Posts with tag nokia
Or, should we say, relaunches the Lumia 920
Nokia announces new Lumia 925
At Nokia’s new Lumia press event yesterday, the company decided to take a turn for the odd – instead of announcing a major new flagship mobile device, Nokia instead decided to relaunch the Nokia Lumia 920 we all know and (kinda) love, giving it a new body and a slightly new name, but with exactly the same internals. Meet the Nokia Lumia 925, a now decidedly midrange mobile phone that replaces the Nokia Lumia 920 whilst really not improving upon it at all.
The Nokia Lumia 925 features a new lighter aluminum body, effectively fixing the one major gripe we all had with the original Nokia Lumia 920 last year – its heft. The phone also comes in a new 16GB option, whilst the original 920 only came in a 32GB option – however, rather disappointingly there’s no 64GB model to be seen here. The Lumia 925 features the same Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, impressive (though aging) camera with excellent low light performance, and the controversial Windows Phone 8 operating system as its “predecessor”, making this pretty uninteresting for everybody who already had their eyes on a 920.
The Nokia Lumia 925 will be available worldwide this June, and will come to this United States on T-Mobile around that same time. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we could imagine this will be a decidedly modest affair. The Lumia 925 comes in either silver or black.
Is an inexpensive Windows Phone worth it?
Video: Lumia 521 Review
Our secondary writer gets a Nokia Lumia 521 and attempts to review it the moment he gets it out of the
box. What does he think of it, and would he recommend it? Everything is explained in the above video.
Additions/Errata
- Adding to things I don’t like about the 521, I do not like how you have to have fingernails to pull the back case off.
- I played the wrong game in the game test portion – Galaga was fine, but when I tried playing Fruit Ninja there was a noticeable performance drop. It was not enough to prevent playing of Fruit Ninja, however.
- The phone is actually capable of running on AT&T as it supports their bands. The 521 must be SIM unlocked, which T-Mobile will do.
Stuck on Verizon? This might be your phone.
Nokia Lumia 928 officially announced
Nokia jumped the gun on the Lumia 928 by advertising it without officially announcing it. But today, they have announced it and have detailed us on the 928. It’s mostly the same as the Lumia 920, with a few differences. For one, the Lumia 928 is exclusive to Verizon.
In appearances, the Lumia 928 appears less rounded than its AT&T cousin and it only comes in black and white. There are also some camera improvements; the still camera now uses a xenon flash tube and the video camera uses the LED light. There are also three microphones in the phone, and a speaker that claims to go as loud as 140dB.
The Lumia 928 will be available on Verizon starting May 16th. You can pick yours up from Verizon for $99.99 after a $50 rebate and the typical two-year contract.
How smart can a dumb-phone get?
Nokia announces the Asha 501, the smartest dumb-phone ever
While Nokia is all about their Lumia line of Windows Phone devices, the company also has a stake in developing lower-end, more traditional “dumb-phone” devices that don’t run the Windows Phone operating system. Traditionally these phones have been fairly, well, dumb, barely able to surf the web with any reasonable ability; Nokia is hoping that their newly announced Asha 501 will be the device to change all that, bringing very smart features to a low end, non-smartphone platform.
The Asha 501 comes complete with a brand new development platform that Nokia is calling the “Asha software platform”, meaning that yes – developers will be able to write and deliver their own third party applications for the device and any future Asha devices.
However exciting that may be, it’s important to put things in perspective – though smart, this is a very low end device with a meager 3″ QVGA display, 4GB of internal storage, and nothing but 2G “EDGE” support – not even any 3G to be found. It does, however, have a decent 3.2 MP camera to keep the camera phone folks happy, though we doubt that’ll be enough to really convince anyone to give up their smartphone for this. Also of note is the device’s incredible battery life – Nokia is advertising that this bad boy gets 48 days of battery life in standby. Not too shabby.
The Nokia Asha 501 is coming to India this month with a worldwide (excluding North America) release due by the end of Q2 2013. Nokia has yet to confirm any pricing, but we’d wager you’ll be able to pick this up fairly cheap.
Source: Engadget
Advertising campaign to focus on photography
Nokia advertises Lumia 928, a phone they have yet to announce, on their official website
Here’s an interesting one – despite the fact that Nokia is clearly launching at least one new handset at their upcoming press event, the Finnish based mobile company has apparently decided to jump the gun and has put up a promotional site advertising an as of yet unannounced Nokia Lumia 928 handset, complete with an image of the device. While we’re currently light on details, the phone itself physically seems to look a whole lot like the Nokia Lumia 920 we all know and love – no surprise there, given that recent leaks have indicated that the device is more or less just a 920 with a small spec bump and CDMA support, making it ready for a Verizon launch.
Nokia’s advert also appears to focus heavy on the camera, with the image portraying a Lumia 928 taking a high quality photo in a lower light situation. The promo reads “Capture the Highlights” before teasing us to “stay tuned” for more about the as of yet unannounced (or does this count as an announcement?) handset.
We’ll almost certainly know more about the Lumia 928 at Nokia’s May 14th press event, so keep an eye out for further news as we hear it.
Source: Nokia
"The Lumia story continues"
Nokia announces Lumia press event for May 14th
Ah, the Nokia Lumia – the oddball of the flagship, high end phone wars. On one hand, it’s a more than competent – dare I say, even excellent – high end smartphone that not only matches but exceeds the competition in areas like screen resolution, camera, and durability. Then, on the other hand, it’s severely weighed down by its reliance on the Windows Phone platform, which customers have shown clear indifference to or even dislike of. All that said, Nokia is plodding right on ahead with its “Lumia story”, and has just announced a press event for May 14th where they will presumably announce the next generation Nokia handsets.
Recent rumors indicated that the Nokia Lumia 920 would be coming to Verizon under the guise of the slightly updated Nokia Lumia 928 handset; others claim that Nokia is working on a next generation Lumia with a ligher, more durable aluminium enclosure, updated specs, and an even more lusworthy Pureview camera with more megapixels then we care to shake a stick at.
Whatever it is Nokia is announcing on the 14th, we’ll be sure to bring you the latest scoop as we hear it.
Source: TechnoBuffalo
Sounds like a desperate stalker
Nokia releases #2InstaWithLove app for Lumia devices
OK, Nokia, the world has heard you loud and clear. You really want Instagram on your Lumia devices. They’re showing that to the world today in what is perhaps the most creepy way possible – by releasing a brand new photo sharing app called #2InstaWithLove . Essentially, the app allows users to take a photo, apply a cool looking polaroid-esque filter, and share it via Twitter. The creepiest thing about it though is the giant “#2InstaWithLove” stamp the app puts on the bottom of the bottom, clearly designed to make Instagram pay attention to the distantly third place platform, as if to say “Pay attention to me! I’m here too!”
Photo credit goes to James Whatley.
It’s a neat marketing trick, I guess, but considering that Instagram is just one of many apps that exist specifically to slap a filter on a photo and share it to the world, it comes off as perhaps a little creepy for my tastes. Then again, this is coming from me, somebody who would probably cease to exist if I couldn’t check my feed at least twice a day, so vive la France to Nokia, I guess.
Via: The Verge
Lumia owners, start your PureView cameras
Microsoft likely bringing Instagram to Windows Phone, exclusive to Lumia devices?
Instagram has long been seen as one of the most popular applications on iOS (and more recently Android), however Windows Phone users have long been left in the cold by the popular Facebook-owned social network due to the relative unpopularity of the platform among consumers. Microsoft was reportedly very interested in changing that however, and is getting ready to release an in-house developed version of Instagram for Windows Phone that will allow users to browse through their friends photos and post new ones to the network.
Chinese Windows Phone site WPDang has reportedly gotten additional information on this upcoming Instagram for Windows Phone and reports that the application is in the final stages of testing and should be released shortly. The one caveat, however, is that Instagram for Windows Phone will be limited to Nokia’s Lumia range of devices as the result of an exclusivity deal of an unreported length between Instagram, Microsoft, and Nokia. Deals of this nature are not unheard of between developers and manufacturers – Flipboard infamously launched their Android app exclusively for Samsung Galaxy S III devices in May of last year.
A killer app for your Surface
Nokia announces Nokia Music for Windows 8 and RT
Nokia seems to be pulling out all the stops with their software this week, finally releasing not only Nokia Now for all Windows Phone 8 handsets but also a full blown version of their popular Nokia Music application for all Windows 8 and Windows RT devices. As demonstrated by The Verge, the user experience of the application is particularly suited towards the use on your tablet, perhaps a given considering this bad boy is a full blooded WinRT application.
Nokia Music, for those who aren’t familiar, is a Pandora-like music servie that offers high quality streams for $3.99 a month. Nokia has long been rumored to be at least considering a “Lumia tablet” that would run Windows RT, and this seems like a logical first step towards that potential future.
Nokia Music is not yet available on the Marketplace, however it should be arriving in the coming days to weeks.
Source: The Verge
Previously exclusive to Lumia devices and iPhone
Nokia releases Here Maps for all Windows Phone 8 devices
Nokia has just released their mostly impressive Here Maps application, which was previously exclusive to Nokia’s own line of Windows Phone-based Lumia devices (and the Apple iPhone, curiously enough), to all Windows Phone 8 users no matter the device you own.
The application is free on Windows Phone’s marketplace and provides a more detailed experience than Microsoft’s own Bing-based bundled Maps app, particularly while using turn-by-turn navigation. Here Maps is currently available for users in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, and Spain.
Carriers continue to hold phones hostage
T-Mobile blocking Lumia 710′s Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade
Just the other day, Nokia announced that all Lumia devices are set to be getting an upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8, an upgrade to the aging Windows Phone 7 platform that roughly brings it up to par with Windows Phone 8, at least in terms of aesthetics and Start Screen functionality. Everyone thought this was great news – it may not be Windows Phone 8, but it was something – but now the carriers have come in and started to ruin everything, as T-Mobile has just announced that, for no apparent reason, they will not be pushing the Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade onto T-Mobile branded Lumia 710′s.
Users can give T-Mobile a metaphorical finger and manually install the upgrade anyways through custom tools, but really, should they have to? This is an official upgrade by the phone’s manufacturer that the carrier is blocking for seemingly no reason what-so-ever. T-Mobile claims that, despite of their decision to block the upgrade, they are “committed to enhancing customers’ experience with our devices, including providing upgrades to the latest operating systems, and T-Mobile aims to deliver software upgrades when it will provide a better experience for our customers,” which only smells of pure corporate bologna at this point.
We’ve reached out to T-Mobile for more information and will update this post if anything comes of that.
Still got a Lumia 900? This is for you.
Windows Phone 7.8 coming to AT&T
If you got locked into a contract for a Lumia 900 only to discover Windows Phone 8 would be coming out soon, there’s some hope for you. The Windows Phone 7.8 update will reportedly come to AT&T on January 30th.
The update will be downloaded through the Zune desktop software and will weigh in at about 100MB. With this update coming to AT&T, and the release of the WP7.8 SDK, it’s likely that WP7.8 will find its way to other carriers in the US and in other places in the world.
Source: The Verge
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