#NokiaWorld Roundup: Pt. 1 – Products

So we’ve seen Ali’s take on things, as well as hands-on and demos from around the interwebs, but, as you may know, I was at Nokia World, so I got to experience the awesome stuff Nokia is bringing out.

Lets start with Asha.

Nokia announced three new Asha devices, the Asha 500,502 and 503. This brings a total of four Asha devices with Swipe UI.

These new additions definitely kick butt in their target categories. They are super small and compact, yet pack a pretty solid experience into a feature phone. Nokia has done well to blur the line between feature phone and smartphone.

I really like the “icy clear exterior”. Photos don’t do it justice at all. Not only does it feel pretty nice in the hand, but it looks awesome. Also seems to make the colours pop that bit more. Definitely a nice touch.

Speaking of Asha, what was nice was to get the chance to play around with the Asha 311 and Nokia Music. The team has done a good job on getting the features from Lumia’s Nokia Music app (eg. Mix Radio) and bringing it to these devices. It’ll be nice to see the Asha 500,501,502 and 503 get the same treatment hey? 😉

Next we have the big kids of the announcement, literally!

The Lumia 1320 is essentially a Lumia 625 on steroids! Featuring a whopping 6″ display, and 720p HD resolution, you can see more, and see it with impressive clarity. It does feel rather large to hold, with a physical footprint bigger than the Note 3, but smaller than the Xperia Ultra. We also placed it next to the iPhone 5C.

The greatest thing about this device is the price! At only $349, it is truly remarkable. The removable cover and SD slot were a great touch. Running on a 3400mAh battery, a 1.7ghz Dual-Core Snapdragon S4 processor, the 1320 is quick, but should last the better part of a day.

Lumia 1520, the 1320’s older, but not bigger, better looking brother definitely impressed! Still sporting a 6″ display, the Lumia 1520 is Nokia’s first smartphone to feature a 1080p screen.

That screen is really something though! Nokia hasn’t just packed a hi-res large screen into the Lumia 1520, but they’ve also managed to enhance visibility in some pretty tough conditions, which in-turn, lends itself to have great viewing angles. You can see the kind of profile it has when its in someones pocket. I admit, I’m not crazy tall, and the pockets weren’t super deep, but the Lumia 925 doesn’t “peek” if thats anything to go by.

The 32gb on-board storage, with the option to expand via MicroSD card was a fantastic touch. Extremely glad that a high end Lumia finally has support for expandable storage. Interestingly though, the Lumia 1520 uses Nano-SIM technology.

The case that was launched alongside the 1520 is similar to Apple’s iPad cover, allowing you to fold it over and use it as a stand. Perfect for watching videos on that amazing screen. Like the Lumia 1320, the Lumia 1520 packs a 3400mAh battery, but is the first Windows Phone to run on Quad-Core, and its clocked at 2.2GHz, to provide a lightning fast experience.

Its nice to see that Wireless charging has made a comeback to the high-end with the Lumia 1520 including it as standard. No need for a shell. The 20MP PureView Camera, with OIS and Over sampling is a very welcomed addition also. Personally, I think its been long over due, so I am extremely glad Nokia brought the tech into a more realistic sensor, without compromising on a “sensor bulge”.

Expanding on the imaging side of things, Nokia announced that the Lumia 1020 and 1520 will get RAW support. For most people, it means very little, but for those who have even the slightest passion in photography on these devices, and are wanting to get the best possible images off their device and onto their computers, this was amazing news!

The last device to discuss is the Nokia Lumia 2520. Its not the first time Nokia has technically done a tablet, but it is the company’s first (and possibly only) Lumia Windows tablet. Running on Windows RT 8.1 out of the box, the Lumia 2520 is definitely aimed to be a tablet competitor.

Many wish that Nokia had gone with full Windows 8, but logically, RT was the only appropriate choice. Especially since the device is designed to target the iPad, and Android Tablets, and not the touch based ultrabooks and netbooks. It makes sense as well from a production side, as Lumia devices run on ARM chips, so keeping their tablet to run on the same chips is the obvious choice. Seeing as there has been rumours of the merging of Windows RT and Phone eventually, it is also a solid reason in supporting Nokia’s choice.

The Lumia 2520 features an impressive 10.1″ 1080P HD display, MicroSD and LTE support, powered by a Quad-core Snapdragon 800 clocked at 2.2GHz, the Lumia 2520 is definitely a strong contender on paper. It feels marvelous in the hand. With a Lumia 720 like design, the tablet doesn’t feel awkward in any way.

A special accessory, the Power Keyboard, was announced alongside the 2520, increasing its battery life from approx. 10 hours, to 15 hours, as well as bringing a full keyboard and two USB 3.0 ports. The cover also magnetically folds around the product, protecting it from damage while on the move. Unlike the Surface RT, the Lumia 2520 doesn’t have a built-in kickstand, but frankly it isn’t needed. The power keyboard has a solid magnetic connection that allows the device to be propped up for use with the keyboard, video calling, or really, just all-round general use!

Devices weren’t the only thing announced though. We saw several new apps and services introduced across the portfolio of devices. A concept I like is that Lumia phones and the tablet, will work cohesively to extend particular experiences. For example, Nokia Music will come pre-installed on the Lumia 2520, and have the same features that a Music + subscription would have on other Windows 8/RT based devices, but at no extra charge.

As mentioned, the idea of extending experiences across devices is also in Nokia Music. You can favourite tracks and artists on either device, but receive and sync notifications on both. It is super handy for those who swap devices constantly. Sadly though, getting a Lumia 2520 won’t provide your Lumia phone with Music+ features.

Another app that was announced with this “companion” support, was Dragon Adventures, an app designed by Dreamworks in partnership with Nokia. We got a few minutes to interview Dreamworks about how this companionship works and their vision is truly remarkable. Not only do they want to create a new experience for families when it comes to app interaction, but they are also taking a bold step in the commercialisation of their product.

What I really like about the app, is that you set-up your “family” and you can interact with each other, and influence the experience. You can be anywhere, so long as the devices are connected to the internet. Dragon Adventures also features real-time map adaption technology, which gathers information about your surrounding (non-identifiable) and will render a virtual world based on that. As the area you are in changes, so does the experience you get. The phone portion of the experience is also voice activated!

Let’s hope this notion of connected screens to extend and enhance experiences becomes more widely adopted.

Nokia also dropped some big app titles into the mix, announcing Vine, Instagram, Temple Run 2 and Flipboard, will be officially coming to the platform by year’s end. Alongside these popular services, they launched new software experiences of their own, including Lumia Black, a Nokia specific update adding to Microsoft’s GDR3 update for WP8.

Check out a demo of flipboard below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IChn8lwXRd0

Lumia Black brings enhanced Glance Screen capabilities, such as a Glance Background (seen already as a standalone Beta Labs app), notification support (mimicking the notifications you set on the Lock Screen), and a feature in which the top half of the Glance screen, if no image is set, will show either custom text, or the detailed information provided in Lock Screen settings, such as Calendar. Lots of imaging enhancements and other features/fixes are on their way too!

Nokia Beamer, a remote screen sharing application, similar to the company’s Photobeamer app, will also get support, but only for devices with 1gb RAM onwards. Storyteller, a location aware photography experience, allowing you to tell a story through your photos and get additional information, will come to the whole Lumia range (including the Lumia 2520).

We did have a great video demo of this, but technical issues meant it, and pretty much all the others we captured.( Pro tip: don’t upgrade to OSX Mavericks if you use REFIT to multi-built into Linux or Windows – caused a bootloop and needed to reformat. Hopefully some is recoverable).

Nokia set up a “Wonder wall” in the showcase area also, that had a whole range of devices and accessories in their colourful glory. Thought you guys may like to take a look!

Thats just a quick sort of summary on everything that was announced at the event. There were a few other little things too, but these were definitely the most memorable and headlining topics.

There was also some amazing fun to be had during the week!

Category: Event, Launch, Lumia, Microsoft, Nokia, PureView, Tablet, Windows, Windows Phone