Nokia’s next, next thing, the as yet not really announced Lumia 928 (it only feels like it’s been announced as photos and rumors have been appearing since the beginning of the year), which may end up not even being called the 928, has suddenly made several very interesting appearances. It is most definitely on Nokia’s own Lumia website.

And Verizon looks to be in on the fun as well, having posted an ad in Vanity Fair that specifically calls out the new Lumia as the “928” – something the Nokia photo doesn’t do. The ad also sports the Verizon Wireless logo. We do expect that when the 928 launches it will be exclusive to Verizon.

But there is a bit more – someone from Engadget got hold of a photo of a billboard that seems to make the entire thing even more real – or perhaps the right word is surreal. Here is the photo of the billboard:

To us it looks like something completely out of the twilight zone. Why is this billboard for Nokia’s supposedly flagship – and, we must assume, also most expensive - product sitting on a billboard out in the boondocks of the twilight zone, where a cheap rugged feature phone or perhaps an old T-Mobile push to talk flip phone would be far more appropriate? Who knows.

In any case, based on the Nokia photo shown below, to us it looks like the company has not taken a giant leap into giant 5 inch phones (if true - kudos, Nokia, kudos!) but has opted to keep the 920’s 4.5 inch display in hand. Further, it looks like the phone will sport a Carl Zeiss lens for the camera. And can there be any doubt that the camera will sport PureView technology? Not to our way of thinking. We do anticipate that the camera will be bumped up to 13 megapixels – or even a bit more – why stop where Samsung’s Galaxy S4 stops? 

And can there be any doubt that Nokia is going to play up both its already best in class low light capabilities as well as its best in class image stabilization capabilities? Of course not.

The thing we would find of most interest is if Nokia were able to deliver on any of the Pelican Imaging technology its Nokia Growth Partners investment arm recently invested in. That would add a very cool new infinite focusing camera capability.

Nokia has invited the media to a special London event on May 14, 2013. The odds are quite good that we will see the new Lumia 928 unveiled then. Will it have a new aluminum case or will Nokia stick with multi-color polycarbonate cases? We’ll hope for the former and anticipate that Nokia will be able to make it lighter in the process. The one consistent Lumia 920 criticism is its weight, and unless Nokia goes to aluminum we’re not sure how it can make the 928 tangibly lighter. It is necessary for Nokia to do so.

At any rate, it’s good to see that Nokia is finally able to begin generating some sense of excitement. We should note here that Windows Phone 8 is not going to play a high profile marketing role with the Lumia 928. This time around it really will be all about Nokia.