Items tagged with Windows-Phone
PayPal is making quite a few changes this June. Customers using older versions of the PayPal mobile app on Android and iOS will be required to upgrade to version 6.0 Starting on June 3rd through June 30th. They are also discontinuing PayPal app use for Windows Phone, Amazon Fire, and Blackberry. Joanna Lambert, PayPal Vice President of Global Consumer Product and Engineering, stated, “It was a difficult decision to no longer support the PayPal app on these mobile platforms, but we believe it’s the right thing to ensure we are investing our resources in creating the very best experiences for our customers. We remain committed to partnering with mobile device providers, and we apologize for...
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Back on March 28th hothardware.com alluded to the imminent release of a second Windows 10 for Phone technical preview, and yesterday Microsoft's Gabe Aul confirmed on Twit.tv's Windows Weekly podcast that the new build will be available as of this Friday, April 10th, at 10AM PST (1PM EST). Specific details of the new Windows 10 for Phone build are not yet available. What did come to light, though, is that the Lumia Icon and the 930 (the Icon's international variant) will not be supported in this update round due to a bug with device scaling (a bug that is expected to be addressed in time for the ensuing build). The other 35 Microsoft phones cited for update at the end of March, though, remain...
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At this point, it seems like we need another heart rate-monitoring smartwatch like we need a hole in head (seriously, when did knowing one’s heart rate become such a big deal?), but everyone is jumping in the smartwatch game, Microsoft included. We’ve known about a Microsoft smartwatch for a while, but according to a Forbes report, Redmond’s smartwatch could finally be coming as early as this summer. It doesn’t appear that the smartwatch will do a wide variety of different things, unlike for example the rumored standalone Samsung smartwatch, but one crucial feature it will have is compatibility across Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices. The software for the device...
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Microsoft successfully acquired Nokia’s mobile unit and thus brought the vast majority of Windows Phone handsets under one roof, but that doesn’t mean Redmond isn’t branching out to other manufacturers. Both U.S.-based Blu and China’s K-Touch will be developing Windows Phone handsets in the future. Credit: Livesino via All About Windows Phone Blu posted a photo on its Facebook page last month teasing the Windows Phone release. The image was of a handset that looked a lot like a Moto G (complete with a colorful shell) with a Windows logo on it, and Blu called it a “sneak peak”. All About Windows Phone tracked down a translated Chinese site (Livesino) wherein...
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Microsoft keeps pushing out updates by and by to improve the overall Windows 8.1 experience, and the latest update concerns the Windows Store. Microsoft announced that it has gussied up the look of the store and has made it easier to navigate and find the apps you’re looking for. The old store There is now a persistent navigation bar on top of the store that includes Home, Top charts, Categories, Collections, and Account links. This is a nice change, as it de-clutters the scrolling experience by putting several of those sections up in the menu bar, and it also gives users a quick way to access those areas. The new store Microsoft also put Collections on the store’s landing page so...
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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 settles, Elop is back at Microsoft at the Executive Vice President of Devices, the “Nokia” name will disappear from Microsoft’s smartphones, and Nokia names a new CEO; the two companies are suddenly far apart and moving in opposite directions. Elop answering questions In a Q&A session yesterday (Elop’s first day at the new gig), the first question was about...
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Some new smartphone sales numbers are available via Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, and they point to Android’s continued dominance, particularly in the U.S.; however, iOS is making up ground in a few areas. Blackberry is tanking almost across the board, and Windows Phone continues to flounder in many countries. From January through March in the U.S., Android has seen an 8.3% year-over-year increase in sales, giving it a hefty 57.6% market share. That gain came largely at the expense of iOS, which dipped 7.8% over the same time period. Black lost a bit of ground (down 0.2%) and Windows Phone did about the same (0.3%). Credit: Kantar Worldpanel The Android gain/iOS loss picture looks the same...
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The deal that will see Microsoft gobble up Nokia’s Devices and Services business was announced back in September and was expected to be finalized in Q1 2014. That hasn’t happened yet, but both Microsoft and Nokia have put out press releases pledging that the deal will be complete in April. The deal has cleared regulatory hurdles in 15 countries, including the green light from the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, but there have been some delays in Asia--”The transaction is pending approvals from certain antitrust authorities in Asia which are still conducting their reviews,” reads the Nokia release. Nokia also stated the delay is not related the tax...
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It’s no secret that Microsoft has a competitor brewing for Apple’s Siri, and to a lesser extent Google Now, but Cortana is inching ever closer to becoming something you can actually use on your Windows Phone. According to “sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans”, The Verge outed some sneak peek pics of what Cortana will look like as well as some of her (“its”?) functionality. First, the digital assistant will appear as a circular animated icon, not as a tech version of a manic pixie dream girl (which is probably for the best), and Cortana will address users by name. Much of the information pertinent to the user experience will be saved in a “notebook”...
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Kaspersky released its Safe Browser for Windows Phone, months after putting out the same product for iOS and days after making a similar one for Android. The app does exactly what you think it does, by blocking access to potentially dangerous sites with a warning page to protect against phishing attacks. Designed for both personal and corporate use, Kaspersky Safe Browser also allows users (read: IT admins) to select certain app settings to make sure the device is in line with the company’s security requirements. It’s good to see more security measures for mobile devices. Too many users have this psychological block where they know that Windows PCs have security issues and therefore...
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Nokia famously went all in with Microsoft when it decided to ditch its own OS and sell smartphones running Windows Phone, but the company has opted to add Android handsets to its roster as well in an effort to capitalize on the growing and vast low end smartphone market. Referred to as the “next billion”customers, the developing world is ripe for the picking when it comes to smartphones, and Nokia wants to be a player with five new handsets. Nokia X “Our deliberate approach is to offer four tiers of products including our affordable entry-level devices like the new Nokia 220; our entry-level Asha touch phones like the new Nokia Asha 230; our new Nokia X, Nokia X+ and Nokia XL...
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New features in the upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update are leaking all over the place, and the latest is a new Notification Center that will be renamed “Action Center” that looks to tidy up some aspects of the user experience. Windows Phone Central nabbed a screenshot (originally found by Winphollowers) of one page of a slide deck that came from an internal Microsoft email and also confirmed its validity. The slide shows two screens of the Action Center and some brief but descriptive text. Action Center serves as a clearinghouse for your notifications (with a handy “Clear All” option) and will let you enable/disable WiFi, Bluetooth, Driving Mode, or Airplane Mode connections...
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One of the perks of jumping into the Windows Phone ecosystem is that Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage service is built in, and the company gives you 7GB of free storage capacity to go with it. For a limited time, though, users can bump that capacity up by another 20GB. It’s notable that this extra capacity isn’t only accessible with your phone (although that’s more or less how Microsoft envisions it working)--it’s just there for you to use, however you like to access your SkyDrive account. The extra 20GB will only last for a year, and you have to claim the bounty before January 31st. We wonder, though, if Microsoft will actually pull back that 20GB when the time...
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The launch of the Jolla smartphone, the brainchild of former Nokia employees who wanted to see the Meego OS live on even after Nokia went all-in with Windows Phone, is nigh. The phone launches today in Helsinki, and although the initial launch is limited to the first 450 people who pre-ordered, it’s still a noteworthy event. This fate of the OS formerly known as Meego was in jeopardy when Nokia launched and then immediately discontinued the N9, which was the only phone to run the OS. Then, Intel and Samsung got together and created a new OS based on Meego called Tizen. In the meantime, a group of scrappy Fins based the Sailfish OS on Meego, as well. Jolla has a carrier, DNA, and it also...
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Just under the wire before the Xbox One launches, Microsoft rolled out the SmartGlass companion app that’s designed to let you use your mobile device as a second screen. You can control your TV watching experience, browse the Web, navigate the Xbox One itself, and view “extended experiences” of TV shows, music, and games with the SmartGlass app. For as handy as that may be in the living room, SmartGlass has some use while you’re out and about, too. You can search and browse for content to play later on the Xbox One and then pin it so it’s ready for you when you get home, and when it comes to games, you can interact with game friends, watch DVR-ed game clips, and...
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It took five months for Vine to show up on Android devices after launching for iOS, and another five months later the 6-second video-sharing app is available for Windows Phone, too. The app will look and feel familiar to those who have already used it on other platforms, although there are some Windows Phone-only features such as the ability to pin your favorite Vine accounts to your device’s homescreen. Credit: Mashable You can shoot a quick video by tapping and holding the screen, and of course you can use either your front- or rear-facing camera. Vine for Windows Phone includes camera tools such as grid and ghost, and the app lets you check out other Vines, including looking through...
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There’s a human behind every machine voice, from ATMs to airport announcements, but until now nobody knew who was the voice of the American Siri, the female robot assistant that became part of the lives of every iPhone owner since the debut of the 4S. It turns out, she’s Susan Bennett; she’s been doing voice work since the 1970s and had no idea the recordings she made would ever become the personification of the iPhone in her own pocket. Back in 2005, Bennett was called upon to do voice work for a company called ScanSoft (which later became Nuance Communications). She did recordings for four hours a day for the whole month of July, and she did them in her own home studio. (That’s...
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It’s no secret that BlackBerry as a company is a shadow of its former self, but things are getting objectively, measurably worse. Days after the company announced that it’s expecting a $950 million to $990 million loss in its Q4 earnings report and will likely have to cut up to 4,500 jobs in the coming months, T-Mobile let leak plans to stop selling the company’s handsets in its stores. T-Mobile will still sell BlackBerry devices, such as the BlackBerry Z10, Z30, and 9720, but it will ship the handsets directly to consumers instead of keeping physical stock. T-Mobile executive VP for corporate services told Reuters that due to low consumer demand for BlackBerry phones, "keeping...
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YouTube announced that this November, it will launch an offline viewing option for mobile that will allow users to stash a video for later. Simply put, if you’re in the middle of watching a video on your mobile device and are going to lose your Internet (or just need to do something else for the moment and want to finish the video later), you can add the video to your device. The video will be available on that device, whether or not it’s connected to the Internet, for up to 48 hours. After that it’s gone, but at any time during that window, you can pull it up on your device and watch away. There’s no indication as to how much content a user will be able to park on a device--images...
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Microsoft is acquiring Nokia’s mobile business, effectively ending any possibility that Nokia Lumia phones might someday run Android, and the Redmond-based company is wasting no time in rebranding the line of handsets currently bearing the name “Nokia”. According to a photo dug up by IBtimes, a UK advertisement from Microsoft for the Nokia Lumia 520 shows that the “Nokia” name that’s usually centered at the top of the phone is gone. Otherwise, it’s identical to a Nokia Lumia 520 product photo that’s been around for a while. Credit: Twitter/Brian Robertson via IBtimes A Nokia spokesperson clarified the branding somewhat by saying, "Microsoft would...
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AT&T will be selling the Nokia Lumia 925, the successor to the popular Nokia Lumia 920, starting on September 13th for $99.99 with a 2-year contract. The 925 joins the Nokia Lumia 1020, 920, 820, and 520 in AT&T’s lineup, and the black version of the handset will be an AT&T exclusive. The 925 Windows Phone device has a polycarbonate plastic-and-aluminum body and features a 4.5-inch AMOLED WXGA (with curved Gorilla Glass 2), a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 16GB of onboard storage, and an 8.7MP PureView camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, dual LED flash, and optical image stabilization that shoots in 1080p HD. The 2000 mAh battery purports to offer 10.3 hours of talk...
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Well, that didn’t take long; shortly after leaked videos of the Nokia Lumia 1020 spread around the Internet, Nokia and AT&T went ahead and officially announced the handset via a press release and yet another video. The phone is available exclusively through AT&T starting on July 26th and will be cost $299.99 with a two-year contract. The device comes in black, white, and yellow, and it’s the first Windows Phone with the AT&T Locker cloud storage app. Most importantly for those eagerly anticipating this multimedia powerhouse phone, we now have more complete specs, which include a 4.5-inch 1280x768 Corning Gorilla Glass display, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor...
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