Windows Phone 7.8 will hit China in few weeks

China is going to receive Windows Phone 7.8 update. According to Microsoft’s Vice President of Greater China, the company is planning to roll out Windows Phone 7.8 to the region in the coming weeks. They have also promised to release this update before the end of this year. It can be a gift for the Windows Phone users of this holiday season. 

Microsoft's executive told Beijing Newspaper BJD that Windows Phone 8 handsets would hit the market there some time in December with companies like Samsung, Nokia, HTC etc. 

Windows Phone 7.8 is not like Windows Phone 8. WP 8 has a new kernel i.e. it is based on Windows NT. But still it is good and bug free than Windows Phone 7.5.

Cheapest Lumia: Nokia Lumia 510

Nokia has launched its latest Lumia smartphone today in India, Lumia 510. The device brings a 4-inch, 480×800 pixel screen, an 800MHz Qualcomm processor, a 5-megapixel camera, 256 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage memory.

It’s powered by Windows Phone 7.5 or Mango with a WP 7.8 update promised for the future. Yes, besides the screen size, this particular Lumia does not have thrilling specifications, but Nokia promises it will be its most affordable Lumia yet.

Nokia says the device will be priced below 11,000 Rs ($205) and will be available to buy starting in November in India, China, South America, and Asia.

Specs

• 800 MHz processor
• 4" 480 x 800 screen
• 256 MB RAM
• 4 GB internal memory
• 5 MPx camera
• Windows Phone 7.5 (update WP 7.8)
• Rs. 11,000 ($205)

Nokia temporarily shuts down Symbian OS

If you owned a Nokia smartphone before the Finnish firm adopted Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, chances are it was running Symbian. It was once a hugely popular platform, but the likes of Android and iOS — and indeed Windows Phone in recent years — have quickly eaten away at its market share.

It’s no surprise, then, to hear that Nokia is finally pulling the plug on the operating system and sending it into “maintenance mode.” Its latest update, Belle Feature Pack 2, will be the last, and no new features will be added by Nokia. The company confirmed its move in an email to a Symbian developer who reported a bug with the Nokia Drive app.

Is it the end of Symbian, or the Finnish mobile giant has some new plans to relaunch Symbian in a new Avatar, and new power too. Share your views in comments.

Courtesy: Techno Buffalo

Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia will start selling its flagship Lumia 920 smartphone in November, according to an industry report.

Earlier this week, Nokia unveiled the Lumia 920 and its smaller Lumia 820 smartphone in New York, but the company raised eyebrows when it didn’t reveal pricing or when the devices will hit the market.

These new Lumia (and upcoming devices) will be powered by the new slice of Windows Phone 8. With launch of these 2 new phones, Nokia is trying to compete with Samsung and Apple.

According to Reuters' "telecom operator" sources, a spokesperson from an unnamed eastern European carrier said that sales of the PureView-packing Lumia 920 will start in the second half of November, with larger countries landing the device earlier in the same month. Another source from a Nordic operator then followed suit, stating that they expected the phone to arrive in stores around mid to late November. 

Features: 

• Wireless Charging
• 8.7 Megapixel camera
• Windows Phone 8
• 1GB RAM
• 32 GB internal memory
• Nokia City Lens
• 1.5GHz Dual core processor
• 4.5 inch screen

Nokia Lumia 920 Gallery

Samsung ATIV Windows phone released

And here is the new Windows 8 powered phone, Samsung ATIV S. With ATIV, Samsung appears to be fully embracing Windows 8 as part of its mobile strategy.

ATIV is “vita” spelled backward, and it’s a way for the company to showcase that it’s one of the few companies that makes Windows computers, tablets and phones. The ATIV S is the first Windows Phone 8 smartphone. It packs a dual-core 1.5GHz processor with 1GB of RAM and can connect to HSPA+ 42 networks. The 

ATIV S has an 8-megapixel camera with LED flash in back and a 1.9MP camera in front. It’s equipped with Bluetooth 3.0, NFC (near-field communication) along with assisted GPS and its Russian counterpart, Glonass. It also boasts the same “tap to share” ability that Samsung put in the new Galaxy Note II. It comes with either 16 or 32GB of storage.

Samsung ATIV Series: http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ

Gallery (Click on images to get full view)

Samsung ATIV Tab launched

Samsung unveiled its first Windows RT tablet on Wednesday during the 2012 IFA conference in Berlin. The 10.1-inch ATIV Tab features a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, along with a HD (1,366x768) LCD display, Bluetooth 4.0, Micro HDMI and NFC capabilities. It weighs in at 1.25 pounds and is 0.35 inches thick.

The tablet is part of Samsung’s new ATIV product series — a name that is the reverse order of the word “vita,” meaning “Life” in Latin — and includes the world’s first Windows 8 phone. The company said the new products are a part effort to “make life easier for everyone.”

Windows RT is the version of Windows 8 made to run on devices powered by ARM-based processors, as opposed to traditional chips made by Intel and AMD. A variant of the Microsoft’s Surface tablet will also run Windows RT. Machines running Windows RT should have favorable battery life but won’t be able to run apps made for older versions of Windows.

The company noted that the ATIV Tab will come with Office Home and Student RT, which offers the latest version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Microsoft has said all Windows RT devices will come packaged with Office. The tablet also comes with a 8,200 mAh battery.

Samsung ATIV Series: http://www.samsung.com/global/ativ/

Gallery (Click on each image to get full view)

Windows 8 release date: 26 Oct 2012

Windows 8 is, without doubt, Microsoft’s most ambitious release in recent memory. It does away with a lot of what users have come to expect from Windows over the years.


And on Wednesday (18 Jun 2012), Microsoft announced the release date of Windows 8 as 26 Oct 2012.  The company had previously announced a “late October” launch date for the new OS, but Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live unit at Microsoft announced the more specific date at the company’s annual sales meeting. The date was updated on Windows 8′s Wikipedia page within minutes of the announcement. 

Earlier this month the OS-maker said those using the release preview version of Windows 8 will be able to upgrade to the final release for $39.99 using the Windows.com upgrade tool. Those that purchase a new computer between June 2 2012 and January 31 2013 will also be eligible to upgrade to Windows 8 Professional for just $14.99.

While consumers have been treated to two previews of Windows 8 to date, it is likely Microsoft will leave some of the new features for the upcoming launch, and right now it’s hard to say whether further tweaks will be made to the highly controversial Metro UI before it reaches RTM.

Not only will Windows 8 ship on partner devices in late October, but the company revealed that Windows 8 will, at the same time, ship in 109 countries and 231 languages.

Windows 8 Release preview

Skype makes its way in Windows Phone

Skype has officially made its way to Windows Phone. The app landed in the Windows Phone Marketplace Monday morning.

Skype indicated this is the “first of many releases to come for Windows Phone,” adding that the company “believes in the great potential of the Windows Phone platform and will continue to invest over time to enable experiences unmatched by any other app in the market,” in a blog post announcing the app.

A beta version of Skype on Windows Phone was announced at Mobile World Congress in February. The app lets you make both voice and video calls over 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi networks.

As with other versions of the software, those calls can be made to your Sykpe contacts for free, or to landlines and mobile phones using Skype credits.

You can use the app to create and hold one-to-one or group chats, or to update your profile and account information on the service. The Skype for Windows Phone app is available in 18 languages.

Since the launch of the beta version earlier this year, Skype has also added the ability to make video calls in portrait mode, as well as the ability to invite others, accept invitations and block or unblock contacts.

Skype on Windows Phone will work on all Windows Phones running 7.5 Mango and above. Skype has tested and certified the app on the following handsets: Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800, Nokia Lumia 900, HTC Titan, HTC Radar, Samsung Focus S and Samsung Focus Flash.

        

[Courtesy: Mashable]

Google App for Windows Phone

Shortly after Windows Phone 7 first launched, Google released a search app for the platform. We took a look at Google’s offering at the time, but were soundly unimpressed with what we saw and how little it had to offer over the mobile web version of Google.

That was a long time ago, though, and Google’s ready for a second shot at showing Windows Phone users just what its search technology can offer. To that end, the company has today come out with a newly-redesigned Google Search app for Mango handsets.

We noted the lack of voice input as one of our issues with the implementation. That limitation’s a thing of the past, and the new Search app will start processing speech with just a tap of its microphone icon. The app still uses location data to help find relevant local results, and this redesign adds support for auto-completing queries using Google’s database.

The new Google Search app is available now in the Windows Marketplace.