Items tagged with Windows Phone 8
When Microsoft revealed Windows Phone 7 devices would not be capable of receiving an upgrade, many customers were quite unhappy. Thankfully, Microsoft learned a lesson and doesn't intend to repeat this policy with Windows Phone 8. Greg Sullivan, a senior marketing manager at Microsoft, recently confirmed to PC Magazine that the company has an upgrade path for Windows Phone 8 devices moving forward. He also suggested Microsoft's current mobile OS is powerful enough to adopt to new hardware components. “Windows Phone 8 can evolve. We have an architecture that enables portability and is fundamentally hardware independent,” he said. “As the market evolves and customer requirements...
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While the total number of apps available for Windows Phone 8 still lags behind Apple's App Store and Google's Play store, Windows Phone 8 users should be happy to see more and more developers pay attention to the Windows Phone 8 platform. Recently, the Windows Phone store received a couple of additions in the form of a third-party voice-activated personal assistant and Asphalt 7: Heat. While most people have heard of Siri, Apple's voice-activated personal assistant that comes on iPhones, we're betting far fewer people have heard of Maluuba, a personal assistant app that is now available to Windows Phone 8 users. If you're familiar with Windows Phone 8, you know the phone already supports various...
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Microsoft has put a huge amount of effort, money, time, and resources into pumping up the Windows Phone Store. And there's no question as to why. Apple and Google both enjoy remarkably robust app marketplaces, and in the war of ecosystems, having an enviable app store goes a long way to attracting new users. Now, Windows Phone has yet another flagship app in its pocket: Spotify. What has become the most talked-about music streaming app in the U.S. now has a home on Windows Phone 8, and we'd guess that it'll surpass Microsoft's own music app in a short period of time. The initial release is just a beta, but it'll still let users create their own playlists, discover new artists, and enjoy offline...
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Numbers are a funny thing, and contrary to their very nature, far from absolute when a human element is involved. The latest mobile data from two market research firms underscores this dilemma and proves you should always take market share figures with a pinch of salt. One of those firms is Strategy Analytics, which just a few days ago reported that Microsoft had, for the first time, surpassed BlackBerry in the fourth quarter of 2012 to become the third most popular mobile operating system in the U.S. and Canada behind iOS and Android. Specific figures were only shared with its clients, not the press, so we don't have an idea of the margin of victory, if indeed there was one. Say what? According...
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Samsung on Wednesday sent out emails announcing that its ATIV Odyssey handset will be available to purchase in the U.S. starting tomorrow. You'll be able to pick one up from Verizon on the web or in stores for $50 (after a $50 mail-in-rebate) with a two-year service agreement. A quick refresher on the specs. The ATIV Odyssey sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display with an 800x480 resolution, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera with LED flash and Full HD 1080p recording, microSD card slot, 2100 mAh battery, and a 4G LTE radio. The ATIV Odyssey is Verizon's third Windows Phone 8 device, the other two being the...
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Nokia is reportedly prepping a successor to its flagship Lumia 920 device. Codenamed "Catwalk," the new smartphone will feature a chassis constructed from aluminum rather than the polycarbonate body found on previous Lumia devices. As a result, the Catwalk will be much lighter and thinner than existing Lumia smartphones. Not a lot of specifics are known at this time. According to The Verge, the Catwalk will run Windows Phone 8 and sport similar internal hardware as the Lumia 920, which itself boasts a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snadragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 4.5-inch touchscreen (1280x768), 1.2MP front-facing camera, and 8.7MP rear-facing camera with Carl Zeiss optics....
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If you're in the market for a new smartphone in the post-holiday season, you'll have a few Windows Phone 8 smartphone options to consider, including the new Nokia Lumia 810 which is exclusive to T-Mobile and the Lumia 820 which is exclusive to AT&T. These new Windows Phone smartphones come with all of the Windows Phone 8 features you'd expect as well as some additional software from Nokia that is designed to bolster their capabilities in a number of areas. The Lumia 810 has a 4.3-inch OLED WVGA Clear Black display as well as an 8-megapixel camera that utilizes Carl Zeiss optics. Let's have a look......
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Microsoft and its partners were pushing Windows Phone 8-based smartphones hard this holiday season. In a market that's already crowded with plenty of great Android and iOS options, Microsoft and its partners definitely have their work cut out for them. Given its touch-friendly features, unique UI, and personalization options though, Windows Phone 8 is getting a second look from a lot of people. If you're in the market for a new smartphone in the post-holiday season, you'll have a few Windows Phone 8 smartphone options to consider, including the new Lumia 810 which is exclusive to T-Mobile and the Lumia 820 which is exclusive to AT&T. These new Windows Phone 8 smartphones...
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HTC 8X owners have begun to receive the first over-the-air (OTA) update for Windows Phone 8. The update introduces a persistent Wi-Fi feature, which prevents the handset from switching over to cellular mode after the display's been turned off, and also fixes a rebooting issue some HTC 8X owners had complained about. According to WPCentral, the update, codenamed "Portico," takes about 10 minutes to download and prepare, plus another "10 minutes or so" to apply. After that, it takes yet another 5 minutes to migrate existing data, so you're looking at an update process that could take upwards of half an hour. In addition to finally addressing the Wi-Fi issue and kicking out a reboot bug, Portico...
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Nokia on Tuesday added to its Windows Phone lineup by launching the Lumia 620, the third and most affordable device in its range of Windows Phone 8 smartphones. It slides underneath the top-end Lumia 920 (see our review) and mid-range Lumia 820, but unlike those other two, Nokia's entry-level WP8 device aims to offer a "more fun, youthful appeal and compact design." The Lumia 620 features a new dual-shot color technique for a variety of colors and texture effects. It consists of a second layer of color, transparent, or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer, which Nokia says produces secondary color blends and depth effects. Aesthetics aside, the Lumia 620 boasts a 3.8-inch display...
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Don't kick yourself if you missed out on the Black Friday madness or slept through Cyber Monday without snagging a single deal to brag about. There are still juicy sales items to be had, one of which is Nokia's Lumia 920 smartphone for $70 at Amazon (with a qualifying data plan and 2-year service agreement with AT&T, of course). That's 30 percent less than what it costs on AT&T's website. So, what's the catch? You may have to wait awhile for your device to arrive. "Due to overwhelming demand, shipment estimates may be longer than one to two weeks. Orders for this device will ship when available," Amazon states. If you can live with a potential shipping delay, this is a good deal on a...
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We knew Verizon Wireless had plans to offer new Windows Phones before Thanksgiving, and now we have official confirmation as to when these phones will arrive. The new Windows Phone 8X by HTC and the Nokia Lumia 822 is available in stores starting today. The Windows Phone 8X by HTC features a 4.3-inch Super LCD with a resolution of 720x1280, 16GB of onboard storage, 1GB of RAM, a 1.5GHz MSM8960 dual-core processor, an 8MP camera, and Beats Audio. Key features of the Nokia Lumia 822 include a 4.3-inch Gorilla Glass ClearBlack display, 1.5GHz MSM8960 dual core processor, 16GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, and an 8MP camera. The Windows Phone 8X by HTC is available for about $200 with a contract while...
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You would expect the head of Microsoft to ooze confidence when it comes to the company's Windows Phone platform, and you'd be right. Make no mistake, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer wholeheartedly believes Windows Phone 8 will finally challenge Android and iOS in the mobile space, and he sees it happening at a faster rate than most might expect. "We are still relatively small... I expect the volumes on Windows Phone to really ramp quickly," Ballmer said in Tel Aviv during Microsoft's first Windows 8 launch event outside of the U.S., according to Reuters. Ballmer expressed confidence in the relationship Microsoft has with Nokia, HTC, Samsung, and others, adding that there's an "opportunity to create...
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For whatever reason, Nokia seems to have gotten into the habit of announcing new products without revealing launch dates, leaving it up to the Internet to dig up rumors and speculate. That's been especially true of Nokia's Windows Phone 8 devices, so it's nice to see the Finnish phone maker finally breaking its silence. Here's what we now know. The company's new Lumia devices will start showing up in some European markets this week, starting with France and Britain, which will begin carrying the Lumia 820 and 920 handsets. Sometime later, Russia and Germany will start selling the same devices, Nokia said. As for the United States, AT&T will start selling Lumia devices next month, and it's...
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