Nokia announces photography-loaded Lumia 925, brings camera features to other handsets

 

 

Nokia's newest smartphone announcement is the Windows 8-powered Nokia Lumia 925, and once again the company is pushing photography to the forefront of a major new product. Featuring an 8.7-megapixel sensor and Carl Zeiss optics, Nokia is placing a heavy emphasis on the image quality that the smartphone will produce, especially in low-light.

But there's a lot more for smartphone photographers than just the technical specifications. Nokia has also added a new Smart Camera feature set, which offers a number of innovative shooting methods. This looks to be based on technology the company picked up when it purchased Scalado last year, and features tools that enable you to edit together a burst of 5-megapixel images to interesting effect. For instance, Action Shot (shown below) transforms a subject into a sequence of movements in a single image; but you can also remove objects that wander into frame; combine the best smiles from the series into one photograph; or add a false motion blur.

Nokia has also turned to other companies to boost the photography side of the Lumia 925. While there's still no sign of Instagram, long-time rival Hipstamatic is on board with its new social network Oggl. This photo sharing network not only serves as a standalone social media service, but also allows you to share photos to Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram.

While these new features are being debuted with the Lumia 925, other users will soon be able to tap into them too. Oggl has announced that it is coming to other Windows Phone 8 handsets, and Nokia itself has promised that Smart Camera will be available on other Nokia Lumia phones with the upcoming "Amber" update, set to arrive this summer.

 

Nokia's Action Shot creates multiple-exposure shots that follow the action.