Nokia introduces its first tablet, shows off Instagram and Vine for Windows Phone – The Verge

Vine for Windows Phone briefly demonstrated at Nokia World

2013-10-22T08:50:27-04:00

Vine for Windows Phone

Vine revealed it was planning its own Windows Phone app back at the Lumia 1020 launch in July, and it's now in beta testing. Nokia provided an early demo of Vine for Windows Phone today at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi. It looks almost identical to the iOS and Android versions, but in keeping with Windows Phone's "Metro-style" aesthetics. There's four sections that are available in the main part of the app, without the need to flick down, that provide access to activity, explore, profile, and of course the main home screen of Vine videos. Just like the Android and iOS versions, you'll be restricted to six second videos, but all the normal stop mo …

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Nokia Refocus turns your Lumia into a Lytro-like camera

2013-10-22T08:24:34-04:00

Gallery Photo: Nokia Refocus hands-on photos

Nokia may have had a bunch of hardware on display at its Abu Dhabi event today, but some of the company's most impressive work is linked with its camera improvements. While the Lumia 1020 introduced a 41-megapixel camera and a new Pro Cam app, Nokia is detailing a new addition to its app line-up today: Nokia Refocus. It's a separate app that works with all of Nokia's PureView Windows Phones to allow owners to refocus parts of an image.

The most obvious comparison is to Lytro's camera hardware that lets you focus your pictures after you've taken them. Nokia isn't using any unique hardware to achieve that, instead its using a software app that …

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Nokia adding RAW support to Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520, focus shifting to all PureView cams

2013-10-22T06:35:05-04:00

Lumia RAW

Nokia's desire to be known as the best mobile-imaging company is being proved today with the announcement of RAW image file support for its two premier devices, the Lumia 1020 and Lumia 1520. In describing the breadth of new possibilities opened up by the unprocessed pics, Nokia underlines that "the image stays totally natural." That will mean a fair bit of unhidden imaging noise and other flaws that JPEG processing usually tidies up for you, but this move undeniably opens up a whole new avenue for photographic creativity with Nokia's phones.

Just as significantly, Nokia is also announcing a new "Refocus" feature for its PureView devices. L …

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Flipboard for Windows 8: a Live Tile twist similar to Android and iOS

2013-10-22T06:25:41-04:00

Gallery Photo: Flipboard for Windows 8

Flipboard promised its own Windows 8 app back at Microsoft's Build developer conference, and it's nearly ready. Nokia has an early version of Flipboard for Windows 8 here at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi, and we got a chance to take a quick look. Essentially, it's a very similar experience to the Flipboard versions available on Android and iOS. You can swipe through your own feeds, add new ones, and also search for queries or publications. Flipboard has also added in pinning support for Windows 8, allowing you to add feeds to the Start Screen.

In terms of performance, it runs as fast as you'd expect on Windows 8, and it's clearly optimized for Wind …

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Nokia Lumia 1320: a budget Windows Phone twice the size of your wallet

2013-10-22T05:33:30-04:00

Gallery Photo: Nokia Lumia 1320 hands-on photos

Nokia may have announced a 6-inch 1080p Windows Phone and a Windows RT tablet, but the company also has a handset that's designed to be budget friendly. The Lumia 1320 might be twice the size of your wallet with a 6-inch display, but it drops the 1080p resolution found on the Lumia 1520 in favor of a 720p screen. The Verge got a chance to take a brief look at the Lumia 1320 today at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi, and it certainly looks impressive for a low-cost device.

The viewing angles of the 720p display are great, and it's actually slightly difficult to tell the difference between the Lumia 1520 and 1320 displays from the typical viewing length …

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Nokia Lumia 1520: a first look at a 6-inch giant Windows Phone

2013-10-22T04:08:49-04:00

Gallery Photo: Nokia Lumia 1520 hands-on photos

Nokia has just made its Lumia 1520 official. With a 6-inch display it's the biggest Windows Phone ever, and its 1080p resolution is a first for Microsoft's mobile operating system. These changes will usher in a range of high resolution Windows Phone handsets over the coming year, with varying shapes and sizes. Nokia is the first Windows Phone maker with a 6-inch 1080p handset, but it might not be the last if this type of Windows Phone is successful. Here at Nokia World today in Abu Dhabi I finally got a chance to find out what this giant handset means for Windows Phone, how the UI adapts, and just how usable it is as a normal phone alongside …

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Nokia Lumia 2520: a closer look at Nokia’s first Windows tablet

2013-10-22T04:04:13-04:00

Gallery Photo: Nokia Lumia 2520 hands-on photos

The moment has finally come for Nokia's first Windows tablet. While it's been rumored for what feels like years, Nokia's Lumia 2520 is the Finnish smartphone-maker's take on a Lumia-style tablet. It's everything you'd expect from Nokia, and it looks just like a much bigger version of a Lumia Windows Phone. Microsoft might be buying Nokia's device business, but for the next few months they're going to be battling it out as competitors for Windows-based tablet market share. At Nokia World in Abu Dhabi today I got a chance to compare Nokia's Lumia 2520 directly with Microsoft's Surface 2 tablet and find out whether a Nokia-built tablet can take …

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Nokia answers the Surface 2 with the Lumia 2520, a beautiful, ultra-mobile Windows RT tablet

2013-10-22T03:45:37-04:00

Gallery Photo: Nokia Lumia 2520 hands-on photos

Nokia is building a Windows RT tablet. Its aspirations haven't exactly gone unnoticed, but today in Abu Dhabi the company is officially pulling the wraps off its largest Lumia ever: the $499 Lumia 2520, a slate that combines the company's Windows Phone design language with the best of Microsoft's Surface 2 - keyboard accessory and all. The Lumia 2520 looks particularly like the new 6-inch Lumia 1520, but it's in line with most of Nokia's smartphones over the last couple of years, featuring sleek lines, a unibody design, and an intense color palette including options for cyan, red, white, and black.

The Lumia 2520 matches the Surface 2 spec for …

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Official Instagram Windows Phone app arriving in the ‘coming weeks’

2013-10-22T03:31:58-04:00

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Windows Phone is finally getting an official Instagram client. After months of pressure from Nokia, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom confirmed today that an official client will be made available to Windows Phone users shortly. "Our ultimate goal is to bring Instagram to everyone who wants to use it," says Systrom. "We're looking forward to watching the Windows Phone community use Instagram to capture and share beautiful moments in the coming weeks." The app closes a big hole in the Windows Phone ecosystem, allowing owners to use an officially supported Instagram client.

Nokia and Instagram aren't detailing all of the app's features today, merel …

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Nokia introduces the Lumia 1520, its largest Windows Phone yet

2013-10-22T03:20:25-04:00

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Smartphones, especially Android and Windows Phone devices, have been growing rapidly in size over the past few years, from devices with mere 4-inch displays to those with screens almost six inches in size. Today Nokia is announcing its largest devices yet. The new Lumia 1520 (along with its low-end counterpart, the Lumia 1320) features a massive 6-inch display, making it the largest Windows Phone ever released. The 1520 is also the first Windows Phone with a 1080p screen and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor.

The 1520 retains Nokia's familiar design language - it's a single piece polycarbonate design that looks like a bigger version of th …

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