Nokia is apparently considering ditching the colourful polycarbonate body of its Lumia range for an aluminium design -- to make its next smart phones thinner and lighter.
The report comes from "sources familiar with the matter", talking to The Verge, who explained that Nokia is mulling the modified materials for at least one device in its 2013 lineup. The phone -- apparently codenamed Catwalk -- will sit at the top of Nokia's pile, replacing the Lumia 920 as the flagship.
I'm a fan of the rounded, polycarbonate design of the Lumias, but there's no denying the 920 is a whopping great beast. With an aluminium construction, Nokia is hoping to reduce the thickness and weight of its new range.
But if it's not using plastic, will it lose its colourful edge? Worry not. Nokia was able to slather its aluminium N8 in funky hues and it'll certainly do the same if again if it does indeed opt for a metal Lumia.
The Verge's man on the inside explains the new phone will share similar internal specs as the 920, which is disappointing. The 920 has plenty of power, sure, but it would be nice to see Nokia really push the boat out, upping the dual-core chip to a quad-core model and popping in extra RAM to cope better with multi-tasking. Hopefully it will keep -- and even improve -- the already good camera.
There's no word at all on when we could expect to see such a phone, but the mighty tech shows CES kicks off in Vegas next week. Mobile World Congress -- where Nokia showed off the PureView 808 last year -- takes place in February, and seems a more likely bet for a launch.
In the meantime, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and over on our Facebook page.
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters 
Comments 10
Add your comment
anonymous 4 January, 2013 13:59
Like Zappa used to say: "Who gives a f*#k?
sinisterpenguin 4 January, 2013 14:29
I hope Nokia do make a nice, portable, quality Win 8 phone, I really like my friends Win 8 phone, feels really up to date but it's too big & the smaller ones are cheap looking.
But I am soo bored of my iPhone, feels really old school now....
anonymous 4 January, 2013 14:42
Thinner, lighter, more expensive to buy and more expensive to repair.
There is a reason plastic is so popular!
anonymous 4 January, 2013 14:59
"Like Zappa used to say: "Who gives a f*#k?"
Probably more people than care about you. :)
Damien2501 4 January, 2013 15:32
The problem with the Nokia Lumia 920 is that it costs £120 more than the best phone in the world (Galaxy S3) and doesn't really offer anything special.The hardware and the software are not the problem, though it should release an Android phone.
anonymous 6 January, 2013 09:30
@Damien2501 : Pure View Camera (best under low light conditions),Wireless Charging,Provides best office experiance,Nokia Maps with turn by turn navigation ,better optimized skype (push notification : better battery while using skype ).Lot more ............
anonymous 6 January, 2013 10:38
I think Nokia and Microsoft do have in mind a different target market! May be they their curtomers live on different planet; or, perhaps, are not visible to the current smartphone users. Their pricing is astonishing. What do they base on? The camera, an operating system that does not crash or sleek look and so forth! Their vampire would-be customers are even failing to buy their products.
I think what these to ailing companies need to do is to target at the current visible real smartphone market. And to do this, all they need to say is, "we offer you better phones than the current competition at the same price!" this would have made a massive change to poor sales.
Regards
Mamaar007
anonymous 6 January, 2013 18:54
I thought a metal case prevents things like NFC and Wireless Charging from working?
anonymous 7 January, 2013 01:47
Being thinner won't make it any more pocket friendly. Phones are too big, I don't need a tablet device in my pocket... I need something that fits in my pocket, and my hand, and doesn't make me look a fool when it's against my ear. I pity Galaxy Note owners, I really do... they must have to shout so loud to use their phones.
anonymous 7 January, 2013 04:16
Polycarbonate is fine. Making the phone lighter and slimmer by using aluminium achieves nothing but inconvenience when holding the gadget. Aluminium is soft, gets scratched, is no big deal anymore. So, Nokia, do other things to improve your sales, meaning technologically, and leave silly cosmetics in the waste paper basket.