‘6-inch Nokia phone with 20MP camera in the works‘

Nokia recently announced its biggest-ever smartphone, Lumia 625. The all-new smartphone features a 4.7-inch screen, biggest in the company's portfolio. The screen size, however, pales in front of the behemoths offered by many of its rivals like Samsung, Sony and Huawei. Now, the buzz is that the Finnish manufacturer too is joining the big-screen war.

Tech news website The Verge, citing sources at Nokia, has reported that the company is working on a phablet with a 6-inch screen. It is expected that the upcoming handset has been codenamed Bandit and will have a full HD screen, 20MP camera and a quad-core Snapdragon processor. The report says "Bandit will be the first of many planned 1080p Windows Phone devices."

An image of a Nokia phone with 6-inch screen has leaked too, with a Weibo user claiming that the device is already under mass production in China. A report by UK's Mobile Today says Nokia will unveil its 6-inch phablet in the fourth quarter of this year, priced between $620 and $780.

Windows Phone 8 operating system currently does not support full HD screens, which will come with the GDR3 update that is scheduled to be released this fall. This update will also bring support for quad-core processor on phones running on Microsoft's mobile OS.

With such features, the new flagship would be competing with some of the big screen devices in the market today, such as Sony Xperia Z Ultra, Samsung Galaxy Note III and Huawei Ascend Mate.

Details of Nokia's upcoming 5.2-inch screen phone and 10.1-inch tablet (codenamed Vanquish) too appeared online recently.

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Pre-orders start for Sony’s 6.4-inch phablet

Sony upped the ante for high-end phablets in June by unveiling its Xperia Z Ultra. This phablet has a 6.4-inch screen, the biggest among top-of-the-line handsets, and ranks amongst the thinnest smartphones in the world. Within a month of its global showcasing, rumours have begun that the handset will soon launch in India, and now, even pre-orders have started.

Speculation is rife that the new Xperia Z Ultra will hit India on July 31, though nothing has been confirmed by the Japanese manufacturer. However, the device has been listed on Sony Mobile's India website. Online retailer Saholic has even started taking pre-orders for the phablet at Rs 44,990, with delivery promised within seven days. The website's page for Xperia Z Ultra shows an official price tag of Rs 46,990, though if rumours are to be believed then the device may be priced under Rs 40,000.

Xperia Z Ultra phablet has a full HD display (1920x1080p resolution) with 344ppi pixel density. The quad-core CPU of the handset is clocked at 2.2GHz and is supported by 2GB RAM. This device has the same design language as Xperia Z smartphone and features on-screen keys as well as scratch-resistant and shatterproof glass. Just like the current flagship phone, Xperia Z Ultra is waterproof and dust resistant, even though it can withstand staying in the water for longer duration of time.

The phablet runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with a customized UI to make better use of the extra screen size. Powered by a 3,000mAh battery, Xperia Z Ultra packs 16GB internal storage and supports microSD card expansion up to 64GB. Connectivity suite of Sony's latest gadget consists of 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and microUSB 2.0. On the back is an 8MPcamera with LED flash, while a 2MP unit is placed in the front.

At 212gram, Xperia Z Ultra is one of the heftiest phablets in the market, but with thickness of just 6.5mm, it finds itself a spot among the slimmest handsets today. Apart from multitouch, users can input data via stylus in this new phablet and pencils.