Nokia is planning a hero phone and its CEO, Stephen Elop, hinted during an earnings call that rumors surrounding larger devices and handsets with better cameras are true.
In the call with analysts, Elop said that the company's future strategy for its Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices would focus on price, imaging capabilities and "expanding that effort to broader form factors," a comment that seems to confirm rumors, first reported by the Financial Times on Wednesday, that Nokia is poised to launch a phablet device later this year.
In the same call the CEO also seemed to confirm ongoing reports that the next flagship Lumia device would have an incredible 41-megapixel image sensor for professional photography performance. "You should watch for us in the imaging area to continue to advance the state of the art, like what is the best experience on imaging on devices," he said.
As well as a huge images sensor, many industry watchers believe that the next flagship Windows Phone will feature a full HD display and come wrapped in an aluminium, rather than a polycarbonate, case. It is variously referred to as the ‘Catwalk' or the ‘Eos.' Images reportedly of the device surfaced on Thursday on Chinese social networking site Sina Weibo and were subsequently republished by a number of US tech sites including, The Verge and Electronista.
Whether or not the images are real, Elop did confirm that a flagship phone with "hero" status -- meaning not only a flaghsip device but the most important device sold by a network carrier -- would be coming to the US at least this summer. "Later this quarter, a new Lumia device is anticipated to have hero status with a leading US operator," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Whether or not the images are real, Elop did confirm that a flagship phone with "hero" status -- meaning not only a flaghsip device but the most important device sold by a network carrier -- would be coming to the US at least this summer. "Later this quarter, a new Lumia device is anticipated to have hero status with a leading US operator," he said.
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