Future Nokia flagship could have five camera lenses

A few phones now have four camera lenses, with two on the back and two on the front, but an upcoming Nokia handset could go one better with five.

That's according to a user posting on Chinese site Baidu, who notes that the phone will have seven camera holes – five for lenses and two for an LED flash.

It's not clear how the lenses will be divided or what they'll be used for, but we'd guess there will be three on the back and two on the front.

Indeed, the upcoming Nokia 9 is already rumored to have two lenses on each side, so it might be gaining one more, or perhaps this rumor is talking about another handset, but whatever phone it is it's sure to be a flagship with that many lenses.

In fact, the same source also mentions that this phone will have a Snapdragon 845 chipset, which is a top-end chip, likely to be used in many of this year's most powerful phones.

So the use of such a chipset in the Nokia 9 or another Nokia flagship wouldn’t be surprising, and while a five-lens camera would be, it's not out of the question, especially as Nokia phones have often been known for their cameras in the past – albeit before HMD Global took over the brand – thanks to things like using Carl Zeiss lenses and in some cases having huge megapixel counts.

We'd take this rumor with a pinch of salt though, as so far this is just the claim of one person with no evidence to back it up. But we might find out if this is true soon, as there's a good chance the next Nokia phones will be announced at MWC 2018 in late February.

The Nokia Lumia 800 Cyan

The Nokia Lumia 800 Cyan Blue edition offers exactly the same features, design and specifications as the black version apart from its new blue coloured external housing which is finished in a light blue hue, now available on Vodafone contract deals consumers can pick up this latest colour scheme for free when taking out an offer with line rental charges of ￡26 or above. This particular tariff includes a useful 250MB of internet access every month which is something that will help keep the Nokia Lumia phones features and applications updated, also included are 100 minutes of calls which can be used at any time to call any mobile network and 500 text messages to use every month.

The new Nokia Lumia 800 offers a high quality 8 mega pixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics that can record video clips in 720p HD format, the main touch screen measures a pocket friendly 3.7 inches and the overall design of the phone is very similar to that of the Nokia N9.Next I found out that Best Buy itself gives you a credit for a used phone, but again the older the phone the less credit you receive and some of mine could have been classified as antiques. I also discovered that many branches of Best Buy also have recycling kiosks where you can recycle these older, obsolete handheld phones and other small electronics.

They are given a recycled phone to use in case of emergency, and were even glad to get the old cases and car chargers that went along with them.Then I discovered a local charity that works with battered women and children that gladly accepts used, working cell phones and chargers to give to women who are at risk.The major and main feature of Nokia C3 mobile is it is integrated with the social networking application including, yahoo, MSN, G talk, Facebook, Twitter etc which actually has become the need of the youth. The user can take the web with you connect to the internet over 2G or Wi-Fi. It makes your work simple and fast, so anytime browse, search, shop and share online with the mobile web browser.The user can also arrange these apps according to their requirements over the home screen. It is preloaded with the Nokia OSS & Opera Mini browser that means you can browse any of the HTML, XHTML, and WML web pages, which directly connects you with the Instant messengers and social networking websites.

PAY ATTENTION TO Nokia users

After all the fuss over Window Phone on Nokia hardware dies down, we're left with the UI that most Nokia users around the world interact with, S40. More affordable, these devices are feature phones in contrast to their smartphone Windows Phone counterparts, though as Stephen Elop accurately mentioned in his keynote earlier today, the line is ever blurring between the two categories of handsets.

Nokia today announced their Asha line-up of S40 devices. These phones do appear to be something more than what we've been considering a "feature phone" until now. The Asha 303 even has a 1GHz processor, faster than many Android handsets on sale now. We're fully aware of the limitations of a Series 40 device, but with the improved hardware, applications and web-browser packed with simple search functionality and a data monitor, S40 feature phones just got a bit smarter.


Nokia Asha 200

Being the most budget of the Asha lineup, we might expect the Nokia Asha to have no real stand-out features, but this isn't the case. In fact, the Nokia Asha 200 features something few other phones have: dual SIM card slots. The S40 interface on board is also tweaked to allow for specific ringtones and profiles associated to each SIM cards. The device also has a full QWERTY keyboard, making the inclusion of WhatsAPP on S40 a really fantastic prospect at such a low pricepoint - watch out RIM.

On the subject of price, this is a budget phone, there's no denying it. Pick it up and it's extremely light to the touch. With a hollow almost toy like quality, we had to switch on the display just to reassure ourselves we weren't using a dummy device. It has a pretty neat plastic backing with dual layered plastic. This just adds a visual flourish to the back cover reminiscent of some Samsung TVs, Laptops and indeed phones (Samsung Omnia 2).

Will Windows Phone be home to the best mobile cameras?

 

Up to this point, Microsoft's Windows Phone has struggled to gain any substantial market share, regardless of high customer satisfaction, great hardware and topnotch software performance. This poor market performance can be attributed to next to no support from wireless providers and the lack of a real differentiating factor. The software is more or less bland – which some find to be a plus, or a relief from "Android's chaos" – and the hardware is easily lost amongst the sea of perpetually released Android phones.
Despite a very rocky start, there is still mountains of potential for Windows Phone. Microsoft's upcoming tablet line will make for a new yet familiar ecosystem. And lest we forget the partnership they now have with Nokia, a mobile force to be reckoned with (especially overseas). Given some more time to curate, Windows Phone could very well be the third ecosystem to join the likes of Android and Apple's iOS, but not without some more work.
The long-awaited Mango update finally hit last month, and brought some rather significant changes. But even our own Sydney, who "fell in love with the minimalist yet elegant design of Windows Phone and the Metro UI," finds the Mango update to be less exciting than she imagined, "despite the major improvements it brings." My Mango review was much of the same, and I feel Windows Phone still lacks the differentiating factor it needs to pull consumers into its camp. I, along with most other Android and iOS users, have too much invested in my current platform of choice to jump ship for virtually no added benefits.
As of late, there has been a strong push for camera technology in the mobile realm – this is where Microsoft can stick their foot in the door. More and more people aim to use their smartphones as their point and shoot versus dedicated digital cameras, for various reasons: portability, device consolidation, cloud storage, data connectivity, social media, etc. Thus manufacturers like HTC have established devices with advanced lens cameras, and Apple's upcoming iPhone 4S touts a mobile camera that gives dedicated point and shoot cameras a run for their money.
According to WMPowerUser and a job posting over at Microsoft's own website, Microsoft is ramping up efforts in the image sensing area, too. The first paragraph of the job listing reads:
"Do you want to help shape the future of mobile technology? The Windows Phone division is Microsoft’s fastest growing business where we are building the next version of Windows Phone. One of the areas that we are investing heavily is the camera experience where we intend to make the 'Window [sic] Phone the best camera you will ever own'."
One benefit that will ultimately play in Microsoft's favor – when it comes to camera tech, at least – is dictation over minimum hardware requirements. Not only will they be able to improve the camera software across the board, they can standardize Windows Phone shooters, too. And who might play the biggest part in that? Why Nokia, of course.
Nokia has been known for their topnotch cell phone hardware for years – more specifically, their attention to detail when it comes to cameras and lenses. The camera on the N8 (with a Carl Zeiss lens) was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition at the time of its release. The N9 and the identical Windows Phone, Sea Ray, both sport Carl Zeiss lenses that also taunt the competition.
If Microsoft can use the phone deal and this camera technology push to their advantage, set substantial camera requirements (like Carl Zeiss, or other real camera lenses) for partner OEMs and market their movement accordingly, this could be a huge move forward for them.
Better cameras alone, however, won't sell phones. Microsoft needs to keep improving their software, spruce up the UI a bit and entice more OEMs and carriers to join and promote their cause. But for customers looking to replace their point and shoot camera with a phone, Windows Phone could be the platform to take to in the not too distant future.

What say you, pups? Is the camera in your phone that important to you? Would you forget platform or OEM loyalty for a much better camera in your phone? Or will you settle for a mediocre camera to stay with your platform and manufacturer of choice?