EverythingWM

Nokia Lumia 1520 Photo Leaks, Along With Specs, Treasure Tag

Christopher Meinck — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:13:58 +0000

Tomorrow’s Nokia event will bring us the big reveal, literally. Nokia will take the wraps off the Nokia Lumia 1520. In advance of the event, specifications have leaked on a Tmall store, an official Nokia site in China. They reveal a 6-inch 1080p display, 20 megapixel PureView camera and a Snapdragon 800 CPU.

A leaked photo of the Lumia 1520 comes this morning via @evleaks, known for his high profile leaks. It shows the often rumored Treasure Tag, along with the 1520. It’s a proximity sensor accessory, rumored to run Bluetooth 4.0 (low power) and note the NFC logo.

The screenshot also shows specific apps that will work with Treasure Tag including My Bike, My Bag, My Box and House Keys. Presumably, you’ll be able to add tags to any of these devices and use your Lumia 1520 to track them down. Losing your keys will be a thing of the past.

Source: Engadget, @evleaks

AT&T Lumia 1020 Available Free At Select Microsoft Stores

Christopher Meinck — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 21:09:56 +0000

If you’ve been waiting for a deal to come along on the AT&T Nokia Lumia 1020, your time is now. According to WPCentral, a select group of Microsoft Stores are running what appears to be a stealthy promotion. Customers who sign up for a new 2-year contract or extension (provided you are out of contract), can receive the Nokia Lumia 1020 at the price of free.

Originally priced at $299, we’ve since seen the price drop to $199. Even with the 6-inch Windows Phone coming next week from Nokia, this price appears to be the floor for now, save for this Microsoft Store offer.

The offer runs through November 3rd, but it’s not available at all participating stores, so you’ll want to phone them up first before hoping in your car or check out this list. What’s extremely odd is that it is being promoted by Microsoft. As to why it’s available in one store, but not another, is a good question.

Yet another question remains, will AT&T and stores like Best Buy price match? Anyone want to venture a guess as to why this is limited to certain stores? At this price, one thing is for certain, inventory will move quickly.

If you manage to grab one, be sure to leave us a comment.

Source: WPCentral

Sprint Announce HTC 8XT and Samsung ATIV S Neo

Christopher Meinck — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 14:26:25 +0000

Sprint today announced the wireless carriers first Windows Phone 8 devices. The HTC 8XT and Samsung ATIV S Neo will be available this summer. No specific release dates were provided. The HTC 8XT will be priced at $99.99 and the Samsung ATIV S Neo will run $149.99. Customers who purchase the ATIV S Neo will receive a $50 mail-in rebate via a reward card. Both of these require a new 2-year contract or eligible upgrade. Both devices feature unlimited 4G LTE (depending upon availability in your area).

We know our customers are anxious to get their hands on these Windows Phone 8 smartphones, HTC 8XT and ATIV S Neo,” said Fared Adib, senior vice president-Product Development, Sprint. “Without a doubt, they will rival any smartphone on the market today. Our customers will appreciate being able to use them all day, every day without worrying about overages or data caps.”

The HTC 8XT comes with BoomSound, a feature made popular on the HTC One. This particular phone will include front-facing speakers with support for Beats Audio. If you’ve never used BoomSound, trust me when I say that it is very impressive. On the camera front, it will include an 8-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash. On the front is a 1.6 megapixel camera. All of this is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with 1.4Ghz dual-core CPUs with 1GB of RAM. It ships with 8GB of storage with support for microSD memory cards up to 64GB. The display is 4.3-inches.

The ATIV S Neo also features a 1.4Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, 8-megapixel camera, 1.9 megapixel front camera and microSD card support. It comes with a larger 4.8-inch display and has a removable battery. Samsung is also hoping their included software helps differentiate their offering. Beauty Shot allows for smoother looking skin in headshots, while Manga Camera turns your friends and family into cartoons.

If you’re a Sprint customer, the wait for Windows Phone 8 is finally over, well almost.

Unlocked Nokia Lumia 900 for $220 on eBay

Christopher Meinck — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:38:43 +0000

If you don’t mind sticking with Windows Phone 7.8, you might want to check out today’s eBay Daily Deal. You can pick up an unlocked 16GB Nokia Lumia 900 for just $220. This comes with free shipping to boot. I should caution that while it’s an eBay seller with over 74,000 in feedback, they have a high level of complaints – 34 in the past month.

Still, this is a tempting deal.

Windows Phone App for Mac Updated

Christopher Meinck — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 16:26:21 +0000

The Windows Phone app for Mac which enables syncing your Windows Phone devices with OS X has been updated to version 3.0.1.

The update provides a number of fixes:

Fixed app crashing issue for certain customers
Updated directions/documentation for granting access to remote folders
Improved data selection capabilities
Improved acquisition of album art for Windows Phone 8 devices
General bug fixes

If you haven’t already, this is worth updating and you’ll find it in the Mac App Store application.

Ballmer: Windows Phones Selling 4X As Many This Year vs Last Year

Christopher Meinck — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:57:54 +0000

We’ve yet to see numbers related to sales of Windows Phone 8 devices, but they appear to be brisk, according to CEO Steve Ballmer. Speaking to shareholders, Ballmer noted that Windows Phone devices are selling at four times the rate of the same time last year. With big pushes from AT&T for the Nokia Lumia 920 and Verizon’s renewed commitment, the company appears to be seeing results.

Source: @dinabass

Windows Phone 8 ‘Apollo Plus’ Update To Include VPN Support, Assorted Fixes

Christopher Meinck — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:51:09 +0000

Going by the code name ‘Apollo Plus‘, an update to Windows Phone 8 is in the cards for sometime early next year, with a debut possible for Mobile World Congress. This is slated to be a point release, so it’s likely we are looking at 8.0.1, rather than 8.1 or 8.5. While these sorts of releases are typically reserved for bug fixes, the Apollo Plus update is rumored to be including a number of new features.

The most notable feature is VPN support, which will pave the way for corporate users to gain secure connections to their work networks. While this is not a sure thing, you can bank on a fix for the Wi-Fi connection, which will allow it to remain on. Audio fixes are also coming with Apollo Plus. A few months ago, Microsoft confirmed that they ‘ran out of time’ while developing Notification Center for Windows Phone 8. This would be a major new feature, but there has been no indication this is happening with this update.

If they are showcasing this update at MWC, perhaps they go all out and include features originally planned for Windows Phone 8. If the new features are ready, ship them.

Source: The Verge

Windows Phone 8 Rebooting Issue Fix Coming In December

Christopher Meinck — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:28:33 +0000

A nasty bug has caused some Windows Phone 8 devices to spontaneously reboot without warning. It’s unclear which devices are affected by the issue, but rest assured a fix is coming and should be here in December according to Microsoft.

“We’re continuing to investigate some reports of phones rebooting and have identified a cause with our partners,” Microsoft said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are working to get an over-the-air update out in December.”

All sounds good here. For those of you experiencing the reboot, what’s your device and how often is it happening?

Source: All Things D

Windows Phone 7.8 Update Coming Soon?

Christopher Meinck — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:19:08 +0000

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Windows Phone 7.8 would bring many of the features of Windows Phone 8 to older devices. There is a growing frustration among those who have older devices, with ~~little~~ nothing coming out of Redmond about the release. Today they furnished TechCrunch with a vague statement.

“We have made no further announcement on this but hope to share more details in the near future.”

Paul Thurrott summed it up best in this blog post aptly titled, “Windows Phone Team: This Is No Way To Treat Early Adopters.”

Can someone help me define the near future. Days, weeks, months? What’s their endgame? Pushing early adopters to new Windows Phone 8 devices? Maybe they should consider offering rebates, similar to what Motorola’s done.

Windows Phone 8 Not Coming To Sprint Until 2013

Christopher Meinck — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 14:40:12 +0000

The launch of Windows Phone 8 has included three of the four major carriers in the US, but Sprint has been noticeably absent. An official statement from the company indicates that we’ll have to wait until 2013 for a Sprint Windows Phone 8 device.

“Sprint and Microsoft are partnering to bring Windows Phone 8 to Sprint’s customers – operating on its 4G LTE network – next year.”

Sprint is still behind AT&T and Verizon in their rollout of LTE, which may have something to do with the delay. This removes the opportunity for strong holiday sales on Sprint, the nation’s third largest carrier. Sprint’s efforts in Windows Phone have been limited to the HTC Arrive, a handset that saw lackluster sales.

Source: PCMag