Nokia’s megapixel monster in SA

Nokia’s 41-megapixel PureView handset is now available to SA consumers, but high resolution comes at a high price.

Added by Craig Wilson on 6 July 2012.
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Vodacom is bringing the Nokia 808 PureView handset to SA. The PureView includes a 41-megapixel camera, the highest resolution camera seen in a mobile phone to date. The device was first unveiled in Barcelona in February.

The PureView, which is available in SA from this Friday, is set to cost R7 999 out of contract. Vodacom will also offer the device on a 24-month contract at R399/month.

Despite its high-end camera, the 808 PureView runs the ageing Symbian operating system, software the company plans to phase out in coming years.

Though it’s possible to capture images with unprecedented resolution, these aren’t practical for sharing, particularly over mobile networks, and users have the option of compressing images before sharing them via e-mail or social networks.

The full resolution of images from the 808 PureView is 7 152×5 368 pixels and the lens includes Carl Zeiss optics, offers autofocus and is complemented by a Xenon flash. The camera is also capable of capturing 1080p video at 30 frames a second.

The device includes a 4-inch, 360×640-pixel Amoled display, 16GB of onboard storage and a microSD slot that can expand the storage capability by a further 32GB. The handset is powered by a 1,3GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.

Like most high-end smartphones, the Nokia 808 PureView supports only micro Sims and includes a mini-HDMI port along with a 3,5mm audio jack and is charged via micro-USB.

The handset is available in black, white or red and includes a 1 400mAh battery.

Look out for a full review of the Nokia 808 PureView on TechCentral in coming weeks.  — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media

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  • http://www.facebook.com/letsholo Ofentse Letsholo

    finally…

  • Greg Mahlknecht

    You wouldn’t actually want to buy this, it’s just an ad: “Coming soon to a Windows Phone 8 device near you … the best camera ever on a phone”

  • http://www.facebook.com/Neville.Dipale Nevi-me Dipale

    The largest pixels on a phone … It’s like the iPhone and iPad:
    Steve: Hey Neville, wanna watch the new Batman movie on my iPad with retina display?
    Neville: Uhmm, no thanks, I’d rather watch it on my 27 inch Samsung HD display …

    So with the 808 PureView:
    Michelle: Hey Nev, look at me! I just took a photo of myself at 41 mega pixels, gonna post it on Facebook.
    Neville: Uhmm, so I can zoom in and see your pimples like microscopically?
    Michelle: No silly, I’m gonna downsize it before uploading it.
    Neville: Interesting, so I’d upload a pic faster than you if I just took one cos I don’t need to resize it?
    Michelle: I think so …
    Neville: By the way, I hear some Russian guy has ported Jelly Bean into Galaxy S2
    Michelle: What’s that?
    Nevile: Oh I forgot, you use Symbian …

  • Pieter

    The “resizing” is seamless (maybe read up on the tech)… My old N8 takes way better photos than any Android or iPhone so cant ‘upgrade’ to something that can’t at least match it.

    Taking the performance of my old phone into account I’m sure having probably 4 times to computing power and a camera at least 4 times better than anything else (and Nokia Maps) the next 2 years will be enjoyed just like the previous 2.

    Only thing you can complain about is maybe some apps wont be available… but I just use Opera Mini, SportsTracker, DSTV Decoder, Whatsapp, AngryBirds, Shazam, Skype and a few minor stuff you’ll find on any phone. So for me its not a problem.

    If they release a Windows 8 phone with similar camera before Dec I will definitively give it a look though…

  • Greg Mahlknecht

    >>Neville: By the way, I hear some Russian guy has ported Jelly Bean into Galaxy S2
    I don’t know why people keep touting this as a plus for Android – for me the fact this exists, and has to be used as an option to get Android onto some devices is the biggest shortcoming. Reminds me of the dying days of WM6 when that was the only option to upgrade phones.
    And these hacked ROMs never work as well as first party ROMs – I had to put a hacked version of ICS onto my Tab 10.1 as no official one is out for ZA yet, and the battery management is AWFUL – half of what it was with official honeycomb, and yes – I’ve tried all the tweaks. Just the wrong drivers for the device, obviously.

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