tiistai 31. heinäkuuta 2012

Lumia独享:相机拓展功能现已登陆

The imaging technology in Nokia phones once again surfaces, it is the best in smart phones




更快更高更强:你所拥有的奥运和Window Phone精神

Windows phones for Olympics 2012



四年一度的奥运会又回来了,经过四年的筹备和建设,成长的并不仅仅只有伦敦人对奥运会的热情和庞大场馆群的建设,还有随着时间和思想逐步成长的那些改变我们生活的科技,而这最集中的体现就在我们掌中那小小的手机之中。那么在这四年一度的奥运盛会中,我们一起来看看Windows Phone能够做些什么。

maanantai 30. heinäkuuta 2012

Lumias will be updated to 7.8


Windows Phone 峰会敲定当前设备无法升级Windows Phone 8而只能暂居Windows Phone 7.8,让业界为之哗然.国外媒体在提出疑问的同时,把注意力集中在Windows Phone 8和7.8的差异之上,然而不少国内媒体却开始不遗余力的给用户灌输“微软坑害诺基亚”和在Windows Phone 8发布之前“诺基亚将面临至少三个月的煎熬”的观点。
那么到底微软有没有“坑害”诺基亚,诺基亚又是否真的在度日如年?英国Windows Phone站点WPSuperfanboy专门走访了英国多个城市,尤以曼彻斯特为主的运营商和零售商商店,结果发现运营商和零售商对于Windows Phone的态度截然不同。


诺基亚数据统计提醒专属应用Counters上架



在接连推出Nokia Camera Extras(相机附加功能)、Contracts Share(共享联系人)之后,诺基亚承诺带给Lumia用户的三大专属应用仅剩的Counters(计数器,此前被称作Usage Monitor)应用,也已经登陆Marketplace市场。Lumia用户可以进入“诺基亚精选”查找,或扫描题图中的二维码免费下载该应用。

wpdang

Analysis - Nokia progressing through challenging transition with Windows Phone


 Nothing too shocking, really.  Keep in mind that this is a company that was once the largest phone manufacturer in the world, driven by Symbian and feature phones. Nokia now has to find its place in the smartphone market, and this position will really depend upon the market success of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform. 
With that in mind, Nokia shipped 4 million Lumia phones during Q2.  It may seem like a drop in the bucket compared to iPhone or Samsung (Android) numbers, but when you compare it against RIM’s latest quarter (the shipped 7.8 million BlackBerry phones), it shows some forward momentum. 
Overall, Nokia sold 73 million phones. That’s 69 million non-Lumia phones. The company’s huge challenge is to hang onto the low end of the feature phone market (under attack from Android) while also converting many of its Symbian smartphone users onto Nokia-branded Windows Phone products in the future.  It’s a tall order, but Nokia has a pretty good fighting chance...

BBC Podcast Lounge 1.4 Update - Exclusive Video Preview


During last night’s WPUG meet in central London, we got a chance to catch up with Richard from Igneous Software. BBC Podcast lounge is a must-have app for those that want to catch up on all the amazing and free content from Auntie Beeb. Richard was able to give me a quick walkthrough of the latest update that is currently in testing.
The current app is great but with this update, Richard looks to be taking a logical and very welcome next step. From 1.4 onwards users will be able to subscribe to podcasts. Great news, even better is that it offers options to keep up to 3 podcasts of each. That is very similar to the options presented on the Zune desktop client. Whilst the Zune music hub in Windows Phone is great, it’s not possible to subscribe to podcasts or even browse and download manually. The only way to get podcasts on your device through Zune is to first connect to the computer, subscribe to the podcast and then sync with your phone, once that’s done it will grab them. It’s a far from convenient solution, something better needed to be found.
Read more

wpcentral

Zite reader moves to Windows Phone, CEO very happy about it

WP Central


We haven’t heard much about Zite (zite.com), a news service that’s owned by CNN, but we should start paying attention to it. Zite is not just a news-app but rather a service that finds stories based on your likes and interests which gets you away from the “information overload” that many of us experience today.
The app has been on iOS since late last year and is also on Android too but now the service is coming to Windows Phone and the CEO is quite excited—mostly because he uses a Lumia 710.

Nokia announces Drive 3.0 going live soon on Windows Phone

WP Central


Update Version 3.0 is now live in the Marketplace as we just got the notification! Link after the break...
Although we’re still seeing version 2.0 for Nokia Drive on our Lumia, Nokia has finally pulled the covers of their highly anticipated version 3.0 which should be hitting the Marketplace in the next 24-48 hours. It has us so excited, we’re almost yearning to get lost just so we can use it.
Version 3.0, in our opinion, finally makes Drive the app we all wanted and expected from Nokia—sure the other versions were nice, especially for free, but they paled to the pay apps of Garmin, etc.

Nokia sponsors Tramlines UK music event with a Lumia Live light show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DCkNU6NyZ44

Nokia sponsored the recent Tramlines music event, which was held in Sheffield on the weekend just passed. The free-to-attend event saw performances by the likes of Reverend And The Makers, We Are Scientists, Ms. Dynamite, and many more. Nokia kicked everything off with a Lumia Live light show with music from True Tiger on the Tram Lines stage.

Microsoft launches Facebook 'Cool is in Session' Sweepstakes

Microsoft Sweepstakes

Want school supplies with a cool surprise? Of course you do. Microsoft has kicked off the "Cool is in Session" sweepstake on its Facebook page, which sports some interesting prizes. Like all sweepstakes on Facebook, you'll need an account and be able to "like" Microsoft's page (if not done so already) to access the entry form with more details. 


wpcentral

Nokia phones retain their value more so than competitor handsets?

Nokia Worth More


Should you be looking at the choice of purchasing a Windows Phone 7.x smartphone or waiting until Apollo arrives, you may find it interesting that Nokia handsets are reported to retain value more effectively than devices from other manufacturers and brands. According to Envirofone, leading UK mobile phone recycle specialists, you're likely to receive a larger return on trading in your Nokia mobile phone.
Of course, when trading in your used handsets - whether they be smart or feature devices, you're going to be receiving a lot less than RRP. That said, it's good to know which brands retain their value most when looking to make a purchase, especially when a looming software upgrade is on its way which will not be heading to all current (and previous) generation handsets. The question is: are we talking about older Nokia hardware, or their newer Windows Phones?


Lumia 900 available for pre-order from Nokia in Brazil

Lumia 900


We've been informed the Lumia 900 Windows Phone is available to pre-order from Nokia in Brazil. The choice of black, cyan or white is present at a price tag of R$ 1.799,00 (about $880 / £560). The Lumia 900 is Nokia's flagship Windows Phone, sporting a 4.3" AMOLED display (with Clear Black technology), 1.4Ghz CPU, 8MP shooter (with FF camera) and 16GB storage.
No word has been given on the release date (though the website says "buy"), and Nokia's Lumia Momentum Map is of no help. 

Good Technology Report – Windows Phone Enterprise Activations

Good Technology Report – Windows Phone Enterprise Activations


Good Technology has released their annual report detailing the spread of device activations for Q2. Good are well known for being at the forefront of providing technology for IT departments to facilitate users who wish to use their own devices for work, commonly referred to as BYOD, or to allow departments to use technology that's not quite as secure or manageable out of the box. The premise is simple; the software provides a heavily encrypted shell to keep corporate email private and secure. Windows Phone is making its presence known in the workplace according to this report.
The Good Windows Phone client was only debuted in April 2012 but already it’s showing as accounting for 1.2% of the overall activations. Bear in mind that the lion’s share of activations are currently going to the non-enterprise friendly, but current executive fondle-thing-business toy, the IPad. The iPad is accounting for a whopping 94.5 of all activations.
wpcentral

AUPEO! Radio App Now Live In Windows Phone Marketplace



AUPEO! is a personal radio service that allows you to start your personal Internet Radio by selecting an artist, a genre or a musical topic. This service even allow you to skip to the next song at any time and customize your experience with the “Love” and “Ban” buttons.
App Overview:
• Listen to new music free and legally
• No registration required
• Get started with Artist-, Genre- or 150+ Radios by topic
• Refine your selection by mood or style
• Create your own personal Radio and share your music with your friends
• Sleep Timer function for those who like to fall asleep to music
• Uninterrupted music enjoyment thanks to the HiRoQ Streaming Engine
• Pin stations to your start screen
Tip: When you create a free (optional) AUPEO! user account, you can hear your personal Internet Radio on your Windows phone and many other internet-capable end devices at the same time. AUPEO! is funded through advertisements which you can turn off by voluntarily signing up for an AUPEO Premium account.
This app will be available in English and German for now and support for other major languages will come soon. Download it here from the Marketplace.

wmpoweruser

Nokia Maps on Windows Phone 8 will support 4 views, 3D mode and 3D landmarks


The Windows Phone 8 SDK continues to deliver.
We already know in Windows Phone 8 Nokia Maps will be replacing Bing Maps, which the SDK describes as “features beautiful cartography, more complete and accurate map data, a new 3-D mode, and hardware-accelerated rendering for smooth performance.”
The above pictures from the documentation shows the various modes available to developers, including:
  • Road : displays the normal, default 2-D map.
  • Aerial : displays an aerial photographic map.
  • Hybrid : displays an aerial view of the map overlaid with roads and labels.
  • Terrain : displays physical relief images for displaying elevation and water features such as mountains and rivers.
Developers will also be able to load landmarks, which are 3D renders of major landmarks, and also pedestrian features such as stairs for walking maps.

Nokia Camera Extras rolling out around the world

image

Nokia’s Camera Extras app, which adds features such as a panorama mode, smart group shot, action shot and self-timer to the Windows Phone 7 camera app, is now rolling out around the world and is now available in countries such as Italy, Belgium in Europe and elsewhere.

Bank of America to release a Windows Phone Check Deposit App

Windows_Account-Details


Bank of America is launching a  new mobile banking products and service enhancements including Mobile Check Deposit, Person-to-Person Email and Mobile Transfers and Mobile App Alerts. With these new offerings, Bank of America customers now have the ability to completely manage their finances through their mobile device – from depositing a check, to paying friends and family, to reviewing balances and much more.
“Our customers are living in a more connected world and that extends to their financial lives. This ‘always-on’ environment calls for more convenience, control and flexibility, and we are providing it,” said Aditya Bhasin, Consumer Marketing and Online and Mobile executive. “Our new capabilities deliver the full bank in our customers’ hands.”
Check deposits go mobile
Bank of America’s new Mobile Check Deposit function allows customers to deposit checks easily and securely without making a trip to the ATM or banking center. Once customers download the updated mobile application onto their tablet or smartphone, they can use the app to snap photos of the check and follow a few simple on-screen instructions to complete the deposit. Mobile Check Deposit is currently available on iPad® and will be available in the coming weeks on iPhone®, Google Android™ smartphone or tablet and Windows® Phone.
Sending money is easier than ever
Person-to-Person Email and Mobile Transfers allow customers to easily conduct person-to-person transfers via online banking or a smartphone using only an e-mail address or mobile phone number.
The new capability eliminates the need for customers to share personal account information, providing stronger protection from identity theft and making person-to-person transfers easier to complete.
Bank of America consumer customers only complete a one-time enrollment in their online banking account. Then using online banking or the mobile banking app, customers can send funds to persons with a U.S.-based bank account from their Bank of America checking account or savings account without a fee.
Person-to-Person Email and Mobile Transfers is an enhancement to Bank of America’s existing online banking person-to-person transfer service. The new service is powered by clearXchange, the open payment processing network owned by Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo. It is currently available in the mobile app on iPad®, iPhone®, Google Android™ smartphone or tablet, Kindle Fire™ and Windows® Phone or via mobile browser in select states and nationwide by mid-August.
Stay informed on the go
In addition to paying people and depositing checks on the go, Bank of America has updated its mobile application so that customers can manage account alerts via their mobile device. Through the added Mobile App Alerts feature, customers can elect to receive push notifications of these alerts on their mobile device, another convenient option to stay informed about their accounts. Bank of America offers more than 50 alerts, including alerts for low balances, online card usage and irregular card activity. It is currently available for iPad®, and will be available in the coming weeks on the iPhone®, Google Android™ smartphone or tablet and Windows® Phone.

Nokia Lumia 900 now on sale on Telcel Mexico


The Nokia Lumia 900 has now arrived in Telcel, Mexico.  The carrier already offers the Nokia Lumia 800, 710 and 610 so have now neatly completed the family.
Unfortunately the website does not reveal how much the handset will set you back, but it is likely to be a pretty penny.
wmpoweruser

Nokia US targeting women directly with Very Pink Nokia Lumia 900

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdFkWQNY_nU&feature=player_embedded

image


A look inside the Windows Phone Stores within stores in Germany

WP_000030

WP_000015  WP_000017


A while ago we posted about the Windows Phone retail push in Germany, where stores which are already performing well would have their status boosted with special displays, added merchandizing, supporting guidelines and generally more motivated staff to increase the already relatively high Windows Phone market share in Germany even further.
Now we have a series of pictures of one such store, run by O2.  The stores will in fact be spread around the carriers and the country, with each carrier having 4-5.
The large display strategically placed in front of the iPhone display is in fact a massive and very expensive PixelSense (old Surface) tablet, with additional 40-50 inch screens on the wall displaying Windows Phone marketing.
The stores are Windows Phone stores in all but name, with a large display next to the door, another PixelSense next to the cash point, and another huge wall in the business lounge.  The displays will be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 on release.
The stores also received merchandizing such as sweets and pens to give away, and in fact on opening gave away a few Nokia Lumia 900s.
I am sure our readers will agree the effort is pretty impressive, and it will hopefully pay dividends for both Microsoft and the carriers.
wmpoweruser

Graffiti Radio, the Pandora App built for Windows Phone



Graffiti Radio is the latest Pandora app to hit the marketplace. The thing I love about Graffiti Radio is that is was built for Windows Phone. The app feels like it should be shipped as part of the phone. When viewing artist details or album information (yes you get that with Graffiti Radio!) it looks just like the Marketplace does when looking at artists or albums. It wasn’t just built for Windows Phone, it was also built with everything you would expect from a Pandora app. You can play samples of songs, view song lyric, easy shuffle of stations plus a lot more. Graffiti Radio is available for FREE on theMarketplace.

July is the biggest Windows Phone growth month this year

image


While we have been worrying about the Osborne effect it seems instead all the publicity engendered by the Windows Phone summit has ended up boosting Windows Phone growth, at least according to Statcounter.
The above graph plots the month to month growth of the Windows Phone installed base in the EU, hitting a new peak of 24% growth to 1.68% of the market in EU in July.  The next largest peak is in February, when the Nokia Lumia 800 saw wide release in Northern Europe.  Of course the most likely reason for this month’s boost was the release of theNokia Lumia 610 and 900, indicating that the low-end/high end route combo was a good strategy.
In Germany Windows Phone installed base grew 27% in July, and in France 29%, while UK saw 18% month on month growth.
Of course the same explanation does not fly in the USA, where the Lumia 900 was released in April, yet July was also the biggest growth month there, with the Windows Phone installed base growing 19%. The next highest growth month was in May, when it grew 15%. Of course the Lumia 900 did see a further price drop to $50 there, which could have driven additional sales.
An alternate explanation may be that the larger the installed base, the more word of mouth will drive more sales, creating a virtuous circle.
Of course it remains to be seen how this growth spurt will hold up in the face of increasing excitement about Windows Phone 8, especially with the recent SDK leaks. We can certainly say however, so far, so good.

SkyDrive Web Apps now available


Microsoft has been rolling out the SkyDrive Web Apps beta since about 2 weeks ago, but the feature seems now to have gone live to all users.
Now Office Documents when clicked on are opened in the new, more sophisticated web apps, such the OneNote app above.
Users are also able to create Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents from scratch, meaning if your needs a very undemanding you will not need to pay for Office at all.
The feature can be found by visiting your SkyDrive storage.

wmpoweruser

perjantai 27. heinäkuuta 2012

Lumia独享:相机拓展功能现已登陆



wpdang

About the imaging technology of Lumia. It is going to be big.



Nokia Lumia的独家应用相机的拓展功能,现在已经登陆Nokia Collection,所有的Lumia用户都能够下载并使用。
此前WPDang通过Nokia官方的独家视频向大家介绍了Nokia Lumia独家的相机应用程序,Nokia也向所有的Lumia用户承诺将会在7月底之前为所有的用户提供这款相机拓展功能的下载,现在Nokia香港官网已经放出关于新功能的下载以及安装介绍。


Nokia Drive 3.0 with Commute feature released

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rkAjW829f9s


Nokia has released their Nokia Drive 3.0, an update they have been bragging about for some months now and which will make it worthwhile to use your GPS even on your daily commune.
The new app features:
  • Make your commute smoother: Nokia Drive with My Commute learns your driving preferences and uses information about the latest traffic conditions to help you choose between the different routes you usually take to get to the places you travel most.
  • Automatic day/night mode for optimum visibility: The app will automatically adjust your Nokia Lumia display for better viewing during day or night driving conditions, reducing potential distractions.
  • Pin to start: find your way with a tap: You can now pin to start your favourite destinations for one-tap access to directions there.

Strategy Analytics defends Nokia’s Lumia range, notes faster growth than the iPhone and Samsung




While many see Nokia as struggling with the Lumia range, analysts Strategy Analytics have come to the defense of the beleaguered company, noting that Nokia is ramping up their Lumia range faster than the iPhone did 5 years ago and Samsung did 3 years ago.
“We estimate Nokia shipped 6.9 million Lumia smartphones with the Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Phone operating system cumulatively worldwide during the first three quarters after commercial launch, from Q4 2011 to Q2 2012,” Neil Shah, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said in a statement. ”This compares with 3.7 million units of the Apple iPhone family in its first three quarters during 2007, and 1.3 million units for the Samsung Android family in its first three quarters during 2009. It is an encouraging start for Nokia and Microsoft.”
Shah’s colleague Neil Mawtson added, “Based on historical shipment benchmarks, Nokia’s new Lumia portfolio is performing reasonably well. Some of the pessimism surrounding Nokia and Microsoft’s emerging partnership so far may be misplaced. However, Nokia and Microsoft are clearly not out of the woods yet. With a new Apple iPhone 5 expected on the horizon, and Samsung’s Galaxy S3 selling in huge quantities, Nokia will need to pull something impressive out of the bag for the next-generation Windows Phone 8 launch later this year to sustain its tentative early momentum.”

Nokia Music Updated To v3.1 With Bug Fixes And Availability In India & China



Hot on the heels of releasing Nokia Drive 3.0, Nokia has released a minor update for Nokia Music app. The new v3.1 does not contain any new features but contains many bug fixes. Along with the bug fixes, Nokia has also expanded its availability to three new countries,
  • India
  • China
  • Indonesia
FYI, the previous update(v3.0) to Nokia Music was a major one and you can find the change log from the list below,
  • Mix Radio – The end-user will be able to ‘pin to start’ and ‘make available off line’ playlist from their ‘create’ and ‘personalise’ section.
  • New tab ‘recent mixes’ will display tracks and mixes that the end-user has previously listened to.
  • New features in Gigs – Improve updates nearly up to 100 more Gigs that are happening in the area. End-user can now search by artist, venue, location and gig name.
  • The player has a new swipe feature and the end-user will be able to share what they are listening to via SMS, email and messaging.
  • The end-user will be able to purchase tracks and albums from the music store using your credit card in the application as well as redeem music vouchers.

A user review: The Nokia Lumia 710–3 months on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gshrgYRO3gM&feature=player_embedded


The above video is not of the best quality, but it is the sentiment which is really what is the most interesting.
In the video we have a UK ex-Android user who has switched to the Nokia Lumia 710 3 months ago and appears to be pretty happy with the handset, with his main complaints apparently that the device is not waterproof, does not come with a built-in stopwatch, and that it overheats. He even finds the camera “amazing”.
Windows Phone is of course well known for its high customer satisfaction rates, and his experience matches that of the other regular Windows Phone users I have come across.
Now all that left  is to convince all those other smartphone users that they are wasting their time with low-end Android handsets when they would be so much happier with a Windows Phone.
image

Nokia Announces The Completion Of Scalado Acquisition




Nokia today announced that it has completed the acquisition of technologies, developers and intellectual property from Scalado.
The staff joining from Scalado will form a new centre for imaging excellence in Lund, Sweden, alongside the clever folk based in Nokia’s Tampere and Espoo imaging teams who came up with PureView. The Lund team will focus on software to complement the existing hardware genius from the Finnish team.
Nokia believes that imaging tech is about to go through another major revolution and Nokia will show its innovation on next generation of Nokia camera phones with solutions like PureView Lossless Zoom, Rich Recording, etc,.

Windows Phone found once again to have higher customer satisfaction rates than iOS, Android

CSI-by-OS-Q2-12


Another analytics company has confirmed what we already know – that Windows Phone users love their phones.
AmplifiedAnalytics used their Opinion Miner software to extract customer satisfaction data from 104,691user reviews published online during the last 3 months.
While they found only 4% of reviews were from Windows Phone handsets this was up from 1% in Q4 2011.
The most interesting finding is the 18% increase in customer satisfaction rates for Windows Phones, while customer satisfaction in Blackberry continues to slide and Android improves slowly.
The features Nokia Lumia 900 users found most compelling was reliability, display, and the OS, with design, call quality and battery life and even cost pretty far down the list.
The handsets with the highest satisfaction were the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze (1.81), exceeding its customers expectations by 81% (N=106).  The Motorola Atrix 2(CSAT=1.78/N=186) and Nokia Lumia 710 (CSAT=1.72, N=318) were the closest contenders whileLG Cosmos (0.79/590), Samsung Intercept (0.88/1,186) andBlackberry Curve 3G 9330 (0.91/410) have disappointed their customers the most.

Nokia Maps Updated To v2.5 With Route Planner And Groupon Integration




Nokia has updated its Maps app for Windows Phone devices to v2.5 with couple of new features and bug fixes. Following are the two new features added in this version,
  • Route Planner
  • Groupon integration in US.
The update will be available soon in Nokia apps section in the Marketplace.

Nokia & Quiksilver Launches Special Edition Lumia 610 Windows Phone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jxeKvGMrT-Q

Orange France’s mobile brand Sosh has released their Quiksilver special edition Nokia Lumia 610. The design of the special edition device was chosen after public vote. Thisspecial edition Lumia 610 will be available at Sosh.fr for EUR 219 and is also available in installments as well. It will also be sold in Quiksilver’s Boardriders stores. This device ships with Orange’s visual voicemail, 20 Quiksilver wallpapers and an app for fans to follow board sports news. Sosh is offering a EUR 30 rebate on the product until 22 August.

Windows Phone 7 gaining enterprise foothold according to Good Activation data

GOOD


Good Technologies released their quarterly activation report, which for the first time shows a Windows Phone presence after the release of support for the OS in April 2012.
While the data shows Windows Phone only had 1.2% of activations for Q2 2012, it shows that June was a particularly good month, with around 3% of the new activations in the period, mirroring market share gains by the OS in general in that period.
Good notes that they expect the presence of devices running the OS to increase with the arrival of the very business-friendly Windows Phone 8 OS.

Nokia Lumia 900 now on sale in Brazil

nl900brazil

wmpoweruser


We posted earlier that the Nokia Lumia 900 is available for pre-order in Brazil. A reader has however tipped us off to the fact that the handset is already available at Nokia Stores.
The above picture was taken at the Nokia Store at Shopping Villa Lobos. The handset will also be available at Claro and Vivo soon.

Microsoft Now Allowing Users To Sign Up For 2012 Xbox LIVE Update Public Beta

Microsoft is now allowing users to sign up for 2012 Xbox LIVE Update Public Beta. As part of this program, 2012 Xbox LIVE update will be pushed out to your console that will include E3 announced dashboard features including: Internet Explorer on Xbox Recommendations Pins to customize your Xbox dashboard More details.

torstai 19. heinäkuuta 2012

T-Mobile pleased with Windows Phone, sees a climb in sales and a bright future

T-Mobile happy with Windows Phone


File this under old news but good news but T-Mobile is pleased as punch with the companies selection of Windows Phone. Since adding the HTC Radar 4G and NokiaLumia 710, T-Mobile has seen sales of Windows Phone double in the past eight months.
Brad Duea, Senior Vice President of Product Development at T-Mobile, comments,
"We continue to see strong sales and adoption of the platform with the Nokia Lumia 710 consistently being one of our top five selling smartphones since it launched in January 2012. Not only that but, as expected, we’ve seen a large number of first-time smartphone users select a Windows Phone as their device of choice with 55% of all upgrades to the Lumia 710 coming from a messaging or feature phone."
According to T-Mobile the Lumia 710 has some of the highest handset satisfaction scores and feedback from customers has been very positive on Windows Phone software. With regards to the future of Windows Phones at T-Mobile Duea notes,
"We’re bullish on the future of Windows Phone. In fact, IDC’s report out earlier this month predicts Windows Phone will surpass iOS by 2016 – and we expect Windows Phone to continue to play a prominent role in our product portfolio and marketing efforts."
T-Mobile is slated to be a launch partner for Windows Phone 8 later this fall. Maybe we'll see more of Carly carrying a Windows Phone in the future.
wpcentral

Windows Phone gets more iPlayer - BBC Radio Player Pro - Exclusive First Look Video

iplayer radio app exclusive

Free Nokia Lumia 610 Xbox prop spread to the Netherlands

image


Official Malaysia Airlines app now in Marketplace

1 of 7


Official apps are a great sign of confidence in a platform, and the latest vote is from Malaysia Airlines, who has released MHmobile into Marketplace.
The MHmobile app will securely store your profile data on your Windows Phone to make booking and check-in fast and efficient. You can also store your travel plans and boarding passes on the Windows Phone so you can access them even when you are offline.image
Like most official apps MHMobile is free and can be found in Marketplace .

Bing Traffic Maps Comes To Italy And Other Countries, Thanks To Nokia Maps Technology



Few weeks ago, Microsoft announced that Bing is expanding its traffic maps service to Windows Phone users in 24 new countries around the world. Nokia, the leading Windows Phone OEM is powering this new traffic service. The expanded service is now already live in countries like Italy. You can jus go to Bing Maps app on your Windows Phone device and select show traffic option from the app bar menu to get traffic info.

Nokia Lumia 900 gets hand delivered by the Dark Knight

Nokia’s Czech division is introducing the Nokia Lumia 900 Dark Knight edition, and have decided to bring it to market in style.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=crJeEor0rtI




The limited edition Nokia Lumia 900 Dark Knight edition of course comes with free movie tickets, an app with media and information on the movie and a special location-based game.

Tango update for Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 start rolling out




Nokia has begun to roll out an update for the Nokia Lumia 710 and Lumia 800 offering a number of enhancements, including some of the newest features of the Windows Phone 7.5 platform. The most notable enhancements in this package include:
  • Wi-Fi tethering capability added
  • Flip-to-silence function added
  • On the Lumia 710, Nokia Drive will be updated to version 2.0, which features offline route planning and navigation, speed limit notifications and an advanced dashboard with recent destinations and details. Lumia 800 users can download Nokia Drive version 2.0 from the Windows Marketplace.
  • Enhanced imaging performance
The update will be made available over the coming weeks and can be downloaded and installed by performing a Zune update via PC (or Windows Phone Connector for Mac). All owners will receive the update and should connect to Zune regularly to ensure that they have the most up-to-date software.
This update represents part of Nokia’s commitment to ensure a positive Lumia experience, and Nokia expects to bring more enhancements and surprises to Lumia owners in the near future.

Ford, Nokia and Microsoft research a smarter and more personalized driving experience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WyBO32jz7Vg


It seems car tech is all the rage. Nokia today announced that Ford’s research organization will use the Nokia Location Platform to advance innovation for smart and connected vehicles, as demonstrated by the Ford EVOS concept car.
Ford selected the Nokia Location Platform to leverage Nokia’s high-quality global location content, including the industry leading NAVTEQ Map, as well as scaleable cloud services and APIs.  This complete solution offers a fast, easy and cost-effective path to create innovative and differentiated location products.
The Ford EVOS concept car showcases a future in which cloud services go beyond Internet access and traffic-enabled routing.  For example, Ford’s concept car actually “learns” driver behavior to control, improve upon and personalize vehicle performance.  Another area of Ford’s research is designed to optimize hybrid powertrain efficiency: the Nokia Location Platform could automatically regulate a car’s powertrain as it travels through established or driver-specified “Green Zones”.
“We are committed to providing compelling customized services to the automotive sector and customers like Ford,” said Christof Hellmis, Vice President Map Platform in Nokia’s Location & Commerce unit.  “We have consistently focused on innovation around location and navigation in the car.  This commitment enabled us to provide a global platform service which could truly enhance the customer and user experience.  It’s exciting to see the Nokia Location Platform as an integral part of Ford’s mission to revolutionize the connected car.”
Ford has of course long integrated Microsoft’s Sync technology, which Microsoft credits with increasing Ford’s sales by 35% and will likely be a target of their new Connected Card Platform.
It seems, as seen in the video above, soon everything may come together after all for creating a seamless experience extending even into the car, powered behind the scenes by Microsoft and Nokia.

Conan O’Brien Praises Nokia Lumia 900 As A Cool Device

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBd9YqRqVFE&feature=player_embedded

Conan O’Brien, a popular American television host & comedian in one of his program called Clueless Gamer said that  Nokia Lumia 900 is a cool device. Though, Nokia Lumia 900 was the sponsor of the program, its good to see Conan’s words on it personally. We would love to see more and more celebrity endorsements for Nokia Lumia and Windows Phone devices and I hope it continues.

Check Out This Awesome Freestyle Football With Nokia Lumia 900 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Wwk0v3zmTok

Nokia gave freestyle footballer Sven Fielitz to try out the new Lumia 900 in and around the streets of London. Check out how this footballer used his Lumia 900 to share his moments as a freestyle footballer to his fans and friends.

Nokia Pureview camera–good enough to pirate movies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2HZKPrnlkBw


MyNokiaBlog reports on an interesting side-effect from the disruptive improvement in quality brought along by the 41 megapixel Nokia 808 Pureview camera, a sensor which should show up in a Windows Phone sooner rather than later.
As can be seen from the video clip above, it is good enough to produce superior quality movie screeners, doing away with the bulky cameras which would have given away pirates in the past.  The sound capture is also pretty good for a camera phone also.
Of course I am not suggesting all Pureview owners should covertly go recording the movies they catch at the cinema, but if the movie can look that good in complete darkness, imagine what your shots at the bar will look like afterwards.

Nokia Italy offering steep discounts on Lumia handsets

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Seemingly in combination with Hotmail, Nokia is offering coupons worth as much as €40 towards the purchase of the Nokia Lumia handset for simply requesting it with a Hotmail or Live email address.
The offer, which runs from June 30 to July 17, 2012, will email you a coupon to the value of €40  for the Nokia Lumia 900, €30 for the Nokia Lumia 710 and €20 for the Nokia Lumia 610, which can be redeemed at participating retailers towards the purchase of the handsets.
Supported retailers include TIM, VODAFONE, WIND, H3G, ITALIAN POST, FastWeb and  Noverca.

Nokia expects Windows Phone 8 to be a hit in the Middle East

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Nokia VP Middle East Tim Farrel



Due to the lack of RTL language support in Windows Phone 7 the Nokia Lumia range was never officially released in the Middle East.
That has all changed in Windows Phone 8 however, and Nokia expects this pent up demand will result in great performance in the region.


Finnish carrier data shows Windows Phone had 33% market share in June

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Finland’s biggest carrier Elisa has released their sales numbers for June 2012.  They note that the newest models sold the best, in particular the Samsung Galaxy SIII, but also that Windows Phone and Android now had equal market share in Finland, at least on their network.
They have revealed Windows Phone had 33% market share, followed by 33% for Android, 15% for the iPhone and 19% other.

Nokia Lumia 800 and 900 win International Design Award

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The Nokia Lumia 800 and 900 were both individually awarded IDEA design awards by the IDSA recently.
The handsets were honoured for their distinctive contribution to smartphone design.
The jury wrote:
“In a market in which it is difficult to stand out, the Nokia Lumia brings a fresh perspective. The iconic form is personal and inviting without sacrificing precision, and the construction is modern, efficient and well-crafted down to the smallest details. It’s a bold, gold-worthy effort, and I’m glad to see Nokia reclaim its design swagger.” Jonah Becker, Principal and Creative Director, One & Co.
In  2011  Windows Phone 7 won Best in Show at the IDEA awards, and clearly the minimalist OS cast in the frame of the Nokia Lumia 800 and 900 contributed to the success of the handsets at the awards this year.

Survey finds growing support for Windows Phone in Australian enterprise


In the Telsyte Australian Workforce Mobility Study 2012, Telsyte surveyed more than 250 CIOs and ICT decision makers within Australian enterprises to determine their purchasing intentions and attitudes towards mobile devices and applications.
While they predictably found high levels of interest in iOS and Android, they also saw increasing support for Windows Phone 7.
“Despite its low penetration right now, CIOs are also looking to support Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform which is set to provide an alternative to iOS and Android,”said Telsyte senior analyst Rodney Gedda. “And with the release of Windows 8 nearing, businesses will have another mobile platform to choose from for smartphones and media tablets.”
They survey revealed that despite the Bring Your Own Device trend more than 50% of businesses were still buying their devices for their work force, but that only 10% of businesses were offering mobile device management solutions.
Several Australian businesses have recently revealed their public support for Windows Phone 7 for their work force. In late May, the Australian division of tyre manufacturer Bridgestone picked Nokia’s Windows Phone 7-based Lumia 800 smartphone as its platform of choice for its corporate smartphone fleet, and CommBank is similarly considering a move to the Nokia Lumia platform. Nokia has also revealed that construction firm Buildcorp has deployed some 150 new staff mobile phones in the Finnish smartphone vendor’s Lumia line.
Windows Phone 8 is set to increase the competitiveness for the OS, which is still far behind the iPhone and Android in the specs war, and also increase manageability and other enterprise features, which will hopefully boost the penetration of the OS.

Nokia India Announces Dark Knight Rises Collector’s Edition Lumia 800



Only 200 such devices will be available in India and will go on sale in Nokia Online Store. This special edition device will costs Rs.24,999 and will come with Nokia Exclusive The Dark Knight Rises app pre-installed. Nokia also announced that the Lumia 900 device launch is on track and will come in Q3 this year.

Nokia VP: Pureview will come to Lumia devices “very soon”, Sprint and Verizon will get Lumias

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Neowin spoke to Nokia’s Richard Kerris, VP of Worldwide Developer Relations who revealed a few interesting titbits.
According to Kerris “it wont be long" before we see Nokia Lumias on Sprint and Verizon and he also re-iterated that the Pureview technology will be coming to Lum1a handsets "very soon".
He said Nokia was working on innovative solutions to distance itself from the rest of the market,and gave examples such as bendable screens and a complete wrap around display so that when you want your device to be a camera, it looks like a camera.
In addition, they are also working on making devices become aware of where they are. For example, when you walk in to your house after work, it hides all of your business emails and content or when a child picks of the device, it can detect the small hands and lock settings and email accounts.
Kerris believes that Nokia will innovate its way out of its current situation and that change will continue this Fall with new products.  Kerris states that this Spring "people will be climbing over themselves" to get at the new Nokia products.

Pink Nokia Lumia scores major product placement in Anna Vissi new music video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXuVkGoy5rE&feature=player_embedded


I don’t know how well product placement works in stimulating sales, but this new video by major Greek pop star Anna Vissi sure does a very good job of selling the Pink and Black Nokia Lumia 800, with the phones making a major appearance in the video, including showing the Windows Phone logo from the boot up sequence.
The song is Anna Vissi’s latest, Tiranniemai, lamenting her lost boyfriend who she ends up running over in the end, which is probably your typical Greek Tragedy ;)
Anna Vissi is one of Greece’s biggest pop stars, with 32 platinum albums and have sold more than 9.5 million tracks worldwide, making her endorsement certainly worthwhile.

Nokia Announces Lumia 900 Pink Color For AT&T


Similar to the other color Lumia 900′s such as Cyan, Black and White, Pink Lumia 900 is also made up of Polycarbonate which will save you from any scratches exposing the paint of the device. The device will be exclusive to AT&T as the other color models.  Starting Sunday, July 15th, you can purchase these new pick device from AT&T Store in the US. And you can even pre-order the pink Lumia 900 on ATT.com.

Nielsen: 96% Of Owners Are Extremely Satisfied Or Somewhat Satisfied With Their Nokia Lumia 900




  • 96 per cent of owners are extremely satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their Lumia 900
  • 95 per cent of owners are willing to recommend the Lumia 900
  • 83 per cent say that their expectations are better or much better than expected
  • 85 per cent say they would repurchase the Lumia 900

Nokia Design VP: Nokia has an “amazing social media marketing strategy” coming

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Nokia’s vice president of design for smartphone devices, Nikki Barton, has spoken to Forbes about Nokia’s Lumia design story.
“Nokia traditionally has had a culture built around simplicity of use, clarity,” she said. “It’s also had a color story. In the last few months I’ve seen that culture starting to grow around the Lumia and Windows Phone.”
Barton refer to the “heads-up” philosophy that Nokia’s head designer, Marko Ahtisaari that there should be as little visual interaction with the phone as possible; using it should be almost instinctive.  The philosophy obviously resonates strongly with Windows Phone’s Glance and Go paradigm.
Future iterations of Lumia phones will see it further “refined,” and simplified as much as possible, and go further with the instinctive-use credo, Barton explained.
Speaking about the Lumia handsets, she said “We’ve won a lot of awards, which is great, but when people get it in their hands they realize how powerful it is.”
“I’m extremely proud of what we’re producing. That’s what drives me personally.”
She said “there’s some amazing social media marketing strategy” coming from Nokia soon, but for now, Nokia has to hope that the vivid colors, simplicity and its heads-up philosophy will create a brand culture appealing enough for more customers to want to jump on board.
“The Lumia’s design is just such a game changer,” the designer added, “It’s the beginning of something big.”

Windows Phone gets carrier billing on Austrian A1 carrier


Carrier billing allows phone users to buy apps without having a credit card, and therefore expands the market for app buyers significantly.
Telekom Austria Group’s domestic subsidiary A1 has today announced that they will be making carrier billing available to Windows Phone 7 users.
The work has been done as an alliance with Nokia and Microsoft, and A1 is offering the first 1,000 customers to buy a Nokia Lumia smartphone (Lumia 610, 710, 800 and 900) a EUR 10 voucher for the Windows Phone Marketplace as a credit on their phone bill.
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Microsoft To Make Windows Phone The Best Enterprise Class Mobile Interface


Thom Gruhler, Corporate Vice-President of Windows Phone Marketing at Microsoft during the keynote address at WPC today said that Microsoft will make Windows Phone the best enterprise class mobile interface. He also acknowledged that “Smartphone users today don’t know about Windows Phone and that’s a problem we  intend to fix,”. I think its a good sign to see that Thom actually understands the real position in the market. He demoed all the Windows Phone 8 features so far revealed such as the new Start Screen, the new Wallet and NFC experience, the ability for enterprise to sideload apps, encryption features. etc,.
Speaking to ITWorldCanada, Darren Bibby, Program Vice-president of software channels and alliances research at IDC has expressed his views on upcoming Windows Phone 8 in Enterprise world as follows,
“I’ve heard some very, very strong things about Windows Phone. It’s altogether  possible these (phones) could be poised for one of these massive upswings,”
The key opportunity for channel partners with Windows Phone 8 is the fact  that it will be so well integrated with the rest of Microsoft’s growing stable of offerings, including Azure  cloud, the upcoming Windows 8 operating system, and the new Surface tablet,  Bibby said.
“The thing I like is if I can get Windows 8 on my laptop, tablet and phone  then I can start using Microsoft PowerPoint slides across all three,” Bibby said  as an example. “You can’t go very easily between a laptop to an iPad and back to  your laptop. It’s just very difficult. But if I can work on my PowerPoint  document ….keeping the file format intact throughout…that is very powerful.”
“If it’s all integrated, that’s been (Microsoft’s) success story,”