Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

Chillax, Folks: Nokia’s Facebook Tease Is for Its 41-Megapixel Phone, Not Tied to Microsoft Event

Monday is indeed going to be a big day in the tech world. But conspiracy theorists might need to take a breath.

Nokia put some teaser images on its U.S. Facebook page on Friday, with images overlayed with Monday’s date, leading some to immediately conclude that it must be tied to Microsoft’s tablet event, scheduled for the same day in Los Angeles.

Not so, though. A closer look at one teaser image shows that it is of Hawaii, which happens to have the area code 808. That’s also the model number for Nokia’s 41-megapixel PureView camera phone.

Sources say that is indeed the reference that Nokia was making, and that Monday’s news has to do with the U.S. availability of the phone. Nokia had indicated it would look for a way to bring the Symbian-based phone to the U.S.

However, it’s likely to come to the U.S. in the same way that other Symbian phones have — that is to say, in a pricey, unlocked fashion. That said, it won’t be tied to a contract or carrier, so one could choose to use it as a second phone for when they really want high-end photos.

For those who need a refresher, the PureView is a high-end phone based on Nokia’s waning homegrown operating system, rather than Windows Phone. It packs some top-of-the-line features, though. In addition to its super-zoom-capable camera, it has a “rich recording” audio feature that makes it perfect for bootlegging concerts.

Another photo posted to the Nokia U.S. Facebook page shows an audio board, also with Monday’s date. (Update: It’s actually the Roland TR 808 Drum Machine … 808 … I get it now.)

AllThingsD got an up-close look at the PureView and how it came to be during a visit to Finland in February, just ahead of the device’s launch at Mobile World Congress.

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I think the NSA has a job to do and we need the NSA. But as (physicist) Robert Oppenheimer said, “When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you’ve had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”

— Phil Zimmerman, PGP inventor and Silent Circle co-founder, in an interview with Om Malik