MWC: Nokia announces Lumia 720, Lumia 520, Nokia 105 and 301 !

Nokia has announced four new feature phones at MWC, the Nokia Lumia 720, Nokia Lumia 520,  Nokia 105 and the Nokia 301.

Nokia Lumia 720

Notice Vogue in that live tile up there? That’s because Nokia’s toning down its focus on imaging innovation at this year’s MWC (remember the PureView 808?) for a hyper-targeted take on the mid-range: the Lumia 720. Made for über-social types prone to late night party shots, selfies and multimedia uploads, this 4.3-inch device builds on the polycarbonate unibody of its 920 elder, albeit in a much slimmer and smoother form factor. Measuring just 9mm in thickness and weighing 128 grams (4.5 ounces), the 720 also bears the distinction of being Nokia’s most svelteWindows Phone 8 device to date. It also packs a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon CPU (the same as the Lumia 520), 512MB RAM, 800 x 480 ClearBlack display, 2,000mAh battery, NFC and an option for wireless charging (enabled by a separate snap-on cover) into the trendiest design the company could create.

To push that trendsetting message forward, Nokia’s imbued the 720 with a dual camera setup that’s ideal for the party circuit (e.g., lowlight shots and self-portraits). Up front, there’s a 1.3-megapixel camera with wide-angle lens and a 6.7-megapixel rear shooter with f/1.9 lens on back, specifically crafted by Carl Zeiss labs to take in more light. And as a further lure for the vainglorious types that may pick it up, the 720 will also ship with a new digital lens pre-loaded: Glam Me.

As the name implies, this proprietary filter allows users to edit their images (whiten teeth, oversaturate colors, widen eyes, etc.) before sharing on social networking sites. In addition to that proprietary camera software perk, Nokia’s also tacked-on its full suite of Here apps (Drive, Transit and Maps), as well as Nokia Music — all exclusives to the Lumia line.

Nokia fans keen on a US release will have to sit and wait this one out (or opt for the Lumia 520 on T-Mobile). At present, the Lumia 720’s only set to launch in Asia (specifically China) and parts of Europe in five colors (cyan, black, yellow, red and glossy white) for €249 (about $330 USD) this Q2 2013. Head on past the break for the official PR.

Nokia Lumia 520

The Nokia Lumia 520 is Nokia’s most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone, delivering experiences normally only found in high-end smartphones, such as the same digital camera lenses found on the flagshipNokia Lumia 920, Nokia Music for free music out of the box and even offline, and the HERE location suite. A four-inch super sensitive touchscreen makes for a more responsive and immersive content experience than can usually be found at this price.

The Nokia Lumia 520 comes in five colors, with an estimated starting price of EUR 139, before taxes and subsidies. Roll-out is planned to begin in Q1 2013 in Hong Kong and Vietnam, before expanding broadly in Q2 to markets in Europe, Asia – including China and India – Latin America and Africa. The Nokia Lumia 520 is also planned to roll out in the United States with T-Mobile.

Nokia 105

The Nokia 105 is the company’s most affordable phone till date and is priced at just €15. The phone comes with basic features such as a color display, FM radio, multiple alarm clocks, talking clock, flashlight and dust and splash resistance.

The Nokia 105 will be sold in black and cyan in China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Russia, Vietnam and other markets in Africa, Middle East, Asia-Pacific and Europe this quarter.

Nokia 301

The Nokia 301 is slightly more upmarket device. It has a 2.4-inch display, dual-SIM support, 3.2 megapixel camera with some camera features inspired by the Lenses feature on the Lumia phones, Nokia Xpress Browser and 3.5G connectivity.

The Nokia 301 will be available in cyan, black, magenta, yellow and white for €65. The phone will be sold in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Middle East and Latin America in Q2 this year.

HTC Latest Announcements At MWC 2012 !

HTC officially announced their MWC line-up of Android smartphones. Unsurprisingly, the devices unveiled are the flagship One X and One XL, the mid-range One S, and the starter One V. Let’s start with the most interesting one.

HTC One X

You should already be quite familiar with the One X with its many leaks prior to MWC, but now let’s run over the official specifications of the Taiwanese flagship.

The One X is the most powerful Android smartphone HTC have built to date and it’s built around a 4.7-inch Super LCD 2 display sporting a 720p (1280×720 pixels) resolution. A 1.5GHz quad-core Tegra 3 chip for the global edition of the phone and a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core for the LTE variant coupled with 1GB of RAM will be making sure Android 4.0 Ice Scream Sandwich is running at its best with no apps making it think twice.

At the back, the One X sports an 8MP snapper, which packs a special Dual Shutter camera module, which allows you to take photos while shooting 1080p video at the same time. We are quite impressed. And the main camera itself rocks a 22mm wide angle lens, f/2.0 aperture and a BSI sensor. Face and smile detection are on board as well as burst shooting mode up to 5fps.

   
HTC One X official photos

Storage on the One X is limited to 32GB with no microSD card on board, but HTC compensates its lack with 25GB of free Dropbox storage for two years. NFC, DLNA, Bluetooth 3, Wi-Fi N, 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB with MHL are on board, too. Oh, and it’s also got Beats Audio enhancement, so music through that 3.5mm jack should sound extra nice.

The display of the One X is covered in 3D Gorilla Glass, which is another way of saying the screen glass is tapered on the edges as on the Nokia N9 and Lumia 800. The whole body of the phone is one piece of polycarbonate plastic, just like the N9. It’s quite slim, too, measuring only 9,29mm. Impressive for a 720p screen, Tegra 3-packing (or Snapdragon S4-packing) Droid.

HTC One XL

The HTC One XL is a variation of the One X but packs LTE, hence the L at the end of the phone’s name. As we mentioned above, the One XL will be packing the Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz.

HTC One S

The One S is the slimmer brother of the One X and as it happens is the thinnest phone HTC has ever produced.

Slimmer, but also less powerful, it’s powered by a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor on the MSM8260A platform thus making it more of a mid-range model, rather than a truly fledged flagship.

Still, the One S is packing a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display and an 8MP shooter at the back with an f/2.0 lens and a LED flash. The audio of the One S is enhanced by Beats Audio as well.

   
HTC One S official photos

The One S is built around HTC’s usual aluminum unibody design and is just 7.6mm thick. HTC has gone the extra mile by giving the One S a crystaline ceramic metal finish, which is achieved by baking the aluminum in plasma. This whole process transforms the aluminum into ceramic making it 4 times harder and scratch resistant.

HTC One V

And lastly, the HTC One V is the entry level addition to the HTC line-up at MWC.

As such, it’s packs a 1GHz single-core  Snapdragon S2 processor, 512MB of RAM and a 3.7-inch WVGA LCD display. The One V runs Ice Cream Sandwich, but unlike it’s fellow relatives from the One family, which run Sense 4.0, the One V is coated with the older Sense 3.6.

At the back there’s a 5MP camera with autofocus and f/2.0 lens recording 720p videos. Unfortunately, HTC has omitted the front-facing camera on the One V. Storage is limited to just 4GB sans microSD card slot, but a deal with HTC and Dropbox comes to the rescue. It gives users 25GB of free Dropbox online storage for 2 years.

A 1500mAh battery will give the phone its power juices while a quadband GSM and WCDMA radios will take care of the telephony. The One V also packs GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The whole HTC One family of phones will be globally available come April this year.