By and large, the Lumia line has looked fairly uniform to date, relying on polycarbonate frames, bold colors and stand-out camera features to differentiate itself. The Lumia 925, despite being one of the final Lumias to ship with Nokia's branding, stands as one of the first in the range to truly carve a different path on the design front....Read more...
We're inching closer to the end of an era. Now that Microsoft has acquired Nokia's mobile phone unit, we'll soon see Microsoft-branded handsets rolling out in place of Nokia's own hardware. The company has made a heroic attempt to fight the tide of Apple's growing popularity coupled with the surging share of Android, but currently, Windows...Read more...
HTC's quarterly earnings just rolled in, and they are pretty far from the modern definition of "rosey." But, that's not exactly a surprise given the firm's stuggles in recent quarters. There are multiple schools of thought when it comes to the idea of getting HTC back on track; the company makes outstanding hardware...Read more...
Say what you will about the power of the ecosystem, but one of Microsoft's biggest hurdles to overcome in the mobile arena isn't quality hardware nor software. Nokia makes killer phones, and most of the AAA-level apps in the Windows Phone store are of high quality (just look at Evernote, for example). But there's a...Read more...
In the hardware world, even the best-selling devices eventually reach EOL (end-of-life) status. And, as fate would have it, it seems that the software world follows suit. But every now and again, a product is killed that leaves us scratching our heads. While Windows Phone 8 is clearly the premier mobile product for Microsoft, it sure doesn't...Read more...
With the introduction of iOS 7 later this week (at least into public hands), Siri is poised to exit "Beta." Finally, right? Of course, language learning takes time, and Siri has been ingesting queries for a long time now in order to improve her understanding of the human voice. Meanwhile, Google Now shipped for Jelly Bean devices, and arguably...Read more...
With the mobile phone sector stealing its fair share of gaming dollars from the traditional handheld market, Microsoft has decided to do something pretty smart: team up with a major publisher of games in order to shape titles up for launch onto both its mobile and desktop platforms. This week, Microsoft inked a deal...Read more...
Microsoft is facing a lot of headwind when it comes to Windows Phone adoption, and in a bid to deal with a bit of that, the company is launching a new Web-based tool. The Windows Phone App Studio is launching today in beta, which is a free app creation tool designed to help anyone quickly bring an idea to life by...Read more...
Nokia's battle in the global smartphone race is an intriguing one, and those who follow technology have long wondered if the company's decision to hitch its wagon to Microsoft was a wise one. When Stephen Elop came in as CEO, Nokia was in a rare position: it could choose which platform it wanted to support for the foreseeable future. Of course,...Read more...
Nokia's battle in the global smartphone race is an intriguing one, and those who follow technology have long wondered if the company's decision to hitch its wagon to Microsoft was a wise one. When Stephen Elop came in as CEO, Nokia was in a rare position: it could choose which platform it wanted to support for the foreseeable future. Of course,...Read more...
Every relationship has its nuances, and usually, every relationship has its fair share of bickering. Even if you love someone unconditionally, there will typically be scenarios where you just can't agree or see eye-to-eye. One had to expect something similar when looking at Microsoft and Nokia, which tied each other...Read more...
Slowly but surely, Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system is getting some serious love. Instead of being left behind as Android and iOS counterparts see routine updates, WP8 is starting to see lockstep updates on some fairly major applications. Take Evernote, for example, which just updates its WP app with a new...Read more...
Windows Phone is still struggling mightily to make meaningful gains in the U.S. market, and if there's one thing that'll help, it's getting more WP8 phones into more stores. And Walmart is a pretty meaingful store. Huawei isn't a major name in the U.S. arena, at least in terms of consumer devices, but the company is bringing its W1 to U.S....Read more...
Looks like Microsoft just popped another feather in its cap. As the company strives to expand its Windows Store to include some of the AAA applications that iPhone and Android users already enjoy, Rhapsody just joined the Windows Phone fray. The company's new WP8 app most certainly looks the part, fitting in quite...Read more...
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...Read more...
As 2013 rings in, we all get a chance to look back, reflect and take inventory on where were are. Here at HotHardware, it also gives us a chance to think about our wish list for the year ahead, and how we hope our favorite gadgets and platforms evolve. Evolution is a natural part of growth in consumer electronics, and...Read more...
In a sense, it feels like Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft's first real foray into the smartphone space post Windows Mobile. Of course, Microsoft made a concerted effort with Windows Phone 7, but there's something very different about version 8. WP8 borrows from the underpinnings of Windows Phone 7, but there are so many differences in the operating...Read more...
In a sense, it feels like Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft's first real foray into the smartphone space post Windows Mobile. Of course, Microsoft made a concerted effort with Windows Phone 7, but there's something vastly different about version 8. WP8 borrows from the underpinnings of Windows Phone 7, but there are so many differences...Read more...
There's good news and bad. First, the good. According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, his company is selling "four times" as many Windows Phone handsets as this time last year, and he's attributing that in large part to Windows Phone 8 being available across three of America's four largest carriers. But here's the bad...Read more...
Microsoft has made clear that it'll be making huge efforts to equip developers with the tools they need to make a serious contribution to the SkyDrive ecosystem. As we've seen over the past few years, ecosystems matter much more, and raw tech specs matter much less. Particularly with Windows Phone, which lacks many key apps compared to iOS...Read more...
The first Windows Phone 8 handsets are trickling out, and for those anxious to see what Microsoft has been cooking up in terms of Skype integration, now's your turn. Microsoft has today released a Skype Preview for WP8 (version 2.0). According to the company, this Preview build will give users "all of the Skype basics in the new, modern design...Read more...
There's a story behind every champion, and every upstart has a tale to tell as well. While Windows may own the lion's share of the market when it comes to the desktop operating system, Windows Phone is lagging behind two highly capable rivals. But Windows Phone 8 is the most promising version yet, and Microsoft has...Read more...