First details about Nokia's WP7 handsets leak out: Qualcomm chips, AF cameras

Nokia's decision to adopt Windows Phone7 as its main platform shook the cell phone world two months ago.Newly appointed CEO Stephen Elop promised to change the company fastand now we have the opportunity to get an inside peek at what's goingon in Finland. Russian tech analyst Eldar Murtazin got a hold of thefirst and only Nokia WP7 prototype and unveiled a number of interestingdetails about the future development of the company.

First of all is the fact that the Finnshave to use a Qualcomm chipset which is reportedly Microsoft'srequirement. Good as it sounds, this puts Espoo in a rather delicatesituation as Nokia has been in legal battles with the chip maker fora long time. Despite Stephen Elop's efforts to have the devices readyfor the holiday shopping season around Christmas, the first Nokia WP7phones will most likely hit shelves at the end of January/earlyFebruary of 2012. Here's what's in store for us:

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  Murtazin got a hold of a prototype ofwhat's to be the very first Nokia WP7 handset, dubbed the Nokia W7by the analyst. A Nokia X7 lookalike with a WVGA screen,it uses a QSD8250 chipset, one of the first released by Qualcomm.Nokia will probably switch to a newer one for the final model, butgoing with the QSD8250 which was already widely available allowed itto quickly put together a working device demonstrating WP7 on ahandset. The camera on the prototype is an 8-megapixel one, withflash and... auto-focus. Auto-focus will be also one of thedifferentiating features separating most recent Symbian from higher-end WP7 handsets.
  

• Nokia W8 – Nokia is alreadyhard at work on a successor to its Nokia N8, which the companyconsiders unmatched in terms of camera performance. The quality ofits 12-megapixel sensor might have some rivals in the Android world,but it will be a very strong selling point in the Windows Phoneworld. Design-wise, it's to be rehauled completely. This high-enddevice aims to be the most powerful WP7 phone inexistence when it hits the market. Currently, a powerfulQualcomm dual-core chip with Adreno 320 graphics isin the plans, but since Nokia's relationship with Qualcomm is notwell established, there is some uncertainty about the hardware.

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  Portrait QWERTY candy bar phone– designed to mimic Nokia's successful E series and with the thought that its popularity could be easily transferred to Windows Phone in thesame old familiar form-factor. The Finns are actively developing abusiness-oriented subscription service, which is to be the handset'sunique selling point, but details were scarce. Release date hoversaround March/April 2012, while the price is to be competitive at nearly$500 (350 euro).

• Affordable touchscreen device –similar to Nokia W7, but made using cheaper materials and carrying asignificantly lower price tag. The price cut will also come from thechoice of a basic camera model, probably a full focus one. The phoneshould come out early, probably in the beginning of 2012.

Except for the aforementioned fourphones, Nokia is planning to release 12 WP7 devices later nextyear, but differentiation would be a tough call as currently it'sonly a better camera that the company can offer. The Finns are stilllooking at Android as an option, while Symbian^3 is nearing the endof its life cycle. Just as we supposed, the Finns don't have any newSymbian^3 designs, but we'll rather see remakes of existing models.Symbian will undergo three major updates until it's phased out byWP7: July for Symbian PR2.0, already announced as Symbian Anna, fallfor PR 2.5 and mid-2012 for PR 3.0. A small disclaimer at the end ofMurtazin's post says that the information is unofficial and thingsare surely to change, but we already know that, don't we? We can't domuch but wait now, but in the meantime why don't you share your thoughtson Nokia's upcoming lineup in the comments below?

source: Eldar Murtazin (translated)