We've been hearing for some time now the rumblings that Finland-based mobile manufacturer Nokia might be going the phablet route sooner than later, with crosshairs aimed dead on Samsung and its forthcoming Galaxy Note 3. Since Nokia is doing all it can to keep up with super-competitor Samsung by rolling out device after device (read: the Lumia 920, 928, 925, 520, 521 ... just in recent months alone), it's no wonder why the company would now want to step it up into the phablet game.
There have, up until now (Thursday, May 23), not been any real signs of the Nokia Lumia phablet aside from fanboy concept renders and rumors. But now there's a new report that says, if anything, the Nokia Lumia phablet won't be out before 2014.
As Android Geeks notes, though we did at first hear the Nokia Lumia phablet would be out some time around Q4 2013, it does look more like we'll be seeing it some time in 2014.
Which, considering the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will probably be coming out some time between July and October of 2013, means that the allegedly 6-inch, Windows 8-powered phablet from Nokia could still be a viable competitor of the next-gen Samsung phablet (if only coming out a few months after the former's release).
What we also have been hearing is that the price for the chimerical Nokia Lumia phablet will likely be somewhere in the $630 to $770 range. (That it will run on Windows 8 is an obvious choice, considering that's the whole Nokia bag ... unless things should change over to Android as other rumors have suggested most recently.)
Digitimes meanwhile reported on Monday, May 20 that Nokia is indeed looking to part suppliers in order to create handsets with bigger screens.
"Market observers believe the increase in screen size will help the vendors further compete against tablet vendors, with 6-inch and larger units expected to push down sales of 7-inch tablets," Digitimes said.
"The increase in screen size is expected to help panel makers' performance in the future, as the amount of panel volume used in producing handset panels would likely increase."
Since the Nokia Lumia phablet could feasibly come with full HD resolutions, thanks to the GDR3 update for Windows phones, the charge of being a possible alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 -- likely coming with a 1080p 5.9-inch Super AMOLED display -- is indeed quite apt.
As the GDR3 update for the Windows phones will also allow for the support of quad-core processors, it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume the Nokia Lumia phablet could come with either a Snapdragon 600 or Snapdragon 800 CPU. This would again see the Nokia Lumia phablet being a real competitor with the Exynos 5 Octa-powered Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
"Even though we can't be sure yet about this aspect, the Nokia Lumia phablet might sport a rear-facing 8.7 megapixel camera with PureView technology, which will bring impressive photo and video recording capabilities to the 6-inch smartphone," Android Geek concludes.
What do you think about a Nokia Lumia phablet? Would the idea entice you away from going for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 first? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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