It's no secret that Microsoft's been wanting to snuff out its Nokia and Windows Phone brands, so you'll have to excuse us for not even bothering to feign surprise that the Redmond outfit has finally gone through with it. In Nokia's place, Microsoft will roll with "Microsoft Lumia" for its branding and related...Read more...
If you’re an AT&T customer who has been eyeballing the Nokia 830, you won’t have to wait much longer. AT&T confirmed that it will be carrying the “affordable flagship” phone, which is getting attention for having a stylish body and high-end features at what is expected to be a low...Read more...
On Android, given that it's built by Google, consumers already have access to what is arguably the best routing/navigational app in the known universe: Google Maps. But if for some reason that doesn't appeal to you, there's another major player coming to Android at long last. The HERE team is announcing this week that...Read more...
Opera Software, the Norwegian software developer behind the Opera browser, scored an interesting deal with Microsoft to have its Opera Mini browser for mobile devices serve as the default web surfing vehicle on Microsoft's existing feature phones and Asha handsets, the company announced today. The licensing agreement...Read more...
Like them or not, selfies seem to be a trend with staying power, and phone makers like Sony are beefing up smartphone front cameras in response. Microsoft is reportedly jumping on the bandwagon, too, with the Lumia 730 expected to have a 5MP front cam that will render your skin imperfections in way higher detail than...Read more...
A smartphone doesn't seem like a fantastic severance package to us, but it's part of what Microsoft is using in its attempt to downsize in China. Microsoft is planning a large number of layoffs at its Nokia unit in China -- around 4,700 employees will receive a pink slip, leaving just 300 -- and to ease tensions from...Read more...
Microsoft filed a lawsuit against Samsung in a Manhattan federal court on Friday, as the result of the Korean smartphone maker allegedly failing to keep up its end of a contractual agreement with regards to making royalty payments. Samsung believes that Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia, completed in April, breaches...Read more...
If you don't want to get caught with a dead smartphone, it's a wise idea to carry along either a spare battery (provided your handset sports a removable battery) or a portable charger. However, if you have neither and you happen to be surrounded by 800 potatoes and apples, all you'll need is a copper wire and...Read more...
AT&T has some great news for Nokia Lumia 1520 handset owners. Effectively immediately, you can download and install the Windows Phone 8.1 software update for your phone and start enjoying Cortana, a personal virtual assistant. Unlike the virtual assistants on other platforms, Cortana is the only one that can set...Read more...
Way off in some alternate reality, Microsoft is putting the finishing touches on its Nokia McLaren handset, a flagship phone equipped with 3D Touch technology. The company's marketing team is busy preparing advertisements that show off the Kinect-like gesture control you can pull off courtesy of the phone's many...Read more...
No company ever announces job cuts by saying, “We’re scuttling thousands of jobs, and that sucks, but that’s business”. Microsoft’s version of tap-dancing around the nasty business of layoffs is an email from CEO Satya Nadella titled “Starting to Evolve Our Organization and...Read more...
When the Nokia Lumia 1020 debuted, it cost a whopping $299 on contract; that price subsequently dropped to $199, and now there’s an unlocked version available for $549 in the Microsoft Store. That’s not a bad price for a smartphone that boasts the specs the 1020 offers. As we’ve detailed in our full...Read more...
In a lengthy and open memo to employees regarding Microsoft's future, company CEO Satya Nadella mentioned having to "flatten the organization and develop leaner business processes." That sounds an awful lot like cost cutting measures might be in Microsoft's future, though Nadella managed to dodge an inquiry on whether...Read more...
There's been a ton of focus on camera performance and features in the smartphone space, but what about videos? If you're an armchair director and video buff, you're going to love what the Video Tuner app brings to the Windows Phone 8.1 platform. Rather than have to extract videos from your Lumia device to edit them...Read more...
On the surface, it’s tempting to find that there are leaked pictures of yet another Nokia Lumia phone and shrug. We see these all the time, but this one is more notable because it’s one of the first that’s emerged since Microsoft bought Nokia’s Devices & Services unit. First leaked by...Read more...
Microsoft has today unveiled the latest iteration of its Nokia X2 smartphone, a release that could be considered one of the company's most interesting to date. The reason for that is unique: It's the first smartphone Microsoft has released since its takeover of Nokia that's featured an Android base. This is kind of...Read more...
Since 2007, smartphones have largely looked the same. Form factors have grown slimmer, and displays are denser, but the overall motif really hasn't evolved much. So, what's truly "next" for smartphones? Perhaps it's intelligence. With Siri, Google Now, and Cortana taking the stage as personal assistants, Microsoft is...Read more...
No matter how advanced tools like Google Maps have gotten, this is the question we all still have whenever we map a route: How long will it take me to get there--no, really? Maps always give you an estimate, and they try to take into account factors such as traffic, but they’re not ideal. Further, if you want to...Read more...
Now that Nokia’s Mobile Devices unit has been assimilated into Microsoft (to the point that Redmond is dropping Nokia’s branding), the company has an identity problem. What is Nokia now? What does it do? New Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri dropped some clues in Nokia’s Q1 financial report, including that Nokia...Read more...
There was a moment when Microsoft and Nokia were married; it was that time period starting when then-Nokia chief Stephen Elop went all-in with Microsoft’s new Windows Phone platform at the expense of Nokia’s homegrown options and ending when Microsoft acquired Nokia’s mobile business. As the dust...Read more...
Now that Microsoft has finished acquiring what it wants of Nokia, the company is readying new smartphones for release. The first one slated for release may be a handset nicknamed “Superman” that will rock a 5MP front camera. According to The Verge’s sources “familiar with Microsoft’s...Read more...
After completing its acquisition of Nokia's Devices and Services business (mobile unit, basically) on Friday, Microsoft wasted no time in putting its stamp on the company brand by releasing an advertisement today that focuses on color. Color, you say? That's right -- though it's not as simple as that. It's a bit of an artsy ad that highlights...Read more...