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Windows Phone 8 Roundup: The Future of WP8

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Windows Phone 8 will likely release sometime in early November, but we already know of five phone that will launch with the new mobile OS.

The five Windows Phone 8 phones we know of come from Samsung, Nokia, and HTC.

Information is still sparse. There are no set prices or release dates for any of the Windows Phone 8 handsets, and HTC is the only manufacturer to announce carriers.

With the iPhone 5 and rumored new Nexus devices, Windows Phone 8 has a tough road ahead. Nokia and HTC, however, went to great lengths to make sure their phones look different than the rest of the phones on the market.

Each of the new phones share similar specs, but have a distinct design that stand out from the pack of black, grey, and white phones that run iOS and Android.

Samsung ATIV S

Samsung ATIV S

Samsung ATIV S

The Samsung ATIV S was announced as the first smartphone to use Windows Phone 8. The phone has a grey and silver design that looks just like the Samsung Galaxy S III with a redesigned back. The ATIV S uses a 4.8-inch 720p Super AMOLED display. Samsung announced the phone with a 1.5GHz dual-core processor which likely means a Snapdragon S4 processor.

Samsung’s ATIV S packs an 8MP rear-facing camera, 1.9MP rear-facing camera, 2300 mAh battery, and NFC. It’s a smartphone for Samsung fans who really like the Galaxy S III design, but prefer Windows Phone to Android.

We don’t know pricing or carriers for the ATIV S.

Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia-Lumia-920-hero

Nokia Lumia 920

The second Windows Phone 8 device announced is the Nokia Lumia 920. The Lumia 920 is the successor to the Lumia 900 that improves on its predecessor in almost every way. The Lumia 920 features a 4.5-inch display with fast refresh speeds and a resolution of 1280×768. Nokia says the screen is easily readable in sunlight and responds to almost anything include gloves and fingernails as well as fingers.

The Lumia 920 also features Nokia PureView technology for better low-light images and image stabilization with the 8.7MP rear-facing camera. Nokia ran into a few issues with its advertising for the feature, but the real images taken from the camera are impressive.

The Lumia 920 has a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, 16GB of storage, NFC, and wireless charging.

With exclusive Nokia apps like City Lens, the Lumia 920 is one of the more interesting Windows Phone 8 devices. It will come in a variety of colors including red, yellow, black, white, grey, and possibly cyan.

Unfortunately we don’t have a price or a carrier for the phone yet. AT&T and Verizon seem like likely candidates, however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8_Z7_kJ3_g

Nokia Lumia 820

Lumia 820

Nokia Lumia 820

The Lumia 820 is Nokia’s mid-range Windows Phone that’s arguably the successor to the Lumia 800 and 700. The Nokia Lumia 820 has a 4.3-inch display with a depressingly low resolution of 800×480. It does have the same 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor as the Lumia 920, however, as well as 1GB of RAM.

Nokia equipped the Lumia 820 with 4G LTE, 8GB of internal storage, an 8MP rear-facing camera, and VGA front-facing camera. Like the Lumia 710, the Lumia 820 has a replaceable back, though the 820’s replaceable cover covers all but the front of the phone. The covers will come in a variety of colors and add features like wireless charging.

The Nokia Lumia 820 will likely come to AT&T and T-Mobile sometime this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIYm07ACkjU

Windows Phone 8X by HTC

Windows Phone 8X by HTC

Windows Phone 8X by HTC

The flagship Windows Phone 8 device from HTC is Microsoft’s new “signature”phone, which is why Microsoft let HTC use the name of the OS in the phone’s name. The Windows Phone 8X by HTC uses the same 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor as every other Windows Phone 8 device, and has a 4.3-inch 720p display.

The Windows Phone 8X uses the same ImageChip as HTC’s One series of Android phones. The ImageChip helps the 8MP rear-facing camera take fantastic photos. The camera’s back-side illuminated sensor, f/2.0 aperture, and28mm lens also help with that. The front-facing camera uses the ImageChip as well, and has an ultra-wide-angle lens to get more people in every shot.

The 8X has 16GB of internal storage, and 1GB of RAM

HTC’s 8X will come in November in a variety of colors on T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. It will likely sell for $199.

Windows Phone 8S by HTC

Windows Phone 8S by HTC Blue

Windows Phone 8S by HTC

The step-down from the 8X is the Windows Phone 8S, which has the same camera features in a smaller phone. The mid-range phone has a slower 1GHz processor, and has a 4-inch 800×480 display. The camera is slightly downgraded as well, with a 5MP rear-facing camera.

The 8S has 8GB of internal storage, 512MB of RAM, and a 1700mAh battery. It’s shell features a two-tone design and reminds us a lot of the HTC One S, which likely isn’t a coincidence.

The Windows Phone 8S will ship in November, and will likely come to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Phideaux

    09/26/2012 at 7:38 am

    After years of iPhone use, I’m actually pretty excited about the Nokia Lumia 920. I can’t wait until my local AT&T store gets them in so I can have a hands on with one!

  2. Khunhorm

    09/26/2012 at 8:25 am

    I think Lumia 920 has 32 Gb storage.

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