| Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on Sep 5th 2012, 15:14  Nokia's Lumia 820 is here, after countless leaks, and the budget-friendly handset is exactly what we expected. We'll admit to see the rather singular design of its spiritual forebearer, the Lumia 800, fall by the wayside, but we can't complain about the build quality here. The usual attention to detail and materials we've come to appreciate from the Finnish phone maker is on full display. The flat glass panel on the front may lack the mystique of the curved display on the 920 and 800, but it's hardly something that should factor into your decision to buy this handset or another. The volume rocker and lock button on the right side have a pleasant and satisfying click, though, we're sad to report that the camera button still leaves us wanting. Sure, any dedicated camera key is better than none, but its squishy response to our press was hardly encouraging. We were also a bit put off by the shine of the body. The Lumia series stole our hearts with its matte finish when it first debuted, now the coats of paint are a little more likely to throw some glare and attract fingerprints. What's under the hood certainly makes up for some of those short comings. The 1.5 GHz dual-core processor with 1GB RAM simply chewed through the light-weight Windows Phone 8, leaving us to wonder if Apple and Google can truly keep up. All of the UIs animations were smooth, fluid and apps launched with nary a hiccup. And, can we just say, that Windows Phone 8 is a an absolute pleasure to use. At the risk of angering quite a few people -- there is simply no mid-range Android phone or iOS device that is as quick and satisfying to use as the Lumia 820, and much of that is thanks to the highly optimized Microsoft OS. It's a pleasure to see that new features like the highly-customizable home screen and background multitasking haven't weighed down Redmond's phone platform. Continue reading Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Nokia announces Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch, LTE-running, budget-friendly Windows Phone 8 handset Sep 5th 2012, 15:02  No matter your budget, Nokia's got a Windows Phone 8 handset for you. While the Lumia 920 dominated today's press conference, the company's more modest Lumia 820 is planning to sneak in and capture the mid-range. The handset is packing the same 1.5Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 internals you'll find in the 920, along with 1GB RAM and a 4.3-inch display. While the handset isn't unattractive, the design language of the 800 (and N9) that captured our hearts has been dumped in favor of something more symmetrical. The glass of its 800 x 480 ClearBlack OLED screen is flat rather than curved (poached by the 920) and the body's finish is a little more shinier than the previous generation of Nokia's polycarbonate. Photography fans looking to get their hands on that PureView goodness will be disappointed to see that it's also been reserved for the flagship. Instead, this unit comes with the more familiar 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss optics we've seen before, but at least there's a front-facing VGA lens for video conferencing. While the unit only has 8GB of on-board storage, it's packing microSD support (our guess would be up to 32GB, as per usual) and you'll also get an additional 7GB of storage on Microsoft's cloud service, Skydrive. The company's including a series of protective cases in a variety of colors, including a set that add bundle QI-compatible wireless charging to the handset -- at the cost of adding an extra 1mm to the handset's overall thickness. It'll arrive in Red, Yellow, Grey, Cyan, Purple, White and Black, with separate LTE and HSPA+ variants shipping "later in the year," but Elop and co declined to give a specific announcement on availability or price today. Continue reading Nokia announces Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch, LTE-running, budget-friendly Windows Phone 8 handset Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile Nokia announces Lumia 820, a 4.3-inch, LTE-running, budget-friendly Windows Phone 8 handset originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on: the dual-core, HD Windows Phone 8 flagship to take on the beasts Sep 5th 2012, 15:01  It's official. Nokia's just taken the wraps off its worst-kept Windows Phone 8 secret: the Lumia 920. The device, announced at the manufacturer's event in New York City today, is a spiritual successor to the 900 that first broke onto American shores and can largely be seen as a response to critics of that former device. With a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU (the same one that drives the the current US supremos, the HTC One X and Galaxy S III), a "better than HD" 1,280 x 768 LCD display, PureView imaging (albeit with only eight megapixels), NFC capabilities, 2,000mAh battery with wireless charging and a next-gen Redmond-baked OS, this handset's a big break proposition for the flailing Finnish company; an attempt to up the ante and compete on even ground. From the outside, it may appear as though not much has changed in this generational hardware leap, but rest assured that what Espoo's packed inside should take the mobile outfit to the next level. So, follow on after the break as we dive into our first impressions of this curiously-hued smartphone splash. Continue reading Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on: the dual-core, HD Windows Phone 8 flagship to take on the beasts Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on: the dual-core, HD Windows Phone 8 flagship to take on the beasts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 11:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Windows Phone 8 introduces new Lens apps: Bing Vision, Photosynth and CNN iReport launching from the camera button Sep 5th 2012, 14:52  The first new Windows Phone 8 feature to appear alongside Nokia's Lumia 920 launch is the camera-augmenting Lens apps. Offering both in-house and third-party programs, (and no more zoom bar -- pinch-to-zoom!), these will all launch immediately from the camera button. On stage, Joe Belfiore detailed a handful of the apps, encompassing Bing Vision (camera-based search), Photosynth, Blink, FXSuite, PhotoStrip and CNN iReport. FXSuite offers up a preview of your viewfinder in all your favorite token visual effects, which can capture an image, and then send you back to the single Lens app, or back to the Lens menu. As to be expected, all your photographic skills can be instantly transferred across to your SkyDrive-powered cloud camera roll -- something that could be especially useful with the Blink app, which captures a burst of photos in one touch. Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Software, Mobile Windows Phone 8 introduces new Lens apps: Bing Vision, Photosynth and CNN iReport launching from the camera button originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Nokia and AOL announce Entrance, an entertainment app for Nokia's Windows Phone devices Sep 5th 2012, 14:45  In case you didn't notice, Microsoft and Nokia are holding a pretty major press event right now, and while we've mainly been waiting for some shiny new hardware, a few fresh apps never hurt either. Nokia just made a joint announcement with AOL, unveiling an entertainment hub called Entrance, which will be available only on Nokia's Windows Phone devices. AOL (which happens to be Engadget's parent company) naturally used the app as a way to highlight its various properties, including Moviefone, AOL Music and Huffington Post Entertainment. So, for example, you might watch trailers or buy tickets on Moviefone, or read news from HuffPo. Like its various Android apps, it includes Shoutcast Radio integration with streaming from over 55,000 radio stations worldwide. Perhaps the most compelling bit, though, is an augmented reality feature with overlays for movie posters and show times. The app's free and available for download at the source link below, and we've also got some screenshots to help give you a sense for the look and feel. Continue reading Nokia and AOL announce Entrance, an entertainment app for Nokia's Windows Phone devices Filed under: Software, Mobile Nokia and AOL announce Entrance, an entertainment app for Nokia's Windows Phone devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Windows Marketplace | Email this | Comments | | Nokia: 7 million Lumia phones sold to date in 54 countries, 4 million in the last quarter Sep 5th 2012, 14:42  Fresh on the heels of the much-anticipated Lumia 920 announcement, some new figures have come to light regarding its predecessors' success. According to the Finnish phone-maker, a total of 7-million Windows Phone / Lumia devices have shipped to date. The firm was also keen to point out that this number comes from 54 markets in total -- some 130 different operators. While this might seem modest, especially with only 600,000 of those sales being in the US, 4-million of those Lumia devices were sold in Q2, roughly double that of the preceding two quarters, so things are on the up. Now it just remains to see what impact any new Windows Phone 8 phones will have. Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile Nokia: 7 million Lumia phones sold to date in 54 countries, 4 million in the last quarter originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | TechCrunch | Email this | Comments | | Nokia announces wireless charging pads, Fatboy Recharging Pillow for Lumia phones Sep 5th 2012, 14:30  Any of you who bothered to read Engadget this past Labor Day Monday must've noticed all those Nokia leaks making the rounds. Chief among them was a wireless charging pad, featured in a legit-looking press shot. Well, Nokia's big day of announcements has arrived and indeed, the company just formally unveiled the charging accessory -- a soap-dish-shaped device based on the popular Qi wireless standard. (Of course, the Lumia 920's built-in Qi tech means that you can use all manner of third-party charging pads; they don't have to be made by Nokia.) Additionally, the company briefly teased a Fatboy-branded pillow (pictured), also designed for recharging. Other than that, the company didn't share too many specifics, though it did reveal that Virgin Atlantic and Coffee Bean will both be offering wireless charging -- Virgin in its Heathrow Airport lounge, and Coffee Bean on its countertops. Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile Nokia announces wireless charging pads, Fatboy Recharging Pillow for Lumia phones originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | | Nokia Lumia 920 official: Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, 8MP PureView camera, Windows Phone 8 (video) Sep 5th 2012, 14:12  It was only this past spring that Nokia crashed onto the US smartphone scene to stake its claim and make inroads into consumers' minds and hearts. Now, just five months later, the Finnish company's poised to overtake the buzz of its fledgling, former Windows Phone flagship, with what many consider to be a true high-end contender: the Lumia 920. As one of the first Windows Phone 8 devices to be officially announced, this device augments Espoo's line with a larger, curved 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ display, dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, 2,000mAh battery, NFC, integrated wireless charging and an 8-megapixel rear PureView camera capable of 1080p video. The display packs WXGA (1,280 x 768) resolution, is 25 percent brighter than the next best panel on the market and it's the fastest LCD that Nokia has ever shipped on a smartphone. What's more, the screen also boasts what Nokia calls "Super Sensitive Touch," which promises to let you use it even when wearing gloves or mitts. As you can tell from its humpless back, this PureView is not that of the 41-megapixel variety -- it's merely all about the branding, as the moniker will now ring synonymous with "high-end cameras." Despite that fall from 808 grace, Nokia's Head of Imaging Damian Dinning has assured detractors the magic is in what's done with the optics and pixels and not sheer gargantuan sampling size. To wit, the 920 employs a "floating lens," which, in layman's terms, translates into hardware image stabilization and also packs impressive low-light capabilities -- an area the company's seems squarely focused upon. In a true return to form, the 920 also hearkens back to the Lumia that started it all, opting for the "sinuous tapering" that debuted on the 800 with glass edges that blend gently into the polycarbonate hull. Unfortunately, not all of that design language has made the transition, given its chassis now appears glossier and more polished, distancing itself from that premium matte finish. Still, as looks go, the handset's keeping to its 900 origins, appearing nigh indistinct from its predecessor save for that attention-grabbing mellow yellow hue.And as a bonus, Nokia's imbued the device with integrated wireless charging, based on the Qi standard, which corroborates those leaks we saw just last week. The Lumia 920 will arrive in pentaband LTE and HSPA+ variants and both are expected to ship "in selected markets" later this year. Continue reading Nokia Lumia 920 official: Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, 8MP PureView camera, Windows Phone 8 (video) Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile Nokia Lumia 920 official: Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 CPU, 8MP PureView camera, Windows Phone 8 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | | Email this | Comments | |
