Nokia Imaging SDK – Now Available

Today, Nokia announced one of the most exciting devices I personally have seen in a long time. The new Lumia 1020 delivers not only a completely new imaging experience, but it also represents an amazing opportunity for developers to build unique experiences for Windows Phone users. In conjunction with the announcement of the new Lumia 1020, Nokia also introduced a new Imaging SDK to help developers take full advantage of some of Nokia’s leading imaging technology.

It’s exciting to see how our partners build on the foundation of Windows Phone 8 and deliver new capabilities to our developers to facilitate the creation of unique experiences on ANY Windows Phone. The new SDK is a native Windows Phone 8 library that you can use in any of your new or existing Windows Phone 8 projects.

One of the things I love about the new SDK is its simplicity and the number of filters and imaging processing effects it offers. With this library you can add awesome filters to your app in no time. You don’t need to have any special knowledge of image processing or retouching algorithms. The level of abstraction in the SDK is remarkable.

After you install the imaging SDK in your Visual Studio project, using it is this simple:

1. Use this code to select your image:
   
   C#

   1. IBuffer jpegData;
   2. MemoryStream jpegInMemory = new MemoryStream();
   3. // e.ChosenPhoto is an image from a PhotoChooserTask.
   4. Await e.ChosenPhoto.CopyToAsync(jpegInMemory);
   5. jpegData = jpegInMemory.GetWindowsRuntimeBuffer();
   
   
2. Create an EditingSession object and apply your filter:
   
   C#

   1. EditingSession session = new EditingSession(jpegData);
   2. session.AddFilter(FilterFactory.CreateFogFilter());
   
   
3. Get your final image, with the filter applied:
   
   C#

   1. IBuffer jpegOut = await session.RenderToJpegAsync();

You can download the Nokia Imaging SDK now, and find a number of great examples of how to use it on the Nokia Developer website.

Nokia also announced two competitions that developers can participate in to win prizes for apps created with this SDK. Check out the terms and eligibility requirements on their site:

• Nokia Future Capture Competition
• Nokia Imaging Wiki Competition

We know that imaging is one of the top areas of innovation in the mobile app space today, and with this SDK, Nokia has made it easier for every developer to include rich filtering functionality in their Windows Phone app. Take a look.