 "Coming Soon: Lumia phablet and an aluminium successor to the Lumia 920")
Looks like this weekend will be a rumour fest. After the budget iPhone that we reported on we turn our attention to a slew of Nokia rumours that hit the web just before the Finnish phone maker announced its financial results for the 1st quarter of this year.
The most exciting among these rumours was the one carried by the Financial Times after a ‘well placed source’ revealed to them that the company was planning to take on Samsung by launching a Lumia phablet running on Windows Phone 8. The device is said to have a 5 or 6-inch screen and will be pitted against the Samsung Galaxy Note series. Many thought that the Lumia 920 itself was very bulky but if Nokia manages to make the phablet thinner and sleeker, a Windows Phone 8 phablet would appeal to quite a few.
The other big release that the Scandinavian major is said to be planning this year is an aluminium-bodied phone codenamed ‘Catwalk’. The device is touted as a successor to the Lumia 920, currently Nokia’s flagship device. If the leaked photos are anything to go by, the phone is a quite the looker. The aluminium frame is reminiscent of the iPhone 4 and could be used as the antenna as in the Apple device. The plastic back means the phone will come with wireless charging just like the Lumia 920. What we find most promising is that huge bulge around the camera lens at the back. Based on this one can draw the conclusion that the phone could have a Pureview sensor. The prospect of a Lumia phone that can capture 40 megapixel images like the Nokia 808 is indeed exciting. The Lumia 920 already has the best camera technology among all smartphones and if ‘Catwalk’ does have the Pureview technology it will be a worthy successor to the 920.
Nokia Lumia ‘Catwalk’ - Could it have a Pureview sensor?
After many quarters of falling sales and escalating losses, Nokia is making a valiant attempt at turning a profit and staying relevant in the smartphone race. The Lumia series has seen some success in some parts of the world and in their financial results yesterday Nokia announced that they had shipped 5.6 million in the 1st quarter of this year. Although the numbers pale in comparison to Apple’s 37 million iPhones sold in the same period and Samsung’s 61 million strong smartphone shipment it does indicate a 25% increase in Lumia shipments as compared to the previous quarter.
If the rumours turn out to be true and the Nokia Lumia phablet and the ‘Catwalk’ do end up getting launched then we hope that the company gets its pricing right for markets like India where consumers still tend to associate brands with certain price brackets. Both the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 have flopped in India because both were considered too expensive. The current Indian smartphone market is dominated by Samsung and to a lesser extent by local manufacturers like Micromax and Karbonn. Nokia would be keen to regain some of its lost ground and the recent launches of the Lumia 520, 620 and 720 at competitive prices would surely help the company’s case. The newer launches at the higher end of the market would then aid in expanding the former market leader’s market share.
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