Nokia unveils Windows Phone 8 'flagship' Lumia 920

As expected, Nokia's New York press splash played host to the unveiling of the firm's next flagship Windows Phone device, the Lumia 920.

In fact, according to Nokia, the new Lumia is not only its own flagship, but rather also Windows Phone 8's lead device, too.

Backed up with the Twitter hash tag #SwitchToNokia, the new phone - though strikingly similar in appearance to its predecessor - comes with a host of fresh features Nokia believes its mounting Windows Phone rivals will struggle to match.

Leading Lumia

Naturally, Nokia has built in its PureView imaging tech into the 4.5-inch Lumia 920 to improve the quality of its photo capture, with much of the New York reveal - taking place simultaneously alongside Nokia World in Helsinki - devoted to its implementation.

The main lens comes in at 8.7MP, capable of stabilised full 1080p HD video capture at 30fps. Also built in is a 1.2MP front facing camera that supports 720p video.

Nokia Lumia 920

"Nokia PureView continues to deliver cutting-edge technology to make it possible for a smartphone camera to take the kind of images usually only seen on a standalone SLR camera," said executive VP of smart devices Jo Harlow.

"With the Nokia Lumia 920 we have made it possible to shoot pictures and video at home, outdoors, in a restaurant or even at night, and come out with professional-looking results."

Also on board is a "super sensitive touch" LCD display - capable of reading inputs through thick gloves, apparently - equipped with PureMotion HD +.

The Finnish giant claims the screen delivers "better than HD resolution" as well as the brightest display and the "fastest LCD display" delivered on any smartphone device.

Right direction

Mapping and navigation is one of Nokia's other strong suits.

As such, the firm's augmented reality tool City Lens - designed to overlay pubs, restaurants and other points of interest over the camera viewer - was a logical, but nonetheless impressive addition.

Further integration between Nokia Maps and the firm's free turn-by-turn navigation platform Nokia Drive was also touted.

Spec wise, Lumia 920 has 1.5GHz Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 dual core processor on board, NFC, and supports wireless charging for its 2000mAh battery via a number of Nokia accessories.

Nokia's Wireless Charging Plate

The device packs in 1GB of RAM, 32GB of mass memory and 7GB of free cloud memory via Microsoft's SkyDrive.

It takes two

It also won't be alone.

Joining the line up is the 4.3-inch Lumia 820, which sports removable back covers in true Nokia style. Specs are much the same, albeit with a less powerful battery, camera, 4.3 inch ClearBlack OLED display and 8GB of internal storage.

Nokia Lumia 820

Nonetheless, at first glance it would appear the 920 is taking up the role the Lumia 800 made its own in the first round – the 'first to market' flagship handset – with the 820 instead playing the role of the middle-of-the-range device for the more budget conscious consumer.

Price points themselves, however, are yet to be revealed, with launch dates for specific regions to be announced at a later date.

Nevertheless, it's likely both devices will be ready for the roll out of Windows Phone 8 itself, expected on 29 October.

You can watch the presentation in full over on Nokia's website.