Nokia's next top mobile will be a proper PureView -- a Windows Phone with all the impressive camera gubbins of the ludicrous Nokia 808, according to the Verge.
Codenamed 'EOS' -- surely a nod to Canon's range of high-end dSLR cameras, and I wonder how the Japanese company will feel about that -- the new PureView will have a "similar sensor" to the 41-megapixel monster bursting out of last year's 808.
The rumoured new camera phone will be encased in chilly aluminium, like the iPhone 5, rather than the cheery coloured plastic of Nokia's current Lumia range. That tallies with previous rumours of the Lumia 920's successor, codenamed Catwalk.
Nokia boasted at its launch that the Lumia 920 (pictured above) had the best camera of any smart phone ever, but was forced to apologise for faking a promotional video. Ostensibly shot with the colourful blower from the back of a bike, a truck with a professional camera crew was clearly visible in a reflection.
As it turned out, the 920's snapper wasn't all that anyway. In our extensive tests we found it failed to match its principal rivals the Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5, except in low light, when it was superb. Nokia will be desperate for the new PureView to blow 2013's phones out of the picturesque water.
It's shaping up to be an ultra-competitive year for high-end phone makers, with every man and his dog making a quad-core, 5-inch 1080p leviathan. Sony has the Xperia Z, LG has the Optimus G Pro and Samsung will have the Galaxy S4, sure as eggs is eggs.
I doubt, frankly, that very many people put 'compact-quality camera' at the very top of their mobile feature wish list, ahead of say 'brilliant screen', 'good value for money' or 'great selection of apps'. Nevertheless, I'm delighted Nokia is carrying on, ploughing its own furrow, determinedly offering something a little different.
Is this the camera phone you've been waiting for? Give me a snapshot of your thoughts down in the comments, or over on our photogenic Facebook page.
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Comments 11
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anonymous 23 January, 2013 21:31
youre wrong. a great camera is a massive plus when thinking about which phone to get. hence why im not busting a gut to get the lg nexus cos the camera reviews are so poor.
Joel Russell 23 January, 2013 21:56
you have such strong affiliations with IOS and android that you dont want to accept that windows phone and windows phone models are competing stronger and stronger. the lumia 920 HAS a brilliant screen, arguably the best there is. and the app store is growing. get your face out of androids arse and accept that windows phone is better than the stale IOS and boring android.
Peter Hudson 23 January, 2013 22:56
Is it gonna be a competitive year? Apple will push out a new iPhone that looks exactly the same as every other iPhone. Nokia will keep producing lumia handsets that don't look any different to each other. And everyone else will release android handsets with identical specs. We need something new in the mobile world to shake things up a bit.
Lovable Prince 24 January, 2013 10:15
i dont get it or Nokia dont gets it
it is not a war of cameras on mobile phones, it is war of eco system and innovations and features. Windows Phone lacks features and some of the best apps out in other eco systems. nokia and microsoft needs to pay developers or reward them to speed up the porting of useful apps. only by having good camera and nokia drive with the lowest powered gps chip will never sell.
Nokia it is not too late, either bring back Meego or adapt Android or stop stupid adverts and spend that money on developers to sort out the app store.
Nok
anonymous 24 January, 2013 11:49
you are wrong. for some (e.g. my Mum) the camera is the killer app.
anonymous 24 January, 2013 11:57
*yawn*
yet more cnet Nokia/WP bashing. SURPRISE!!!
"The rumoured new camera phone will be encased in chilly aluminium, like the iPhone 5, rather than the cheery coloured plastic of Nokia's current Lumia range. That tallies with previous rumours of the Lumia 920's successor, codenamed Catwalk. "
Um...are you guys forgetful or stupid? Do you remember the Nokia N8? Arugably still the 3rd best camera on a phone behind the 808 and Lumia 920. The N8 was made from annodised aluminium, came in a range of colours (still love my orange one), and didn't suffer from easy scratches like with the iPhone5.
WP8 is competitive compared to iOS and Android, regardless of how much bashing you want to do (app arguement is null and void really, considering rate of growth of the WP store, and the continued black hole of an iOS store (less than 50% apps ever downloaded, or at least more than once, I read somewhere), and the black hole/malware troubles of the Android Play store.
Your arguments against the 808 Pureview always came back to the 'hinderance' that is Symbian...now that's no longer an issue, you still have to find ways to demoted the handset to nothing more than a curiousity. Do you realise how worldwide sales and demand highlighted this as being nothing more than techsites dislike of Symbian and didn't have much bearing on reality?
Jonathan Aze 24 January, 2013 20:08
I've just discovered a group of commentor even more annoying than apple/android fanboys; people who comment on every article accusing someone, somewhere of some form of bais.
If I had the time and pataince to tell each and every one of you to shut up individually, I would.
But i'll make at start by replying to 'anonymous 24 January, 2013 11:57's post, which i found particually pionless. Frist you start by saying that Cnet is stupid for not mentioning the N8 when it talks about the new phone being made of aluminium, did they say that it was the only phone nokia has ever made of aluminium? No. Why is it relevent in this article to bring up symbian phone from 2009? Then you go on to argue to yourself about wp8, when this article isn't really about wp8, and its pros/cons definately haven't been mentioned in this artcile.Then your whole argument is backed up by an iOS statisic quoted from "somewhere", and the amazing 'worldwide sales and demand' of the 808, which is something I must have missed out on.
anonymous 25 January, 2013 23:16
Camera very important, i have a canon EOS 60D DSLR but a quality camera phone is essential for those candid moments!, I have kept my n8 waiting for a suitable successor. Nokia have fulfilled the mainstream requirement with the 920 etc. time to concentrate on the niche now... if i were Nokia I'd release a high end camera phone to keep the n8/808 owners happy and a media/audio focused phone in the way Sony used to do them...
anonymous 26 January, 2013 10:10
i hope it is WATERPROOF and SHOCKPROOF…than this would be my phone for life.
Make a phone for people and not for competition..sure it will work…make it from your heart with love.
anonymous 30 January, 2013 18:06
"Make a phone for people and not for competition..sure it will work…make it from your heart with love."
Of all the silly arguements posted above, this line struck me as the most important... i got the pureview 808 & by far, the best smartCAM i have ever seen..no wonder it won a number of awards.. F%#K the competition! iPhone and Samsung may be the top 2 sellers but being no.3 aint bad as long as Nokia targets the niche, they will always be on the map.
anonymous 4 February, 2013 19:14
I'm looking forward to the NOKIA EOS arriving – then hopefully I can pick-up a Nokia 808 for £100 and be totally satisfied with a fantastic phone.