Nokia Lumia 1020 camera on show: manual focus

Time for the next leg of our camera tour, with Juha Alakarhu, Nokia’s head of imaging technology. Along with colleague Eero Salmelin, he invented the 41-megapixel sensor technology that lies at the heart of the amazing new Nokia Lumia 1020.

Please click through on both the pictures to see the full-size images.

Juha says:

This pair of shots highlights a key improvement in our imaging technology – the ability to manually control the focus to produce exactly the effect you want.

These sample images are really difficult to achieve with auto focus, as it usually focuses on the wrong details. By changing the focus manually (from 15cm to infinity), you can tell a completely different story from the same spot. One of these images is about the famous Flat Iron building in New York; the other is about flowers blooming in the heart of the city.

You can use this control in other ways, too. Say you want to take a picture of an object that keeps moving, such as a bird. You can set the focus and wait for your subject to move into the position where you need it.

Previous instalments:

Savour the details;

Bokeh effects;

Manual shutter speed.

Our 5 favourite new Windows Phone apps of the week

It’s almost the end of July! The kids are on their summer holidays and you’re spending every free moment trying to entertain and/or wrangle them into some sort of joyful family fun-time—so when are you supposed to research the hottest new apps in the Windows Store, eh? Don’t worry: we’ve got that covered! Each week we let you know about our favourite new releases and app updates, so that you’re never left behind. And, wait—what’s this, down below? Only this week’s top five apps, ready and waiting!

App title: HD Photo Viewer

What is it? A new way of browsing through your phone’s photo albums in full HD.

Why we love it? Obviously there’s nothing wrong with the native Windows Picture Hub, but there’s no harm in exploring alternatives. The big plus with this app is that it doesn’t reduce image resolution to speed things up; it retains the original shiny HD resolution that makes your smartphone’s camera so desirable. It also lets you do some editing and file-sharing, which is handy. The only note of caution we’d sound is that 512MB phones might struggle to cope—it’ll work on them, but there might be speed issues and the occasional crash.

Who it’s perfect for: photographers

App title: wpTorrent

What is it? A brand-new torrent app for downloading files to your phone

Why we love it? It’s the first native Torrent client for Windows phones. Browse, view, share and use downloaded files, just like you’d do on your laptop or desktop. About time, too, we say, given the audio and video capabilities of most smartphones. Like most torrent services,  wpTorrent is a little tricky to set up and get used to if you’re new to that way of downloading media, but there’s a wealth of info online to explain it all, and it’s worth the effort. A slightly more linited version is available as a free trial.

Who it’s perfect for: Shareaholics

App title: Wead

What is it? An app to add weather info to your photos

Why we love it? It’s slightly gimmicky, and other apps perform similar functions, but we like the easy, cheesy fun that we get from Wead. Open a photo from the Picture Hub and select Wead as an editing tool; pick a font colour, then type in your location and hit + to add weather; the app uses your location to pull up the current weather conditions and temperature where you are and adds this info to the photo. Very nifty for making your friends jealous of your holiday in the sun…

Who it’s perfect for: travellers

App title: Papirus

What is it? A collaboration service, or organising tool, for business teams

Why we love it?  It lets you create tasks, lists, upload files and more—basically, you can cut out the tedium of fifty emails a day when you’re trying to coordinate a busy team of office professionals. It’s been a cloud-based service for a while, so the WP client is the logical next step. We found it impressively robust and comprehensive for a mobile app; serious thought has gone into this. While it’s probably a little OTT for a general user who just wants a simple to-do list, it’s fantastic for more complex team-work situations. And if your business has fewer than 25 team-members, the free version will suit you down to the ground.

Who it’s perfect for: wannabe business tycoons

 App title: Swipe Tunes

What is it? A new, intuitive gesture-based way of navigating your stored music.

Why we love it? Brand new to the market, this is hands-down our favourite app of the week. Swiping and tapping anywhere on the screen gets you from track to track and all the rest (full info in the Help menu!) – no messing about looking for the menu button. It automatically imports all your stored tunes and makes full use of your smartphone’s sensitive touchscreen. Simple as that. You can also customise the app’s theme and Live Tile appearance to your heart’s content.

Who it’s perfect for: music fans

With photography, weather, music and life tools, we think we’ve got something for pretty much everyone. If you think otherwise, we’d love to hear what we’ve missed in the comments below

Nokia Accessories app: easier, more personal connectivity

When you connect an accessory to your Nokia Lumia smartphone, you’d be forgiven in thinking that’s the end of the accessory experience. In fact, with Nokia’s Accessories app, it’s just the beginning.

The Nokia Accessories app enables you to interact with your Nokia accessories in an easier, more personal way, as Nokia’s Mikko Lönnfors, Lead Program Manager for Nokia Lumia accessories explains:

“We want people to do more with their Nokia accessories. We’ve created a way that you can see the battery level of your accessory right from your Start screen.”

For example, when you pair a Bluetooth headset – such as the Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Stereo Headset by Monster – with your Lumia, the Nokia Accessories app delivers the battery status of the headset to your Start screen as a Live tile.

“In addition to the battery level indicator, this app also makes it possible to rename the attached Bluetooth accessory.”

 

This could be useful if you’ve got more than one of the same accessory in the house and you don’t want to confuse yours with other housemates. Or, if you just like to personalise your Nokia Gear.

Sanda Berar, Head of Connected Gadgets at Nokia also points out another useful feature of the Nokia Accessories app:

“There are some accessories that can be re-programmed to a certain degree. The Nokia Reaction (BH-907), for example, has two physical keys that can be configured from the Accessories app.”

Mikko continues:

“Rather than just having the answer call key to connect or disconnect a call, you can program it to dial a specific number.”

While this may not be useful for everybody, it could be practical if you have a headset in the car that you use when only driving for work where you only call the office while on the road.

Using the app is really simple; just tap your Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 smartphone against an NFC-enabled accessory to pair it. Then, within the app, if the accessory is supported, you’ll see it listed for you to interact with.

Another noteworthy feature of Nokia Accessories app is that you can have it launch certain apps every time you connect your phone to a specific Nokia accessory.

A perfect example of this is the Nokia Wireless Charging Car Holder(CR-200).

When you get in your car and place your Nokia Lumia into the car holder, you can use NFC to launch Car App – an app that’s only available with the CR-200.

Car App displays large on-screen buttons that are optimised for driving conditions. It’s also a launchpad if you want to start using HERE Drive,Nokia Music or make phone calls using the Quick Call button, as well as any other app that you may want to use.

There’s also a handy carousel that scrolls across the top that displays the time, up-to-date weather forecast and a battery status indicator.

However, if you prefer, you can reprogram the app so that it instantly launches HERE Drive. The crux is that it’s customisable to meet your needs.

Nokia Accessories app supports:

• JBL PowerUp Wireless Charging Speaker for Nokia (MD-100w)
• JBL PlayUp Portable Wireless Speaker for Nokia (MD-51w)
• Nokia Purity Pro Wireless Stereo Headset by Monster (BH-940)
• Nokia Reaction (BH-907)
• Nokia Wireless Charging Car Holder (CR-200)
• Nokia Wireless Charging Stand (DT-910)

Mikko and the team express that they’d like to get as much feedback for this app as possible, to help make future versions.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the Nokia Accessories app, please use the comments box below as the team will be taking notes.

Customising your Nokia Asha 501

The Nokia Asha 501 is one of the most exciting smartphones to hit the market in recent years, providing innovative features and beautiful design at an affordable price. Available in a range of vivid colours, the Asha 501 really stands out from the crowd, but there’s lots more you can do to customise your handset. Read on to find out more.

Ringtones

 

When it comes to changing sounds on the Nokia Asha 501, ringtones are the first that spring to mind. With two SIM cards in use with the Dual SIM version, and the ability to utilise two phone numbers, it’s actually possible to set a different ringtone for each SIM card. Click ‘Settings’, ‘Sounds and vibra’, and choose the SIM card you want to customise. Then pick the ringtone. 

Import your own music

 

You’re not just restricted to existing ringtones, however, and it’s also possible to add your own music to use as a ringtone. Drag and drop the tunes you want to use into the Music folder on your Nokia Asha 501, and when you go to select a ringtone, click ‘Choose from music’.

Homescreen

 

Whether you’re looking at Fastlane or the more traditional homescreen, the Nokia Asha 501 still displays a large image in the background, and changing the image couldn’t be easier. Simply press ‘Settings’ and scroll down, and then click on ‘Wallpaper for homescreens’. Although you can’t add your own images, there are plenty of different photographs to choose from. 

Shells

 

Picking just one specific colour for the Nokia Asha 501 can be tough, but thankfully you don’t need to. You can buy different-coloured shells for the phone, and the vibrant colours let you express your personality. Whether it’s bright red (and it really is bright), yellow, white, black or bright green, there’s a colour to suit all tastes and moods. Simply clip off the shell, and replace it when you want a change of colour. 

Lockscreen

 

As with the homescreen, it’s also easy to change the lockscreen on your Nokia Asha 501. Again just head to ‘Settings’, scroll down and tap ‘Wallpaper for lockscreens’. Pick the one you like best, and enjoy standing out from the crowd.

Haptic feedback

 

If you’re new to touchscreen phones, the lack of tactile feedback offered by traditional buttons can feel strange at first. That’s why the Nokia Asha 501 offers haptic feedback – with the phone vibrating gently when you press a button onscreen. Haptic feedback doesn’t suit everybody though, so it’s also easy to turn off. If you don’t like it, tap ‘Settings’, ‘Sounds and vibra’, scroll down and turn the vibration option off. 

Sounds

 

There are loads of different options available when it comes to customising sounds on the Nokia Asha 501. Along with the ringtones, you can change: Message tone, Email tone, Alarm tone, Reminder tone and Push notifications tone. All this can result in a phone that really is about you, and helping you stand out from the crowd.

41Reasons Why You Should Buy A Nokia Lumia 1020

#1 – The 41-megapixel sensor

Following in the footsteps of the Nokia 808 PureView, the Nokia Lumia 1020 comes armed with a massive 41MP sensor that let’s you do some really amazing things never before possible with a smartphone.

#2 – Zoom, reinvented

Forget about getting closer to your subject when taking photos; stand back and let the lossless zooming of the Nokia Lumia 1020 do all the work. You can discover details in photos you never thought existed.

#3 – Digital Vs. optical zoom

The Nokia Lumia 1020 takes snaps at a huge initial resolution, so you don’t lose any details when up close. It can also beat most optical zooms – which feature a smaller aperture setting the closer you get – letting in a constant amount of light, providing brighter and sharper images.

#4 – Reframe your photos

Thanks to ‘dual capture’ on the Nokia Lumia 1020, you have the freedom to reframe all of your photos. This means that you can go back to photos you’ve already taken, zoom in, zoom out, or rotate to create new memories from different perspectives.

#5 – Six lenses

Nokia worked with optics manufacturer ZEISS to introduce six lenses for the Nokia Lumia 1020, with rivals offering four or five. The additional lens helps to produce sharper images, directing light crisply and cleanly towards the 41MP sensor.

#6 – Glass is better

Five of the lenses on the Nokia Lumia 1020 are molded from high-performance plastic, but Nokia has gone the extra mile with the sixth, manufacturing it from high-precision glass. It’s tougher, will stay scratch-free for longer, and help you to shoot even better photos. 

#7 – Largest BSI on smartphone, ever!

Because the Nokia Lumia 1020 has a bigger sensor, it can accommodate more pixels, producing sharper details. Nokia used a Back Side Illuminated sensor (BSI) with a design that significantly reduces the amount of visible noise in your photos.

#8 – Optical Image Stabilization  

The Nokia Lumia 1020 gets a completely new image stabilization technology, keeping your photos free from blur when you’re shooting in testy conditions.  The Optical Image Stabilization will automatically counterbalance unwanted camera shake, keeping your snaps pin-sharp.

#9 – Floating Lens

While competing systems usually just move one lens to counteract handshake, the Optical Image Stabilization in the Nokia Lumia 1020 uses tiny magnetic motors to move all of the optics. Even shaky hands can produce super-sharp images.

#10 – Clever engineering you can hear

The lens system is being kept in place by small ball bearings and actively moved to counteract unwanted camera movement. If you lightly wobble the Nokia Lumia 1020 you can actually hear the system at work, absorbing the shaking of your hand.

#11 – Excellent low-light performance

The Nokia Lumia 1020 uses a design where a much larger amount of light can reach the image sensor, and the Optical Image Stabilization allows for exposure times 3-5 times longer compared to traditional mobile cameras. In short: you can take amazing images in a dark room or at night.

#12 – Two flashes give the right light in any situation

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is one of the only smartphones with two flashes. The LED video light illuminates your videos and Xenon flash captures motion for the perfect still photo, every time.

#13 – ZEISS optics

Nokia is the only mobile phone maker that sports a ZEISS lens for true-to-life images and video. The Nokia Lumia 1020 features not just one but six ZEISS lenses!

#14 – Shoot blur-free Full HD video

Sure, most smartphones can shoot HD video. But the Nokia Lumia 1020 shuns blurry HD videos and captures your memories without making viewers seasick.

#15 – Silent zoom on video

Because zooming while capturing video on the Nokia Lumia 1020 is done with no mechanical parts, it’s silent, smooth and intuitive.

#16 – Rich recording with stereo sound

The Nokia Lumia 1020 features dual high-range mics and Nokia Rich Recording for high quality, distortion free audio to accompany your Full HD videos.

#17 – Freelancer grip

With the Nokia Lumia 1020 combined with the Pro Camera Grip, you can charge your phone while snapping away with the 1,000 mAh battery in the grip.

#18 – Pro Camera App makes you an instant expert

The Nokia Lumia 1020 comes with the Nokia Pro Camera app, making anyone a photography expert and capable of composing the perfect shot, every time.

#19 – Exposure Value (EV)

Exposure Value (EV) influences the brightness of a photograph, and the ability to change EV settings using the Nokia Lumia 1020 is great when you’re shooting an object in the shade. It’s also ideal for creating artistic-looking photos.

#20 – ISO

The Nokia Lumia 1020 offers manual controls traditionally associated with high-end cameras. The ability to adjust ISO is one option, letting you amplify light from the sensor. A higher ISO makes a huge difference in low-light conditions, or shooting fast-moving objects.

#21 – Focal length

It’s easy to get pin-sharp photos with the Nokia Lumia 1020, thanks to the ability to set a focal length manually between 15cm to infinity.

#22 – Nokia Smart Camera app

Not only does the Nokia Lumia 1020 come loaded with Nokia Pro Camera, you also receive the Nokia Smart Camera app. With it, you capture 10 rapid-fire photos, which can be used to create unique, mind-blowing masterpieces with different effects.

#23 – Best Shot

One of the unique features of the Nokia Smart Camera app is the ability to pick the best photo out of 10. Rather than taking photo after photo to capture the best snap on the Nokia Lumia 1020, Best Shot delivers a truly great image to you – first time.

#24 – Remove Moving Objects

There will be times when you want to take a photo of something and somebody photobombs your shot. Remove Moving Objects in Nokia Smart Camera is so clever, that it can have that person deleted from the frame, leaving no trace of them. 

#25 – Action Shot

Action Shot is part of the Nokia Smart Camera app and with it you can capture moving objects in a non-static way. Rather than capturing just one photo of your subject, Action Shot overlays several images into one frame to give you a trail of movement.

#26 – Bye bye motion blur

With its ultra-fast PureMotion HD+ screen, the Nokia Lumia 1020 eliminates motion blur in quick moving apps such as games and when making screen transition between screens.

#27 – Pocket to post in seconds

The Nokia Lumia 1020 has quick posting abilities via the Share menu, so you can share your latest photo masterpiece to social networks, messaging or email quickly and easily.

#28 – Easily share files with NFC / Tap+Send

Using the Tap+Send feature on your Nokia Lumia 1020, you can (almost-instantly) share files, such as your favorite photos, with another device running Windows Phone 8, as well as tablets or PCs running on Windows 8.

#29 – Dual capture saves the day

Because the Nokia Lumia 1020 saves every image it captures in 5mp and 38mp file sizes, you can pick the perfect file size for the situation. If you’re posting to a social network, use the 5mp file and if you want to hang the print on the wall, you’re set with the 38mp version!

#30 – All the cloud storage you need

For all those stunning images you’ll capture on your Nokia Lumia 1020, store them in the cloud with either SkyDrive or AT&T Locker!

#31 – Images big enough for large format printing

The Nokia Lumia 1020 can shoot images that are suited for large prints. Shoot away and see which photos you want to put on your wall!

#32 – Windows Phone OS – putting people-first design

Windows Phone offers a truly personalized experience for everyone that uses it, making it the ideal platform for the Nokia Lumia 1020. Keep your favorite photos on your Start screen, and quickly share with your social networks. 

#33 – Robust and growing Windows Phone app ecosystem

There are more than 160,000 apps & games in the Windows Phone store, with great new titles from brand names and up-and-coming indie developers being released every day, including incredible imaging apps that make the most of the Nokia Lumia 1020.

#34 – Exclusive Hipstamatic Oggl PRO App

During the launch for the Nokia Lumia 1020, Hipstamatic showcased Oggl PRO, an exclusive imaging app that offers the most advanced smartphone camera controls to anyone with a flair for the creative.

#35 – Apps to take imaging to new heights  

Given the imaging capabilities of the Nokia Lumia 1020, it’s no surprise that there are amazing apps to bring your photos and videos to the next level. Look for new apps from coming soon from Flipboard, Path, Vine, Vyclone, Yelp, and many more.

#36 – Never be lost again with HERE Maps and HERE Drive+

Summer road trips can get derailed with a bad set of directions. Find your way with our amazing HERE navigation apps that are on every Lumia, including the Nokia Lumia 1020.

#37 – Free yourself with wireless charging

With the wireless charging cover for the Nokia Lumia 1020, you can use our many wireless charging accessories to keep your battery topped up throughout the day.

#38 – Dive in to mobile photography

When it comes to learning how to become a photo master with your Nokia Lumia 1020, we bring you the best tips and tricks, updated constantly!

#39 – Display and Gorilla Glass 3

The Nokia Lumia 1020’s high-resolution AMOLED screen features the latest Corning Gorilla Glass 3 technology. It’s incredibly resilient, proving damage resistance under most conditions, and it’s ideal for showing off your photo without details being lost under scuffs and scratches.

 #40 – Adds color to your life

Are you more traditional or do you like to stand out from the crowd? Nokia Lumia 1020 comes in black, white and yellow for the more adventurous types.

#41 – Priced to impress

When compared to Digital SLR and even point and shoot cameras, the Nokia Lumia 1020 is more handsomely equipped and is a better value. When you #Switch to Lumia, take advantage of our trade up program to get cash for your old smartphone.

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Poll results: Nokia Asha 501, what colour do you prefer?

Last week we asked you what your favourite colour is for the Nokia Asha 501 – whether it’s a shade currently available for the handset, or a particular hue you’d like to see go on sale. The results are now in, so read on to find out what colours Nokia lovers prefer.

The Nokia Asha 501 is available in a host of particularly bright colours: red, cyan, black, yellow, green and white. Although the choice will sound familiar to Nokia Lumia owners, some of the shades are all new – such as the incredibly bright red.

Such vivid colours seemed bound to split opinion, and that’s exactly what they’ve done. So what colour came out on top? The brighter the better in this case, with red taking the top honours and just over 23 per cent of your votes.

It’s a close-run thing though, with 20 per cent of you opting for the more conservative cyan – a colour that’s also proving one of the more popular on the Nokia Lumia range.

Just under 16 per cent have decided that the ever cool black is the way to go, with bright yellow and green tied in fourth place. White is currently trailing the others, but even ten per cent of you love the Asha 501 in white, so it’s still a colour to be proud of.

If there’s a colour you’d prefer to see more on the Nokia Asha 501, we also asked you to vote, ticking the ‘Other’ option on our poll. Although only a smidge over two per cent ticked this option, it’s still plenty of people, so it’s now over to you. What exactly is the other colour you’d love to see on the Nokia Asha 501? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Nokia Connects MVC award

Yesterday we invited Mark Guim, Jenifer Hanen,Clinton Jeff, Jason Goh and Jay Montano to join us at Nokia House in Espoo. They had no idea why we invited them until this morning. Now it’s time to share the news with you!

For years we’ve been blown away by the support, creativity and involvement of the Nokia community. We’ve built amazing friendships, seen jaw-dropping videos and some extraordinary feats of fan dedication.

Liking and sharing all of this isn’t enough though. We want people who are doing amazing things with Nokia to be recognised and appreciated as our Most Valued Connectors (MVCs). We’ll be picking an MVC every month starting from today, and to show our love for them we’ll be taking them on amazing and bespoke experiences… made by Nokia just for you!

That’s where the guys currently in Espoo come in, who will be referred to as our MVC judges from now on, because, that’s right, they will be judging all MVC nominations, not us! So to start things off we have nominated four people for our judges to consider…

1. First up we have Davis Barbars who was a winner of one of our early #NokiaLumiaChallenge competitions, the Nokia paper challenge. As you can see he didn’t waste any time making a scale sized Nokia Lumia. Instead he went all out and turned a door into a giant Nokia Lumia, amazing!

   

2. Next up we have Germain, a French BMX rider who you may have seen us post about before. What’s cool about this is that Germain came to us saying he wanted to make a video with the Nokia Lumia 800… but we had no idea just how much time and effort was going to go into it, not to mention how talented he is!

3. Now we move onto something huge. You may remember back in April we featured Mansel Kersey who was “Scaling new heights” with a Nokia Lumia 820, by attempting to become part of the first team of climbers the UK to earn the prestigious Snow Leopard Award. For more information about the challenge head over to our interview with Mansel from earlier in the year.

4. Finally here’s something a little different but still a story that we love. It all started on our Trial a Nokia page, where Cliff reached out to us because he was thinking about switching to Lumia. We then helped him out with a trial Nokia Lumia, which not only resulted in him switching, but a number of his family too!

And there you have it, the nominations for the first ever MVC award. We will be announcing the winner on Monday so stay tuned for that. Moving on from Monday it will be up to you to supply Nokia Connects and the judges with your nominations for the MVC award. To nominate yourself or somebody else for the MVC award please either:

• Send a tweet to @Nokia_Connects with the url to the piece you are nominating + the #NokiaConnectsMVC hashtag (for images, videos or tweets)
• Send and email to Paul with the title “#NokiaConnectsMVC nomination” (for anything that requires more explanation or back story)