Nokia Lumia 1020 Release Date: 41-Megapixel Camera Windows Phone Coming to AT&T

Jul 11, 2013 12:37 PM EDT

Nokia has just unveiled the Lumia 1020, a 4.5-inch Windows Phone 8 smartphone that features a 41-megapixel camera today.

AT&T is charging $299.99 for the device, with the customary two-year contract. It will be hitting AT&T stores exclusively in the U.S. on July 26.

The latest Lumia boasts a second-generation 41 megapixel-image sensor, Zeiss optics, xenon flash, manual shutter, and other photographic smarts. While the Lumia 1020 can capture 34-megapixel and 38-megapixel image files, the phone will also save a 5-megapixel version of the shot for those who want to share less cumbersome pics on sites like Twitter or Facebook.

The camera can shoot full HD video at 30 fps with impressive numbers for lossless zoom - 4x in 1080p, 6x in 720p. On the software side of things, Nokia Pro Camera brings some new editing tools to adjust pictures after the fact.

At a New York press event today, Nokia chief Stephen Elop talked up the company's history of innovation when it comes to photos. "This passion for pictures is something that Nokia recognized very, very early on. We filed our first imaging patent in 1994; the first of 450 imaging patents we hold today," he said.

"The Nokia 1020 will change how you shoot, how you create, and how you share pictures forever," Elop said.

As for the rest, this one is exactly like the Lumia 920 or the Lumia 925. A 4.5-inch AMOLED 720p display protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and that’s glove-friendly. It also has the same processor as those Lumia smartphones - a dual-core Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5Ghz. AT&T customers get 50GB of cloud storage, but internally the Lumia 1020 has 32GB of storage.

Pre-orders for the three color variants of the 1020 – black, white and yellow –start on July 16.