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Nokia and Microsoft announce the Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia 920 and 820

Finnish manufacturer bullish about its new flagship

Nokia and Microsoft announce the Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia 920 and 820
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At a joint press conference in the heart of New York, Nokia and Microsoft have taken to the stage to announce the Nokia Lumia 920, a Windows Phone 8 device they're touting as the "most innovative smartphone in the world".

Arguably the most striking part of Nokia's new flagship phone is its PureMotion HD+ WXGA 4.5-inch LCD touchscreen, which, according to Jo Harlow, executive vice president of smart devices at Nokia, has a resolution that's "better than HD". Better than 720p HD, that is.

The 920's screen also boasts blur-free scrolling and ClearBlack technology that enables the display to dynamically adjust itself to the level of light shining on it. All in all, it should produce stunning-looking images.

Hot and cold

You can use the Lumia 920 while wearing gloves, by the way, thanks to the screen's Super Sensitive mode. Useful if you want to play some games while you're shivering at the bus stop on a cold winter's morning.

The phone is powered by a 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. Coupled with a 2000mAh battery, which is the largest Nokia has ever placed in one of its phones, the 32GB Lumia 920 offers "30% more battery efficiency than quad-core alternatives".

And that battery can be charged wirelessly, thanks to the Qi wireless charging protocol that's included out of the box. Nokia has already signed deals with Virgin Atlantic and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf to install wireless charging stations in their lounges.

There will be a range of different charging solutions available when the phone launches, in fact, including a Fat Boy recharge pillow, as well as boom boxes and headphones that will play music directly from your phone using the Lumia 920's built-in NFC chip.

The Lumia 920 also rocks an 8.7-megapixel camera, which features both the Finnish manufacturer's PureView tech and a Carl Zeiss lens. Rather unsurprisingly, Nokia claims this is the best smartphone camera ever. And, more importantly for some, you can take screenshots of your phone now, too.

Baby blue

In addition to the Lumia 920, Nokia and Microsoft unveiled the Lumia 820, a 'baby' version of the 920 that features a lot of the same advanced technology found in the 920.

Under its bonnet is a 1650mAh battery, the same 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor as the 920's, 8GB of mass memory, and a healthy 1GB of RAM.

Interchangeable covers, some of which double up as wireless charging shells, are included for those who like to customise. And unlike its bigger sister, the Lumia 820 contains an expandable SD card slot.

The game's not afoot

Unfortunately, there wasn't much chitter-chatter about games at the conference, although something called Angry Birds Roost was announced, which looks like a hub for Angry Birds content.

Back to the phones. The Lumia 920 will come in yellow, red, grey, white, and black. The Lumia 820, meanwhile, will be available in red, yellow, grey, cyan, purple, white, and black.

Nokia expects to start shipping the Lumia 920 and 820 "in select markets later in the year". Pricing and target markets will be revealed at a later date.

Harry Slater
Harry Slater
Harry used to be really good at Snake on the Nokia 5110. Apparently though, digital snake wrangling isn't a proper job, so now he writes words about games instead.