Nokia World Roundup: New Lumia smartphones and tablet, apps, Asha phones

In today’s announcement, Nokia let loose not one, but two new phablets, along with a tablet. The two phones in question are the Lumia 1520 and the slightly lower end Lumia 1320. Both the devices sport a 6 inch display but the Lumia 1520 is a much better spec’d device on paper. Powered by a 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM, the Lumia 1520 comes with a full HD display, the first of its kind in the Windows Phone lineup. It was also rumoured that the Lumia 1520 would pack the PureView technology, and that has been confirmed. The phone has a 20-megapixel PureView camera with Auto Focus and Zeiss optics with OIS. There is also dual LED flash and the ability to record full HD video at 30 fps with optical image stabilization. The phone is expected to start shipping in Q4 of 2013 and expected to retail at $749 (Rs. 46,000 approx.) before taxes.

The second device is the Lumia 1320 with its 1280×768 6 inch display. It comes with a 1.7GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor along with 1GB of RAM. In terms of imaging, the rear camera is a 5 Megapixel sensor with LED flash. Internal storage is capped to 8GB, but can be expanded to 64GB via microSD card. The device will retail at an expected price of $349 (Rs. 21,500 approx.).

Another first for the Finnish manufacturer is the Lumia 2520, a 10.1 inch Windows 8.1 RT tablet. The screen is a full HD 10.1 inch IPS panel with high brightness, low reflectance and a viewing angle of 180 degrees. Powered by a 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. You can read all the specifics about the tablet in our feature here.

Nokia also announced three Asha phones, the Asha 500, 502 and 503. The three handsets come with a new design which the company calls ‘Dual shot layering effect’. The Nokia Asha 502 and Asha 503 comes with a 5MP camera and Nokia Asha 500 comes with 2MP camera. The Asha 502 and 503 also seem to be inspired from the company’s line of Lumia devices, sporting similar colours and ergonomics.  However, the Nokia 503 will be the highest-spec’d of the three devices and will cost $99 (Rs. 6,100 approx.), featuring a 5MP rear-facing camera and 3G connectivity. The mid-tier Asha 502 will cost $89 (Rs. 5,500 approx.) and the low end Asha 500 will retail for $69 (Rs. 4,250). All three phones are expected to be available within this quarter.

Amongst the hardware announcements, Nokia also managed to slip in some major app announcements. The biggest of them being that Instagram is finally coming to Windows Phone in the coming weeks. Vine has also been made official on the platform, with an app on the way very soon. The same can be said for Flipboard. While these apps are great, Nokia’s also enhancing the software for its own hardware, especially as far as imaging goes. Nokia announced that come mid-November, they will be extended full RAW support to the Lumia 1020. Being able to shoot in RAW with the Lumia 1020’s mammoth sensor would be a welcome treat and we cannot wait to give it a run.

The other news on the imaging front comes in the form of Refocus, an app that Nokia will be releasing for some of their PureView phones which will allow users a Lytro like control over their images. Imagine being able to shoot an image and then choosing an area of focus at a later point. Nokia already brought creative recomposing to their Lumia 1020 and now, we’re seeing creative refocus also coming in. This is really exciting stuff and probably has something to do with the company’s acquisition of Scalado. This is the company responsible for developing the algorithm for removing moving objects from a photo, to create a “photo-bomb” free image. Now it seems they will be augmenting the Nokia devices and their ability to shoot and refocus.

Check out the picture gallery of some of the hardware unveiled today: