Microsoft Shuffles Executives as Nokia Debuts New Windows Phone with 41MP Camera

[MacRumors]

This morning, Microsoft announced a restructuring of the company that will see it split into two divisions dedicated to services and devices. A number of executives have seen role shifts as part of the change, with Julie Larson-Green heading up the hardware division and Terry Myerson taking charge of Windows.

Microsoft aims to enhance collaboration within its walls with the change, focusing the company on "a single strategy" while working together and improving "capability in all disciplines."

We are rallying behind a single strategy as one company -- not a collection of divisional strategies. Although we will deliver multiple devices and services to execute and monetize the strategy, the single core strategy will drive us to set shared goals for everything we do. We will see our product line holistically, not as a set of islands.

A similar strategy was employed by Apple last year, with a significant management restructuring that saw Jony Ive take over leadership of the Human Interface teams and Eddy Cue take over Maps and Siri, two products that Apple had been highly criticized for. With the new management system, Apple has previewed iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks and is said to have a number of products in the works, including the iPhone 5S, a low-cost iPhone, a 5th generation iPad, and an iWatch.

While Microsoft's Xbox 360 console has historically fared well in the market, its Surface Tablets have not been as well received. The company sold just over a million Surface RT tablets in the December quarter, while Apple sold over 22 million tablets. Lately, Microsoft has taken to pitting Windows 8 tablets against Apple's iPad in a series of advertisements.

Microsoft has seen more success with its Windows Phone, which now represents 3.2 percent of the smartphone OS market, coming in third after Android and iOS. There are a number of impressive Windows phones on the market as companies continue to embrace the platform.

Nokia today unveiled its newest flagship Windows phone, the Lumia 1020, which sports an impressive 41-megapixel camera, much like the PureView 808 first revealed last year. With the Lumia, Nokia aims to compete with other popular camera smartphones like Samsung's Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5, both of which have come to largely replace traditional point-and-shoot cameras.

The Lumia 1020 comes equipped with optical image stabilization, a six component Zeiss lens and a xenon flash. Nokia plans to release an app that will allow users to manually adjust several aspects of the camera. With oversampling, 41-megapixels allows the Lumia 1020 to take crisp, noiseless photos.

Apple is said to be including several new camera enhancements in its own next generation iPhone, like a 12-megapixel sensor, improved flash capabilities with a dual LED flash, improved low light shooting, and a possible slow motion video mode.

Microsoft hopes that its new focus on unity may help both its Surface tablets and Windows phones like the Lumia 1020 draw some market share away from Apple and Android as the company works to build a single integrated experience much like Apple has done.

Article Link: Microsoft Shuffles Executives as Nokia Debuts New Windows Phone with 41MP Camera

 

[khovland92]

Windows OS is still uglyyyyyyy

 

[Sixtafoua]

Windows OS is still gorgeous what are you talking about

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

Cameras such as these will be the death if point-and-shoot cameras.

 

[putongnihongo]

Windows Phone 8 UI is refreshing. It tried to be something entirely new and should be commended. I really wish Apple could speed up the miniaturization of camera parts so we could enjoy super high quality photos without sacrificing the industrial beauty of the iPhone.

 

[iThinkIt]

that's awesome.. till your programs crash.....

 

[Grimace]

With a sensor that small, 41MP will produce extremely noisy photos. They have the logic wrong on this, unless we're talking about daylight shots.

 

[longofest]

Looks like you don't actually take 41MP pictures, but 5MP pictures. It uses the extra pixels to allow you digitally zoom without any loss.

From CNET:

41-megapixels amounts to a lot of captured information, more than most people can and will really use, but -- as with the Symbian-birthed Nokia 808 PureView before -- the Lumia 1020's higher megapixel count translates into a 5-megapixel image with lossless zooming for higher quality cropped photos.

In the Lumia 1020, Nokia is also extending this "oversampling" method to video as well, which could mean some really high-fidelity HD captures when you zoom in. It isn't just about images with Nokia. Audio technology that Nokia calls "rich recording" promises to capture clear, distortion-free sound even in loud surroundings.

 

[Sebct]

I have no idea why you would want 41MP crammed onto a tiny sensor like that. Why don't they concentrate on making a decent camera rather than make something that 'sounds' good.

 

[840quadra]

Looks like you don't actually take 41MP pictures, but 5MP pictures. It uses the extra pixels to allow you digitally zoom without any loss.

From CNET:

Beat me to the punch. I was going to point that out .

 

[unplugme71]

Cameras such as these will be the death if point-and-shoot cameras.

and dSLRs.

Heck, at 41MP, people will need TB's of storage on their phones if shooting RAW

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

I think WP8 is interesting. I know a lot of people that think it looks hideous, but I think it's not too bad. I definitely applaud them for such a huge change. I mean this is agruably the most "revolutionary" software design since the original Macintosh. Of course I'm not saying it's the best, but all OS's (iOS included) have kind of been based off that look and feel.

Now as for this article.... I think it's a bit of a stretch to include this on MR... I'm usually all for MacRumors when they show competing products, but this is just another phone... I mean competing phones come out every month, and MR doesn't post about them. I don't really care. Just an observation.

 

[jmille44]

41mp lol

This is funny, a camera phone with 41mb of poor quality.

Until they put a Micro 4/3 mount on the phone for quality lens, they can throw 2000MB into the camera and you will still have poor pictures.

 

[bluespark]

On what basis does MacRumors contend that Nokia's 41MP camera is "impressive"? Megapixels may provide a marketing advantage, but too many pixels relative to the size of the sensor will diminish photo quality in some of the most common situations.

 

[tonytiger13]

Windows OS is still uglyyyyyyy

Said no one ever.

 

[Mac21ND]

If Ballmer is still in charge, nothing has changed.

 

[donutbagel]

The 41MP camera seems shaky to me, but I still want to try this out. A lot of people here are saying the camera won't be good, but I think there's a bias in play. It sounds more like a smart point-and-shoot than a smartphone. Too bad it has Windows on it

 

[eyebye]

With a sensor that small, 41MP will produce extremely noisy photos. They have the logic wrong on this, unless we're talking about daylight shots.

Pixel size has no effect on the noise in the image when compared at equivalent viewing sizes (vs per-pixel noise, which has no bearing at the image level anyway). In fact more pixels typically means less noise due to some sensor read out efficiencies.

 

[CptnJustc]

Looks like you don't actually take 41MP pictures, but 5MP pictures. It uses the extra pixels to allow you digitally zoom without any loss.

From CNET:

Well, where "without any loss" means trading pixilation for noise. And I'll wager that the noise in ordinary, un-zoomed photos will be far higher than in a more run-of-the-mill pixel-count camera phone.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Correction: AT&T debuted the new phone, not Nokia.

 

[donutbagel]

Pixel size has no effect on the noise in the image when compared at equivalent viewing sizes (vs per-pixel noise, which has no bearing at the image level anyway). In fact more pixels typically means less noise due to some sensor read out efficiencies.

I think he means that when you're zooming into the 41MP shots and viewing them at the same pixel density as something lower, you'll see noise. That is, you don't really get all 41MP. I think this may be true, but I'd have to see it.

 

[Swift]

This is bigger than they say

Remember the Federal judge who said the (then) Microsoft monopoly should break up into four units? System software, software, Hardware and... I forget? Anyway, they turned down the opportunity to do that, and with lots of pals in Washington protecting the sacred rights of Corporations, they've bounced around under the genius Ballmer and come to much the same conclusion-- like 16 years later-- except, of course, all of their Devices will run the full desktop Windows, or try to. And they're running short of developers, developers, developers,

 

[AppleMark]

that's awesome.. till your programs crash.....

Oh Yes, because my Mac's never crash.....

 

[donutbagel]

Looks like you don't actually take 41MP pictures, but 5MP pictures. It uses the extra pixels to allow you digitally zoom without any loss.

From CNET:

That doesn't really make sense to me. Can't you just take the picture and stitch together all of the digitally zoomed parts to get a 41MP image? What's the point of capturing 41MP then limiting it with software so that it downscales whatever you output?

 

[DanTheAppleMan]

41 megapixels in a sensor that small!? I'm expecting noise and poor low light performance. If they can pull it off without that then Nikon, Canon and all the rest may as well be out of business.
Better hope they give you tonnes of internal memory too - I'm not buying big expensive SD cards as well as a phone.