An update on Windows Phone 7.8 Via Windows Phone Blog Team

Allow me to summarize what you will read via the Microsoft Windows Phone Team blog:

1. As we said some six months ago, Windows Phone 7.8 update is coming. The features we are “announcing” right now are all of the features you already know about.
2. We are still not giving you a solid release date, other than “early 2013.”
3. The “hugely popular” games Words with Friends [two star rating] and Draw Something [three star rating], games [that lost their popularity a while back when EVERYONE was playing them…except Windows Phone 7.5 users due to a lack of availability] are “already available,” while Angry Birds Space and Angry Birds Star Wars are [still] on the way.

So there you go. It is stunning how slow and clueless Microsoft is at generating hype. This only to end in a sad and lethargic fizzle. Slow golf clap…

P.S. Thank you for your support of Windows Phone.

-Terry

Corporate Vice President, Windows Phone

P.P.S. I do love my Windows Phone 8 Lumia 920.

-Christopher

 

Nokia Lumia 920 – Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia Design Team

 

Marko Ahtisaari, Head of Nokia Design, talks about the design approach behind Nokia’s latest flagship phone.

Because everyone needs a Jony Ive…

 

The Nokia Lumia 920 Has Arrived–Review Round Up

The Nokia Lumia 920 began appearing in stores, online and in people’s pockets – including mine. Oh man I am giddy with glee!

Lumia 920 Intro–Nokia

 

The specs at a glance:

• 8.7 megapixels PureView Camera sensor (main camera resolution), Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, Short pulse high power dual LED, 26mm focal length at f/2.0, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS)
• 4.5 ”  Capacitive Multipoint-Touch IPS PureMotion HD+ display at 1280p by 768p with a pixel density of 332ppi
• Snapdragon™ S4 Processor
• 10.8 h Talk time (3G)
• 460 h Standby time (3G)
• 74 h Music playback time and Dolby Headphone sound equalization
• Full specs can be found here.

I’ve had mine for two weeks now, so what do I think about this phone? In brief [you can see others reviews below]: freaking brilliant!

 

Microsoft Wants YOUR Vote on Which Windows Phone 8 Feature to Add to Windows Phone 7.8 [updated]

Let your voice be heard here.

Updated:

We are truly floored over the excitement about future Windows Phone releases. Unfortunately our earlier response on this post was not well worded. We really do care about your feedback. This forum is intended to seek suggestions on future product features but it is not set up to take requests for specific product versions. We apologize for the confusion.

We would like to reinforce that for sthis forum to work optimally we would need users to create unique suggestions each with a single idea. This particular suggestion item has many varied ideas and because of that we aren’t able to infer what is the most important to this forum. Please reallocate your votes to other suggestions that have a single idea.

 

Nokia Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 Announced

Via: Nokia Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 Official Photo Album

Nokia Lumia 920 Options include:

• Display : 4.5 inch Nokia PureMotion HD+ WXGA IPS LCD, Super Sensitive touch, Nokia ClearBlack with high brightness mode and Sunlight Readability Enhancements

• Battery: 2000mAh with integrated Qi wireless charging

• Processor: 1.5GHz Dual Core Snapdragon S4

• Main Camera:8.7MP with Nokia PureView advanced optical imaging stabilization and Carl Zeiss optics

• Full 1080p HD video capture at 30fps

• Front facing camera: 1.2MP with 720p HD video

• Memory: 1GB RAM, 32GB mass memory with 7GB free SkyDrive storage

Images

 

Windows Phone 7.5: Nokia Lumia 900 Tango Update Now Live

via Nokia Converstaions: As part of our ongoing commitment to our Lumia owners, today we’ve announced the availability of a software update that brings numerous enhancements to the Nokia Lumia 900 in the United States and Canada.

Update 7.10.8773.98

• Messaging. Adds new messaging capabilities to your phone. You can now attach multiple pictures, videos, audio notes, and ringtones to text messages.
• Other quality improvements. Includes many other improvements to Windows Phone.

This update is not available in all markets or for all phones.

Update 7.10.8107.79

• On-screen keyboard. Fixes an issue to prevent the keyboard from disappearing during typing.
• Email. Fixes a Google mail syncing issue.
• Location. Fixes a location access issue. With this fix, the Me feature in the People Hub sends anonymous information about nearby Wi-Fi access points and cell towers to Microsoft only if you agree to allow the Check In function to access and use location information.
• Security. Revokes digital certificates from DigiCert Sdn Bhd to address an encryption issue.
• Email threads. Fixes an email issue related to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. With this fix, when you reply to or forward a message, the original message is now included in your response.
• Voicemail. Fixes a voicemail notification display issue that occurs on some European and Asian networks under certain conditions.

NOKIA Update for Windows Phone

• Flip-to-silence feature
• Camera performance enhancements
• Battery performance enhancements
• Startup sequence performance enhancements

 

Nokia Drive 3.0–Are We There Yet?

Released on July 21st [initially for Nokia’s Lumia devices], I have had a few opportunities to try out the latest app, Drive 3.0 offering from Nokia.

Over the past two years I have repeatedly used Google’s brilliant built in turn-by-turn navigation powered by the Android based Google Maps app, and was amazed at how well it was executed. Other than occasional GPS signal loss issues, I came to rely on it like a good old friend.

I was hoping for the same “WOW” factor with the Nokia app for Windows Phone 7.5 too. So how does it work? Well, unfortunately in some very critical ways, not well at all…

Nokia Drive 3.0

In two of my three GPS guided trips using the app, Drive 3.0 took me to the wrong address.

In the first instance, I was attempting to get to the Courtyard Marriot in San Jose [denoted by the “A” marker in the Google map] and the app directed me past my target location and into the roundabout that rings the airport. Fun.

My second instance was no better when it directed me to “enter the highway” without stating which direction [North or South] to “enter the highway.” Even the listed exit/entrance name on top of the map just stated a rather unhelpful “Hwy 280 Junipero Serra”.

The third guided attempt however was successful.

What I found disconcerting is that the app requires you to constantly peek at your phone to figure out where it is telling you to go, and even then the information displayed is a bit spotty. There are no exit names spoken. Generic spoken terms like “take the exit” and “turn right ahead” are all the spoken part of the app offers. So if you have multiple or closely spaced streets or exits, you can find yourself in a bind to figure out which one to take, necessitating the need to have your eyes fixed on the phone rather than on the road where they should be.