Hasta La Gadget!

Nokia‘s just announced its latest stable of Windows Phone handsets, including the new Lumia 820 and we were lucky enough to get our hands on it for a few moments. After countless leaks this budget smartphone is finally official. Not to be overshadowed by the larger brother in the Lumia 920, the 820 has plenty going for it — like Windows Phone 8 — so lets take a look.

First off you instantly can both see and feel the difference compared to the larger Lumia 920. While the design is similar the newer rounded edges make it feel much more familiar and less severe in the hands. Nokia’s usual attention to detail combined with the new Windows Phone 8 makes for a refreshing new smartphone that has a familiar touch at the same time.

Again, compared to the larger brother the Lumia 820 offers an overall solid package coming in slightly smaller at 4.3-inches while not compromising on power and performance. You won’t have an HD display, or the new PureView camera technology here but the Lumia 820 is aiming for a more budget friendly crowd. Complete with a crisp and vivid 4.3-inch WVGA 480 x 800 resolution display it certainly isn’t the biggest, but feels right at home with their previous launches.

Unlike the 800 and new Lumia 920 this version doesn’t enjoy the sleek and curved edges to the glass. Instead you are greeted with a plain-Jane flat panel but that doesn’t hinder the experience so far from our initial first impressions. Other specs include the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor as its bigger brother, 1GB of RAM, 8 megapixel camera and 4G LTE will be available in supported locations too. Nokia will offer a wide array of color options as the polycarbonate back is removable. This will give you different color options for any occasion, as well as support for their new wireless charging standard.

Speaking of the back. Nokia’s previous matte colors were always a favorite of ours but the new Lumia 920 and 820 have a slightly different look to them. Adding a bit of glare and polish to their colors we can certainly see fingerprints being more of an issue than previous models — but that is just nit picking.

Now regarding Windows Phone 8 which is running wonderfully here, Microsoft says it still isn’t quite ready for prime-time but after a few quick minutes we instantly noticed the improvements. The user interface is extremely fluid and polished, and animations were butter smooth. Google snagged the use of “butter” when describing Jelly Bean, but Windows Phone 8 certainly has some buttery smooth performance here.

Nokia’s exclusive apps helps round out the Windows Phone experience but with the combination of their improvements to the new and improved Windows Phone 8 the platform is really starting to come together. My only gripe with the Lumia 820 could have to be the display. While it is 4.3-inches the lower resolution is a let down. We don’t have IPS or Samsung’s AMOLED here so it’s pretty generic compared to most from Nokia. The Lumia 820 and 920 have been announced but no specific dates or pricing was revealed at this time. We’ll know more on pricing and official details later which will give us a better idea of where to stack this against the competition.

Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier today Nokia officially announced their new flagship Windows Phone 8 smartphone in the Lumia 920, and now we have the other end of the spectrum covered. The Finnish phone-makers have just unveiled the Lumia 820 too. This will be their budget Windows Phone 8 smartphone complete with a 4.3-inch screen without compromising on performance.

What makes the Lumia 820 special is it features most of the same internals as its larger sibling, only comes with a smaller screen and more compact and manageable size. Phones just keep getting larger but not everyone wants something that big. That is where the 4.3-inch Lumia 820 comes in.

With the 820 you’ll get the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8 megapixel camera only this one doesn’t feature their PureView technology. As an added bonus this budget flavor will still feature their newly announced wireless charging. Nokia will offer removable back covers for those wanting to cut the cord.

The Lumia 820 comes with an exchangeable shell design. Exchangeable shells not only make it possible to select from a range of colors, but also to add wireless charging. Now you can rock that bright yellow, or the classic cyan color options. Beneath the shell is micro-SD also for expanded storage. The only downside seems to be the 480 x 800 resolution display on board, but otherwise this looks like a great new Windows Phone 8 device from Nokia. We’ll update as we learn more direct from Nokia live in NYC.

[via Nokia]

Nokia announces Lumia 820, Windows Phone 8 budget smartphone is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Lumia 920 has wireless charging, which in and of itself is fun and neat and interesting and a delightful little quirky perk. But it’ll also have color-matching Power Up speakers from JBL that charge your phone every time you gently lay it on top. Pretty cool. More »

No matter your budget, Nokia’s got a Windows Phone 8 handset for you. While the Lumia 920 dominated today’s press conference, the company’s more modest Lumia 820 is planning to sneak in and capture the mid-range. The handset is packing the same 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 internals you’ll find in the 920, along with 1GB RAM and a 4.3-inch display.

While the handset isn’t unattractive, the design language of the 800 (and N9) that captured our hearts has been dumped in favor of something more symmetrical. The glass of its 800 x 480 ClearBlack OLED screen is flat rather than convex (poached by the 920) and the body’s finish is a little more shinier than the previous generation of Nokia’s polycarbonate.

Photography fans looking to get their hands on that PureView goodness will be disappointed to see that it’s also been reserved for the flagship (in some form). Instead, this unit comes with the more familiar 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss optics we’ve seen before, but at least there’s a front-facing VGA lens for video conferencing.

While the unit only has 8GB of on-board storage, it’s packing microSD support (up to 32GB, as per usual) and you’ll also get an additional 7GB of storage on Microsoft’s cloud service, Skydrive. The company’s including a series of protective cases in a variety of colors, including a set that add bundle QI-compatible wireless charging to the handset — at the cost of adding an extra 1mm to the handset’s overall thickness.

It’ll arrive in Red, Yellow, Grey, Cyan, Purple, White and Black, with separate LTE and HSPA+ variants shipping “later in the year,” but Elop and co declined to give a specific announcement on availability or price today.

Continue reading Nokia announces Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch, LTE-running, budget-friendly Windows Phone 8 handset

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Nokia announces Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch, LTE-running, budget-friendly Windows Phone 8 handset originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Nokia Lumia lineup of devices have gotten a boost in the entertainment department as AT&T and Nokia team up to bring on an entertainment hub called Entrance by AOL. This hub will bring AOL Music, Moviefone, and “The Huffington Post Entertainment” together in an experience made specifically for Lumia smartphones. This environment will bring 55,000 SHOUTcast radio stations and free music album streaming via AOL Music, breaking news from across the entertainment industry, and Movifone’s on-device movie search.

You’ll be able to easily check out movie information related to the theaters near you and pick up tickets for up-to-date showings as well. This addition will be bringing on Augmented Reality as well – all you’ve got to do is hold your device up to the world around you (while the app is open) and you’ll see theaters, movie posters, and showtimes appear attached to theaters nearby – or rather far away depending on how close you are to a theater, of course. Moviefone’s information archive also includes movie posters and trailers galore!

Entertainment news will be streaming throughout your Entrance by AOL software with HuffPost Entertainment, AOL Music, and more. You’ll be working with a vast amount of streaming music with SHOUTcast Radio for global radio stations coming to you from all around the planet. You’ll also be working with AOL Music and CD Listening Party (CDLP) for early access to tracks that are exclusive to AOL only. These weekly offerings allow user to listen to full length albums from up-and-coming bands and also allow for the purchase (and download) of said tracks once you’ve heard a full preview.

The addition of Entrance by AOL software to your Lumia smartphone brings on Live Tile updates and Windows Phone user interface interaction as well. The Entrance by AOL app also links together the different collections of information noted above, with the following example given by Nokia:

“If a user likes a movie, they can see the entire cast with a tap, and continue to drill down to see all of the news related to a specific actor. Users can even listen to the soundtrack of that show and download the music. Multi-linked content helps people easily find what they love, and dig
deeper right inside the app.”

This app will be available immediately if not soon and will be appearing quite visibly in Lumia devices of the future – stay tuned to our Nokia tag to see everything else that pops up today – big releases for Microsoft and the Nokia crew!

Nokia Lumia lineup grabs Entrance by AOL entertainment hub on AT&T is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.