Everything from Nokia's MWC announcement!

   Today Nokia took to the MWC stage to show off a few of their new phones as they continue to bulk out their Lumia range of smartphones, as well as their budget offerings which they're continuing to persue!

   So lets hop right into Finland's finest new phones!


Nokia Lumia 720.
Where better to start than with the phone which is the pick of the bunch? That is definitely a title taken by the new Lumia 720, which is a mid-range Windows Phone 8 device which should be quite a compelling option for it's price of €249, if it is perhaps slightly over-priced.

   The phone features a 4.3" WVGA, that's 800 x 480p resolution, display with Nokia's trademark 'ClearBlack' light filter which should help make all of the colours that bit better! When it comes to cameras this phone isn't going to live up to PureView camera on Nokia's more expensive Lumia 920, but you will get a 1.3-megapixel front and a 6.7-megapixel camera set up which isn't too shabby on a mid-range phone.

   On the inside there's a 1GHz dual-core MSM8227 Snapdragon processor, a slightly limiting 512MB RAM, 8GB of internal storage which is microSD expandable, NFC, wireless charging options and a respectable 2,000mAh battery powering the lot.

   The device will have support for HSPA+ networks and HD voice, but no LTE unfortunately. Nokia tells us that all of this can be picked up in your choice of red, white, cyan, black or yellow in March for around €249.


Nokia Lumia 520.
Just like its bigger brother the Lumia 520 is rocking Windows Phone 8, but this time we're looking at the lower-end of the scale with this device.

   Prospective owners can look forward to getting their hands on a 4-inch WVGA, that's 800 x 480p resolution display which Nokia has described as"super sensitive", which basically means you can use it whilst wearing gloves! Other than that there's a 1GHz dual-core processor again, 8GB of internal storage which is microSD expandable, 512MB of RAM and there is a 5-megapixel rear camera.

   How much will all of that cost you? Well not too much really, the phone is pegged to arrive with at a cost of €139. Nokia said that they aim to have the device available in March in places such as Hong Kong and Vietnam. But, the Lumia 520 will also arrive in the United States too, but it'll be using the name the Nokia Lumia 521 and it'll be available on T-Mobile at some unknown point in the future and we don't know how many of your dollars they'll want for it either!


Nokia 301.
From the smartphones of the Lumia range we get a little bit of a snap back to reality with the Nokia 301. This is a candybar feature phone specifically designed for emerging markets.

   On board there's a 2.4-inch screen, 3G connectivity and HD Voice capabilities, along with that SD card slot for your music and photos, which you can shoot with a 3.2MP camera. There aren't any specifics on the battery life, but it is expected to achieve 20 hours of 2G talk time or 6 hours of 3G talk time and you can have either single or dual SIM variants of this device! All of that can be yours in Q2 this year for €65.

Nokia 105.
We've left the cheapest until last on the phone front, but the Nokia 105 shouldn't be too disheartened because for the tiny price of €15 you can secure a phone which has a 1.45-inch display, a FM radio, a flashlight, and a battery that's expected to last for 12.5 hours of talk time or up to 35 days if it's on standby. The Nokia 105 will arrive in Q2 with its 301 brother.





Software.
Nokia didn't just show off new phones today, they also talked about apps, Windows Phone apps to be precise. Apps seem to be 'kinda a big deal' so Nokia was happy to report that Windows Phone now have 130,000 of them, which isn't too shabby at all and that's 10,000 more than Windows Phone had the last time we heard any details!

HERE Maps.
Nokia have always prided themselves on their mapping solution and so they should because it is fantastic, but today they've announced that the software will be coming to non-Nokia Windows Phones in select markets. You can check if you're compatible by clicking the download links here!

Nokia, Nokia Conversations (1), (2), (3), (4) Via PhoneDog.

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EVLeaks post supposed pictures of the Nokia Lumia 520 and 720!

   Sometimes we wish we knew some of the people the guys over @EVLeaks know. The guys have done it again and they've tweeted out pictures of two supposed devices. The shots below look very much like press photos and so we're inclined to believe that these are what the devices will look like.

Lumia 720.

   Naturally they're in the bright rainbow of colours which we've come to expect from Lumia and Windows Phone devices more generally. The Lumia 720 will supposedly be the higher range of the pair and it's meant to feature a 4.3-inch display with Nokia's ClearBlack filter, as well as a 1GHz dual-core processor. The device is also meant to be packing 2 and 6 megapixel front and rear cameras along with 8GB of storage internal storage which will supposedly be microSD expandable.

   The slightly more budget 520 is rumoured to have a 4-inch display, 5-megapixel rear camera, but there's not meant to be a front facing option, other than that we're expecting to see everything else that the Lumia 720 offers inside this device too! 

   If you want to see a few more pictures then head on down past source links and be sure to let us know what you think! Would you be interested in either of these devices?

Via EVLeaks (1), (2), (3) and (4).
Specs via CNet.

Lumia 720.

Lumia 520.

Lumia 520.

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Nokia fans post up super Lumia 920 ad on Vimeo!

   Nokia's Lumia 920 might be the company's flagship at the moment and it's supposedly a relatively popular device and there are seemingly some very dedicated fans, either that or some students just wanted to showcase their media design skills!

   The fan made video, embedded below, offers up the key features of the Lumia 920, in a really professional looking video! If you've got a couple of minutes spare then it's well worth a watch and if the producers are lucky they might even get a thank you from Nokia in one form or another!

   Check the video out and let us know what you think of it in the comments below!

Phong Luong Via Ubergizmo.

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uSwitch latest stats reveal top phones in the UK for January!

   When it comes to mobile sales it's always interesting. You see the headline first weekend sales figures and that is normally a good indication of the popularity of devices, but that tends to focus on the high-end devices or flagship phones. So what's really selling in the UK at the moment? Well we think you'll be surprised to see some of the phones on this list!

   According to uSwitch's Mobile Tracker Samsung's Galaxy S3, the eternal Galaxy Ace and the Galaxy S2 were the three most popular phones in the month! The Galaxy Ace was probably helped by the new lease of life it has found on £7.50 per month contracts! There were four Nokia's in the list too, as well as the iPhone's of the 4S and 5 varieties and there was LG's Nexus 4 in there for good measure!

   The way uSwitch works this out is from their 'deal popularity and sales... [and] Statistics are derived from uSwitch.com, plus our network of mobile phone comparison partners [sic]'. So this should be a relatively broad representation of how popular devices are proving to be!

   The full chart looked like this:

1. Samsung Galaxy S3 Blue 16GB.
2. Samsung Galaxy Ace.
3. Samsung Galaxy S2.
4. Nokia 100.
5. Nokia C2-01.
6. LG Nexus 4.
7. iPhone 5 16GB Black.
8. iPhone 4S 16GB Black.
9. Nokia Lumia 800.
10. Nokia Lumia 610 Blue.

   We're a little surprised there's no Windows Phone 8 devices on the list, but then Nokia's Windows Phone 7 devices are now a lot cheaper than they used to be so that could well explain their omission! uSwitch spokesman Ernest Doku said that there were a set of cheaper phones in there which can be explained because:

"The mobile market is no stranger to a bit of January belt-tightening, with tech fans looking for sensible deals following a seasonal gadget binge... A swathe of bargain smartphones like the C2-01 have leapt back into the chart as a residual effect of gifting and January sales, whilst canny consumers also wait to see high-end devices around the corner."

   Doku thinks that February will be very different with the:

“Launch of a revamped BlackBerry in the full-touch flagship Z10 and Nokia’s Lumia 620 looking to disrupt the affordable end of the spectrum, expect some significant movement in the coming weeks – not to mention major smartphone announcements amidst February’s Mobile World Congress.”

   What do you predict February's chart will end up like? Will the Nexus 4 push on and will Samsung's Galaxy S3 get dethroned as the successor draws ever closer?

uSwitch and MobileNews Via Eurodroid.

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Elop hints at Nokia tablets, justifies Windows Phone focus and says Nokia is all about standing out!

   Nokia may finally have brought themselves some success with their latest range of Lumia handsets and continued sales of their budget devices in developing markets, but we're still missing one thing from the Finns and that's a tablet. Understandably Nokia is focused on their handset business because that is the core of the company and this is something we've seen HTC do lately too, because of their falling handset sales.

   So it's interesting when we hear Nokia's CEO, Stephen Elop, talk about tablets and that's exactly what he did in an interview with Australia's Financial Review. Elop revealed that his company is taking a close look at the tablet space and he said that:

“We haven’t announced tablets at this point, but it is something we are clearly looking at very closely... We are studying very closely the market right now as Microsoft has introduced the Surface tablet, so we are trying to learn from that and understand what the right way to participate would be and at what point in time.”

   Despite watching from the sidelines at the moment he did say that in the coming months and years that Nokia will look to, 'broaden out the portfolio, which means pushing to lower and lower price points, in some cases smaller form factors and so forth,' so a tablet isn't out of the question yet!

   When pressed on the normal Windows vs. Android question Elop said that it makes a lot more sense for both a phone and tablet to have an operating system and experience in common, although like always he didn't rule out the possibility of using something other than Microsoft's creations in the future. Elop makes his point perfectly when he says:

"When you think about the Lumia 920, running on Windows phone, having a Windows tablet or PC or Xbox is something that will give us the opportunity to have a pretty integrated experience. Our first focus on what we look at is clearly in the Microsoft side." 

   So there's no change on that front and we do have to agree that integration is very useful and his argument is fully justifiable here. Indeed, his response to the question of using Android is very robust too. He argued that:

“On the Android side, we were very worried that we would be entering Android late relative to everyone else in the industry, that perhaps one vendor was already well on the road to being the dominant Android vendor at the expense of everyone else... If we look back two years to when we made the decisions,then Samsung was big, HTC was pretty big and Motorola was pretty big. Of course what has happened in the two years is that Samsung has captured the lion’s share of it and the others have been squeezed down to much smaller market share. We were worried about exactly that pattern forming.”

   So with that in mind Elop is keen on Nokia focusing their efforts on differentiating their Windows Phones from everyone else's offerings. He said that Nokia's R&D is now heavily invested in making the company 'stand out' and naturally the PureView camera technology is a big part of that. Nokia think that:

“Photography is one case where we can make a big difference. You can put our device next to everyone else, including some of the ones just announced in the last day or so and say "boom this is so much better."”

This focus ties in very nicely with a story which The Guardian posted today which suggests that there will be a Lumia device arriving this summer with the same beefy 41MP camera which Nokia forced inside their 808 PureView!

   We'll have to wait and see on that one, but we would be genuinely excited for some Lumia tablets. Nokia typically has stunning design and that combined with a good dose of Windows 8 may well be enough to tempt people who aren't touched by Microsoft's Surface tablets! What would you like to see? More Lumia's or some tablets from Finland's finest? Let us know in the comments below!

AFW Via TechCrunch and TheGuardian.

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Nokia has a better Q4! Can't fix 2012 as a whole!

   Nokia has finally got themselves back into profit! Q4 2012 turned out to be quite a success with the company posting a €439 million ($585 million) profits as they saw revenue work out at €8.04 billion ($10.73 billion).

   This turn around isn't so much to do with the handset business, rather it is attributed to the growth of Nokia's Siemens Network which had a good quarter! But, devices and services did also manage to see a small profit too!

   This means that Nokia finally had a good holiday quarter! It was actually the best one that the company has managed since they chose to hope onto the Windows Phone bandwagon. That's not to say that the Lumia range is super hot stuff at the moment, indeed the guys from Espoo shipped out 4.4 million Lumias and only 700,000 landed in the hands of consumers in North America, so they still haven't managed to crack the vital US market. The highlight of the roll call was the Lumia 920 which managed to bump up the average selling price of Nokia smartphones to €186 from €140, which undoubtedly helped bump up profits.

   Despite the profit for the first time in a while Nokia decided to suspend the dividend on their shares for this year! This was the first time the company has done this in at least 143 years! Nokia managed to push through both World Wars and still didn't have to do this! But, strangely it's not actually considered a negative thing by the markets! Eric Beaudet from Natixis Security in Paris said that this “is a very important step because it shows management is conscious of the work that is ahead... It’s clearly a strong signal to the market that says 'Don’t worry about our balance sheet, we’ll do what it takes.'”

   What do you think 2013 holds for Nokia? Let us know in the comments below! The full PDF of the results is available at the source link below!

Via Nokia and Bloomberg.

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Windows Phone 8

   The season of announcements continues and yes it has been a couple of days since Windows Phone 8 (previously known as Apollo) was officially revealed, but now we've had time to digest, consider and now we have a whole host of opinions on the new OS.

   Lets get the bad news out of the way first; Windows Phone 8 will not be compatible with current devices. They simply run a completely different sort of software, it would mean a complete recoding of the software to run on the current generation of processors. Sorry!

   But, if you have just bought a Lumia 900, then you will be getting an update to Windows Phone 7.8 which brings you the new home screen and a few other new features which are outlined below! Although, we will say that it is a bit of a kick in the teeth if you signed a brand new two-year contract. But, it teaches us all that we should buy what's on the plate now and not what we expect to come in future!

   But, lets start with what the revamped software will actually bring;

A unified Windows kernel.

   One huge change here is that the new kernel is taken from Windows as opposed to the current generations, which is from Windows CE. 

   It is worth noting that the new Windows Phone 8 is not the same as Windows 8 or even the ARM based Windows RT. Apps from the other two varieties of Windows 8 will not work on the new mobile OS. 

   One thing to bear in mind is that the new software won't be any more hacker-friendly so you'll have to stick to Android for that. Microsoft has said battery life and user experience are still the priorities and security is also paramount, which is highlighted by the fact that native applications run in a sandbox.

Windows Phone apps.

         All Windows Phone 7 apps will be able to run on Windows Phone 8 handsets; but developers will not have to decide whether to make an app that only works with Windows Phone 7 or one that works on both, there's also a choice to make one just for Windows Phone 8.

   This means new features like Wallet, VOIP, native code or being able to run navigation in the background, which gives us full multitasking!

   There are other advantages too, but with the interfaces to shares a lot more graphics, audio and sensor setting with Windows 8, something which makes it a lot easier to write Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 apps that share features.

The interface.

      This is one feature of Windows Phone that will come to the current generation of phones (in the aptly named Windows Phone 7.8 update) and it'll be a brand new Start screen. This will use all of the screen, because the sideways swipe arrow will be removed.

   The extra space will allow you to fit in more tiles, which now come in three different sizes. The new small size will act as a shortcut for any app, something which is particularly useful for apps that don't utilise the notifications.

   And as well as the current standard tile size, any app can use an extra-large tile size to cram even more details onto a single live tile. There will be a few new colour themes and both of these add up to a much more immersive and customisable experience.

   You should bear in mind that overall look of the platform won't be a huge departure from Windows Phone 7, you still get your list of apps with a side swipe, and you can still slide down to find more tiles that don't necessarily need to take centre stage.


The Browser and Security.

   Windows Phone 8 is set to inherit a few features from full Windows and they include Internet Explorer 10. This is set to come complete with the phishing filter and SmartScreen application which checks site reputations. Something which makes it harder for malicious websites to pinch your personal information and especially your credit card details.

   There hasn't yet been any issues with malware or any viruses on Windows Phone, but should the platform gain some traction they could potentially be faced with issues. So it's good to see security being prioritized from the off.

   Windows Phone also inherits other Windows security features such as disk encryption and secure boot something businesses and IT departments will cherish.

Media and Gaming.

      Everything shares the software with full blown Windows, in terms of audio, gaming and videos.   However, this means that the current crop of games will need to be recreated to take full advantage of the new platform. It will be possible for big companies to leave their games as Windows Phone 7 variants, but they'll probably want to re-release a more powerful version of the game too.

   The increase in GPU support and power will mean a boost in the amount of 3D-rich gaming that will be available to future Windows Phone 8 handsets, something which will be a huge advance over the current Windows Phone 7 games.

Skype Video Calling.

   Windows Phone at the moment is shaping to be a very powerful platform and the planned integration of Skype is a clear selling point, since Microsoft purchased the company last year. VOIP calls, on Windows Phone 8, will look just like regular phone calls with all the same features and notifications. Obviously this will be native for Skype but other VOIP apps will be offered the possibilities for similar notifications.

   We're still unsure as to how deep Skype integration will get into Windows Phone 8, but it should be deeply integrated given who owns the program.

   One thing to bear in mind is that Windows Phone manufacturers will have to prioritise front facing cameras unlike they do at the moment.

New CPU compatibility.

   To power the upgrades in Windows Phone 8 Microsoft has announced an increase in the amount and quality of the processors which will be supported. They are all still ARM processors and they will all be from the Snapdragon family at Qualcomm, but multicore processors, a new generation of GPUs and NFC support have been added this time.

   Battery life is still a huge priority for Microsoft so the company will probably cap any CPUs that get too comfortable with the batteries, but they have to realise that the simple mention of 'dual-core' and 'quad-core' sells phones! As such this move has come at a perfect time for Microsoft and this in itself should boost sales.

Microsoft Wallet.

   The new Microsoft Wallet app is essentially a culmination of the best of Google Wallet and  iOS 6's payment details storer. You can tap to pay and keep all your passwords and details in one place, so in theory this is a great solution.

   One good thing here is that you're not tied to using Microsoft's payment service. But, a standout feature is that applications will be able to tap into the Wallet system to set up new payment services and Paypal has already been lined up for this service.
 
   Finally, the app while act as a centre for receiving and using digital coupons and debit or credit cards, interestingly you can add in loyalty cards so you always get your bonuses too!

NFC support.

   NFC is not just there for Microsoft's Wallet, it also has uses in the secure SIM feature. Which essentially means users' can swap from handset to handset and take their payment method with them physically, so the chip is embedded in the SIM not the battery like the Samsung Galaxy S3 has opted for!

   There are other applications that Nokia is keen to utilise as well, such as being able to pair with its Bluetooth accessories with a simple tap of the phone – it's a trick we've seen on the old Symbian phones and one we expect to feature heavilytoo.

Speech recognition.

   Microsoft has teamed up with Audible for their answer to Siri and S-Voice! It'll work in a very similar way allowing you to issue a variety of commands to get your handset to do your dirty work.

   During the keynote presentation, Microsoft showed us the ability to play movies, browse audiobooks and perform searches from the speech platform.

   This tech is currently available for Mango devices at the moment. To test it out all you need to do is search Audible in the Marketplace.

Windows Phone 8 upgrades.

   Essentially none of the Windows Phone 7 devices will be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8. The current generation of phone have neither the hardware to support the new features or deliver the multitasking performance that the Windows kernel and the improved VOIP support require! We know this sucks... BIG TIME!

   There will be a slight degree of flexibility in the software in that there will be a couple of new screen resolutions, both widescreen: 1280 by 768 and 1280 by 720. But you can of course choose the current 800 by 480, for those slightly lower end devices.

   And Windows Phone finally has SD card support!!!!!! (for both applications and storage!)

So when is Windows Phone 8 available?

   We're still waiting to get an official Windows Phone 8 launch date; all we know at the moment is it's due to land in the 'fall' or the autumn if you want that translated into English (:-P), which is such a broad time frame and could be any date from October to Christmas. That being said Microsoft will probably try to push it out in time for the late Autumn along with full Windows 8 and it will definitely be here before the vital christmas season!

      This all sounds pretty good so far and to top it off updates have been promised for 18 months and Microsoft is currently agreeing details with the operators and handset makers, but there's going to be a way to get updates directly from Microsoft and available Over-the-air (perhaps labelled as beta releases).

The handset manufacturers:


   So far we have heard from a few companies that they will be supporting the new OS and they are; Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and Huawei.

   Interestingly HTC's roadmap has either intentionally or unintentionally been leaked and the full details of each device run like this:


   The HTC Rio is the low-end of the family and will feature a 4-inch WVGA screen and come with a 5-megapixel camera capable of shooting 720p video. The Qualcomm MSM8227, part of the Snapdragon S4 family, is to power the device andwith 512MB of RAM.

   The HTC Accord is the mid-range device and comes with a 4.3-inch 720p Super LCD2 display and an 8-megapixel rear snapper capturing 1080p video. The exact silicon is currently unknown, but it will be a more capable dual-core processor from the Snapdragon S4 pen with 1GB of RAM.

   Finally and most excitingly HTC is creating the 'Zenith'. The Zenith is said to feature a massive 4.7-inch 720p Super LCD 2 display, also with an 8-megapixel camera and 42Mbps HSPA+. Here, though, the processor gets bumped up to a quad-core Snapdragon, but again - no specifics.



An overall opinion.


   Microsoft is finally adding the features that Windows Phone needs to succeed and providing the new hardware the platform vitally needs. It'd be a lot better if Microsoft could break from the 'big releases' to a more Apple-esque update system where there are frequent updates which add fixes and features as ad when they're ready.

    The problem of upgrades should, in theory, be fixed by the direct updates, something which will appeal to a lot of frustrated Android users!

   Windows Phone seems to be catching up with other smartphone systems on features but Microsoft and Nokia need to get phones into the hands of consumers by making well priced and attractive devices!

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