Nokia planning 2013 launch for all-aluminium Lumia handset?

New flagship Windows Phone powered Lumia mobile from Nokia will be lighter but similarly specced to Lumia 920, sources say.

                    

Nokia is reportedly planning a lighter, slimmer successor to the Lumia 920 phone, to be launched in 2013. According to The Verge, sources have revealed that the new handset, codenamed 'Catwalk,' will sport an aluminium body, and will be launched along with two other handsets under the Lumia name.

Nokia's current flagship device is the Windows Phone powered Lumia 920 that has a polycarbonate body. Using an all-aluminium build will mean that the Catwalk will be lighter than its predecessor, that weighs 185 grams, bringing it closer to the iPhone 5. The Verge further speculates that the Catwalk will possess hardware specifications similar to the Lumia 920 and will replace it as the flagship Windows Phone device from Nokia's stables.

In the past, the Symbian powered Nokia N8 had an all aluminium body, something that was appreciated by both the general Nokia fanbase and by us. Since then, after adopting Windows Phone as their platform of choice, Nokia smartphones have relied on both plastic and polycarbonate bodies.

2013 will emerge as a watershed year for Nokia, with rumours emerging about how the troubled Finnish phone manufacturer may be purchased by Microsoft. The past year saw both good and bad news in Nokia's ledger with share prices falling to an all-time low and their market value being slashed by 90% to 6.8 billion Euros from 300 billion Euros in 2000. However, Nokia also saw good sales for their Lumia handsets and the Lumia 920 especially, won a host of design awards and critical appreciation.