01 March 2013

My Nokia Blog

My Nokia Blog

My New Love; the Nokia Lumia 720

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 01:55 PM PST

720As someone who closely follows the smartphone world I get to see a lot of great products, unfortunately sometimes these phones linger in my head longer than they would in any sane person’s mind. The end result being an almost uncontrollable urge to read every article, watch every video and just think about which ever device was the latest to steal my heart.

180 degrees

In the case of the Lumia 720 it has undoubtedly done just that; everything about this phone is perfect to me, the beautiful design, the vibrant colors, the size and the screen…Oh the screen; I’m honestly lost for words when it comes to this gorgeous slab of glass they call a display. The viewing angles on it are absolutely stunning, better than the 920′s in my opinion; and this might sound silly but the fact that the Nokia logo is centered on the phone also makes quite  a difference to me.

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Of course there are those who would jump in and say that regardless of what viewing angles you get the phone still only has a resolution of 480p (Wvga); well trust me when I say that almost everyone who picked it up thought that it was an HD screen. Yes it’s that good! I would easily rank it ahead of any other Nokia screen out there (besides the 920); putting it ahead of the 900 and the 820 as well.

And then comes the camera, this amazing piece of technology that bests HTC’s $600 phone and practically everything else; from now on I expect an aperture of f/1.9 to be standard in all future Nokia high end devices, regardless of whether or not they’re packing OIS on board. In fact I much prefer the results of the 720 to the 920 simply because it’s all hardware; sometimes the 920 has difficulty jumping into the right settings, but with a larger aperture night mode or not you’re bound to get more light in.

“We had early protoypes running on 1Gb of ram, and had users test them for a week against the 512mb ram version; they couldn’t tell which was which!”

But what about performance? After all it’s only running 512 Mb of ram, well I was saving this for the 720 Q&A post but in fact we asked the product managers about the ram situation; and shockingly they actually had a 1Gb ram device before; and testers couldn’t tell which was the 1Gb and which had only half that!

I honestly think that the 720 achieves everything that Nokia set out to do; it brought down the amazingness of the Lumia 920 to a cheaper price-point, making few to no compromises along the way (don’t forget it has a Miro SD slot while the 920 doesn’t). I’ve said this before to the product manager and I’ll say it here, the Lumia 720 should be the “820″ in terms of it being the true successor to the 920. It carries a more similar design and a camera that competes with the 920; something no other device high or low end manages to do.

And once you compare it with the Lumia 820 it comes on top in almost every aspect (better front facing camera, rear camera takes better images in low light, nicer screen, nicer body, hot swappable SD card, lighter, curved screen); the 820 only comes out on top in terms of LTE and a better processor; and since we already established the 720′s processor ain’t too shabby and I don’t have LTE in my area; Lumia 720 here I come! (in yellow this time).

 

Windows Phone Captures an Impressive 16.3% of Poland’s Market Share

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:31 PM PST

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According to the latest reports coming in Windows Phone has seen some significant increases in Poland’s market share bringing it 16.3%. With the Low priced Lumia 610 leading the WP invasion due to its attractive pricing, I can only imagine what will happen when the Lumia 520 and 620 come out.

Via

What a Nokia Fan Carries With Him to Cover Mobile World Congress

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:18 PM PST

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A couple people have asked me what I took with me to Barcelona, as well as what I use in my daily life as a full time Nokia Lover, part time blogger. Well here’s a quick look at what I was lugging around with me in my trusty Jansport backpack all around Barcelona for the past couple days (seriously my backpack has traveled the world with me, and it fits practically everything; although my 17.3″ laptop was pushing it to the limit- check em out HERE).

Starting with the essentials; my phones:

  • Nokia Lumia 920 (DUH); I had my Spanish Sim in this, and the data connection came in handy while doing the Nokia connects treasure hunt across Barcelona
  • Nokia Lumia 820, strictly speaking I didn’t have this on me when I arrived, but I got it on day one and kept it on me since- Jordanian SIM went in here
  • Nokia Lumia 620, I brought this along just for kicks and because I planned on using it in comparison videos (which I did).
  • Nokia 808 PureView, the 808 was intended to serve a dual purpose, acting as a backup camera as well pumping out some comparison photos/videos had there been a high end camera phone announced
  • BlackBerry Z10, the Z10 also came along for comparison purposes as well as the fact that I honestly like the phone; it is fun to use so I kept it on me for kicks.

Onto the more important and difficult task; taking picture and video; thankfully the Sony NEx 5-N I picked up a couple months ago got the job done quite marvelously. With the battery easily making it through each day with plenty of juice to spare. Unfortunately the 5N did have some trouble focusing in a couple of my videos; mainly int he low light shootouts- but I don’t blame it really seeing how the conditions were down right horrible.

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And of course my laptop; the 17.3″ monster I dare to call “portable”. I’m currently rocking a HP dv7 17.3″ laptop, running Windows 8 with 8 Gb ram, i7 processor, 1 GB graphics card, 800 GB HDD, and a beautiful 1080p screen. The down side of this is of course the weight, which comes in close to a crazy 7 pounds! (3.2 Kg).

On the other hand my initial intention was to render and add the MyNokiaBlog intro to all the videos I uploaded; but once I saw the amount of content I had I decided to skip the branding I’ve considered investing in a more portable option but I absolutely hate MacOS (I have an iMac that’s been gathering dust for the past 6 months; it’s not even plugged in) and I can’t seem to find a decently priced powerful ultrabook/notebook alternative.

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In terms of peripherals I had a standard Logitech wireless mouse on me, although I usually use my Microsoft touch mouse at home; I thought the lack of a middle mouse button would slow things down a bit on the work end. I also had my standard pair of Nokia in Ear purities lying around as well as backup pair of Sony headphones.

Of course the sheer amount of cables I had on me added a decent bit of weight to my already heavy backpack; I had 3 Micro Usb cables, my Laptop charger, as well as my cameras charger on me at all times.

Other things I had on me at all times were of course my MWC entry badge, and my public transit ticket. They gave all attendees a free 4 day public transit ticket that gave you access to buses, trains, metros, cable cars and literally any other form of public transport in Barcelona.

I also had plans to keep my Kindle e-reader and iPad on me at the venue, but there was no need for the iPad; and the Kindle seemed kind of pointless.

All in all my backpack weighed well over 25 pounds as I lugged it from hall to hall; and even if my back was screaming in pain, there was a smile on my face from the general awesomeness of the atmosphere.

Video: Nokia Lumia 920 Vs. Sony Xperia Z; Hardware/Design Comparison

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 06:58 AM PST

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I stopped by the Sony booth real quick to take a look at their latest flagship device, the Sony Xperia Z; which packs a 13 Mp camera and a 5 inch 1080p screen. I wasn’t really planning on making a video but I ended up doing one in the spur of the moment. The Xperia Z does look to be quite a capable device; although the design is a it “questionable”; I’m not a fan of the button placements at all; for me personally the best looking Android device out there right now is the HTC one (which feels amazing in your hand). But at the very least the Z looks better than the Xperia T (the previous flagship) which has the magical ability to activate your gag reflex faster than a dentist (they gave away 10,000 Xperia T’s to MWC attendees just as part of a “NFC experience” program).

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Ultimate Lumia Comparison; Lumia 920 vs. 820, 720, 620 & 520

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 05:41 AM PST

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During our Q&A session with the Lumia 720 & 520 product managers (still haven’t typed it up yet); I got a chance to stack the full WP8 family against each other; so here’s a quick video detailing the differences in each of them; and a couple family portraits (I haven’t seen any of the full range yet- besides my own ofc).

(I think I’m just going to start putting our custom made 820 shell in all the pictures rather than watermarking them :D )

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First Look at Lumia 720 Front and Rear Facing Camera Video Samples (Still in Prototype Phase)

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 03:37 AM PST


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Earlier today over breakfast we met with the Lumia 720 and 520 product managers and had a good chat (I’ll post about that later). I also managed to take the cameras on the 720 for a quick spin, and I must say it’s also pretty impressive (especially the front facing videos).

The camera on the 720 is still considered a prototype and will undergo further editing and improvements, so this is just an early preview

Rear facing camera (you can hear CJ say something about me and Jay being Nokia fanboys :P )- Bonus points for anyone who can name all the bloggers/Nokia people on the table!

Front facing camera- I really love this, the videos look really great (and it takes 720P rather than 480- there was a mix-up about that earlier).

NokConv: An innovative approach to imaging with the Nokia Lumia 720

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:31 AM PST


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Quick heads up on this intriguing article from NokConv about their approach behind the camera for the Nokia Lumia 720. Although not a high end device, Nokia still wanted to get the best images possible (for this price point/design) with new innovations such as the f/1.9 aperture for tackling low light in a different way (without having to go through the fuss of ‘ultra pixels‘, as well as technology Nokia has utilised before when solving other imaging conundrums . They’ve got some pretty samples over at the link below too

http://conversations.nokia.com/2013/02/27/an-innovative-approach-to-imaging-with-the-nokia-lumia-720/

Cheers Viipottaja for the tip!

Videos: Nokia Glam Me self portrait lens demoed on Nokia Lumia 720

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:21 AM PST

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Here’s a few videos showing one of the new lenses for self portraits Lumia called Glam Me. More than just filters, you can edit parts of your face, your skin, eyes, teeth etc as taken by the front facing camera (which is very high quality on this 720).

wpxbox

thenokiablog

WMExperts•

Video: Nokia 808 PureView Digitizer & Display Replacement

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:17 AM PST

Screen Shot 2013-02-28 at 08.14.52Another quick video. This time with the trusty LE55ONS showing how to change the screen on the Nokia 808 PureView

I strongly recommend you buy a digitizer that comes with the rubber frame.
I did try and separate with heat but it seems impossible without causing damage.
WARNING: The LCD(AMOLED) display is extremely fragile and will crack with the slightest flex or bend. Take your time and use heat and you should be ok

DIY repairs will void any warranty but may save you £$
 finding it hard to keep up..

LE55ONS

 

Video: Jolla Sailfish demo on Nokia N950

Posted: 28 Feb 2013 12:13 AM PST

Screen Shot 2013-02-28 at 08.10.22Quick heads up on this Jolla demo from MWC. Michael Fisher talks to the Jolla CTO about Jolla, Sailfish and Nokia.

Jolla CTO Stefano Mosconi was kind enough to spend some time at MWC 2013 showing us his company’s new Sailfish smartphone OS, and then answering a few questions about Jolla, Sailfish, Nokia, and the smartphone space in general.

pocketnowvideo·

Cheers spacemodel for the tip!
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