Stefan Mileschin

There was no shortage of stunned faces in the audience when Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announced the 808 PureView at Mobile World Congress 17 months ago. Who would have thought a Symbian-powered device would be a show-stealer -- in 2012? After all, Elop had all but declared the platform dead one year before, and the idea of a smartphone with a 41-megapixel camera was an industry first. Questions lingered immediately after: how is that actually going to work on a phone? Why Symbian? And when would it show up on Windows Phone, Nokia's OS of choice?

As it turns out, the 808 PureView was the culmination of five years' worth of imaging experts putting their heads together, and Nokia wanted to get the proof of concept out the door while getting the innovative tech ready for Windows Phone. A few months after the 808's release, we started seeing the first fruits of this effort in the Lumia 920, but there was work yet to be done. Finally, the time has come for the company to launch the 808's WP8 counterpart, the Lumia 1020, and it's launching on AT&T this Friday for $300 as a US exclusive. We were able to peel ourselves away from taking pictures long enough to jot down a few thoughts, so shoot below the break to take a closer look.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/24/n... ign=Engadget