Lumia

Low-light shootout: iPhone 5 vs Lumia 920 vs Nokia 808 PureView vs HTC One X vs Galaxy S III

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 26, 2012

The biggest change in the iSight camera found on the back of the iPhone 5 is not its sapphire lens cover, the new panorama mode, faster performance, better video stabilization or crisper photos stemming from enhanced post-processing capabilities provided by the heavily customized, Apple-designed A6 chip.

It's its markedly better performance in low-light situations. The difference between the iPhone 4S and 5 camera becomes readily apparent on photos taken under artificial light, poorly lit scenes or no light at all.

By way of Engadget, we are now able to compare night shots taken on the iPhone 5 against those snapped up using Nokia's newly introduced Lumia 920, Nokia 808 PureView device, HTC's flagship One X and of course, Samsung's Galaxy S III. Who do you think came on top?

Nokia infographic tells why its Lumia 920 is better than the iPhone 5

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 20, 2012

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may have hurt Nokia's feelings at a presser yesterday by calling HTC's flagship phones, the 8X and 8S, truly Windows Phone hero products. Returning the favor, Nokia likened the new HTC devices to a "tactical re-branding".

Better yet, the ailing Finish cell phone maker thinks that the recently unveiled Lumia 920, its inaugural Windows Phone 8 device, is a far better proposition compared to the industry's golden benchmark by which all smartphones are measured, Apple's iPhone.

To prove its point, Nokia chose to play the specs game and published an interesting graphics on Facebook comparing the Lumia 920 to the iPhone 5...

Nokia fan (or Nokia?) creates Samsung style anti-iPhone ad

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 17, 2012

Following up on news of Samsung's upcoming anti-iPhone television commercial and sighting of an amusing print ad appearing in certain newspapers and focused on a laundry list of iPhone 5 and Galaxy SIII features, a fan of Nokia's newly introduced flagship handset, the Windows Phone 8-drive Lumia 920, has taken it upon himself to re-work Samsung's advertisement with a little Nokia touch.

Replacing the Galaxy SIII with the Lumia 920, the new ad proclaims Nokia's device "the heawyweight champion" of smartphone wars, which have grown uglier with the iPhone 5 introduction (which shattered sales records), patent fights, Samsung's nasty ad attacks and March 2013 release of the Galaxy S4.

Now there’s a new “ad” ready to become viral, coming from Nokia fans (or maybe Windows Phone fans). The unofficial commercial is entitled “Flyweight contender, meet the heavyweight champion” and pits the Nokia Lumia 920 against the iPhone 5...

Deceptive advertising: Nokia admits to faking the PureView ad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 7, 2016

Nokia has always been the smartphone imaging king so no wonder the ailing cell phone giant emphasized advanced camera capabilities as the headline feature of its new flagship Lumia 920 smartphone, launched earlier today.

PureView technology debuted last year on Nokia's Symbian-driven PureView 808 handset. It's based on a pixel oversampling technique which reduces an image taken at full resolution into a lower resolution variant in order to enable lossless zoom and improve light sensitivity and crispness.

Though the new Lumia 920 only has a 8,x-megapixel sensor versus a whopping 41-megapixel on the PureView 808, it still takes in five times more light than other camera phones and taps image signal processor for some cool image stabilization technology (the iPhone 4S also does that).

Unfortunately, Nokia has gone too far in promoting PureView's ability to stabilize shaky video, as proven by its latest commercial...

Nokia pre-empts iPhone 5 with new Lumias rocking Windows Phone 8

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

Software giant Microsoft and former cell phone champion Nokia held a press conference earlier today in a very wet New York City. Nokia is attempting to re-boot its ailing smartphone biz with some sleek new Lumia handsets, with a little help from its pal Microsoft and its new Windows Phone 8 operating system. It pays to keep tabs on what competition is doing and it's always exciting watching good ol' Windows maker playing a catch up in mobile.

With that in mind, the presser was basically a pre-emptive tease against the massive iPhone 5 launch due next Wednesday. Interestingly, Nokia hasn't shied away from criticizing Samsung for failing to deliver a working Windows Phone 8 phone. Conspicuously enough, Nokia itself did not announce price points or shipping dates for the new Lumias.

Perhaps it would have been better to hold this event a month from now? Be that as it may, Microsoft will hopefully play its cards right and over time establish Windows Phone as a third viable platform. I'm all for it: some balance to the force is needed as it's been disrupted lately by Android's relentless march. Here's what's new from the Microkia camp...

Nokia’s inaugural Windows Phone 8 has some familiar design

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

One of the most common complaints I keep hearing about the yet-unreleased next iPhone is a sense of dissapointment over its overly unchanged appearance, even if from the design standpoint the iPhone 5 is much more than a rehash of the existing iPhone 4/4S design.

Is you know, Apple's upcoming device is said to sport a two-tone metal backplate (58 percent like it), a taller four-inch screen with new display technology, a relocated headphone jack and a much smaller dock connector with MagSafe-like functionality at the bottom.

But it ain't just Apple. Nokia, once a leader in cell phones and now an also-ran, figured its inaugural Windows Phone 8 handset shouldn't change the design formula established with the sleek Windows Phone 7.5-powered Lumia 710. Heck, if the above leaked photo is the real deal, Nokia may not be willing to change the overall Lumia design much with the new handset...

Nokia has a plan B if Windows Phone bet fails. Android or BlackBerry?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

Nokia thus far has seen little commercial success with first devices born out of their Windows Phone partnership with Microsoft, such as the hyped Lumia lineup. Apparently some Nokia executives are beginning to question the decision to hedge their bets on Microsoft's otherwise cool and smooth Windows Phone operating system and the forthcoming Windows 8.

But what if Windows 8 - the first major release to scale from smartphones to tablets to big screens - doesn't live up to high expectations? Where does that leave Nokia, the once leading cell phone vendor now on the increasingly similar downward spiral like Canada-based Research In Motion, another telecom on its way to the technology graveyard?

Is there any hope left for Nokia? (probably not)

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2016

It's not a typo: I really meant Nokia, not RIM. Look, the writing's on the wall. In the first quarter of 2012, only Apple and Samsung reaped benefits of the 41 percent year-over-year growth in the smartphone biz.

Together, the two frenemies accounted for 55 percent of global smartphone shipments in Q1 and an astounding 90 percent of the profits.

Apple shipped 35 million iPhones in Q1 while Samsung recorded 43 million global shipments. None of this is surprising. What's stunning is how sharp Nokia's decline is. Of all companies, beleaguered RIM, whose Q1 shipments dipped 20 percent, may soon surpass Nokia...