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All eyes may be on the Nokia Lumia 920′s PureView camera, but our ears may well be cosseted with the company’s Rich Recording high-quality audio, judging by what SlashGear has heard from sources at the firm. Nokia made no mention of Rich Recording, the broad-frequency sound capturing system that premiered on the 808 PureView, during its Lumia 920 launch, and nor does the Windows Phone’s spec sheet spill the goods; however, according to hardware details we have been informed about, the Lumia 920 does indeed have a trio of the special microphones Nokia co-developed especially for Rich Recording.

Those “High Amplitude Audio Capture” microphones can record a significantly broader range of frequencies than standard microphones: up to 140 dB in fact, whereas traditional phone microphones top out at 110 dB. Decibels use a logarithmic scale, so that 30 dB difference is vast.

“To cope with high sound pressure levels, Nokia has developed together with microphone suppliers a new microphone concept (High Amplitude Audio Capture) that can capture high sound pressure levels with perceptually no distortion to the audio. It is capable of recording up to 140 dB and higher Sound Pressure Levels, while that commonly used digital microphones can only reach 120 dBSPL without heavy distortion. As high amplitude audio levels are tolerated, there is no need to limit the frequency response. Hence full audio bandwidth to match to human hearing capabilities can be provided when capturing with HAAC microphones” Nokia

The end result is audio more akin to what the human ear can hear, without the distortion common to most smartphone camcorder functionality. The Lumia 920′s three HAAC microphones are in the correct place for the system to work, we’ve been told.

Rich Recording isn’t mentioned by name in the data sheets SlashGear has seen – we’ve been asked not to publish them – but the key software specifications apparently match with those of the 808 PureView as well. We’ll be pestering Nokia for specific confirmation, but until then there’s more on Rich Recording in Nokia’s white paper [pdf link].

Check out our extended hands-on with the Lumia 920 for more on PureView

Nokia Lumia 920 “HAAC” Rich Recording microphones confirmed is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HTC’s plans for Windows Phone 8 may be filling out fast. We saw XDA-Developer member Football4PDA post a schematic of the Accord less than a week ago, and today he’s posting what could be more concrete information. Supposedly, HTC’s inaugural device might be named the 8X — not quite as charming, but definitely simple. More importantly, the software in the claimed leak suggests the company will bring a trace of Sense UI style to the home screen, rather than having to relegate it to the HTC Hub: a live tile would bring the oversized clock and weather that One owners know so well. Just don’t anticipate a flagship device here. If the specifications are real, the 8X would bear more in common with the Droid Incredible 4G LTE, sharing its 1.2GHz dual-core chip, 8-megapixel rear camera, Beats Audio and NFC while picking up a slightly larger 4.3-inch screen and 16GB of storage. Our main question centers around the unveiling. While HTC has an event lined up for later this month, there’s no guarantee that the 8X will show up at that gathering or even launch side-by-side with Windows Phone 8 itself.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

HTC Accord may become the mid-range 8X, make a little more Sense originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 08:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Just a couple of days ago, we saw how Nokia revealed the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 Windows Phone 8-powered smartphones to the whole world, and we did come across rather impressed with their flagship Lumia 920. There was no announcement on a concrete release date or pricing details at the handset’s debut, although Nokia did mention a rollout before the year 2012 is over. Well, sources at European telecoms operators shared that the Finnish smartphone company has every intention to begin selling their new smartphones in November as part of their efforts to secure the company’s future.

Will the Nokia Lumia 920 be able to catch up with the iPhone from Apple and the slew of Google’s Android-powered smartphones? Only time will tell, as right now, Windows Phone remains a minority in mobile operating system market share. Assuming that the above report is true, then the Lumia 920 would be able to make it in time for the frenzied holiday sales season, but they would definitely face stiff competition from the new iPhone that is touted to be announced on September 12th, not to mention other Windows Phone 8-powered models from HTC and Google’s Motorola Mobility segment. Needless to say, a Nokia spokesperson did not have any comment when approached on the Lumia 920’s alleged release window.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia special event wrap-up, Windows Phone 8 on Nokia Lumia 920 preview,

While we heard practically everything else about Nokia’s new Windows Phone 8 flagship, there were still two very important details still missing — its price and release date. Now, according to Reuters‘ “telecom operator” sources, a spokesperson from an unnamed eastern European carrier said that sales of the PureView-packing Lumia 920 will start in the second half of November, with larger countries landing the device earlier in the same month. Another source from a Nordic operator then followed suit, stating that they expected the phone to arrive in stores around mid to late November. We’ve reached out to our contacts, and will update if we hear anything more — especially if it involves a price tag.

Update: It’s being reported that the Lumia 920 will arrive in the US on AT&T’s network November 2nd.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

European carrier sources: Nokia to start selling the Lumia 920 in November (update: coming to AT&T on November 2nd) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 07:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We had an extended look at the Nokia Lumia 920 this week courtesy of Nokia and Microsoft, complete with a brief glance at the difference between standard and PureView photography technology. What you’re about to see is a look at the unibody-like design of the hardware first, then a vision of what it means to work with Windows Phone 8 with Nokia-specific additions like Nokia City Lens and wireless charging right out of the box. And of course you’ll have Microsoft’s full suite of Office apps to back you up as well, SkyDrive included!

Have a peek first at how Nokia presents an updated vision for their Lumia line with a lovely 4.5-inch display and a body that’s 10.7mm thick, 70.8mm wide, and 130.3mm tall. You’ll be seeing a bit of a “smile” at the top and bottom of the device as the front stays flat under the pillow of the display glass and the back curves to the contour of your hand. This device is available in yellow, red, white, gray, and black, and will be available to actually own later this year – price and release dates have not yet been revealed, mind you.

Inside you’ve got a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Processor, inside you’ve got NFC capabilities as well as wireless charging abilities right out of the box, and the whole shebang will be available eventually with GSM, WCDMA, and 4G LTE connectivity as well! This device works with a microSIM card, has 1GB RAM and 32GB internal storage – with 7GB cloud storage free via SkyDrive.

Of course one of the most fabulous elements in this device is its Carl Zeiss Tessar lens working with 8.7 megapixels of power with PureView technology. You’ve got a glorious bit of technology under the hood here, folks, ready for image stabilization, lightening of dark environments, and such vibrant scenes as you’ve never seen before. Have a peek at our hands-on photos and video above and below and don’t forget to hit the timeline below as well for more key points from the Nokia event – and stay tuned for more Lumia and Windows 8!

Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on extended cut: City Lens and PureView is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.