In Other News: 30/05/2013.

• Infinity Ward have confirmed that they are going to leave the Modern Warfare series behind them and they want to create a new universe around CoD Ghosts!
  Via GamesIndustry.

• Shazam has come to Windows Phone 8 and there's some sweet features in this version too! The app gives you access to Xbox Music and free unlimited tagging!
  Via Engadget.

• The UnwiredView are reporting that Apple may be working on an feature very similar to Samsung's Smart Stay feature which keeps the screen on if the camera detects that you're looking at the screen!

• TalkTalk mobile have started offering the Huawei MediaPad 7 Lite along with various smartphone contracts as of today! The cheapest deal nets you a phone and the tablet for £15 a month over 24 months, but you can check out full details here!
  Via PocketLint.

• Microsoft have released an update to their Windows Phone sync app for computers. The update brings with it expanded podcast support, simplified update notifications, flexible library selection for syncing files and tonnes of bug fixes. If you're interested then you can get it here!
  Via Slashgear.

• According to PhoneArena there are currently more sales of the Blackberry Q10 in France compared to any other smartphone! Head over to their site to see more explanations.

• It's official Sony are finally rolling out that Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update to French Sony Xperia S'! We also spotted the tweet below from SonyMobileNews which suggests that there's more than just the Xperia S getting the update!
  Via XperiaBlog.

So, on *the* topic - can confirm the JB 4.1 rollout for Xperia S, SL & acro S is starting today (ion to follow).
— Sony Xperia News (@SonyMobileNews) May 30, 2013

• LG and Google's Nexus 4 is now available via the Play Store in South Korea!
  Via AndroidPolice.

And finally if you want to get your new GMail tabbed inbox online head to the settings option and hit the 'configure inbox' button! This will update your layout! MoDaCo's Paul O'Brien was the man behind this tip, but we can't seem to find where he said it! If we do we'll update the post!

Read More

Everything else from Nokia's Lumia 925 reveal: Oggl, Apps and the Amber update!

   Ok, so we already know what Nokia will be bringing us on the device front, but the guys also announced a few other things which will be coming our way over the next few months and lets have a little look at them too!

Nokia's Amber Update!

   

   Nokia is hard at work on a new software update for all their devices running Windows Phone 8. The update brings with it FM Radio support for all devices with the exception of the Lumia 620 which doesn't have a FM Radio chip. Other things like tap to wake will be in there as will Nokia's new Smart Camera application which we saw demoed on the Lumia 925 earlier!

Oggl to fill the Instagram void!

   Ok that subtitle was a tad misleading, basically what me mean is that Nokia have seemingly tried and failed to get Instagram (Facebook) to bring an official version of their app to the Windows Phone platform. So what better way to get around this then with the announcement of a new service which gives you a legitimate way to use the platform without a dodgy third party app. That's where Nokia's partnership with Hipstamatic has paid dividends and the app called 'Oggl' will launch on Lumia smartphones soon!

   Nokia describe the app as:

"Allowing people to take and share high quality pictures with like-minded creatives and photography enthusiasts from around the world. In addition to sharing photos on Oggl, users can simultaneously share photos on social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, Flickr and Instagram."

Nokia concede that apps are the biggest issue!

   Nokia's Global Head of Smartphone Marketing, Vesa Jutila, said after the event that "the biggest complaint is that customers are missing the apps they want."

   That's part of the reason why Oggl has been drafted into the Windows Phone arena, but other apps which he said were popular on other platforms which people were missing were Google+ and Amazon Cloud Player. Jutila said that there were "some gaps" but Nokia are aware of them and are "addressing this very strongly" in collaboration with Microsoft. He continued:

"[Developer attention] is very much driven by the absolute volume of Windows Phones in the market. That's why we're so pleased when other manufacturers also make Windows Phones."

   Engadget did ask if Nokia had a strategy if other Windows Phone OEM's ducked out and fully committed to Android and he said that there isn't a strategy should that happen!

Via WMPowerUser and Engadget.

Read More

Nokia announce the Lumia 925!

   Nokia's new flagship is ranked just above the Lumia 920 in the naming convention and essentially this is the Lumia 920 in another disguise. There's a new AMOLED screen with the same 1280 x 768p resolution, which is coated with Gorilla Glass 2. Otherwise there's 1GB of RAM, a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5GHz will be powering Windows Phone 8 and the rear camera is again an 8.7MP sensor from Carl Zeiss. This time though Nokia are adamant that there's some hardware and software improvements which make everything that little bit sharper and a little bit better.

   Otherwise the real achievement here compared to the Lumia 920 is that Nokia have lost the little bit of puppy fat that the 920 carried. This time the device is 8.8mm thick and it is now considerable
lighter, coming in at 135g, which is more what you expect in high-end smartphones!

   The device has also ditched polycarbonate, or as we like to call it plastic, in its place there's now a nice aluminium body, but strangely that means you have to put a plastic case on the back of the phone to enable wireless charging, which seems a little silly to us! But, the addition of global 4G LTE connectivity, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC and Wi-Fi makes up for looking silly while it's charging.

   There's a few software improvements here too with the addition of a new camera mode called Nokia Smart Camera. Essentially it captures 10 photos in quick succession before allowing you to edit the photos with a bunch of cool effects such as Best Shot, Action Shot, Change Faces and Remove Moving Objects.

   The Nokia Lumia 925 will set you back about 469 euros and Vodafone will be carrying the device in Europe, T-Mobile will have it in the USA and we expect to hear more announced soon, but O2 have confirmed they'll have the white one in the UK!

There's a little video showing off the internals of the device below, which also has a really catchy soundtrack to go along with it, which gives you a better idea of what the phone looks like too! For full details check out Nokia Conversations here and for a full run down of the specs check out the Nokia product page here!

Read More

Nokia officially announce the Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless!

   It's finally here, after weeks of ridiculous leaks which left very little to the imagination we can now confirm that the device above is the Nokia Lumia 928. A device destined for Verizon in the US complete with a very reasonable price tag too, but we'll come to that later!

   The phone is basically as we expected: it's a slimmed down version of the Lumia 920 which AT&T currently offer, with exactly the same internals and everything down to the battery capacity is the same. There's a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon process clocked at 1.5Ghz, 1GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. This time the camera, which is traditionally a strength of Nokia devices, is the same 8.7MP PureView Carl Ziess sensor which is in the Lumia 920, but the flash has been swapped out for a Xenon variant in this version. If you like taking 'selfies' then you have a 1.2MP camera on that side which gives you the ability to take 720p video for those Skype and Viber calls. The battery on this device is a 2,000 mAh unit, which should get you through the best part of a day without needing a recharge, but remember this battery is non-removable so treat it well. The wireless charging support is a nice addition too!

   The two big attractions outside of the camera though will be the 4.5″ WXGA, that's 1280 x 768p, and it's a lovely OLED screen too. This basically means super deep blacks and a very good pixel density of 334ppi, it's not as high as the 1080p Android devices, but it just betters Apple's Retina display on the iPhone, which is good enough for us! The screen has some nice tweaks which give you 300 nits of brightness in the normal mode, but you can crank that up to 500 nits if you activate 'High Brightness Mode' which should help you see the screen in the sun! Naturally it also supports Nokia's 'super-sensitive' features for typing with gloves and or long fingernails! 

  On the connections front there's basically everything you would expect. There's Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and Glonass and there's an NFC chip. Naturally the device runs Windows Phone 8 as you would expect.

   If you're interested in the device then you can pick one up on Verizon in America from the 16th of May and it will cost you $99.99 with a $50 mail-in rebate, and if you get in quick you'll also pick up $25 of credit for Windows Phone apps. Check out Nokia's little hands on below if you want to see it in action!

Via Windows Phone Blog, Nokia Conversations and Nokia Press. 

Read More

In Other News: 06/05/2013.

Image Credit: Allianz.

• The new list of Fortune 500 companies is out today and amongst the notable tech companies to feature are Apple at number six and AT&T is in at number 11. A tad further back are people like HP, Verizon, Microsoft and Amazon, each of whom came in at 15, 16, 35 and 49 respectively.
  Via Slashgear.

• Sony are rumoured to be creating a new smartphone with a quad-core Mediatek processor in a move which would see them utilize a processor from the Taiwanese company for the first time!
  Via AndroidBeat.

• The Verge is today reporting that Google will launch paid subscriptions on YouTube as early as this week! If and when this becomes a reality we will give you much more detail on it!

• Rumour has it that Nintendo is offering conversion software to app developers as a way to bolster their content offering on the Wii U! We're not sure if the tactic is genuine or whether or not it'll work. But, watch this space because this sounds very likely and it seems that Nintendo might be getting ready to protect themselves from the likes of the OUYA and Gamestick!
  Via ZDNet.

• Today's rumours suggest that Microsoft's next Xbox won't require a always on internet, for everything. A supposedly leaked email to Microsoft employees suggests that playing Blu-rays,  watching live TV and playing single player games won't require the internet connection. As always take this with a pinch of salt because it could be completely false!
  Via ArsTechnica. 

• Samsung's Galaxy S4's have been getting their first software updates which are between 54 and 78MB in size depending on where you are and they bring stability fixes and camera improvements, which again are dependent on where you live. For those of you with a device locked to a carrier expect a few weeks delay until you get this, at the very least!
  Via AndroidBeat.

• Over the weekend you might have noticed that the Syrian Electronic Army, hacked and tweeted out incorrect comments about Justin Bieber's sexuality. For full details on that head to Slashgear here, but in the meantime we think Twitter should hurry up with that two-step verification!

• Maxis and EA have confirmed that The Sims 4 will be coming to PC and Mac at some point in 2014!
  Via Slashgear.

• Hulu Plus is now out for Windows Phone 8!
  Via Engadget.

• The anti-virus firm McAfee have announced that they've acquire the Finnish firm Stonesoft for $389 million. McAfee are owned by Intel and the purchase will supposedly beef up the company's firewall and online protection!
  Via TheNextWeb.

And finally, some of you might remember that when the HTC One was officially announced there were actually three colour options. There was silver, black and red. Until today we haven't heard anything about the red variant, but it seems that the guys over at LandOfTechnology were the first to notice that HandTec, a UK seller have put the red phone up on the site, presumably they're just waiting for the device to come into stock, but that does mean that the phone is on the way and you can see what it'll look like in the picture below!

Read More

In Other News: 09/04/2013.

• EE have announced that they will be trying to 'doublespeed' their network over the summer in certain places. The plan is to give customers speeds of up to 80mbps down something which in the longer term should work out to somewhere in the region of 20mbps on average for consumer, which is fantastic! Check out the tweets below for more details!
  Via Twitter (1) and (2).

Coming Soon – This summer, #4GEE will go #DoubleSpeed in ten cities - The fastest will be even faster #speedtest twitter.com/EE/status/3215…
— EE (@EE) April 9, 2013

• Android Central believe the Asus FonePad will be coming to the UK on April 26th and the device is set to go on pre-order from April the 12th for £179.99! Any one else excited?

• Digitimes is reporting that Asus has sold 3 million tablets in the first three months of this year and they seem well on track to reach their 12 million target for the year as a whole!
  Via AndroidBeat.

• Google have confirmed that their Fiber service will be coming to Austin, Texas in 2014!
  Via Slashgear.

• TheVerge believe Windows Phone will get updated to support 1080p displays later this year with the release of GDR3 for the platform , which will also support newer, faster Qualcomm processors!

• Microsoft is rolling out updates to both Windows 8 and Windows RT versions of their Surface tablets. Both  updates fix different issues, but dive into the menus to make everything better if you're having problems!
  Via PhoneArena.

• AppGratis have spoken out about their exclusion from Apple's iOS Store. They said that they are 'stunned that Apple took the decision to destroy so much value within their own ecosystem' amongst other things and it's an interesting read indeed!
  Via Slashgear.

• Sony's PS Vita has had another software update. This time version 2.10 brings folders and enhanced video playback amongst other things!
  Via Engadget.

And finally, EA have officially walked home with the title as the worst company in the USA for the second successive year! Congrats guys! Maybe in future you could turn off the need for an always on internet connection and you could get enough servers for game launches *Cough, SimCity, Cough*! We're not confident though!

Via Slashgear.

Read More

in Other News: 18/03/2013.

• Motorola Droid 4 users on Verizon you can expect Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to be heading your way soon! Verizon has updated the support page to reflect the enhancements from the update which you can see here. Otherwise it's Jelly Bean as you would expect complete with Google Now and that Project Butter smoothness!
  Via AndroidCommunity.

• ST-Ericsson lost their CEO the other day and now they have announced that the venture will not be going much further. Around 1,600 jobs will be lost and you can find a lot more details at the source link below!
  Via Engadget.

• Sometimes it's good to follow the polls on other sites and PhoneArena's 'Do you care about viewing angles?' is a very good debate! So the guys found that 51% of respondents didn't care about the viewing angles on their phone, whereas only 48% said it was an indicator of superior technology and they want good angles. Where do you stand in that debate?
  Via PhoneArena.

• EA's CEO John Riccitiello has stepped down citing his personal accountability as the reason for his company missing operational targets.
  Via Reuters.

• Talking of EA, for those of you who have been affected by the shoddy SimCity launch you can have your choice of: Battlefield 3, Bejeweled 3, Dead Space 3, Mass Effect 3, Medal of Honor Warfighter, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Plants vs. Zombies, and SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition as part of EA's apology!
  Via TheVerge.

• Digitimes is reporting that Asus will produce a new phone with a screen between  and 5.5" which will be powered by one of Intel's brand new dual-core chips! On top of that there's also rumours of a Nexus 7 refresh!
  Via AndroidCommunity.

• Gmail for Android has been updated to include the 'archive' and 'reply' features direct from the notification bar! Head to the Play Store on device and demand that immediate update!
  Via AndroidCommunity.

And finally, have you got a Windows Phone 7.8 or 8 phone? Well you might be pleased to know that your phones are guaranteed for 18 months of updates, which is Microsoft's promise! Ironically though Windows Phone 8 started its life on December 14th 2012and so official support ends on August 7th 2014. Whereas Windows Phone 7.8 launched on February 9th 2013 and so ironically it will be supported longer, into September 2014.

Via Engadget.

Read More

Nokia Lumia 928 rumoured to be heading to Verizon: Nokia looks to build on the 920's successes!

   Today we've come across a report from The Verge which suggests Nokia and Verizon are teaming up to offer an enhanced version of Nokia's Lumia 920 flagship! The device is supposedly set to be called the Lumia 928 and The Verge believe it will connect to Verizon's airwaves as soon as next month!

   Interestingly we've actually heard about this device before, way back when it was codenamed the Lazer, but for the most part this will be a Lumia 920 with a few new changes! The Verge said that the device will swap out the hardened plastic, which Nokia has used previously, for a new aluminium body and when it comes to the camera tech the 8MP PureView camera will stay, but this time it will have one of those elusive Xenon flashes working in tandum with the LED flash!

   The rumoured enhancements don't stop there though; the Finns have reportedly lopped a fair bit off the thickness and weight of this new Lumia too. The 928 is supposedly curved around the back, with the thinnest point still being a rather thick 10.2mm! There was no specific mention of weight from The Verge.

   Other than that pretty much everything is the same, there's the 4.5" OLED screen up front and the added bonus of SVLTE, which gives you simultaneous voice and LTE data, something which will give the Lumia 928 a one up on the iPhone 5!

   If The Verge's sources have got this one right then Microsoft is gearing up to run a nice, big marketing campaign! What do you think? Would this be something you'd like to see? Let us know in the comments below!
Via TheVerge.

Read More

HTC fully committed to Windows Phone: Device coming later this year with an update to Windows Phone 8?

   EVLeaks have been very, very busy in the lead up to MWC this year. We saw a tonne of devices before they were official courtesy of those guys and it seems that they have a little bit of news news regarding HTC's Windows Phone plans for the future!

   HTC have already emphasised that they, "are actually fully committed to [the] Windows Phone business. We do have good collaboration with Microsoft for a future release this year." They were the words of HTC's Vice President for Global product planning, Tai Ito.

   Apparently there won't really be a Windows Phone flagship this year, instead the guys from Taiwan will reportedly offer a more modest mid-range device which is supposedly known as the HTC Tiara internally. It is rumoured to feature a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm chipset, a 4.3-inch Super LCD2 of WVGA, that's 800 x 480p resolution, as well as 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The package is supposedly rounded out by an 1800mAh battery, and a 1.6-megapixel front-facing camera which will be paired with an 8-megapixel rear option! This is meant to come inside a form factor which has 'the same design language as the... HTC One'.

   If EVLeaks are right the most impressive feature about this phone will be the operating system on board. EVLeaks believe this will be one of the first phones to launch running Windows Phone 8 GDR2, which is set to be a new update to the WP8 platform.


   HTC have already said that they are aware "that Windows Phone 8 is not as good as the market expected," but that's not enough to put HTC off. They said that, "we think that it could take time and we will continue working with them" and this could well be one of the first fruits of that labour!

   EVLeaks believe the phone will arrive in mid-May, but we're always sceptical with rumours like this, but HTC's continued pledge of support does make this seem a lot more credible!
Via UnwiredView and CNet.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

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.

Read More

08/01/2013: Windows Phone 8 sales: It's looking pretty good! AT&T have a record breaking Q4, lots of Jelly Bean updates and more!

Windows Phone sold 5 times better than last Christmas! WP8 catching WP7 in number of devices in use?

   After Microsoft's decision not to display at CES you'll forgive us for being taken slightly aback when Steve Ballmer strode onto the stage at Qualcomm's  Keynote yesterday. It seems he wanted to offer a brief but interesting insight into the success Windows Phone 8 has had since its launch towards the end of last year!

   His first gem came as he said that:

“Windows Phone was selling five times more devices than the same period last year.”

    Now that's nowhere near a concrete figure and it doesn't really say that much because we know Windows Phone 7 was not a particularly popular OS, indeed it's supporters raved about the update which brought copy and paste functionality, so obviously there wasn't all that much to get excited about. But, nonetheless if Microsoft has seen five times the activations that is a considerable increase and it does indeed suggest that Windows Phone 8 and the devices it's offered on have been well received, which is good news for HTC and Nokia!


   There's actually some more evidence to back up Ballmer's words. The guys over at Coolsmartphone have got their hands on some research from AdDuplex which shows how well the new Windows Phone 8 devices have been selling. In the US in particular the market share looks like this, to the right. Given the huge push AT&T have the Lumia 900 when it was launched early last year, these figures look very good for everyone involved!

   The story isn't quite as impressive in the rest of the world though, with Windows Phone 7 still dominant, but AdDuplex did add that "Last month WP8 accounted for a little over 5% of Windows Phone devices and this month it jumped to 19%. A very substantial achievement" and it's hard to knock growth no matter how limited it is! You can see the full list of devices which are currently in use and their percentage in the pie chart below!

Via PhoneArena and Coolsmartphone.

In other news:

• Coolsmartphone is reporting that the Android 4.1.2 update for the Samsung Galaxy Note II is officially available! Hit that Software update button or connect it to Kies... If you dare risk getting Kies to work for you!

• SamMobile has detailed the Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update for the Samsung Galaxy S2. The update will add many of the features which the Galaxy S3 currently has such as SmartStay and Pop-Up and Play! You can find full details here!

• AT&T reportedly smashed through their previous quarterly sales record as they shipped 110,000 phones per day during Q4. This added up to sales of 10 million devices, which beat out their previous best from Q4 2011 by 600,000 sales!
  Via Reuters

• Verizon have confirmed that they will be selling the Galaxy Note 10.1 soon, but they haven't offered any pricing or time frame for that to happen! We'll update the post as we hear more!
  Via AndroidCommunity.

• Sprint has confirmed that they will be carrying Windows Phones later this year! They said that devices from both HTC and Samsung will be coming to their line-up in the summer! There's no specifics at the moment, but you can check out the full press release in the meantime here!
  Via TheVerge.

• Samsung has officially shipped 30 million Galaxy S3's since the device was released last May! These sales have pushed the Koreans to the top of the Android smartphone seller list and they undoubtedly played a part in shifting Nokia from their position as the biggest mobile phone seller in the world!
  Via CNet.

Read More

10/12/2012: Huawei strikes European deals, Windows Phone 8 seeing good initial sales? Android malware problems resurface and much more!

Huawei opens new R&D facility in Finland and they ink a deal with Three UK!

   So what happens when you get a Chinese mobile company who's on the up and a Finnish company on a serious downer and with all their eggs in the Windows Phone basket? Well apparently you get a new research and development centre in Finland!

   Huawei have announced that they are planning to launch their eleventh European research centre and they expect to add 100 more staff at this centre and this is part of their three to five year plan to double their European employees from 7,000 to 14,000! The budget from the next five years at the Finland R&D facility is 70 million Euros which is equivalent to $91 million! Finland seems like a good place to grow given there are now 3,700 ex-Nokia employees who have recently been laid off and are in need of some work!

   Huawei's spokesman, Roland Sladek said, "Europe has proven to be quite an open business environment for Huawei", especially when contrasted with the U.S. congressional decision which alleged Huawei's equipment could be used for Chinese espionage. Huawei was also blocked from assisting in the Australian roll out of a $38 billion national high-speed broadband network project because of 'unspecified security concerns'.

   Huawei are keen to grow their handset business because only 22% of their current income is from mobile phones. Although, this doesn't mean that their attention will be diverted from their other offerings. Huawei announced that they won a services deal with the mobile network Three in the UK. This will see Huawei look after Three's ICT infrastructure and their network at large, they will be taking over from ST-Ericsson!
Reuters and Telecoms via Twitter (1) (2).

Windows Phone 8 off to a good start?

   Windows Phone 7 was a strange one; it was fluid, fast, it barely ever stuttered even on distinctly average hardware, but it didn't sell well. Perhaps it was affected by Android's spec race or maybe there wasn't enough apps for people? But, Windows Phone 8 is out now and if Facebook app log in details can tell us anything, then Windows Phone 8 might have got off to a relatively good start compared to its predecessor!

   According to data from WMPowerUser this October and November alone saw 657,000 monthly active users checking their Facebook's through the dedicated Windows Phone 8 app. That compares very favourably with the numbers for 2011 which saw less than 150,000 Windows Phone 7 active users in the same months! This seems pretty conclusive even if it is just Facebook information. 

   If this is indeed the start of some very good news for Windows Phone 8, then we can expect to see quite a good amount of sales reported back from HTC and Nokia, despite the pair only launching their flagships, the Lumia 920 and HTC 8X, at the beginning of November.

  Steve Ballmer has already said that Microsoft has seen four times the WP7 numbers with WP8 devices, and if we work on the knowledge that there were 2.8 million WP7 devices in Q4 last year, then it's not too much to expect 10 million WP8 sales by the start of 2013! If those numbers can be realised then expect a big influx of apps to the platform!
Via PhoneArena.

Android malware is still a problem despite Google's recent efforts!

   We hoped Google had tightened up security in their recent versions of Android with the introduction of a native security scanner and their Bouncer system on the Play Store. It would appear they've not been entirely successful. Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with its 'app verification' only picked up 15.3% of known malware, according to a study conducted by North Carolina State University computer science professor, Xuxian Jiang.

   After this random malware tests were run with the more popular Android security programs, things such as; Avast, AVG, TrendMicro, Symantec, BitDefender, ClamAV, F-Secure, Fortinet, Kaspersky, and Kingsoft. With these programs installed the rate of detection varying from 51%, all the way up to 100 percent. Android 4.2 wasn't so successful; it only caught 20% of the threats on its own.

   You can see all of NC State University's findings here and if you haven't got an anti-virus on your phone we strongly urge you to reconsider!
Via IntoMobile.

In other news:

• It seems that a new Pantech Vega (the IM-A860) has popped up on the popular GLBenchmark database! This device looks set to feature a 1920×1080p screen, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, Adreno 320 GPU, and 4G LTE support. Unfortunately the benchmark doesn't tell us more than that but, if we hear anything else we'll let you know!
  Via AndroidGuys.

• Motorola has announced it will close 'most' of their operations in South Korea; including selling mobile phones. This is part of Motorola's new restructuring under Google's stewardship and most of the 600 jobs in Korea will go, only 10% will be offered the chance to stay on if they don't mind relocating!
  Via TheVerge.

• Amazon has hacked a pretty good $50 off the 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HD for today only! You can get the discount on the 32GB WiFi-only and 32GB LTE editions only. Just type in the code FIREHD89 and your saving will be applied.
  Via Engadget.

• Carphone Warehouse is currently offering spare iPhone and Android chargers for 1p if you download their app and fill in all your details! Incidentally you can also get 10% off accessories once you've got the app! You can check out the full details here!
  Via Twitter.

• Police in Mildura, Australia, have warned against using Apple maps in the area after 'at least four documented cases' of people getting lost en their way to the town after following Apple's guidance!
  
  The most recent example was of a man who ended up stranded for 24 hours last week in temperatures of up to 46 degrees centigrade! The Senior Police Sargeant said, "We've had at least four documented cases... The map puts it at least 70 kilometres from where it should be. We have had people bogged down in sunset country."
  
  So just in case you're driving around the land down under any time soon, perhaps a couple of maps might be a better guide than your iPhone!
  Via TheGuardian.

• Google is reportedly working on integrating Google Now with their Chrome browser! We think this would be a great replacement for iGoogle, if you're still rocking that!
  Via PocketNow.

• LG has announced that their L-series of devices has reached 10 million sales! They said their success, although modest, was down to them offering numerous devices at different price points and in a variety of sizes! Hopefully this will press LG into pushing out some more software updates!
  Via Engadget.

• Asus has announced that their Padfone 2 will be getting an update to Android 4.1 in the near future! It'll land OTA on your device soon, if it hasn't already!
  Via Engadget.

• Have you heard of the tale of the sliding Lumia's? Neither had we until we stumbled across this video today! We believe in the paranormal, but in this case there's something going on inside that Lumia 920 that won't stay on your desk! In this case WPCentral put it down to the low-friction screen on the Lumia and the angle of the computer when it's shut, most computers don't actually close flat!
  Via WPCentral
  

And finally, this is the first official teaser from RIM of their upcoming BB10 devices! We're not sure about the textured back as that implies plastic, but we're more than happy to give it a chance!

Via IntoMobile.

Read More

08/11/2012: Verizon and their Windows Phones on the way, a new Humble Bundle and much more!

Verizon and Windows Phones on the way!

   The dawn of Windows Phone 8 is nearly upon us and HTC, Nokia and Samsung will have their offerings available for pre-order on Verizon from tomorrow! This will mean the HTC Windows Phone 8X, Nokia Lumia 822, and Samsung ATIV Odyssey will get the new OS off to a solid start!

Read More