Nokia IFA Press Conference Live Blog: Follow The News As It Happens

Ready for more gadget news? We’re live blogging Nokia’s IFA press conference right here. Get all the news right here.

The press conference kicks off in earnest from 6pm AEST.

4pm

And we’re live!

4:30

It’s rumoured that we’re going to see two new phones from Nokia this time around, including the Lumia 830 and Lumia 730. Both will sit underneath the Lumia 930 in the line-up.

4:45

Hopefully we see a replacement to the amazing Lumia 1020, am I right?

What do you want to see from Nokia today? Let us know in the comments!

5:55

We’re all getting seated now!

If you want to watch along live, you can watch here.

5:58

Lots of pretty lights!

6:00

On-time start from Nokia! Lovely.

We’re starting with a series of fun images about Berlin and the theme of having fun.

6:02

Reminder: Nokia is now known as the Microsoft Devices Group. So if you hear us say Microsoft and Nokia during this event, you’re ok!

6:03

Chris from Microsoft devices is promising “not just high end devices” today. Currently recapping the “affordable” devices launched so far.

6:06

“Perception lags reality” when it comes to apps in the Marketplace according to Chris. 320,000 apps are in the Marketplace so far, and that’s 500 apps per week added to the store.

Sure, those numbers are interesting, but have you ever noticed that most of the apps on the Windows Phone store are troubling fakes or copies? Hm.

6:07

New software update coming called Lumia Denim to make stuff easier to use, like Cortana.

She’s now going to be listening passively like Android’s “OK Google” capacity. Microsoft is calling it “OK Cortana”.

From an idle power state, Cortana was able to be powered up just by saying “OK Cortana”.

6:09

The Lumia Camera is also getting an update in Lumia Denim, and Microsoft is making it much faster to use. Time to first shot will be faster now, with software enhancement behind the hardware camera key press to make it quicker.

There’s a professional football player on stage now showing us how quickly the camera boots up. It looks a little faster, to be sure.

Long-pressing the camera button now starts the phone recording 4K video on Lumia Denim.

6:12

Similar to the HTC Zoe app, Nokia is able to get its Camera app to pull out “Moments” from the 4K video to keep as stills.

6:14

The camera now takes photos faster than the human eye blinks. Each shot takes 42ms to capture. “It’s wicked fast,” says Chris.

6:15

Microsoft also announced that Cortana is getting a public beta in Australia, but we already knew that.

6:16

Lumia Denim is coming to the Lumia 930, Lumia 1520 and Lumia Icon.

6:16

Uh oh. Nokia is throwing shade on Samsung and Apple, mentioned both by name, to expose the premium they’re charging customers.

6:17

It’s called the Lumia 830 and it’s the “first affordable flagship”.

It’s the thinnest Lumia yet, according to Chris.

It’ll ship with Lumia Denim on Windows Phone 8.1.

It’s running a 10-megapixel camera and the thinnest optical image stabilisation chip yet.

We’re about to have a look at some night shots, we seem to be having a few issues displaying them.

“It’s trying,” Chris begs.

Moving on.

6:20

Here’s a comparison between the iPhone 5s and the Lumia 830…

“We were going to show you the Galaxy S5 as well, but it was worse so it wasn’t worth the slideshow space,” Chris says.

Burrrrrrrrrn

6:22

Nokia’s showing off an interesting feature that shows the intelligent camera able to turn flash up and down after the photo was captured. Looks like it’s just turning the highlights and shadows up and down, but it’s nifty nevertheless. It’s called Rich Capture mode.

6:23

Pardon me, it merges a flash and non-flash fire image so you can move between the two. Get ready for enormous photo files!

That feature is coming to Lumia 830 and “other high end devices”.

6:26

Oh look. It’s a Microsoft screen sharing accessory.

It has a really “cool” name too: The Microsoft Screen Sharing For Lumia HD-10. Um.

6:27

It comes with a fun little coaster that detaches from the circular unit and allows you to tap the coaster from anywhere in range to share your whole screen to a TV.

6:30

There’s also a new wireless charging plate which has lights in it and can flash contextually when new events are happening on your phone.

6:31

So how much? 330 Euro according to Nokia. It’s 440 Euro for the GS5, and 515 Euro for the iPhone 5s. So that’s how it’s doing in the market.

It ships later this month.

6:32

New phones: Time for the Lumia 735 and the Lumia 730 Dual-SIM!

These phones have 5-megapixel front-facing cameras and a wider-angled lens so you can fit more in for…sigh…”a better selfie”.

6:35

Oh this is awkward. Nokia is throwing shade on the Ellen photo because it was taken on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

Samsung fixed that yesterday on the Galaxy Note 4. Awks…

6:38

Nokia is now trying to get more people in the photo than the Ellen selfie by involving staff and journalists because it couldn’t get the German national team. So. Awkward.

Thank sweet, merciful Christ that’s over.

6:39

There’s also now a new dedicated Selfie app for the Lumia 730.

The Nokia Lumia 730’s Selfie app also lets you use the rear camera for selfies and uses face tracking and audible beeps to keep yourself in the shot. That’s pretty nifty.

6:44

That Selfie app is coming to other Lumia phones, by the way.

6:45

Better front-facing cameras also mean better Skype calls and you can also start Skype calls straight through Cortana now.

6:46

Oh here’s something. Starting with the Lumia 730 when it goes on sale later this month, everyone who buys a new Lumia smartphone gets a three month free Skype Worldwide Unlimited Subscription.

6:46

The Lumia 730 Dual SIM 3G is 199 Euros, whole the Lumia 735 (4G/LTE) is at around 219 Euros. Both devices will go on sale later this month.

6:48

“Innovation is for everyone, no matter the price point. Apple can’t say that, and Samsung can’t say that,” finishes Chris.

6:49

That’s the end of the show! Thanks for joining us for Nokia’s IFA event!


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