Nokia unveils PureView 808

Nokia has blown all camera phones out of the water with the announcement of a new 41-megapixel Symbian smartphone, the PureView 808.

Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress, in Barcelona today, the 808 PureView runs the Symbian Belle platform, and has a four-inch screen with 512MB RAM and a 1.3GHz single-core processor. The handset has only an HD 640x360 display.

The camera lens has reportedly been co-developed by Nokia and Carl Zeiss. The Finnish phone manufacturer is said to have hinted that it is possible for other platforms to get PureView technology - Windows Phone would be an obvious choice.

Ovum principal analyst Tony Cripps says the PureView 808 offers “perhaps the most compelling photographic experience yet seen in a smartphone”, and is sure to appeal to specialist buyers.

“Ovum's main concern is that the PureView 808's Symbian Belle operating system might detract from its appeal to a broader market, where it deserves recognition,” says Cripps.

“It's a pity that Nokia was unable to combine the photographic prowess of the PureView 808 with the style of the Lumia 900. Such a device may well have been the first smartphone to truly deserve the title of 'superphone'.”

The new camera phone will go on sale in May this year. Apart from the PureView 808, Nokia has also announced the launch of the Lumia 610, which is said to be the first Windows Phone aimed at the mass market.

The Lumia 610 features a 3.2-inch display, 3MP camera and runs Windows Phone Tango. “The lower specification of the 610 does not noticeably erode the user experience of Microsoft's software platform, which remains perfectly fluid, if not as sprightly as its higher-specified siblings. Overall, the 610 looks like an attractive package for the mid-market and prepaid customers,” says Cripps.

Nokia has also announced the start of the global roll-out of the Lumia 900, which was piloted in the US.Cripps says: “The Lumia 610 is a 3G variant of Nokia's high-end Lumia 900 device, the extension of which, to the global market, is itself an important next step for the device vendor.

However, far greater significance may ultimately be attributed to the success or otherwise of its little brother, the Lumia 610.

Cripps says the combination of Nokia and Microsoft technology as an aggressively marketed mid-range Windows Phone device looks strong on paper.

“However, should the offering fail to kick-start demand, both companies' hopes for renewed relevance in the smartphone market will be seriously dented.”