Last night Nokia announced it’s two newest flagship devices and they’re stacked full of “I want” features. PureView camera technology takes photography to a whole new level, City Lense augmented reality abilities which admittedly aren’t that groundbreaking and wireless charging which is.
The PureView Camera Innovation was seen on their magnificent 41 megapixel 808 phone a month back, and it uses an advanced floating lens technology which enables it to take in five times more light than any competing smartphone (without a flash).
This obviously means much brighter photos in day and night light, indoors and out. Use that with the hand-shake reduction, and you’re taking SLR quality photos with a smartphone.
Nokia City Lens is a location-based technology letting you point the camera at a city street and get information overlaid on the image. What restaurants are in reach, which shops are open and how much hotel rooms are in your vicinity are all available at a moments download.
Paired with Nokia’s existing apps, Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport, this could be the most comprehensive solution we’ve seen to AR yet. However, experience has shown us that these sorts of apps in the SA environment are often under-populated by users, something we’re seeing change on a daily basis as local shop-owners and restaurateurs jump on board.
The power of these new devices though is what I’m most excited about. Smartphones are notoriously cruddy at keeping a decent charge for a full day of meetings, texting and calls, but with the largest battery ever, the new Nokia devices might change all that.
Wireless charging is the most exciting of all the features for me as it means we’re finally getting there. We’re a long way from walking past a hotspot and your phone automatically enters “charge mode”, but slowly, we’re getting there.
Snap a “wireless shell” on to the back of the Lumia 820 and sit it down on the pad. Then just get on with your day while your phone charges wirelessly.
Dates and costing still to be announced, but sleepless nights until then.