July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

If there is one thing Nokia smartphones have in common with 3D printers, it’s that not too many people own them.

Sorry, that was mean. Let’s start again:

Using 3D printers, Nokia wants to give Lumia 820 the greatest gift of all – unhampered customization.

Nokia has released design files for the Lumia 820′s outer casing, so enterprising Lumia owners can tweak the design and print out their own, customized case.

The move not only harkens back to the ancient history of ultra-customizable Nokia phones but to the company’s recently-announced Lumia 620 as well. Nokia, it seems, is banking on the all-too-real possibility that smartphone owners want more control over the way their devices look.

Of course, the big problem with the move is that 3D printers aren’t exactly a mainstream technology yet — and Nokia knows it. “For now, it’s a bleeding-edge technology for bleeding-edge early adopters — which is exactly where Nokia is aiming its 3D printing community efforts,” Nokia community head John Kneeland wrote in a blog post.

For 3D pinter-less Lumia 820 owners interested in the designs, the solution can be found in companies like Shapeways, which will print out your designs and ship them to you.

In all, the move is the latest indication that 3D printing is creeping into the mainstream, even if 3D printers themselves aren’t.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

As impressed as we were by Nokia’s new Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 smartphones, it’s a shame that the company didn’t having pricing or release details to share earlier this week.

Now, the Verge and Techradar are reporting that the phones will hit AT&T on November 2, while Reuters points to a European launch later that month.

While no solid Windows Phone 8 release date is available yet, we’re expecting the updated OS to launch at the end of October. If so, the early November timing makes sense for Nokia, especially since it’s the flagship handset maker for Windows Phone. Still, if the phones were coming so soon, it’s surprising that Nokia couldn’t reveal the release date at its launch event this past Wednesday.

Pricing details, unfortunately, are still up in the air. But I’d be shocked if Nokia priced the Lumia 920 above $200 (on contract). And given that both Nokia and Microsoft will be contending with the iPhone 5′s release, which we’re hearing could be around September 21, the company could entice consumers to the Lumia 920 by pricing it around $150. As for the Lumia 820, I expect that to cost around $100 on contract.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

Nokia today announced its first Windows Phone 8 devices at a New York City press event, the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820.

Even though some of the details about the phones were leaked last week, Nokia still managed to impress today as we learned more about the new devices. The PureView camera technology, in particular, could make consumers pay attention to the Lumia 920. Couple that with the many improvements in Windows Phone 8, including a revamped Start screen and camera apps, and Nokia could have a strong contender against the iPhone 5. (It’s just too bad Nokia isn’t divulging release information yet on its new phones.)

Unfortunately, Nokia only had a handful of prototype devices available at the event for reporters to touch and feel, but from my brief time with the Lumia 920 and 820, it definitely feels like the company has one-upped last year’s Lumia designs. The Lumia 920 feels more solid than the iPhone 4S (and it certainly helps that the rear is an ultra-strong polycarbonate, and not glass).

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Tickets On Sale Now

NEW YORK CITY — It’s been almost a year and a half since Microsoft and Nokia announced their controversial partnership, and while the union hasn’t been completely successful, it has inarguably led to the most interesting Windows Phone devices in Nokia’s Lumia line.

Today, Nokia is launching the Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia 920 and 820. They’re bigger, more powerful, and more refined than Nokia’s last Lumia phones, according to last week’s leaked information. But as impressive as they seem at first glance, they leave a couple of key questions unanswered. Can Nokia and Microsoft make up for their mistakes with the Lumia 900, which left early adopters stuck on Windows Phone 7 (albeit, a slightly upgraded version)? And most importantly, can Nokia pry consumer attention away from the endlessly hyped iPhone 5 and the plethora of geek-friendly Android competitors?

One thing is abundantly clear to me today: Nokia can’t just impress us, it has to convince us.

Even though Samsung stole Nokia’s thunder last week by announcing its Windows Phone 8 device first, the unfortunately named Ativa S, Nokia is still carrying much of the burden the new platform. Windows Phone 8 sports a completely redesigned start screen, support for multicore processor phones, and it’s also running Windows 8′s kernel (which makes it easier to port apps from desktop to mobile).

On stage today, Nokia’s president and CEO Stephen Elop (above) reiterated the mantra that the Lumia 800 was the “first real Windows Phone.” He boasted of the awards Nokia’s Windows Phones have won and how the company helped lower phone prices and bring the platform to China (which is growing to be the largest Windows Phone market), India, and other countries.

“Across all of our strategy, we said Nokia would differentiate, we said we would create a very distnctive Nokia experience,” Elop said.

Jo Harlow, executive vice president at Nokia, finally showed us what we were all waiting for: the new 4.5-inch Lumia 920 (in yellow, of all colors). A loud presentation gave the phone a dramatic entrance, though a failure with a sound system took away from some of the impact.

She talked up the phone’s PureView camera technology, which first appeared on the PureView 808. Don’t hold your breath for the 808′s 41 megapixel shooter, but other aspects of PureView technology will allow the 920′s camera to perform better in low light.

The Lumia 920′s camera captures five to ten-times as much light as other smartphone cameras, Harlow said. That’s because it sports floating lens technology, which she says works better than optical image stabilization in most DSLRs.

“The technology reacts to minute movements in your hands to balance the lens, so the shutter can stay open longer,” Harlow said.

She moved on to chat about the Lumia 920′s location features. The phone sports true offline maps, not just offline caching. A new Nokia City Lens feature gives you augmented reality capabilities: Simply hold the Lumia 920 up to any street, and you’ll see the names of restaurants, shops, and the like on your screen.

The Lumia 920 features Nokia’s best display yet, the PureMotion HD+. Harlow boasts that it has “better than HD resolution,” and a fast refresh rate to keep things moving smoothly on the screen. The display is so bright, you can even view it in the desert, Harlow said.

Nokia’s latest flagship is powered by a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, which Harlow notes is faster and more energy efficient than some quad-core processors. (We’ve seen the Snapdragon on some of the best Android phones released this year.) As expected, the Lumia 920 also features wireless charging capabilities. Harlow showed off a Fatboy wireless charger.

Microsoft corporate vice president Joe Belfiore hit the stage next to remind us of the improvements in Windows Phone 8. He showed us just how personalized you can make the new start screen by including instant updates from your closest friends and family and using an extra-large CNN tile to keep up with news.

Belfiore briefly showed off a new Windows Phone 8 feature: screenshots. Now you can easily snap a screenshot from anywhere in the OS and share it with your friends.

We also got to see the revamped Windows Phone 8 camera, which now supports zooming through pinching, as well as a variety of new photo apps from third-parties (like CNN iReport and Bing Vision). Intriguingly, Microsoft has included a filter for its panoramic picture technology, Photosynth.

“Third-party software developers can write unbelievable apps that create amazing experiences and high-quality photos,” Belfiore said.

Kevin Shields, senior vice president at Nokia, gave us more details on what makes the Lumia 920 tick. Its “construction is even sturdier, the glass is even stronger [than past Lumias],” Shields said. “No squeeks, no cracks, certainly not a phone falling apart in your hand.” (That sounds like a dig against many Android phones, which don’t typically handle wear and tear well.)

He showed off some of the intriguing capabilities of the Lumia 920′s PureView camera. The 920 can capture incredibly stable video, and take night shots that are practically impossible for other smartphones, all thanks to its floating lens.

An hour after the launch event started, Shields finally showed off the Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch smartphone that serves as a more streamlined alternative to the 920. The phone doesn’t feature the same unibody design as the Lumia 920, but you can replace the colors of the rear covers to your liking. One set of the Lumia 820′s covers includes wireless charging capabilities.

Bringing up the tail-end of the event, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hit the stage to talk up the future ecosystem made possible by upcoming Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices.

“Perhaps more importantly than anything else, we bring a developer platform and a store that’s common to both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8,” Ballmer said. He noted that Microsoft has worked hard to standardize its platform, as well as help developers build and monetize their apps.

“In one year from now we should see close to 400 million new devices running those operating systems,” Ballmer said, referring to devices running both its new mobile and desktop OS. “That means Lumia … that means Surface … devices introduced in Berlin last week … those devices I’m quite sure represents the largest single opportunity for developers today.”

Sadly, Nokia didn’t have any release details to share about its new devices yet. In a Q&A session after the event, Elop said that more details will be revealed in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Nokia, this leaves a huge opening for potential fans to opt for the iPhone 5 instead.

As for making Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets, Elop didn’t have much to say, but he noted that “it’s a real opportunity, though.”