Nokia 928 Rumors: Release Date Coming Exclusive To Verizon With Xenon Flash, Wireless Charging, And More High-End Specs

The Nokia 928 first appeared on a billboard, of all places, and then popped up in a recent issue of Vanity Fair, and now, Nokia’s worst-kept secret was officially revealed on the company's website on Tuesday morning.

Nokia had been tight-lipped about its newest Windows phone until now, trying to maintain some level of mystery for its May 14 release event. But while the image of the 928 on Nokia’s website merely tells viewers to “stay tuned for updates,” an ad in Vanity Fair magazine (via Engadget) leaks Nokia-exclusive PureView imaging tech and claims the 928 will have the best low-light images of any smartphone. Nokia promises “blur-free photos and videos” even in dark settings.

According to the billboard image, the Nokia 928 will be a Verizon Wireless exclusive, and it is rumored to have a Xenon flash, which is essentially a glass tube filled with gas that's typically reserved for high-end digital cameras. Combined with the Carl Zeiss lens, the Nokia 928 is likely to take beautiful shots, placing it shoulder-to-shoulder with Android titans like the Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One and the iPhone 5.

The reason Xenon flashes are found in most standalone digital cameras but few smartphones is due to their bulk. But it's rumored that Nokia has discovered a way to build slimmer Xenon flashes into the Nokia 928, which would offer a potentially brighter, whiter flash than LED. The tradeoff? It uses more power and takes more time to recharge after each flash.

The Verizon-exclusive 928’s specs, while not yet released by Nokia, are likely to go toe to toe with AT&T’s exclusive Nokia 920, as opposed to the lower-end T-Mobile variant. This means that spec watchers should look out for at least a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 (1.5 GHz), 4.5-inch 720p display, 1GB of RAM and of course, claims to have the best low-light camera in a smartphone with that Carl Zeiss lens. The Nokia 920 also has built-in wireless charging and a 1,280 x 768 high-contrast LCD display with in-plane switching (IPS). According to comparisons by Engadget, the Nokia 920 also has the best low-light sensor in a smartphone.

Some websites claim that Nokia may also release an international variant of the Nokia 928, rumored to be called the Nokia 925, on May 14.