Now, don't get too excited/disappointed, as this is simply the completed transfer of a brand name, but it is noteworthy that HMD Global, the people behind the resurgent Nokia brand in smartphones (using Android), have now apparently successfully acquired the right to use the 'PureView' brand name (from Microsoft, who bought it with the original Nokia back in the day).

From the NokiaMob page:

The PureView trademark was officially transferred to HMD Global on 23rd August, and it’s now available on HMD’s EUIPO page, where all HMD’s trademarks and designs protected by the European Union’s Intellectual Property Office are displayed. During the last year, I contacted Microsoft two times regarding the PureView brand and after being forwarded to “colleagues” from “other departments” I never received an answer with the status of the PureView brand.

The author also says "HMD acquiring the PureView brand doesn’t mean we will (definitely) see it in the near future on a mobile device."

Which is right, the PureView technology's core was in oversampling intelligently from a high resolution sensor to a lower resolution, purer image, along with the added possibility of lossless zoom in 'smart cropping' into the underlying sensor. However, numerous companies have been playing with oversampling, not least Sony and Huawei, plus we now have 2x and 3x telephoto secondary lenses common in the smartphone world.

So a future true PureView imaging flagship would have to be very special in order to stand out. Off the top of my head, a 1/1.5" stabilised 41MP sensor (as in the Lumia 1020), but with modern sensor sensitivity, a f/1.8" lens (big enough with such a large sensor), default output at 8MP, 'instant' GPU-assisted oversampling and burst mode, 4K capture, Xenon flash (double the brightness of the 1020's) plus LED for torch/video use. I think it could be done. It's just a shame that it would have to happen on a phone running Android and not under the Windows brand (as with the 1020).

Will HMD Global use the brand in such a way? The 'Nokia 9' moniker hasn't appeared yet. And the 1020's codename, back in 2013, was the 'Nokia 909'. Coincidence?(!)