New Nokia Phone Ramps Up Resolution to 41 Megapixels

BARCELONA — While Nokia’s expansion of its Windows Lumia phone business with Microsoft dominated its announcements at the industry’s annual convention, the Finnish handset maker had a few other tricks up its sleeve, including a new phone with an astounding 41-megapixel camera.

The new camera phone, called the Nokia 808 PureView, runs on the in-house Symbian operating system that Nokia is phasing out for Windows. Nokia researchers developed the camera and its associated proprietary software by adapting satellite imaging technology, said Mary McDowell, the Nokia executive vice president in charge of its non-smartphone business. (By way of comparison, the camera on the iPhone 4S model has 8 megapixels, and cameras used by professional photographers generally have around 20.)

Nokia plans to transfer the optical technology to its other lines, including Windows.

Mobile World Congress

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The Nokia 808 PureView will sell for 450 euros, or $599, excluding taxes and operator subsidies, starting in May.

The camera wowed the 300 analysts and journalists at Nokia’s news conference at the World Mobile Congress, putting the high-resolution imaging capability of a Google Earth-like optical engine into an innocuous looking cellphone. It also boasts CD-quality recording ability, which was demonstrated at Nokia’s press conference to eardrum-piercing perfection.

Nokia also did not neglect its bread-and-butter basic cellphone business, announcing three new handsets for its Asha line, which targets emerging markets.

The Asha 202 and 203 phones, both touch screen devices with keypads, target the 3.2 billion people in the world who still don’t have a mobile phone and the 1.2 billion who do, but do not have a data plan. The devices are being sold for 60 euros, excluding taxes and operator subsidies. The 202 is a dual SIM-card phone; the 203 can handle one SIM card. Both handsets come with 75 euros of free mobile games from Electronic Arts.

The Asha 302 is a phone that aims at heavy users of social networking services and at business users looking for an affordable data phone . It has a standard QWERTY keypad and is the first Nokia phone to support Microsoft’s Mail for Exchange push email for corporate e-mail users. Using the Microsoft software, the phone can synchronize and update emails, contacts and calendar entries.

The Asha 203 has a suggested retail price of 95 euros.

“The Asha phones are a low-cost entry point to data consumption,’’ Ms. McDowell said. “That is what it’s all about. Historically, feature phones have had great voice capabilities. But increasingly, consumers everywhere are demanding a rich, cost effective data experience.’’