 comes in yellow, red, grey, white and black.

The Nokia Lumia 820 is a mid-range smartphone. While the Lumia 820 has the same unibody look and feel as the high end Lumia smartphones, it comes with an exchangeable shell design. Exchangeable shells not only make it possible to select from a range of colors, but also to add wireless charging.

Windows Phone 8 comes with a start screen that can be rearranged to reflect individual priorities, and animated Live Tiles for real-time updates. The Nokia Lumia 820 comes in red, yellow, grey, cyan, purple, white and black.

Both phones will be available in pentaband LTE and HSPA+ variants and are expected to start shipping later in the year.

[Image: Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, and Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia, show off the latest smartphones from Nokia running the new Windows Phone 8 operating system.]

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