As we count down towards the arrival of the first Nokia Windows Phone, we're taking a look at what to expect from this all-important smartphone arrival. Today we focus on an area that's a major priority for many Nokia fans: the camera.
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The first ever Nokia Windows Phone is drawing ever nearer, but Nokia has already made it clear that it intends on keeping the details completely under wraps until launch day, letting as little as possible out into the public domain for us to speculate over.
And with no previous examples to go on we really are in the dark as to what to expect from the first product of Nokia and Microsoft's new partnership. But we can certainly draw some general outlines based on other Nokia hardware we've seen launched recently, and today we look at what to expect from the debut Nokia Windows Phone's on-board camera.
As any long-time Nokia fan will know, photography plays a big part in Nokia's DNA, as witnessed in recent times by the likes of the Nokia N86 and of course the 12-megapixel Nokia N8, still regarded as the best mobile cameraphone on the market more than a year after its launch.
Clearly, then, we can expect Nokia's prowess as mobile camera maker, including its close working relationship with lens maker Carl Zeiss, to be one of the most likely areas where the special relationship with Microsoft will lead to clear differentiation between Nokia Windows Phones and handsets from other manufacturers on the platform.
But while our hopes are certainly high based on Nokia's past successes, we can tell curiously little about Nokia's cameraphone plans from the trio of Symbian Belle handsets announced recently. These three new faces certainly have a lot to offer, but Nokia clearly isn't pushing any of them as overly suited to mobile photography in the same way as the likes of the Nokia N8 is.
We do get plenty of positive signs, however, from the direction we saw things taking in the Nokia N9, which shows that clearly Nokia remains one of the foremost innovators when it comes to delivering specialist photographic capabilities in the mobile hardware arena.
The question is largely one of whether we'll see Nokia's best efforts reflected in the camera on board the debut Windows Phone, or whether the Nokia N8's spiritual successor as the leading cameraphone of its generation will come in the months to follow.
It's only a suspicion, but the latter does sound more likely to us. But that doesn't change the fact that we're expecting the first Nokia Windows Phone to nonetheless still come with an impressive camera on board, even if it's not of the calibre of the Nokia N8 – after all, let's not forget that there isn't another smartphone on the planet that does match up to that standard!
On the software front, things are even less certain. Windows Phone Mango's standard camera software certainly looks capable from what we've heard so far, but it remains to be seen how long it takes for Nokia's huge in-house strength in developing specialist camera software for its leading handsets – as witnessed by the huge set of camera updates we've just seen detailed for Nokia users to look forward to – to start reaping dividends for its Windows Phone handsets too.
With mobile photography a subject close to so many long-time Nokia supporters' hearts, what are your expectations for the camera capabilities of the first Nokia Windows Phone? Share your thoughts in the Comments below!