Glum Nokia banks on new camera tech

Nokia and Microsoft Corp took the wraps off the struggling European company’s most powerful smartphone on Wednesday, in what may be their last major shot at reclaiming a market lost to Apple, Samsung and Google.

Nokia and Microsoft Corp took the wraps off the struggling European company’s most powerful smartphone on Wednesday, in what may be their last major shot at reclaiming a market lost to Apple, Samsung and Google.

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The new Lumia 920 and smaller Lumia 820 run on the latest Windows Phone operating software, which Microsoft hopes will rival Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android to become a third mobile platform.

The Lumia 920 — which executives billed on Wednesday as the flagship Windows phone — sports ‘Pureview’ camera technology to reduce blurring from hand motion, and wireless charging capability.

Powered by Qualcomm Inc’s Snapdragon processor, it comes with augmented reality technology that lets users see details of their surroundings through the camera. The Lumia 920 — available in yellow or red — sports a bigger, brighter 4.5-inch screen than Nokia’s previous smartphones, taking a page from rivals such as Samsung, which has backed larger displays in past years.

It comes with an 8.7 megapixel camera, in line with rival devices, but Nokia hopes the ‘Pureview’ technology will give it an edge.