Nokia Lumia 510 to ship with Windows Phone 7.8 pre-installed

Nokia Lumia 510 to ship with Windows Phone 7.8 pre-installed

December 15, 2012 | By Surur

According to BGR India the Nokia Lumia 510 will be the first phone to ship with Windows Phone 7.8 from the start. BGR notes it comes with Bluetooth File Sharing and a Ring tone maker pre-installed.

The WVGA device with 256 MB RAM and 4 GB storage features a 5 megapixel camera and an 800 Mhz Cortex A5 processor.

Unfortunately Windows Pone 7.8 as an update will only arrive in early 2013, meaning the rest of us will have to wait, but soon for an increasing number of people this will be their only Windows Phone experience.

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Samsung ATIV S now on sale in UK and Canada

Samsung ATIV S now on sale in UK and Canada

December 15, 2012 | By Surur

The long-awaited Samsung ATIV S has finally hit the market, just in time for Christmas.

The handset is now available unlocked from Expansys for £459.99 VAT inclusive, and should arrive soon on Handtec for £431.99.

Meanwhile in Canada the ATIV S is now available via TELUS, Bell and Rogers in limited quantities.

On Bell the handset is $600 commitment free or $100 on 3 year contract, while the handset is also $600 at Rogers or $80 on contract.  Finally on Telus, where they clearly want to push users to buying a contract,  the device is $650 contract-free or $30 on contract.

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Facebook app for Windows Phone updated

Facebook app for Windows Phone updated

December 15, 2012 | By Surur

The Facebook app for Windows Phone 8 has seen a minor update to version 4.1.0.0. There is not much obvious that is new, with the app remaining blazing fast on WIFI, but it was noticed that the Info panel in the Events tab has been fixed.

The Facebook app for Windows Phone can be found in the Windows Phone Store here.

Have any of our readers noticed any other changes? Let us know below.

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Clove sold out of Lumia 920’s, will only be restocked in mid-January 2013

Clove sold out of Lumia 920’s, will only be restocked in mid-January 2013

December 15, 2012 | By Surur

In somewhat of a sign regarding Nokia production and distribution capabilities, Clove has announced that they are sold out of all Nokia Lumia 920’s, but expect to receive another shipment in a month’s time.

So far both shipments they received were sold out in days of receiving them, and there is little doubt that more could have been sold if more were available.

The significance of this of course is that when Nokia announces their quarterly sales and earnings on the 24th of January, they would certainly have underperformed on one aspect – actually getting the phone in the hands of people who want to give them money.

Nokia has not spoken about any specific challenges in producing the NL 920, but one can imagine the camera assembly, screen and flash memory could all have been supply choke points. Nokia has of course also closed numerous factories and outsourced production of at least some phones to Compal and others.

These issues does place Nokia at a disadvantage in terms of fulfilment compared to a vertically integrated company like Samsung and it suggests in trimming the fat during their lean years they may have cut a bit too close to the bone in some areas.

Do our readers agree that in terms of logistics and capacity Nokia is now a very different company from yesteryear or did Nokia just not anticipate the demand for the Nokia Lumia 920, given that they themselves predicted a flat Q4 2012? Let us know below.

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WhatsApp for Windows Phone 8 now in the Windows Phone Store

WhatsApp for Windows Phone 8 now in the Windows Phone Store

December 15, 2012 | By Surur

WhatsApp 2.8.10.0 is now in the Windows Phone Store, and will install on your Windows Phone 8 handset.

There do not appear to be much obvious improvements – in fact smilies have disappeared, and the app does not appear to be using fast resume from the live tile or any other Windows Phone 8 specific APIs, which does make one wonder what the wait was all about.

It does start up pretty fast however, which is not to be sneezed at.

The app can be found via the WhatsApp download page here.

See a video comparing the WP7 vs WP8 versions, via MNB, after the break.

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Upcoming Xbox Live Windows Phone 8 games revealed

Upcoming Xbox Live Windows Phone 8 games revealed

December 14, 2012 | By Surur

WPCentral have collated the some upcoming Windows Phone 8 Xbox Live-enabled games from the  Xbox website.

The titles include:

Asphalt 7: Heat
Take on the world in six different game modes in tracks across the globe, driving the most amazing cars by prestigious makers like Audi, Lamborghini and Aston Martin.

Fairway Solitaire
Unique gameplay combines solitaire with golf to create an experience unlike any other. Play sequential cards to create long runs. Long runs make long drives, and long drives make better scores!

Gravity Guy 2
You are the master of gravity! Reverse the polarity of the world to manipulate your surroundings and reach the end.

Ice Age Village
Scrat’s hunt for his favorite acorn has opened a crack in the earth’s crust, sending the animals scurrying for safety. Help them in this heroic challenge and get ready for fun and surprises along the way!

Jetpack Joyride
Join Barry Steakfries as he breaks in to a secret laboratory to commandeer the experimental jetpacks from the clutches of science evildoers.

N.O.V.A 3
The Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance receives a desperate plea from Yelena to come to Earth. Once again, the hero must rise to save mankind!

Shark Dash
Shark Dash is a fun and engaging game that takes the physics puzzler to fun new heights with a unique cartoonish style starring funny little bath toys!

At this stage it is not known if all these titles will come to Windows Phone 7.5 also.

See videos for these games from other platforms after the break.

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MOBILE This Dual LCD And E-Ink Phone Will Be Available In 2013

Earlier this year, a prototype of a dual e-ink and LCD phone was floating around. Turns out it’s much further down the development road than that though — in fact, it should be available next year.

Manufactured by a Russian company called Yota Devices, this is an Android phone at heart. But, unlike other phones, into its frame is crammed both a 4.3-inch 720×1280 LCD display on the front and a 200dpi e-ink display of the same size on the rear.

Elsewhere, Yota has released details of the guts that lurk inside too: a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB of RAM, at least 32GB of storage, LTE a 12MP rear camera and a 720p front-facing camera. Despite having two screens, Yota claims it’s less than 10mm thick. This things sounds none too shabby.

Yota also claims to be planning to make more use of the e-ink display than reading. It explains that it will route data to the second screen whenever it makes sense in an attempt to increase battery life — by up to 50 per cent, or so it claims. How well that will work in practice — and how much users will appreciate it — is another question entirely.

This brings us to a couple of major question marks. First, it’s unclear who exactly would want a dual display phone like this: reading is a very specific application, after all, usually best done on a slightly-larger-than-phone-size screen. Second, Yota hardly has a track record in device manufacturing, so if it’s selling a phone based on a dual-screen gimmick, it’s not necessarily clear that the rest of device will be up to scratch.

But only time — and a play with the thing — will tell as far as that final point’s concerned. Yota is aiming for a launch in the third quarter of 2013.

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Sim-Free Nokia Lumia 620 Now Available For Pre-Order From Unlocked-Mobiles UK

Sim-Free Nokia Lumia 620 Now Available For Pre-Order From Unlocked-Mobiles UK

December 14, 2012 | By Pradeep

Nokia announced its low-end Windows Phone 8 device Lumia 620 in the first week of December. The device will be priced around $250 for the following specs.

Nokia Lumia 620
Operating System	Windows Phone 8
Display	3.8-inch TFT WVGA 800×480 ClearBlack
Battery	1300 mAh
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon(TM) S4 processor with 1 Ghz dual-core CPUs
Camera	Main: 5MP Autofocus, LED flashFront-facing camera: VGA
Memory	512MB RAM 8GB mass memory (Micro SD support up to 64GB) 7GB free Microsoft SkyDrive storage

Nokia earlier announced that it will be available in January 2013 in Asia, followed closely by Europe and the Middle East before expanding further. Now, Unlocked-Mobiles UK has started taking pre-orders for this device at £174.98 and the delivery of the device is expected to be at the end of January.

Find the listing here.

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Apple’s share price collapse after chilly iPhone 5 reception in China

Apple’s share price collapse after chilly iPhone 5 reception in China

December 14, 2012 | By Surur

Apple’s share price opened 3% down this morning on news that the iPhone 5 has had a pretty muted reception in China, where the device went on sale today.

Unlike the release of the iPhone 4s, no long lines of customers were seen queuing outside Apple’s seven retail stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Sina.com notes although the iPhone 5 could still become a popular product, Chinese consumers’ fever for the latest model has cooled as it offers few exciting upgrades from the earlier model.

"The iPhone 5 boosts no big innovations and is not very different from the iPhone 4s," said a woman surnamed Lou at an Apple store in Beijing’s Xidan shopping street. "I might wait for the next model."

Another woman surnamed Ye told Xinhua that she hopes Apple can come up with new models with major upgrades.

"The iPhone 5 is undeniably a good product. However, among the high-end smartphone category, it has a smaller screen and few bright spots, but has a high price," said Wang Yanhui, secretary general of the China Mobile Phone Alliance.

Multiple factors have worked against the iPhone 5 in China, including multiple competitors with bigger screens, faster network access and deals with China Mobile, the largest carrier in the world.

Apple’s share price recently took a knock after Nokia was able to make a deal with China Mobile for the Nokia Lumia 920T, while Apple was unable to for the iPhone 5. Currently Apple has lost nearly $200 billion in share holder value since their summer high, and appears to be handing back all the meteoric increases in their share price they gained this year so far.

Apple’s stock price will not get an effective boost unless it shows signs of unveiling products with major innovations, said Wang.

Money seems to be flowing from Apple to Nokia’s who’s shares are up 2.66% this morning and nearly 140% from their summer low of $1.63.

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NPD: 5% of smartphones in Italy now Windows Phones

NPD: 5% of smartphones in Italy now Windows Phones

December 14, 2012 | By Surur

NPD has released some stats on the Italian market, and it reads as good news for Microsoft, with it and Android the only two growing smartphone ecosystems in the country.

The survey, which measures ownership, not sales, shows Windows Phone ownership has increased significantly from Q2 2012, and currently rests around 5%. In terms of market share, we have seen Kantar surveys which show more than 10% of phones sold every month are now Windows Phones in the country, leading to the increasing installed base.

The news is not so good for iPhone and Symbian, which both saw steep drops in ownership, due to sales not matching the expanding market, while RIM remained stable.

Like the UK Nokia Lumia 8000 news, this market change is driven primarily by the European economic crisis, showing that Microsoft can deliver high quality handsets at low prices it stands a good chance of establishing a foothold on the continent.

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Nokia Lumia 800 continues comeback in UK

Nokia Lumia 800 continues comeback in UK

December 14, 2012 | By Surur

UK does not have the most vibrant economy in the world at the minute, and I think this is clearly reflected in the popularity of older smartphones in uSwitch’s top 10 list.

This also probably explains why the Nokia Lumia 800 is making a come back, rising to the 7th spot on their weekly list of “UK’s most popular mobile phones this week, ranked by deal popularity and sales”.

The other Nokia Windows Phone also doing well on the list is the Nokia Lumia 610, which rose 9 spots in total.  Likely both handsets are benefiting from advertising for the Nokia Lumia 920, the more full featured but more expensive Windows Phone.

Amazon UK also has the handset listed as a Best Seller in Mobile Phones indicating that delivering a high quality handset at a low price may be a very good strategy for Microsoft after all.

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MetroTalk 3.0 GoogleTalk client released for Windows Phone 8

MetroTalk 3.0 GoogleTalk client released for Windows Phone 8

December 14, 2012 | By metrotalk

MetroTalk is the best-rated Google Voice app for Windows Phone. It supports push notifications for instantly receiving SMS messages and voicemail, even when the app is not active. Performance and user experience have been the major focus during development.

The trial/free version is ad-supported, and comes with all the features of the full version. However if you enjoy using MetroTalk, we strongly suggest upgrading for further supporting future development.

Changelog – Version 3.0:

• New: Windows Phone 8 support
• New: Fast resume
• New: Multi-size tile support
• New: Lock-screen unread counter
• New: Text-to-speech
• New: Added ability to auto-dial a contact directly from the start screen (a new pin-to-start menu has been introduced in Call/Text)
• New: Additional folder pages can now be downloaded using a scroll-up gesture
• New: Option for enabling private mode, which hides any sender or content info for new notifications
• New: Option to disable vibrating on new messages
• Update: Added new icon for the Call/Text secondary tile
• Update: The account PIN is now hidden in settings
• Bug fix: Secondary tiles are working now on WP8

For a full list of features, please visit our website here. Feel free to contact us for any questions or feedback you have.

Price: USD $1.49

Trial: Yes (fully functional, no limitations, ad-supported)

Marketplace: bit.ly/K38MVY

Website: www.metrotalk-windowsphone.com

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Day Thirteen – 25 Days of Christmas Photos

Day Thirteen – 25 Days of Christmas Photos

December 14, 2012 | By andrewbares

That is one beautiful snow-covered forest!

Travis shot these pictures with his Lumia 920. His dogs were also out enjoying the fresh snow. Some hot cocoa by the fireplace is definitely needed after a chilly snow storm like this!

Submit your own photo! (See past photos)

1. Take a pic using your Windows Phone and do NOT edit it! No Instagram-style shots!
2. Email the pic to wpholiday@outlook.com, including…
   1. Your first name
   2. The phone you used
   3. Describe the picture, why it’s important, or whatever you want to say!

You might like:

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Windows Phone Store now available in 191 Markets

Windows Phone Store now available in 191 Markets

December 14, 2012 | By Surur

The Windows Phone Store team have announced a further expansion of their service.

The online webstore has added another 37 markets, taking the web store up to 112 markets, and the store on the phone itself to 191.

The new markets are:

Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo (DRC), Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guinea, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Paraguay, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Microsoft also announced some new features.  The first is the ability to downloads XAPs and install them from SD card.  The next is “universal search”, which will surface apps and “How-to” articles from the same search.

The last as an improved re-install feature, which should make it easier to restore your phone apps after a hard reset.

Read more at the Windows blog here.

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Apple found to violate 3 Nokia and Sony patents

Apple found to violate 3 Nokia and Sony patents

December 13, 2012 | By Surur

Jurors in Wilmington, Delaware today found Apple was in violation of 3 patents held by MobileMedia, a consortium created by Nokia, Sony and the MPEG-LA to enforce their collective patents.

The firm sued Apple in 2010 claiming that it infringed 14 patents in total. Only 3 patents eventually went to court, and Apple was found to be infringing all three. Patents included the camera’s phone and "call handling and call rejection."

MobileMedia Chief Executive Officer Larry Horn said after the decision: "We’re very pleased. We think it’s justified."

MobileMedia is managing 300 patents and currently has on-going cases against RIM (regarding 12 patents) and HTC (regarding 11 patents).

No settlement was announced yet, but the victory will likely result in license payments which will eventually percolate to the three respective companies.

Apple has already been forced to settle with Nokia regarding 3G patents in 2011, paying $608 million to Nokia and also on-going license fees.

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IDC: More than 1/3 Of Developers Very Interested In Developing For Windows Tablets And Windows Phone

IDC: More than 1/3 Of Developers Very Interested In Developing For Windows Tablets And Windows Phone

December 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

IDC today released their Appcelerator quarterly report for Q4 2012. According to the report, 36% of the developers surveyed by IDC were interested in Microsoft’s mobile platform Windows Phone. The same number of developers were also interested in Windows tablets.

While not the biggest number, it is pretty good considering the size of the Windows Phone and Windows 8 tablet installed base.

Platform device sales is the major concern for developers to invest in both the Microsoft’s platforms. I hope the sales numbers of Windows Phone devices and Windows tablets will grow significantly in 2013 which will lead to  more developer interest.

IDC commented the following on Microsoft Surface interest among developers,

Developers are impressed with the tablet hardware delivered by Microsoft through its Surface offering. However, they believe Microsoft still has significant work to do to make Windows 8 a successful mobile platform. 20% of developers are impressed with the hardware and think it will accelerate Microsoft’s mobile ambitions. However, 35.5% of developers believe that while the tablet may be a nice piece of hardware, Microsoft needs more to be successful. To accelerate the success of the Windows platform for mobile devices, the company will need to make investments in developer relations and application enablement.

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Windows Phone And Core77 Announces “App To The Future” Design Contest

Windows Phone And Core77 Announces “App To The Future” Design Contest

December 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

For the second year in a row, Microsoft has partnered with Core77 to run a design contest for Windows Phone developers. 5 winners will be awarded with Microsoft Surface, Windows Phone 8 device and 1 year Windows Phone developer subscription. To participate in the challenge, you must submit a design concept by February 3, 2013.

Design an app for Windows Phone that showcases how to create, connect or impress the pants off your future self.  Apps are a way to take control of your day-to-day life.  Today they help you wake up, dress, commute, stay on top of news and reach the important people in your life throughout the day, and at their best they help you do things the way YOU want to do them. But what more could your apps do for you tomorrow?

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Microsoft Store Windows Phone App Updated To v2.0 With The Ability To Purchase Within The App

Microsoft Store Windows Phone App Updated To v2.0 With The Ability To Purchase Within The App

December 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

Microsoft has updated their retail store app for Windows Phone devices. Now, you can order things from Microsoft Store catalogue within the app. Older features such as locating nearest Microsoft Store, Scheduling an Answer Desk or Personal Training, etc, are still present in this app.

New in version 2.0:

 • View online Microsoft Store catalog
• See details on specific products in the online store
• Search for products in the online store
• See special offers currently available at the online store
• Purchase products from the online store to have shipped to your home
• Share details of a product you like with a friend
• See a list of all the stores closest to your current location
• Easily switch to nearby store
• View image of actual store
• Updated directions how to find the store
• New link to online Answer Desk services
• See events happening at your store
• Share details of an event at your nearby store with a friend
• Read latest stories from Microsoft News website and Microsoft Official Blog
• Receive notifications on your phone about special offers and events as your nearby store

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Microsoft Working On Google Ingress Like Mobile Game To Improve Mapping?

Microsoft Working On Google Ingress Like Mobile Game To Improve Mapping?

December 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

Microsoft just like other mapping companies like Nokia, Google, etc, is looking to improve their mapping system with crowd sourced data. The system describes a AR game where users will have missions to take photos and post information of a place thereby improving the location information. Read the abstract below for a brief description of Microsoft’s plan,

Architecture that motivates and utilizes users as the means for capturing geographical data of a desired location. The architecture incentivizes users (e.g., large numbers of mobile-phone and mobile-computer users) to provide the data in the form of geolocation information trails and images captured by user devices. Thus, users take multiple pictures, for example, and can validate existing coverage of specific points of interest based on variable needs of the requestor. One motivational technique is by using augmented reality (AR) games, which include shooting targets associated with the point of interest (e.g., a street). Thus, the game can be designed for the data accumulation, which includes visual data. Additionally, the architecture can determine the areas or points of interest for validation and/or additional coverage by comparing live video data to an image database to decide of the need for update.

Google recently launched an AR game called Ingress for Android users, I’m not sure whether Google has same plans as Microsoft.

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Metrotube YouTube App Now Available For Windows Phone 8 Devices

Metrotube YouTube App Now Available For Windows Phone 8 Devices

December 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

Metrotube, one of the best YouTube app available on Windows Phone Store is now available for Windows Phone 8 users. The new Windows Phone 8 version of the app will feature multi-sized Live Tiles, pre-loading videos for offline view, etc,.

• Live, double sided tile notifications
• Chameleon tiles that adapt to your phone theme
• Share videos via Facebook, Twitter, SMS and email
• Quickly access and filter your subscriptions
• Comment, reply and rate videos during playback
• Find videos, playlists and authors effortlessly
• Designed to be incredibly fun and easy to use
• View author related content including detailed profile page, their favorite videos and playlists

Download the app here from Windows Phone Store.

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No Google Apps for Windows 8 & Windows Phone

Google was in the news today with the launch of their Maps application on iOS but it looks like Windows 8 isn’t going to be getting similar attention from the Search giant. In an interview with V3, Google Apps product management director Clay Bavor said that “we have no plans to build out Windows apps.”

Google hasn’t completely neglected Microsoft’s latest platform, the Windows Store does have Google’s Chrome browser as ell as a Google Search App. But it looks like that’s all that we’re going to be seeing from them for some time.

Bavor explained that “we are very careful about where we invest and will go where the users are but they are not on Windows Phone or Windows 8.” It seems they feel there just isn’t a demand for their apps on Windows 8. All isn’t lost however, as he did add in that if there was an interest “we would invest there, of course,”.

So where will Google be placing their resources? Looks like iOS and Android apps will be getting some love as well as its cloud-based offerings like Drive and Gmail.

What do you think? Is Google right in neglecting Windows Phone and Windows 8?

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Nokia Drive+ Beta for WP8 updated–now easier on your battery

Nokia Drive+ Beta for WP8 updated–now easier on your battery

December 13, 2012 | By Surur

Windows Phone 8 introduced the welcome ability to let GPS navigation apps continue to run in the background, but this does open up the issue of the same GPS navigation app draining your battery by constantly polling for your location, even when you are sitting in the office.

The latest update to Nokia Drive + Beta for Windows Phone 8 addresses this very issue, and quite intelligently.

The app will now turn off your GPS location polling when sent to the background, except when active navigation is going on, meaning unexpected battery drain will be avoided.

The full change log include:

• Power Saving Mode: turn off GPS when the app runs in the background (except when used in guide mode.
• Back to my position and distance measurement: one-touch access to your current position as you explore or zooming of the map also shows the distance from the current position
• User Interface Enhancements
• Bug fixes

The app, which is Nokia exclusive, can be found in the Nokia Collection.

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Windows Phone 7.8 shows up on Navifirm for NL 800 and NL 510

Windows Phone 7.8 shows up on Navifirm for NL 800 and NL 510

December 13, 2012 | By Surur

Windows Phone 7.8 can not be too far off, with a version of the OS showing up on Navifirm for the Nokia Lumia 510 and Nokia Lumia 800.

This means if you are so inclined and do not mind losing all your data you could flash the OS to your phone right now.

Windows Phone 7.8 will eventually bring an updated start screen, Bing wallpapers, a child-lock feature and for Nokia handsets Bluetooth file transfer and a ring tone maker, amongst other features to older Windows Phone handsets.

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Nokia Lumia 620, HTC 8S

Nokia Lumia 620, HTC 8S

December 13, 2012 | By Surur

WinP.cn have collated some more pictures and info for the Huawei Ascend W1, and the above table makes for interesting reading.

It is of note that the device is is many ways very similar to the HTC 8S and Nokia Lumia 620 specs wise, but has a larger screen than the NL 620, bigger battery than the HTC 8S and is considerably cheaper than both. The devices of course feature expandable storage, which should make the 4 GB built-in storage a less relevant issue.

In the competitive Chinese environment where home-grown brands are doing quite well it is likely the two other handsets will see some stiff competition.

See more pictures at WinP.cn here.

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Weather Flow App Updated For Windows Phone 8 Devices

Weather Flow App Updated For Windows Phone 8 Devices

December 13, 2012 | By Pradeep

Weather Flow, one of the beautiful weather apps on Windows Phone Store just got updated with Windows Phone 8 features. It now features three Live Tile sizes, Lock Screen support and more.

Features:  

* Choose from two different live tile styles and three different live tile settings. Use the simple and elegant modern style or the graphical and beautiful rich style. Set the content of the live tile to show current, daily and hourly forecasts.
* Choose from three different lock screen styles and three different lock screen information settings. Choose your background image to represent the current weather, use a custom image or use the daily Bing wallpaper. Set the content of the lock screen to display the current weather, daily or hourly forecasts.
* Supports both metric (Celsius) and imperial (Fahrenheit)
* All three tile types (small, medium, wide) are supported with backtiles
* Track weather for multiple locations in the app. Forecasts and weather conditions are provided for locations around the world.
* Pin multiple locations to your start screen to track whether it’s warm or cold, rainy, cloudy, windy or sunny there.

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HTC 8X firmware update now available

HTC 8X firmware update now available

December 13, 2012 | By Surur

After the first OS update for Windows Phone 8 HTC is now also pushing out a firmware update for the HTC 8X.

WPC reports that manually checking for updates produced the new software on their unlocked HTC 8X.

It is not known what changes the new software brings, but the standard performance and stability improvements is probably a good bet.

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Samsung ATIV S finally hitting the market starting from the 13th December

Samsung ATIV S finally hitting the market starting from the 13th December

December 13, 2012 | By Surur

It seems the first Windows Phone 8 handset announced is now finally ready to hit the market.

In UK Unlocked-Mobile will be offering the handset for costs £424.98(about €526 or $686). Clove is offering it for £442.80 and Expansysfor £459.99 for shipping on the Friday, December 14.

In Canada, both Bell and Telus will be able to sell the Samsung Ativ S on December 14, for less than $100 on contract. Rogers and SaskTel will follow later at an unspecified date.

Are any of our readers still waiting for this handset? Let us know below.

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Pacific Crest: Strong Demand For Nokia Lumia WP8 Devices Only Due To Low Shipment Volumes

Pacific Crest: Strong Demand For Nokia Lumia WP8 Devices Only Due To Low Shipment Volumes

December 12, 2012 | By Pradeep

We saw several reports that there is a strong demand for Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices due to both sales and low shipments volume. Today, Analyst James Faucette from Pacific Crest said that there is no strong demand for Nokia Lumia WP8 devices due to sales.

We believe that the recent rise in the stock may have been driven by what we would characterize as an overly optimistic in-terpretation of initial Lumia sales commentary. Back in mid-November, Bloomberg cited the rise in NOK1V shares as being driven by reports that the Lumia 920 had seen strong demand in Germany. While this may have been the case for a few thousand initial units, our checks indicate that retailers in Germany say they are only now beginning to receive the 920 across normal sales channels, and the volumes being received are still very small. We believe there is some initial pent-up demand that is resulting in stores selling out of initial shipments in a few days. Nevertheless, we believe this is largely to do with the low shipment volumes rather than surprisingly strong demand.

He also writes that Lumia 920 sales in AT&T is also not so great and he expects only 1 million Windows Phone 8 device sales at the end of this quarter.

We believe a somewhat similar dynamic is likely going on at AT&T for the 920. Based on the inventory on hand, we believe AT&T is selling only 10,000 to 15,000 Lumia 920 devices per week at the moment. We believe stores are able to sell available stock in a few days; however, we found most stores getting only a handful at a time. We estimate that the company is tracking toward shipping roughly 1 million new Windows 8 products in the December quarter, while it looks likely to sell-through roughly half of those units, based on current run rates.

What do you think? We can’t really predict anything from these analyst reports because they differ so much from each other.

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