In Other News: 28/02/2013.

• HTC have confirmed that their brand new HTC Sense 5.0 will be coming to last year's range of phones! On one of their Facebook posts HTC said:

"HTC will be offering upgrades to some of its existing devices in the next few months, including global variants of HTC One X, One X+, One S and the HTC Butterfly. Also, note that some features enabled by the new HTC One hardware will not be available in the software updates." Facebook Via PhoneArena.

• The prices of the Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 have been released in the UK! The former will cost £169.99 and the latter will be £299.99 from SIM-free and Unlocked from Clove. For more details about the handset click here!

• OUYA have confirmed that devices will start shipping to Kickstarter backers from the 28th of March!
  Via Twitter.

• You might not know Sir Robin Jacob by name, but he was the judge who forced Apple to 'apologise' to Samsung via UK newspapers last year. Well it turns out that his accusation that Apple were lacking 'integrity' is somewhat ironic, because he has a new employer. His new place of work is Samsung! He's now going to be helping advise Samsung on other cases around the world. We know this won't have implications in the case, but it doesn't quite sit right in our mind!
  Via Engadget.

• Nokia probably won't be releasing a device with a physical keyboard at any point in the near future! In their interview with Slashgear they revealed that the main sticking point is on the size of the audience that this would attract! For more details head to Slashgear here.

• The Raspberry Pi is now a year old! Well the device went on sale on February the 29th so because we can't celebrate it until the next leap year today will have to suffice! Happy birthday guys!
  Via V3.

• For those of you who wonder about how valuable government secrets are there is a war of words amongst the world's governments at the moment and the latest to chime in is China's government who have revealed that two of their military websites, including that of the Defense Ministry, were hit with 144,000 attacks a month through last year! That works out to 394.5 attacks each and every day, or 16.4 attacks an hour! China attributed two-thirds of them to the US.
  Via Reuters.

• Samsung has told CNet that they are aiming to double their tablet sales this year! It's a loft but realistic goal given their relatively small presence in that market at the moment!
  Via CNet.

• Here's another leak from @EVLeaks, the tweet embedded below offers all the details you need to know!

Huawei Ascend Plus for Tracfone: 1.0GHz, 4" display, 4GB storage + microSD, 5MP, ICS twitter.com/evleaks/status…
— @evleaks (@evleaks) February 27, 2013

And finally, HTC have announced that they will be touring the UK to promote the brand new HTC One! It's an interesting concept and we're not sure if it will entail more than standing in a shopping sensor with a load of phones on display, but we'll wait and see! There's a full route plan embedded below!
Via Twitter.

Click to enlarge.

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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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