Battle of the titans - Nokia plan to show off Windows Phone 8 devices just before Apple’s iPhone 5

In what has to be the biggest non-secret ever, Bloomberg note that 'sources familiar with the matter' have informed them that Nokia plans to exhibit their new Windows Phones 8 devices next month at Nokia World.  And to spice things up, according to our sister site iMore (and confirmed by other media) Apple is planning to reveal the iPhone 5 on September 12th—just one week later making the timing by Nokia seemingly perfect.

If accurate, we can’t think of a more exciting two weeks for the mobile industry, as arguably two of the best phone designers will be revealing their new devices to the world and setting the bar for everyone else.

 

The floor of Nokia World 2011

 

What will Nokia World reveal?

The news of Nokia revealing new devices shouldn’t be too much of a surprise—after all, they call it Nokia World for a reason and last year they had the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 on display (see our wrap up from '11). Though there were hardly secrets by that point due to all the previous leaks, it was the stage where Nokia officially revealed their new hardware. This year's event is taking place from September 5-6th in Finland and yes, Windows Phone Central will be there to cover it.

We expect the same for 2012 with Nokia taking the stage to hopefully show more than one new device featuring Windows Phone 8 (and don’t be surprised if those Asha phones are still shown too).  Expectations for these devices range from an updated Lumia-line to the introduction of a PureView series of Windows Phone, showcasing a 41MP camera on board.

Rumored Windows Phone 8 device with Purview technology

There is also the ‘X’ factor—that which we just don’t know yet nor have rumors about. Windows Phone 8 finally takes the chain off of OEMs—less hardware restrictions and more hardware options.  Everything from huge camera sensors to high-definition 720P displays with NFC are expected to be part of the Windows Phone 8 lineup this year, allowing consumers to finally get some real ‘wow’ value from Windows Phone. Dual core, quad-core? All now possible.

So what tricks does Nokia have up their sleeve? A gaming phone ala the N-Gage focusing on Xbox LIVE? A phone with a physical QWERTY? Sliders? Twisters? It’s too early to say but is it too early to get our hopes up?

 

 

The Apple Factor

The one big difference though between Nokia and Apple is history. Apple tends to announce their devices in huge, media drooling events but they then deliver those same products just weeks later. This year is no different and the iPhone 5 is expected to hit shelves on September 21st.

That’s a massive advantage.  Nokia will have the limelight for a whole week prior to Apple but in the end the latter will get their next-gen devices into customer hands by the end of September (while fans of Nokia will presumably have to wait until October or even November). Will that make a difference? In many ways yes and that ‘to the races!’ mentality is something that Apple certainly excels at although Nokia appears to be improving as well, creating new devices and delivering them faster than they ever have before.

In the end though, it’s the consumers that will win and we’re excited to see what Nokia and Apple have to bring to the table for 2012-2013.