July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

If you’re like a lot of people, you probably hated Nokia for creating the 808 PureView.

While legitimately cool, the 808′s 41-megapixel camera technology was wasted on the dated Symbian OS it was stuck with. It really should have been running Windows Phone.

But Nokia’s about to make that up to you. Sources tell the The Verge that the company is working on a PureView Windows Phone — dubbed the “EOS” —  which it plans to release later this year.

While welcome, the news is no big surprise. As Nokia noted over and over last year, the 808 PureView was a test run for the Windows Phone version that would arrive soon after.

Nokia also plans to make some cosmetic changes to the EOS, which will be built with aluminum instead of the polycarbonate found in the current Lumias, The Verge’s sources say.

The big question for the EOS, however, concerns its price tag. Hopefully, all of that camera tech won’t make the device too expensive. I’d actually like to be able to afford this one.

To get a better idea of just how cool the PureView technology is, check out the video below.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Drumming up even more hype for its 808 PureView smartphone, Nokia today released an ad filmed entirely with the phone’s 41 megapixel camera. And boy, does it look good.

The ad shows how you can zoom into the 808 PureView’s photos without losing much quality, as well as how the phone performs when recording high-definition video. Unfortunately, Nokia has only released a 720p HD version of the ad. I’d be interested in seeing how it performs at full 1080p.

If anything, the ad proves that the PureView camera technology on the Nokia 808 is more than just hype. A Nokia engineer explained to us how the camera gets such killer shots back at Mobile World Congress (where it also won best-in-show), and the company has also put some excellent sample shots online at Flickr.

It looks like Nokia doesn’t plan to bring the phone to the U.S., but it has said it intends to bring the PureView technology to future phones. You can expect to see killer cameras in some Windows Phone devices from Nokia within the next few years.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Once again, North Americans are missing out on one of Nokia’s experimental new smartphones. Last year it was the intriguing N9, this year it’s the Nokia 808 PureView, which wowed crowds at Mobile World Congress last week with its phenomenal 41 megapixel camera.

On Nokia’s developer site, the 808 PureView is listed as having a global release — except in North America. It’s likely that Nokia hasn’t landed any carrier partnerships for the phone yet, without which North American consumers won’t touch it.

This doesn’t mean the 808 PureView will never see an official North American release, instead it’s just not on the horizon yet for Nokia. As always, gadget hounds can import the PureView from other countries for use in North America — though it will likely come at a high price.

Aside from its astounding camera, the 808 PureView likely doesn’t have much appeal for North American carriers because it’s running Nokia’s Symbian Belle OS. The company has said it will eventually bring its PureView camera technology to future phones, so we can expect it in a Lumia Windows Phone within the next few years.

The Nokia 808 PureView was awarded the best mobile device at the Mobile World Congress last week. We also chatted with a Nokia engineer who demonstrated the phone’s shooting capabilities and explained the technology behind it.

Via Engadget

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

The 41-megapixel camera on Nokia’s 808 PureView not only wowed the audience at the Mobile World Congress this week, it also landed Nokia the “Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at Mobile World Congress 2012” award.

A panel of judges selected the PureView as their top device of the show — likely not because it’s a smartphone everyone will want (it’s still running a dated OS), but because it was the only device to truly surprise us at Mobile World Congress. HTC’s One series phone was close in the running, and other devices, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 and Asus PadFone, were also on the short-list for the award.

“It’s a fantastic award because it signifies that consumer experience counts,” Nokia EVP of smart devices Jo Harlow said to the Nokia Conversations blog. “It’s about tech, but it’s about how tech is used to make a consumer have a fantastic experience. … These are first signals that we are executing against our strategy,” she added. “That we’re back. That we’re bringing great products to our consumers — and that this is just the beginning. There’s lot more to come.”

The PureView camera technology on the Nokia 808 is more than just hype. A Nokia engineer explained to us how the camera gets such killer shots, and the company has also put some excellent sample shots online at Flickr.

Thankfully, Nokia has said it intends to bring the PureView technology to future phones, so you can expect to see killer cameras in some Windows Phone devices from Nokia within the next few years.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

A Nokia phone with a 41 megapixel camera may sound insane, but honestly, that’s my kind of crazy. Nokia announced the 808 PureView today at the Mobile World Congress, and all of a sudden the previously unknown phone running a dated Symbian OS became the talk of the show.

At Nokia’s MWC booth, I chatted with an engineer who spent the past two years on the team developing the 808 PureView and its ridiculously high quality camera. As you can tell from the video below, he couldn’t be prouder of his new baby.

He explains the variety of ways you’ll be able to take pictures with the 808 PureView — either with a full 38 MP resolution image that you can scan and crop with ease, or smaller resolution images that can still take advantage of the phone’s large camera sensor. For this phone in particular, seeing is believing, so pay close attention to how sharp his sample pictures look in the video below (and make sure you’re viewing it in 1080p HD).

I had some brief hands-on time with the phone, though it was shackled with an overblown security mechanism (typical for show floors). Being a Nokia device, the 808 not surprisingly feels like a high quality piece of hardware. What’s most striking, unsurprisingly, is the large camera lens on the phone’s rear. There’s a noticeable bulge around the camera area which makes the 808 resemble a point-and-shoot, but it’s still slim enough to fit into your pocket.

But while the PureView camera technology is undoubtedly cool, it’ll be hard to recommend this phone when it launches because of Nokia’s Symbian Belle OS. It’s a big upgrade over the company’s Symbian S40 devices, but it still falls short when compared to competitors like Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. Luckily, Nokia seems to be treating the 808 as an experimental device, similar to the N9.

Hopefully by next year, we’ll see the awesome PureView camera tech in future Lumia Windows Phones.

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

You read that right. Nokia just announced the 808 PureView here at the Mobile World Congress, and it sports an astoundingly large 41 megapixel camera.

Nokia is well aware that such large resolution pictures will be difficult to share, so the phone will oversample pictures to a size roughly around a 5 megapixel picture. That means better picture quality without scary file sizes. And if you do dare to take a picture at the full resolution (which is actually 38 MP), you’ll be able to zoom into the picture after the fact without losing much detail.

The 808 PureView runs Nokia’s Belle OS, which could be a disappointment to those expecting yet another new Windows Phone from the company. Jo Harlow, Nokia’s head of smartphones, said that the company will eventually bring its PureView technology to future phones. We can consider the 808 PureView a practice run for the tech, and a new lustworthy device for Nokia fanatics.

The phone features a 4-inch display and a 1.3 gigahertz processor. We expect to hear more about how this phone’s magical camera works in the future. In comparison, the iPhone 4S, and most other high-end smartphones, feature 8-megapixel cameras. The 808 is interesting, but I’m far more curious what PureView will look like once it hits future phones.

The Nokia 808 PureView is expected to ship in May for €450. No word on a U.S. release yet.

Top Photo/Devindra Hardawar

VentureBeat is holding its second annual Mobile Summit this April 2-3 in Sausalito, Calif. The invitation-only event will debate the five key business and technology challenges facing the mobile industry today, and participants — 180 mobile executives, investors, and policymakers — will develop concrete, actionable solutions that will shape the future of the mobile industry. You can find out more at our Mobile Summit site.