Nokia Lumia 920: What it looks like

Nokia has unveiled Lumia 920 packed with competitive hardware and finest optics to produce quality imaging.

Nokia has launched its much anticipated Windows Phone 8 based Lumia 920 smartphone in India for Rs 38,199 (Available at around 35k in market). Though loaded with many latest features, the most interesting feature in this handset is the inclusion of Nokia's PureView Camera imaging technology with the Carl Zeiss lens.

Nokia Lumia 920 physically appears to have the same design as Nokia N9, Lumia 800 and Lumia 820 but with minor changes. When shut off, the Lumia 920 may mislead to Lumia 900 but infact is slightly bigger than the latter. Thanks to Nokia I got my hands on a red color chassis bearing Lumia 920 for almost a day. Unfortunately, I was informed not to use micro SIM with the Lumia 920. Even if I tried, it would have been pointless for the hands-on experience took place in a place, where the cellular network is pathetic.

Here are some of my thoughts on brief interaction with the Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone.

Design
Nokia has used the same unibody polycarbonate clamshell design as with its earlier generation of Lumia handsets. Since the earlier designs were happily accepted by the buyers, the manufacturer hopes the same reception will be given to Lumia 920.

The Lumia 920 has an external unibody shell made of polycarbonate. Hardware is compactly packed inside this unibody polycarbonate shell with the LCD touchscreen display on the top. On the top rests the standard 3.5 mm audio port in the middle and next to it as a Micro SIM slot tightly shut. There is no micro SD card slot on the top like the one present in Lumia 800.

Stereo speakers are located at the bottom in the form of small drill holes. The micro USB port lies between those speaker grills. Also, the bottom has the two star head top bearing screws which clamp the screen panel to the chassis.

3 capacitive buttons -- Back, Start and Search, are positioned on the front panel at a finger's distance from the bottom end. On the right side are the physical function keys designed from ceramic and are really very responsive. Nokia claims those keys are resistant to normal wear and tear to offer longer usage life. At the top of side panel rests the volume control buttons, below that is the power/sleep/wake-up button and a dedicated camera button shines at the bottom.

Flat top and bottom of the phone will keep the phone stand upright. Curved sides enable getting better grip while holding the phone. The glossy finish gave Nokia Lumia 920 premium look and feels really nice in the palms. In comparison, Matte finish designs are great for those who don't want to worry about scratches and fingerprints on their handsets.

Nokia Lumia 920 feels really smooth when held and red color makes it look like a model of Ferrari.

Hardware Muscle

Nokia Lumia 920 runs the new Microsoft Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system with preloaded Nokia's apps such as Maps, Music, City Lens and more. The Windows Phone 8 appears fantastic and crisp on the 4.5-inch LCD Display.

Nokia has used PureMotion HD+ on the 4.5-inch LCD ClearBlack Display that is little curved at the edges. This display provides good color reproduction and pleasing viewing angles even though it is not an Amoled display. The default resolution being 720x1280 pixels makes the text and images appear crisper.

The PureMotion HD+ technology makes the display butter smooth and can be used even while wearing gloves. This display has been constructed using Gorilla Glass 2 technique that makes it slimmer and resistant to scratches during normal usage.

I found the display really good and responsive even to the finger nails. Packing superior resolution and pleasing visual feedback, this display certainly makes Windows Phone 8 experience more fluid and crisp.

The device comes packed with a dual-core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 'Krait' mobile process tagged along comes Adreno 225 grahics chip. The manufacturer has added 1 GB RAM and offers 32 GB on-board storage. Since there is no microSD card slot, the only way one can get more storage is by using Cloud Servers based storage services.

Wireless connectivity is available with the 3G and LTE cellular network support. The device also boasts dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi support and Bluetooth 3.1 with A2DP/EDR. Of course, the smartphone does pack a Near Field Communications technology to stay compatible with several NFC-based accessories from Nokia.

Camera

Nokia has managed to implement the PureView Camera imaging technology in the Lumia 920. This flagship Windows Phone 8 handset features 8.7 MP camera with f/2.0 aperture and Carl Zeiss lens. Dual LED powered Xenon Flash provides better luminance in low light situations. Nokia has added Optical Image Stabilisation technology which makes it stand out from the crowd.

Nokia has positioned the camera assembly on a shock absorbing movable platform inside the unibody polycarbonate chassis. So whenever the user tries image capture or video recording with slight shake of hands, there is no or minimal blurriness involved in the resultant image or video.

Also, I tested the camera's performance in low light conditions and felt blown away by the results. The Lumia 920's Camera could capture smooth details in very low light environment.

Infact in certain places there was no flash usage at all and the Lumia 920 provided good quality of images with natural color and lighting.

The Carl Zeiss optics has been smartly used to offer nice white balance and deliver very natural colors in close ups and land scape shots. I would love to play more with the camera.

The camera app user interface is smooth and pretty much linear to navigate through. Three software lens app come pre-loaded -- Smart Shoot, Panorama, and Cinematograph. The OIS also comes handy for recording videos in 720p and 1080p resolution.

There is also a front facing camera capable of supporting HD video chat.

Conclusion

Nokia Lumia 920 has been packed with powerful hardware and promising optics technology to deliver on of the best performance. Of course the phone has its own set of merits and minor demerits -- expect more on both in coming detailed review. Only thing that I missed out on was to test out Qi Technology powered wireless charging.

Anyways Nokia Lumia 920 is a premium package tailored to give subtle surprises.

The Chinese Smartphone Invasion Starts

China's Smartphone manufacturers Huawei and ZTE, looking to win U.S. buyers away from Apple and Samsung, showcase new smartphones at CES.

Tech biggies Apple, Google, and Microsoft were no-shows at CES this week in Las Vegas that proved to be just fine for Chinese manufacturers looking to establish a name for themselves with U.S. consumers. Telecom companies Huawei and ZTE, in particular, have set their eyes on breaking into the U.S. market for Smartphone and tablets.

That objective may seem little difficult – majority of consumers may remember that a select committee from the U.S. House of Representatives slammed Huawei and ZTE in October. The House report warned U.S. companies against using devices from Huawei and ZTE: "Based on available classified and unclassified information, Huawei and ZTE cannot be trusted to be free of foreign state influence and thus pose a security threat to the United States and to our information systems." During the same time, Cisco reportedly broke ties with ZTE after a year-long investigation into allegations that the company sold Cisco gear to Iran.

While the chances on a breakthrough may be long -- after all, Huawei has been unsuccessful in getting most U.S. carriers to offer its branded products -- the Chinese firms appear uncowed and confident. ZTE even had the guts to ding Apple in public last year, saying the slow pace of iPhone releases indicate that the iconic American company was losing its edge. The IDG News Service report notes:

While ZTE is 3 positions behind Apple as the world's fifth-largest smartphone supplier, according to research agency IDC, the Chinese company saw second-quarter smartphone shipments grow 300 % year on year. Helping to fuel that growth was the Chinese market, where ZTE narrowly beat Apple in market share by selling lower-end smartphones.

As part of Huawei's strategy to win the U.S. market -- which CEO Richard Yu calls "key" to the company's future -- Huawei launched two new smartphones this week at CES. The Ascend Mate has the world's biggest display; at 6.1 inches, it surpasses even the popular Samsung Galaxy Note II with its 5.5-inch screen and prompts Joel Evans at ZDnet to ask how big is too big for a smartphone. The phone runs Android 4.1 with a custom Huawei user interface, and its dust- and water-resistant feature has been cited as one of the five smartphone trends from CES. It also boasts an impressive 4,050mAh battery which should result in longer usage time between recharges.

Huawei also unveiled the Ascend D2 which the company claims is the world's most powerful smartphone. It sports a 5-inch 1080p display, a quad-core 1.5GHz CPU, Android "Jelly Bean," a 13-megapixel rear camera, and 3,000mAh battery.

ZTE also jumped on the big-screen smartphone bandwagon at CES, introducing a flagship Android phone with a 5-inch full HD display. The ZTE Grand S will be launched in China in early 2013, but ZTE said it is in talks with two carriers about selling the phone in the US. The Grand S is one of the thinnest smartphones available in the market at 6.9mm thick (the iPhone 5 is 7.6mm) and runs on the "Jelly Bean" version of Android and a quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor.

Whether these Chinese devices can take on the likes of Apple and Samsung remains to be seen, but as Wired quotes Jeff Lotman, the CEO of Global Icons, an agency which helps companies build and license their brands:

The thing that's amazing is these are big companies, and they have a lot of power, but in the United States nobody has heard of them and they're having trouble gaining traction, but it's not impossible. Samsung was once famous for making crappy, low-end phones and cheap TVs. Now they're seen as a top TV and smartphone brand.

Nothing is impossible!!!

CES 2013: Huawei is challenging Samsung, Apple with big-screen smartphones

Huawei Technologies boosted the competition in the smartphone display size and resolution on Monday with two new devices Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate. The new devices are aimed at challenging much bigger rivals, Samsung and Apple.

The Chinese phone manufacturer, which is pushing to expand its market beyond its home country, unveiled the Ascend D2 and Ascend Mate devices on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The company said the Ascend D2 would have a high-definition screen with 443 pixels per inch compared with the top Samsung and Apple phones, with resolutions closer to the 300 pixels per inch range.

The Ascend Mate device has a 6.1 inch display that will make it the biggest-screen smartphone in the world, according to Huawei. Samsung's biggest smartphone to date, the Galaxy Note II, which has a 5.5 inch display.

"The company is hoping its latest smartphones will offer an alternative for people who have to carry around their tablet computer, laptop, smartphone and camera all at once."

Richard Yu, Head of consumer electronics, Huawei

"Our idea is whether we can have one thing for all that"

Richard Yu

The company intends to start selling the Ascend D2 in China in January and in Japan and other countries later on.

The Ascend Mate will be available in Chinese market in February and in the rest of the world in the following months.

Huawei also expects the phones to go for sale in Europe and said it is in discussion with U.S. operators about selling them here. It did not disclosed prices for the devices.