Nokia Gives Bandit Phablet a Name: Lumia 1520

It looks like the current camera smartphone flagship in the form of Nokia’s Lumia 1020 will soon be supplanted. The rumored 6-inch phablet, which carries a code name of Bandit, is now said to be released as the Lumia 1520. Given that the model number is higher than the 1020, per Nokia’s naming conventions this means that the device will have richer features than the model with the smaller number.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 isn’t expected until the next major update to the Windows Phone platform. That update is rumored to be called Windows Phone 8.1 upon release and is known as the Windows Phone GDR3, or general distribution release 3. The Lumia 1520 and Windows Phone 8.1 could arrive as early as the end of September according to earlier leaks.

The update will enable features such as quad-core processing support as well as a 1080p full HD display resolution. This would be up from the dual-core support and 720p HD displays of today’s high-end models. Not only will the quad-core and 1080p display support be beneficial for Windows Phone 8 to remain competitive with rival Android on paper in the specs department, but these features will also enable device-makers to capitalize on the phablet craze that Windows Phone has largely dismissed to date.

A 1080p display will allow displays to go bigger–in excess of 5 or 6 inches–and still retain a good amount of pixel-density to allow for crisp text and graphics. And given Nokia’s camera-centric focus on its phones, this will also be important to the Lumia range to help showcase the photos and videos that the Zeiss-powered lenses capture.

In addition to a 6-inch display, the Lumia 1520 has been rumored in the past to support a Lytro-like camera with a 20-megapixel sensor. The camera will be able to take a series of pictures with numerous focus points so users can choose, after the picture has been captured, what they want to be in focus. This is different from today’s camera technology that forces users to choose a point of focus prior to the shutter button being pressed. This will mark Nokia’s next generation of PureView imaging technology.

The Lytro-like photos will allow users more flexibility to tell their stories based on what is put in focus and what is out of focus at a later date, rather than having to tell their story when the photo is captured. Given the camera’s reliance on the processor and graphics to process the image, a stronger processor with integrated GPU is needed for this task.

The model number was leaked on Twitter by @evleaks. In the past, @evleaks has been a reliable source of leaks and rumors.

The Lumia phablet has been rumored to already be in production in the past.