Top 10 updates Nokia should add to Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices
We give the Finnish firm four days to meet our demands for key features
September will be a busy month for the smartphone world. As everyone knows, it seems highly likely Apple will unveil its much-hyped iPhone 5, or the new iPhone, or something with an equally snappy name. Nokia and Microsoft too have a few tricks up their sleeves.
The two firms will unveil the next Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices on 5 September to try and grab the headlines before the Apple hype-machine moves into overdrive, a move Samsung has already undertaken.
What's more the platform, which includes several notable upgrades, could see Nokia finally competing with Android and iOS on an even-playing field, particularly as many consumers may finally be starting to tire of their aging devices and outmoded software.
However, it is imperative Nokia keeps up its end of the bargain and delivers the right hardware specs to really help the Windows Phone 8 update shine, so here we've listed the 10 improvements we hope to see Nokia bring to its next Lumia devices.
10. Keep the design fun, fresh and litigation free
One thing Nokia has on its sides is that its Lumia phones don't really look like any others on the market - even Apple agrees. That's good as it saves Nokia the worry of being sued for having their rectangles look too much like Apple's rectangles.
So, Apple, the coolest company on the planet, admires Nokia's phones, and so do we at V3. But Nokia can't rest on its laurels. It needs the new Lumia line to go even further, with striking curves, bold edges, and other dynamic terms for the design of a rectangular smartphone.
The Windows Phone operating system often catches the eye of the uninitiated, who often question what this strange, moving, dynamic, fun-looking live-tiles, is. And if Nokia can pull out an eye-catching hardware design to complement the OS, the devices really could turn some heads.
Top 10 updates Nokia should add to Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices
We give the Finnish firm four days to meet our demands for key features
9. Near-field communication technology as standard
Near-field communication (NFC) technology has been with us for a few years now, with systems such as PayWave increasing use all the time. But it still remains something of a novelty, and using it on your phone is still a rarity.
However, there's no question that it's growing; what's needed now is a major push from handset manufacturers to put the technology in their devices, as Samsung is now doing with regularity.
Rumours are that Apple won't be including NFC in the iPhone 5, which would be a surprise and give its rivals a definite head-start as the technology continues to grow. Nokia should seize the advantage and ensure it is at the vanguard of this payments revolution.
8. Boost the app offerings by cajoling developers on board
The Windows Phone platform exists in a weird middle ground of apps. Those that claim it doesn't have any obviously haven't used it as there's plenty to choose from, including top games like Angry Birds and other key tools, like Kindle, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Then again there's plenty of smaller apps, the home-made Tube maps, or live bus maps and the like.
The problem, though, comes in the middle-ground - the apps from firms such as Barclays' excellent Pingit tool (pictured), still yet to reach Windows Phone users.
Or what about Tube Exits, a brilliant tool for saving countless seconds on the London Underground, but nowhere to be found on the Windows systems. Nokia, and Microsoft, need to join forces and entice developers into building these tools.
Hopefully a top-of-the-range, bursting-at-the-seams super-smartphone will play a key part in this development.
8. Boost battery life to drag up feature phone laggards
Not one we expect Nokia to really have made any progress on beyond the rest of the technology world, but anything that offers an edge can be critical in this dog-eat-dog market. Any boosts to battery life will be taken seriously.
For many, the battery life of a smartphone is a major issue, particularly if they're considering the move from feature phones that can last for days. Nokia still has a pretty loyal group of feature phone users, so if the it can guarantee them long-lasting battery life they may find a huge new market.
Samsung has managed to pack a whopping 2100mAh battery into the Galaxy S3 which offers a full day's solid use, so Nokia should be looking to emulate this sort of performance.
Top 10 updates Nokia should add to Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices
We give the Finnish firm four days to meet our demands for key features
6. Future proof the software for later updates
One thing that current Lumia owners may not be too happy about is that their devices, running Windows Phone 7.5 will not be able to update to Windows Phone 8. Instead will get a half-way house to Windows Phone 7.8.
Nokia and Microsoft need to ensure this is a mere blip in the platform's lifecycle so that any future customers are not warned off the platform over concerns the device may not be able to update to future version of the platform.
Of course, phone's software becoming out of date happens all the time, with plenty of Apple device stuck on old version of the software as Apple won't support the upgrades. But for Nokia and Microsoft, they haven't got the market share to get away with this behaviour at present.
5. Keep the ClearBlack screen technology for razor sharp display
The Lumia 800 and 900 both have amazingly crisp and clear screens thanks in no small part to the inclusion of Nokia's ClearBlack technology.
The ClearBlack technology works to ensure handset's displays remains rich and sharp by producing deep blacks designed to help make primary colours pop out more. An added bonus is that the technology makes text and images appear incredibly sharp.
Considering the technology has already appeared on several Nokia devices, we're thinking the Finnish phone maker would be remiss to leave it out of its next flagship device, so we're confident we'll see this again.
Top 10 updates Nokia should add to Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices
We give the Finnish firm four days to meet our demands for key features
4. The Chrome web browser
While we may be asking for a lot here, wanting Microsoft to open Windows Phone's doors to competitor Google, we really do want to see the Chrome browser on Nokia's next Lumia via the Windows Store.
Offering unlimited tab web browsing, increased speeds and a clean intuitive user interface, in our mind the Chrome mobile web browser is the best currently available.
Seeing as it's already snuck its way onto Apple's iOS ecosystem, we'd be really disappointed if we didn't see a version on Windows Phone 8 at some point in the future, so hopefully Google will oblige.
Then again, with Internet Explorer 10 built as standard, perhaps we won't need it after all. We'll have to wait and see.
3. Advanced Outlook integration for
Since being unveiled earlier in August, we've been nothing but impressed with Microsoft's Hotmail replacement and having stormed past 10 million sign ups less than a month after launch, it seems we're not alone.
Offering enhanced SkyDrive integration, the ability to collate multiple email and social media accounts into one feed, we're thinking the service is the natural progression of Windows Phone's People and Me hubs and is tailor made for use on a mobile device.
Hopefully Nokia will be able to make the most of this with its partnership with Microsoft and bring in advanced integration to really make the People aspect of Windows Phone devices shine.
Top 10 updates Nokia should add to Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices
We give the Finnish firm four days to meet our demands for key features
2. Multi-core processors to boost platform's speed
One of the major differentiating factors separating Windows Phone 8 from the previous version is the addition of multi-core support.
This will mean that whereas all Nokia's older Lumia smartphones have run using single-core processors, the next-generation should be suitably souped up to compete with all others on the market
This will be doubly good as the Windows Phone platform is one of the zippiest out there anyway, so could really fly with this update.
While Samsung may have already stolen some of Nokia's thunder at this year's IFA, unveiling its Ativ S Windows Phone 8 handset complete with 1.5GHz dual-core processor, we're hoping to see the same tech in Nokia's next handset.
1. Pureview camera could smash all in its path
Since it was first unveiled the Nokia 808 Pureview's 41MP camera sensor has been a hot topic in the smartphone world and for good reason.
Using special imaging technology and software unavailable on any other smartphone, the technology lets it take photos featuring five times more pixels per image than an 8MP camera.
Now while the current Pureview handset isn't all that great as a smartphone, suffering from a number of niggling bugs and using Nokia Belle, aka Symbian, as its operating system, as we noted in our review, its camera is as good as you'd hope.
For this reason, we'd be utterly gobsmacked if Nokia didn't includes it in the next Windows Phone 8 phone it unveils. Pureview offers a camera that's far ahead of anything else on the market and that could prove a key selling point for the firm against its key rivals. It has to be included.