Nokia Care stores in Lebanon flashing Lumias with Windows Phone 7.8

Nokia Care stores in Lebanon flashing Lumias with Windows Phone 7.8

January 5, 2013 | By Surur

Jeffrey wrote to tell us that his local Nokia Care service centre in Lebanon has flashed hisNokia Lumia 900 with Windows Phone 7.8.

The Care centres have apparently been offering the service for the last 2 weeks, presumably using the ROMs from Navifirm, and Jeffrey reports his handset is working pretty well afterwards.

Unfortunately Nokia’s special Bluetooth Sharing and Ringtone maker apps for Windows Phone 7.8 are not available yet, but this should only be a question of time.

We have heard similar stories from India already, so the practice may be quite widespread.  If you want the latest OS on your phone and don’t mind losing your SMS messages and other content, check your local Nokia Care centre and stop waiting for your carrier.

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AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 free wireless charging plate offer expiring on the 10th

AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 free wireless charging plate offer expiring on the 10th

January 5, 2013 | By Surur

GadgetInsider writes to remind us that AT&T’s offer of a free wireless charging plate with the purchase of a Nokia Lumia 920, on sale on contract for only $99, will expire on the 10th January 2012.

The plate, which costs more than $50 on its own, adds the convenience of charging your phone without having to plug it in, and allows buyers to enjoy one of the unique features of the handset.

To qualify for the deal purchase your phone from AT&T here.

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Digitimes: HTC 8X sales “extremely strong in the US”

Digitimes: HTC 8X sales “extremely strong in the US”

January 5, 2013 | By Surur

DIgitimes’ usual unnamed industry sources have some good news for Windows Phone fans.

According to their sources sales of the HTC 8X has been “extremely strong in the US”.

The HTC 8X has not been topping charts as far as we know on carriers in the US, but it is the only Windows Phone which is on sale on 3 of the 4 big carriers, meaning it can address a much larger market than the Nokia Lumia 920 for example.  The handset’s main differentiating feature is its slim-line design and very high DPI and excellent Super-LCD 2 screen.

HTC may reveal a bit more about the performance of the handset and their business when they report Q4 financials on the 7th January, which is of course in only 2 days.

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Adduplex: 43% of US WP users run Windows Phone 8

Adduplex: 43% of US WP users run Windows Phone 8

January 5, 2013 | By Surur

Adduplex have tweeted the above slide showing the break down between Windows Phone 7.x and Windows Phone 8 on their ad network, interestingly corroborating our own statswhich on Thursday showed 46.4% of our WP readers are using Windows Phone 8 handsets vs 53.6 Windows Phone 7.x handsets.

Adduplex, who run in-app ads in the main, and who therefore are a pretty good measure of what the general population is doing, found a very similar 43% of US Windows Phone users are using Windows Phone 8 handsets, vs 57% Windows Phone 7.x.

This suggests either half of Windows Phone 7.x users upgraded to Windows Phone 8 (which seems unlikely because most will still be locked into their two year contracts) or the Windows Phone population has nearly doubled over the last 2 months.

Adduplex will be releasing a full reports next week, and we hopefully let us know if it the change was associated also with a volume increase rather that simply changing the composition of the group.

Do our readers think Windows Phone 8 is attracting new users, or are WP7.5 users merely upgrading early? Let us know below.

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Custom Windows Phone 7.8 ROM for the HTC Surround now available

Custom Windows Phone 7.8 ROM for the HTC Surround now available

January 5, 2013 | By Surur

We don’t know when Windows Phone 7.8 will be rolling out to current handsets, but it is seeming less likely the roll-out will be as smooth as we first believed when Microsoft said they would take direct charge of it and ensure all handsets are upgraded.

If you own a first generation Windows Phone flashing a custom ROM may be the quickest route to the latest software.

Lars on XDA-Developers has cooked the first custom Windows Phone 7.8 ROM for the HTC Surround. The software comes with full unlock, allowing one to use all the homebrew goodies, and is apparently fully functional and free of any major bugs. It supports US and UK English and also Dutch.

To flash the ROM the handset of course needs to have HSPL installed – if you can figure out how to do that the rest should be a doddle.

Find the ROM and associated thread on XDA-Developers here.

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Red and Black Nokia Lumia 920’s back in stock with Clove early next week

Red and Black Nokia Lumia 920’s back in stock with Clove early next week

January 5, 2013 | By Surur

Clove UK is just about ready to sell their first shipment of Nokia Lumia 920 handsets.

They are expecting a supply of Red and Black Windows Phones on the 8th January, and a further supply of white handsets some time in the middle of the month.

Their first shipment sold out even before they received it, and despite supply loosening, if you wish to buy your handset from Clove, who are selling it for £520 including VAT, pre-ordering may still be a good idea.

See the page for the handset at Clove here.

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HG Software’s augmented reality apps leverage Windows Phone 8

HG Software’s augmented reality apps leverage Windows Phone 8

January 5, 2013 | By HG Software

A few days ago, version 2.0 of all of HG Software’s augmented reality apps passed Windows Phone Store certification. Version 2 is available exclusively for Windows Phone 8 and leverages new Windows Phone 8 features. Version 1 is still available for Windows Phone 7 and will continue to receive updates, too.

ATMs Online and Toilets Online are free location-based augmented reality apps that help the user finding ATMs and toilets/restrooms respectively. Both apps now use the new Windows Phone 8 map control that brings new cartographic modes (ATMs Online and Toilets Online use road, hybrid and aerial) and supports offline maps which improves map performance and also helps reducing internet traffic.

Spyglass ($1.99 / free trial) is a comprehensive augmented reality app to create, download, manage and view targets/POIs (points of interest) on the phone. It offers various sources for targets like GPX import, Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap. The user may for example use this to explore foreign towns, identify landmarks, find back to important places or for Geocaching. Like ATMs Online and Toilets Online, version 2 of Spyglass uses the Windows Phone 8 map control that brings new cartographic modes (Spyglass uses all of them, i.e. road, hybrid, aerial and terrain) and supports offline maps which in this case not only improves map performance and helps reducing internet traffic but also significantly improves the usability of Spyglass in areas without network coverage.

Where Is My Car? ($0.99 / free trial) is an augmented reality app that helps managing/finding one’s parked car. It can save the car’s location with just one tap right from the start screen and also has a parking time reminder. Version 2 supports Windows Phone 8 large tiles to display information about the parked car on the start screen.

Users of Windows Phone 8 automatically get the current version 2.0.0 for these apps while users of Windows Phone 7 get version 1.3.2 which was released at the same time and contains fixes for some minor bugs.

ATMs Online	Spyglass	Toilets Online	Where Is My Car?

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Don’t like Google’s behaviour? Complaint To The Consumer Watchdog

Don’t like Google’s behaviour? Complaint To The Consumer Watchdog

January 5, 2013 | By Ferrarifan

Google is at war with Windows Phone, and us users are the victims. They have been systematically cutting the quality of services they offer to Windows Phone users, culminating in today’s events, which casts a different light on earlier issues, such as recently breaking 3rd party YouTube apps on Windows Phone, and of course removing Exchange ActiveSync from Google Mail.

As regular users we can of course not petition the FTC ourselves, but we can make complaints to organizations such as the Consumer Watchdog, who can.

This doesn’t only concern Windows Phone users, but EVERY SINGLE USER OF TECHNOLOGY.  If they can get away with doing it on Windows Phone, who says the won’t do it to other non-Google platforms, such as the Amazon Kindle Fire or the Android phones used in China which doi not use Google’s services. They may even cut off the Microsoft Surface from accessing some Google services in an effort to kill the Windows RT tablet initiative.

If they pull that off, they will grant themselves a monopoly in many sections of the tech world, such as mobile (Android), web browser (Google Chrome), IP of their choice and Google fiber and so on.

Do your bit to stop this from happening.  Contact the Consumer Watchdog by clicking here.

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Colourful Huawei Ascend W1 pictures leak

Colourful Huawei Ascend W1 pictures leak

January 1, 2013 | By Surur

EvLeaks, via Unwiredview.com, have leaked some pictures of the back of the Huawei Ascend W1, showing the multiple colours, which appear to be white, blue, pink and black, the device will be available in.

The low-end Windows Phone 8 handset is expected to be shown off at CES in only a few days time, and is said to have a dual-core 1.2 Ghz processor, 4 GB storage, 512 megabytes RAM and a 5 megapixel camera.

We should see a lot more of the handset at CES 213 will start on the 8th January at Last Vegas.

Via Unwiredview.com

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Keep your New Year’s SMS Group Messages short or else suffer MMS error 225

Keep your New Year’s SMS Group Messages short or else suffer MMS error 225

December 31, 2012 | By Surur

Many people welcome the New Year by sending SMS messages to friends and loved ones. On Windows Phone we have the option of sending group messages, and many of us may be tempted to send the same message to a group of friends when the clock strikes 12.

LandofTechnology however warns that if you try and send a SMS message more than 160 characters long to multiple people you may run into SMS error 225, which is short for Service Denied.

The reason is that Windows Phone automatically convert group SMS messages to MMS messages, and it seems making them more than 160 characters can trigger this network fault (likely an anti-spam measure).

Their advice is simply to keep your message less than 160 characters and spend more time partying and less time on your phone.

Read more at LandofTechnology here.

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Will the Indian Nokia Lumia 920 get TD-LTE support via an OTA update?

Will the Indian Nokia Lumia 920 get TD-LTE support via an OTA update?

December 31, 2012 | By Surur

We have covered recently how the Nokia Lumia 920 coming to India will not support their local variant of LTE, TD-LTE, making the device de facto a 3G phone.

Now according to Nokia support it seems the issue will not be a permanent black mark on the handset in the Indian subcontinent, with support claiming the device will be updated to 4G compliance via a Firmware Over The Air update.

Now we would definitely not recommend buying the smartphone on the promise of an update, even if Nokia confirms it, but if true it would still be a welcome bonus for buyers in the rather small area covered by LTE in India.

Thanks Himadri for the tip.

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Nokia Lumia 920 still got it–Topping AT&T Best Sellers on Amazon

Nokia Lumia 920 still got it–Topping AT&T Best Sellers on Amazon

December 31, 2012 | By Surur

The Christmas rush is over, but that does not mean people have stopped buying phones.  And if its an AT&T phone you are after, it seems on Amazon that phone is a Black Nokia Lumia 920.

The handset has been hovering around the top of the AT&T Best Sellers chart, and at the time of writing is occupying the first slot.

Of course that position unfortunately somewhat transient, but what is not is that the device in all its variants remains AT&T’s top-rated handset on Amazon, in fact with the Lumia 900 taking 7 out of the top 10 spots.

Hopefully all this will translate into a decent quarter for Nokia, who certainly deserves some holiday cheer.

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Symbian stalwart CameraPro App comes to Windows Phone 8

Symbian stalwart CameraPro App comes to Windows Phone 8

December 31, 2012 | By Surur

CameraPro is a software application popular on Symbian for enhancing the functions of your camera.

The software has now made the jump to Windows Phone 8, bringing along unprecedented control over your camera.

The app offers:

• Fast access to camera features
• Support for manual focus distances
• Auto-, Macro-, Touch focus
• Manual exposure times
• Exposure locking
• ISO up to 3200
• Enable disable focus assistant light
• Disable shutter sound
• Custom image filenames
• Front and back camera support
• Overlays including virtual horizon/level meter, compass, grid
• Camera modes: normal, timer, burst, time-lapse, anti-shake, bracketing
• Windows Phone 8 Lens integration
• Upload to Facebook, Flickr, Picasa, Twitter from CameraPro

The developer warns features available will differ from phone to phone. Unfortunately they did not include a free trail with the app, which is rather stupid under the circumstances, especially with numerous HTC 8X users reporting the app is crashing on start-up.

Nokia Lumia 920 owners however appear pretty happy, and if you want to take a gamble you can find the app in the Windows Phone Store here for $2.49 or local equivalent.

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F1 Racing driver Heikki Kovalainen also thinks his Nokia Lumia 920 camera is “real good”

F1 Racing driver Heikki Kovalainen also thinks his Nokia Lumia 920 camera is “real good”

December 30, 2012 | By Surur

Nokia does not have to pay for all celebrity endorsements. Some just want to use the best device money can buy.

One of those is F1 Racing driver, Heikki Kovalainen, who has previously driven for McLaren and Lotus last year  and is currently driving for CaterhamF1 Team.

Being from Finnish extraction it is no real surprise to see he is using a Nokia Lumia 920, but as the pictures above prove, he is doing it for all the right reasons.

He purchased his Lumia 920  on the 16th December, then noting it “…so far seems very cool. Slightly bigger so easier to use the touchpad when texting…” and has since been rather prolific at tweeting pictures, benefiting particularly from the great low-light sensitivity in the dark Finnish winters.

He tweeted the above pictures most recently, responding to questions about the picturesby saying “Lumia 920 camera is real good”.

With Mark Cuban also recently endorsing the handset, maybe the other phones will soon be known to be as passé as us fans know they are already.

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A look back at our 2012 Windows Phone Predictions

A look back at our 2012 Windows Phone Predictions

December 30, 2012 | By Surur

It is of course a slow news day, which makes it a perfect time to look back on the past and see if our predictions from Jan 1 2012 were accurate.

We predicted more handsets would be announced throughout the year rather than only once per year, and more geographically targeted handsets.

In some ways with the slow roll-out of the Nokia Lumia 900 and the Nokia Lumia 610 this did come true, but I would I would have expected more activity from the other OEMs, and also Nokia moved very slowly with their Tango handsets, only really releasing them in Q3 2012 rather than early in Q2.

We predicted Microsoft would announce high end Xbox Live games at E3, and support for the Unity game engine.

As we know, the first part did not really come true. Support for the Unity Game Engine was however announced in August 2012, which means I guess we will see these high end games at E3 next year.

We predicted Nokia would release an N8-equivalent camera phone in July. This was in line with our idea that Nokia would release devices throughout the year rather than in batches. It turns out we had to wait till November for the Nokia Lumia 920.

We predicted Nokia’s new Windows Phone 8 range would leak in September, and we were nearly right – it happened on the 31st August.

We accurately predicted the new Windows Phone 8 range would only reach US in November, thought this did cause a lot of angst this year, despite this being the normal pattern.  We did however expect the handsets to reach Europe a month earlier, which it did not.

We predicted 100,000 apps by June, which turned out to be accurate and 10 million Windows Phone users by Q2 2012, which I think was also accurate, though we will never really know due to Microsoft’s reluctance to release numbers.

We predicted Windows Phone would take over RIM’s mind-share, and I think that was quite accurate, and we predicted the OS would have 5% market share by the end of the year. We will have to wait till next year to see what the analysts say, but I suspect it will be closer to 3.5%.

Interestingly, looking back at the year, which had its fair share of drama, I don’t think anything really happened which we did not anticipate (except the world ending of course).  While I think many things could have been done better by Microsoft and their partners (higher frequency of handset releases, more updates, upgrades to Windows Phone 8 etc) I think we are now somewhat used to Microsoft’s slow and steady approach to Windows Phone. Our next set of predictions for 2013 in 2 days time will one again reflect that.

How do our readers think we did? Let us know below.

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Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 now available in Oman on Omantel

Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 now available in Oman on Omantel

December 30, 2012 | By Surur

In a press release Nokia Middle East has announced that the new Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia Lumia 820 are now available in Oman through Omantel outlets.  Due to the Windows Phone 8 OS the Nokia Lumia 920 including Arabic language capabilities and of course a host of other features.

"Nokia is currently embarking on a journey of executing its winning smartphone strategy by delivering the latest Lumia range with Arabic language support in Oman. Following the significant demand for the international version of the Lumia range, we are confident the new Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 will be a milestone for the company as a whole," said Vithesh Reddy, General Manager, Nokia Lower Gulf.

"We have launched a pre-order campaign end of last month to enable our customers to be the first to own these stunning devices where the first 100 buyers are provided with free Nokia Luna Bluetooth Headset and a Fatboy Wireless Charging Pillow. Moreover, Lumia smartphones come with free mobile broadband for six months of up to 1 GB per month," said Saleem Ahmed Abdullatiff General Manager of Marketing at Omantel Consumer Business Unit.

"We are delighted to offer the first Windows Phone 8 innovative smartphones from Nokia to our customers. This is yet another step from Omantel to ensure that our customers are not only enjoying innovative services but also the most advanced smartphones in the world," Saleem Abdullatiff added.

"After seeing the enthusiastic response to the incredible innovation in the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820, we’re eager for people to start experiencing the phones for themselves. We are focusing our efforts on working with partners like Omantel who recognize the value of that innovation, and who are committed to helping Lumia and the Windows Phone platform breakthrough in Oman," added Reddy.

The Nokia Lumia 920 is available in yellow, red, white and black, while the the Nokia Lumia 820 comes in red, white and black. The Nokia Lumia 920 can be had for RO 260 ($675) while the 820 will retail for RO 200 ($519) and still comes with 1 GB data free for 6 months.

Both phones will be available at Omantel outlets in the country. See the handsets on offer at Omantel here.

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MyVideo.de planning to support Windows Phone soon

MyVideo.de planning to support Windows Phone soon

December 30, 2012 | By Surur

Not all streaming TV services are as stubborn as BBC iPlayer. A similar TV service in Germany, MyVideo.de, which houses numerous TV programs and music videos, amongst other content, have informed WPArea.de that they soon plan to support Windows Phone both on their website and with an app.

A reader emailed their support and received the following answer:

Hello,

to make the answer very quickly. Yes there will be both!
We have changed a few days ago on HTML5 player and now already have a lot of content on the normal mobile MyVideo.de also available.
But also we will bring an app for Windows Phone Windows8 and out.

Sincerely yours

MyVideo your support team.

It seems it will only be a matter of time before the difference between the mobile platforms, when it comes to important apps at least, will be erased.

Read more at WPArea.de

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Nokia removes LTE frequency references from Indian NL 920 site due to lack of local support

Nokia removes LTE frequency references from Indian NL 920 site due to lack of local support

December 30, 2012 | By Surur

We posted recently on the wide LTE frequency support of the Nokia Lumia 920 in India, but it turns out that supporting 9 LTE bands does not really matter of its not on the right protocol.

The Indian Nokia Lumia 920 supports LTE, but unfortunately India chose to use TD-LTE, similar to China Mobile, which renders the normal LTE on Nokia Lumia 920 moot. It seems due to this Nokia has removed references to the supported frequencies from the device’s specs page.

The issue also affect other western imports such as the iPhone 5, leaving the devices on a level playing field, but of course Nokia already has TD-LTE support on the Nokia Lumia 920T, and I expect if there is real demand they can produce a special model for India.

LTE however remain a nascent technology in India, with only Airtel supporting it in some cities, so I suspect Indians will have to wait for the next generation of Nokia flagships for proper support for the  4G technology.

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Second shipment of Chinese Nokia Lumia 920’s sell out in only 20 minutes

Second shipment of Chinese Nokia Lumia 920’s sell out in only 20 minutes

December 29, 2012 | By Surur

WinP.cn reports that the appetite for the Nokia Lumia 920 in China has not slacked, with large crowds queuing for a chance to purchase the handset.

The queues were at the flagship Nokia store in Shanghai, and even those that queued had to pre-book ahead of time, and despite this the yellow Nokia Lumia 920 sold out in only 20 minutes.

Second shipments of the handset has also become available  at  retailers 360Buy and 51Buy.

Of course we do not know whether Nokia has sorted out their supply issues yet, but all indications so far is that we can look forward to a bumper Q4 2012.

Via NokiaPoweruser.com

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