14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone fans remember all the rumors from a few years ago that hinted to a Lumia 1020 successor that will pack an even more amazing camera and 3D touch technology.
The so-called Nokia McLaren was supposed to be Microsoft's new flagship smartphone, but the Redmond-based company canceled it long ago.
As mentioned earlier, the McLaren should have been Lumia 1020's successor, which means its entire hardware and software was focused on the camera.
One of the best camera phones available on the market, Lumia 1020 packs a 41-megapixel PureView camera with Carl Zeiss optics, OIS (optical image stabilization), Xenon and LED flash, as well as full HD (1080p) video recording.
The McLaren should have been better in terms of camera features and software. Unfortunately, Microsoft has decided to focus more on productivity features and less on niche aspects like camera.
However, that doesn't mean that the new Lumia phones don't come with great cameras or that Microsoft stopped working on enhancing camera features for its smartphones.
A camera-centric phone with high-end specs
Still, camera phones are a niche market and Microsoft needs market share, which it will not be able to get with a niche product. But that's beside the point now since McLaren is already history.
Yet, those who still wonder what the Nokia McLaren could look like will be pleased to know that well-informed insider @evleaks has just published a press render of the canceled smartphone.
It looks very different from the Lumia smartphones announced by Microsoft earlier this month, partly due to its huge PureView camera on the back. Also, the handset might look a bit thicker than Lumia 950/950 XL, possibly due to the same reason.
Apart from that, the McLaren looks pretty much the same as most of Nokia's high-end smartphones powered by Windows Phone, featuring the same unibody design and polycarbonate material.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the new Lumia smartphones will perform in terms of sales when they get released in November/December. There's a high chance they will sell better than a camera-oriented phone like the McLaren.