41-megapixel PureView Nokia EOS coming in 2013

Nokia will launch a Windows Phone-powered handset with a 41-megapixel PureView camera this summer, according to sources close to the company. 

It will not be part of Nokia’s existing Lumia range, however, and will instead be known as the Nokia EOS – a new family name for Nokia's flagship Windows Phone devices perhaps?

The Nokia EOS will launch in the US, according to The Guardian, but there is no mention of the UK in the report, meaning the EOS could be a US-exclusive. 

Nokia demoed its PureView technology at MWC 2012 inside the Symbian-powered 808 PureView. The 41-megapixel lens and Nokia's PureView technology, detailed extensively here, can produce images with fives times the picture resolution of other high-end smartphones. 

Up to now Nokia’s bleeding-edge imaging technology has been held captive inside the expensive 808 PureView.

Being more a proof of concept than commercial proposition, the 808 was always destined to be a precursor of things to come -- a container of what users could one day expect to see aboard future Windows Phone devices, once Nokia had fully got to grips with the technology. 

Nokia declined to comment on the report, but recent comments from senior execs at CES 2013 have thrown some light on what the company has in planned for its PureView technology.

Speaking to Nokia’s in-house blog, Conversations by Nokia, Juha Alakarhu, Nokia’s head of imaging, said: 'we're really driving for innovation in key areas to deepen and enrich the imaging experience.’

He added: ‘I think it’s important to underscore that PureView doesn’t mean any specific technology. It’s the latest and greatest in imaging. When you buy a Nokia phone with PureView, you are getting our highest quality imaging innovation. Nokia 808 PureView solved the problem of zooming and sharpness, and for Nokia Lumia 920, it was low light.’

We've already seen aspects of this technology inside the 808 PureView and the Nokia Lumia 920 but what’s exciting about the prospect of the EOS is that it sounds like a combination of the two – a pure Pureview smartphone, if you will. 

Lets hope it does get a UK launch once it's released.