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Photokina is the world’s largest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries, which has been held biennially in Cologne, Germany since 1950. Just as in 2010, Nokia is participating at the event together with Carl Zeiss in hall 2.1 at booth B011, to be precise.

In two years, many things have changed but one: Nokia is still strongly innovating in imaging. Actually, 2012 has been another great year for imaging at Nokia: in February we introduced the Nokia 808 PureView and just a couple of weeks ago the Nokia Lumia 920. Both smartphones take excellent photos and address some of the most common problems that people face when they are taking pictures with camera phones.

To showcase our imaging innovation, we invited Photokina visitors to experience both of our PureView smartphones. We also built a special demobox to simulate low light conditions and compare the results of the Nokia Lumia 920 with other smartphones.

The imaging experts

At Photokina 2012 we are also participating at the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) Awards Ceremony to receive the Best Imaging Innovation Award for Nokia 808 PureView that was announced in April. This gave me the chance to chat with our imaging experts Eero Salmelin and Juha Alakarhu.

“Consumers want to take great pictures in any conditions” says Eero “and the Pureview brand stands for the best imaging innovations we have created to solve everyday photography problems”.

With the award winning Nokia 808 PureView we solved the problem of zooming in with a camera phone. To deliver the best images imaginable at any resolution the Nokia 808 PureView features a large, high resolution 41 megapixel sensor, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia-developed pixel processing technology.

“Low light performance has always been a very big problem in photography, since the very beginning; this is more manifest than ever in camera phones or compact cameras, which is why we looked into original ways to also solve this problem” continues Juha.

Solving low light conditions

With the Nokia Lumia 920 we solve the problem of photos in low light conditions with a rear illuminated sensor, a f/2.0 aperture, optical image stabilization and the latest version of our imaging software.

All these elements combine to capture at least five times more light than other smartphones in similar conditions. In particular, the algorithms we are using in the Nokia Lumia 920 are enhancing brightness, colours, sharpness and clarity in the same way they do on the Nokia 808 PureView.

This is not only relevant in low light conditions; photos that are taken indoors are also sharper. In daylight the Nokia Lumia 920 can take better pictures of fast moving objects, removing blur and imprecisions caused by handshaking. Last but not least, video capabilities are also dramatically improved.

Although the Nokia Lumia 920 performs extremely well in low light conditions, you might sometimes want to use flash to create special effects. To our knowledge, the built in flash on the Nokia Lumia 920 is the brightest LED flash in the market, which also delivers better colours and a shorter flash pulse for best results.

The blogger’s view

“Very often, you have only one chance to take a picture and the Nokia Lumia 920 clearly gives you the possibility to get it right” says blogger Steve ‘Chippy’ Paine.

“I use my DSLR for work, but in my everyday life I rely on the Nokia 808 PureView, with which I can capture so much more memories and emotions than without a camera; now I am very excited about the Nokia Lumia 920, because it basically allows me to take five times more usable photos.”

Photokina is always a great experience for me because I am amazed by the amount of technology packaged in cameras and relevant accessories. A feeling that, I know, is being shared by many other visitors.

Two years ago they couldn’t believe my photos were taken with a camera phone (Nokia N8). This year they are trying their best, unsuccessfully, to match their camera phones to the Nokia Lumia 920 and its performance in low light conditions.

Social Media Week kicks off next week with events happening all over the globe. Nokia is proudly sponsoring SMW and will be active in the events in Los Angeles, CA happening from September 24-28.

In typical Nokia fashion, we’re going to rock next week, literally.

To help celebrate the launch of Nokia Music, our free, no-subscription music service for Lumia, we’re kicking off Musicology.

What is musicology, you ask? It’s the study of music as an academic subject. And no, don’t get fooled by the word “academic.” We’re going to have fun.

To us, music is about freedom to explore. Since Nokia Music is all about personalization, creating and discovery of different aspects of the musical world, we’re celebrating in style.

To kick things off, Nokia will be taking over Club Nokia with a free concert performed by Grammy-nominated Janelle Monáe. The concert will take place on September 25^th at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. To interact with the performance, SMW attendees are invited to contribute a virtual playlist of their favorite songs using Nokia Music. Also, prior to Janelle Monáe’s performance on stage, a Nokia DJ Musicologist will spin tunes from the crowd-sourced playlist.

Also, three songs from Janelle Monáe’s performance will be available for listening following the concert.

At Club Nokia, listening stations will be set up, allowing visitors to experience Nokia Music on the Nokia Lumia 900. To ensure the music sounds as great as it should, the Lumia 900s will have our Purity headphones attached. Be sure to check Nokia Music while on site.

Will you be at Social Media Week?  We look forward to seeing you there!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and find us on Facebook as well!

If you’re anything like me, the end of a busy day looks something like this: eat, drink, TV (while looking for new and exciting apps on my Nokia). So you can imagine my smile when I found that two of my favourite game shows had dropped official apps in the Marketplace.

Jeopardy

Cost: $1.99/£1.49/€1.99 in the Marketplace
Availability: Everywhere
In a nutshell: What is the most popular question-based show on TV?

It seems the app didn’t go unnoticed either – there were several reviews of it when I had a look. Rafe posted a quick overview, in which he mentions the 2,700 question database. George Ponder goes one step further on wpcentral with a video review:

I’ll leave you with this (which will make sense to Jeopardy fans): What game will Tom be playing tonight?

*****

Wheel of Fortune

Cost: $4.99/£3.99/€3.99 in the Marketplace
Availability: Everywhere
In a nutshell: I’ll have a P, please Pat.

Another favourite is Wheel Of Fortune – and not just because of the ageless hosts. If you’re feeling flush in the wallet (maybe you just won on a game show), then this might be the game for you. Daniel Rubino from WMExperts downloaded this ‘super expensive’ app, and videoed his thoughts, so we can all have a look before we buy:

Disappointed that there’s no trial, Daniel nevertheless says that fans of the show will enjoy the gameplay. I might just be buying this later.

Seen any apps you think should be featured next week? Written or filmed any of your own reviews? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter and I may just take a look at them in the future.

One of the standout features of the new Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 smartphones is that they can be charged wirelessly.

Rather than scrambling around for a power socket and untangling any wires, you will only need to put them on a charging plate to ensure that your Lumia is always ready for action.

An exciting range of funky accessories will also do the job for you, such as the FatBoy Charging Pillow or the JBL PowerUp music speaker.

Although wireless charging is not entirely new, these new Lumia smartphones from Nokia is giving the wireless charging ecosystem and the Qi standard a real boost.

The whole process makes life just a little bit easier, more convenient and fun. Isn’t that what great technology is supposed to do?

Liberation

We only need to turn to our recent history, or indeed just look around our homes, to see what a difference going wireless can make.

Here are five examples of household objects that have been improved immeasurably since they got liberated from the tyranny of wires.

Remote controls

Yes, kids, believe it or not the early remote controls for your TV or video player were operated via a wire that was plugged into the said audio/visual unit.

You may snigger, but they were considered state of the art. Before wired remote controls you actually had to get up to change the channel on your TV.

The telephone

I was debating whether to include the telephone in this list – not a mobile phone, just the humble, home telephone. It seems too obvious and feels like cheating.

However, it is a fantastic example of wireless technology making a big difference to a common household gadget, so it deserves its place.

The Internet router

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

A small part of me feels nostalgic for those strange electronic beeps and squeaks that the dial-up modem used to make every time I wanted to ‘log-on’ to the Internet.

On reflection though, using a wireless router that lets me access the Internet from any room of my house, and from multiple devices, more than makes up for it.

DIY tools

Doing DIY is difficult enough; the last thing you need to worry about is finding a power point close enough for you to plug in your power tools. Plus, having wires lying across a hazardous work area is a health and safety accident waiting to happen.

The rechargeable and wireless drill (insert your work tool of choice) solved all such problems at a stroke.

Toys & games

This might seem minor, but the difference between a radio controlled car and one that was connected by a wire (so that you had to run after it, while you ‘drove’ it) is the difference between a good Christmas and a great Christmas.

Mind you, young people have done very well out of these wireless leaps forward. I had to plug a joystick into my computer to play games. It had suction pads (which were useless) to hold itself securely to the table. I could only dream of wireless video game controllers!

Tied by wires

Sadly, not everything around us can let go of their wires quite so easily.

Take a look around the back of your TV. If you have a cable box, a Blu-Ray player or a video games console connected to the back to of it, then you’ll probably have a maze of wires just like mine.

The same goes for your computer. How come, despite the advent of wireless keyboards, mice, speakers and even printers, it still takes so many wires to set up a computer?

Taken individually, the computer, TV and so on, these are all magnificent pieces of kit. I wonder how long it will be before they are all able to connect to each other without any wires at all? NFC and DLNA are steps in the right direction.

Let’s go back to where we first started. Nokia’s introduction of wireless charging on the Lumia 920, where it is built into the handset, and the Lumia 820, which will require one of the recharging shells. 

Don’t they seem to you like a step in the right direction as well?

Image credit: GS+

We’ve been running the monthly Nokia Connects:Go contest for a few weeks now, and we’ve put together some of the best videos from the entries so far in a playlist for your viewing pleasure.

Running…and running…and running to reach a target. That’s what MisterG00 has been doing, and conveniently the Nokia Lumia 900 was around to record it. The target? Well worth reaching, even if we do say so ourselves:

A skate session, in arty black and white, complete with flicks and tricks, now from ryan dungey. A twist on the Amazing Everyday, Ryan implores us to Skate Everyday:

Finally for now, check out IreneB as she serenades us, to the visuals of Barcelona captured on the Lumia 900:

Think you could make a video like these? Want to try the Nokia Connects:Go challenge? Let us know on Twitter, or by requesting a trial.

Play i agencja Grandes Kochonos przygotowały kampanię promującą Wspólny Internet – nową, przełomową ofertę Play dla Firm. Przełomową, bo w ramach jednego pakietu danych można korzystać z internetu na różnych urządzeniach, a także udostępniać internet pracownikom. To bardzo wygodne, ale i oszczędne, bo podłączenie dodatkowego urządzenia lub udostępnienie internetu pracownikowi kosztuje tylko 4 zł netto [...]

Play i agencja Grandes Kochonos przygotowały kampanię promującą Wspólny Internet – nową, przełomową ofertę Play dla Firm. Przełomową, bo w ramach jednego pakietu danych można korzystać z internetu na różnych urządzeniach, a także udostępniać internet pracownikom. To bardzo wygodne, ale i oszczędne, bo podłączenie dodatkowego urządzenia lub udostępnienie internetu pracownikowi kosztuje tylko 4 zł netto [...]

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) has officially announced the release date of  Playstation Store for Playstation Mobile devices. The store will go live on October 3 2012. Initially the service will start in Japan, US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia with more countries to follow suit. 30 new titles under ‘Adventure’, ‘Action’, ‘Puzzle’, ‘Sports’, and ‘Simulation’ categories will be launched with the price range between 50 yen (£0.39, €0.49, $0.64) and 850 yen (£6.68, €8.31, $10.84).

If you didn’t know it already, Sony ’s range of Playstation certified devices include Xperia arc, Xperia PLAY, Xperia S, Xperia SL, Xperia ion, Xperia acro S, Xperia TX, Xperia T , Xperia V, Xperia acro, Xperia acro HD, Xperia SX, Xperia GX,Sony Tablet S, Sony Tablet P and new Xperia Tablet S. Third party devices including  HTC One X, HTC One S, and HTC One V are also PlayStation certified. Fujitsu’s ARROWS series smartphones and some SHARP devices are also in the PlayStation certified license program.

PlayStation Mobile SDK will be available to the developers in November 2012. The initial roll out of the SDK will be for 11 countries listed as Japan, US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The SDK will allow the devs to develop games and market it through the Playstation Store under a license agreement for US$99 annually.

Source : Sony Via Xperiablog

It didn’t take me long this week to find a few people talking about Nokia’s accessories dedicated to bringing the sweet sounds of your tunes to you in a variety of ways.

Clinton Jeff is first up, with his look at the Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Stereo Headset by Monster (BH-940 for the purists among us). When he found out the Purity headset was going wireless, Clinton said there was a

‘little party in my head’

So when he got a chance to take a look for himself, he snapped some awesome photos (especially of the yellow variant), and even has a hands on video. His favourite feature, though, is the fact that the headset will ‘power down when folded’. Neat.

Fashion meets style on Le Fashion Blog in their look at the Nokia Purity Stereo Headset by Monster (WH-920) is in French, their gallery is well worth checking out. I ran it through a translator (my French is OK, but not great), and found that they liked the ‘very clean and friendly’ design, and liked the flat cable. Sound-wise, they said the quality was equally balanced and

‘simply stunning’

Thumbs up from Les Bleus, then.

Finally, kuzma has taken an extensive look at the Nokia Play 360° Wireless speaker (MD-50W)

As well as a great set of unboxing shots, Chris shares his thoughts on the design and usage:

‘this is hands-down my favorite (feasibly) portable bluetooth speaker’

No need for me to really add anything else, is there? For more of his thoughts, though, please do head over and have a read.

Have you got any thoughts on Nokia’s audio accessories? Seen or written a review we should feature here? Let us know in the comments, or give us a shout on Twitter.

When you are passionate about gadgets and technologies, it’s only natural to compare what’s available to find the best fit. This is particularly true nowadays with smartphones. Many manufacturers, including Nokia, have recently introduced their newest mobile devices and the Internet is buzzing with numbers and specifications.

We are very proud of the hardware innovation that powers the Nokia Lumia 920, like PureView, NFC, wireless charging and PureMotion HD+, but we believe that there is even more.

It’s not only about raw numbers; it’s about what you can actually do with your smartphone. For example, it can be something you were unable to do before, like taking photos without flash in low-light conditions. Or it can be a better way to handle everyday life, like driving to work.

Location experiences

For all the needs that begin with a “where” question, we have developed a compelling suite of applications that delivers the best location-based experiences – helping you to discover the world around you and navigate your life. Not only is this possible because the location business is strategic to Nokia, but because these apps are running on the world’s most advanced location platform.

Unlike our competitors, which are financing their location assets  with advertising or licensing mapping content from third parties, we completely own, build and distribute mapping content, platform and apps.

In other words, we truly understand that maps and location-based apps must be accurate, provide the best quality and be accessible basically anywhere. That’s been standard practice at Nokia for the past six years, and we also understand that “pretty” isn’t enough. You expect excellence in your smartphone mapping experience.

Our superior apps are built on the most accurate, automotive-grade Navteq maps, meticulously developed by over 20 years of know-how. We believe that the best user experience comes indeed from precise data, robust processing of core platform functionalities like routing, geocoding and traffic, and by user friendly apps. All this cannot be built overnight.

A mapping experience is a must-have feature for many of us. In fact, a recent survey by IDG found that 77% of respondents are using smartphones for GPS navigation. No wonder that many of our readers are closely following the recent development and changes of mapping apps and the user experience on the newest smartphones.

The benchmark

Let’s take a look at the location experience on some of the newest smartphones:

 “Nokia’s suite of location-aware apps and services on its new Lumia devices put it in a clear lead over its competitors in terms of the depth, breadth and integration of the mapping, navigation and transport experiences it can offer. It also leads in terms of the global coverage it provides,” said Tim Shepherd, senior analyst at Canalys.

I think the most impressive difference, beside the ability to use Nokia location-based apps offline as well as online, is the number of countries where voice guided turn-by-turn navigation is available.

The big map is Nokia’s, the bottom left is Google and Apple is on the right.