Hasta La Gadget!

T-Mobile was set to have its own splashy product unveiling today in New York City, but a certain Sandy put the kibosh on that. Now that Google’s let its trio of updated Nexus products out of the bag, Magenta’s ready to give us pricing and availability for the Nexus 4, HTC 8X and Lumia 810 which are set to hit the carrier’s shelves this November 14th. Both Google’s and Microsoft’s (signature) flagships will be available for $199 on a two-year plan, while Nokia’s lower-end WP8 handset will go for $149 with the same contract duration. Also, joining the crowded launch lineup that day is Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 for $349 with a two-year agreement. As for the newly HSPA+ capable Nexus 7, well, you’ll be able to snag that refreshed slate on Google Play just one day later. Of course, T-Mo hasn’t forgotten about its value-minded sub base, offering up LG’s Optimus L9 on the 31st of this month at an affordable $79 on contract. So if it’s options you wanted this holiday season, Magenta’s doling them out in spades. Hit up the break for the official PR.

Continue reading T-Mobile unveils holiday lineup: Nexus 4, HTC 8X, Lumia 810 to land November 14th

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, Microsoft, HTC, Nokia, Google, LG, T-Mobile

T-Mobile unveils holiday lineup: Nexus 4, HTC 8X, Lumia 810 to land November 14th originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC has revealed Best Deals, a new smartphone-based deals service promising time-limited discount shopping directly on your Android or Windows Phone 8 handset. Making its debut on the HTC One X+ and the Windows Phone 8X and 8X by HTC, Best Deals will be available initially in the UK, Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, with over 1,7000 offers from LivingSocial, Trip Advisor, and more.

Qype Deals and Offerum are also contributing offers, with local sorting so that users will be able to sift through cheaper meals, massaging, and the inevitable waxing and hair treatments, that are nearest to them. However, HTC says that there will also be deals on the company’s own products and accessories, though exactly what they’ll be is unclear.

Other sorting options will include popularity, the size of the discount, the price, and when the deal expires. Each can be reviewed, bookmarked, or shared; it’s not clear whether, if you share a deal with a non-HTC Best Deals user, they’ll see the same offer, but it seems likely.

In addition to the 8X and 8S, and the One X+, the HTC One X and One S will also get Best Deals in a subsequent firmware update. HTC hasn’t said when that new firmware will arrive.

At launch, twelve deal providers are involved with the app. HTC says it’s working on adding more to that list, as well as introducing new categories. Partnerships with mobile operators are also on the cards.

HTC Best Deals revealed: Bargains sucked to your smartphone is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Roughly a week ahead of the Windows Phone 8 launch on October 29th, AT&T and Best Buy have put out some pricing details on the new Lumia 920 and the HTC 8X via the Best Buy website: $149 for the Lumia and $99 for the 8X. And pre-orders are open now. More »

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has dismissed concerns that the Lumia 920 will suffer from not being Microsoft’s “signature” Windows Phone, with HTC instead taking that crown, arguing that the perceived advantage is “ambiguous.” Asked whether Nokia felt slighted or sidelined at HTC inking a deal with Microsoft to put the Windows Phone 8X and 8S at the core of its new advertising campaign, Elop insisted that there’s more to Lumia than just Windows Phone itself. “We could have called our devices Windows Phone 920 or whatever,” the chief exec told Wired, ”but we felt it was important to say that we stand for something a step above.”

That “step above” could consist of wireless charging, location-based services, photography under the PureView brand, or something else, but whatever it is it’s over and above the basics of the OS, Elop argues.

Mildly spanking rivals while remaining loyal to Windows Phone overall has become something of a habit for Elop in recent weeks. Speaking to GigaOm earlier this month, he countered suggestions that the rumored Microsoft own-brand Surface Windows Phone 8 might damage Nokia’s prospects.

“I don’t think it changes the relationship” Elop said of Nokia and Microsoft’s partnership, should a Surface phone appear. “It’s incumbent upon us at all points in time to build the world’s most innovative smartphones. Which is what we believe we’ve done, for example, with the Lumia 920. That’s something that’s done based on years and years of work, and years of investment in what makes great mobile devices.”

In fact, Elop is doubtful that Microsoft taking the sudden decision to lead the Windows Phone device parade, Google Nexus-style, would actually work out too well, because it takes significant periods of time to develop compelling features. “The reason the Lumia 920 is standing out so well amongst the competition, one of the reasons is the imaging capability, this low-light photography capability” he points out. “That’s five or six years of work in our labs, engineers doing nothing else but working on that technology. Saying, “oh, this year, we’re going to do our own phone,” doesn’t allow you to do that. You have to make those investments over a period of time.”

Those investments may well expand to encompass a more holistic ecosystem of devices than simple smartphones. Asked about the possibility of tablets or, further afield, TVs and other product lines, Elop was coy on plans but honest about the gap in Nokia’s current portfolio. “We haven’t announced anything specifically, but what I will say is that people in their digital experience expect to be able to move seamlessly between form factors like a phone, a tablet, a television, an automobile, on and on and on. So we’ll participate in different elements of that to a greater or lesser extent.”

Don’t expect a tablet immediately, however, as Nokia focuses on getting a solid start in smartphones. “The ecosystem in which we’re involved, we’ve got to be a part of a world where people are experiencing all of those things. Everything’s got to hang together” the CEO points out. “So yes, there’s a lot of opportunity there.”

Nokia and AT&T announced earlier today that the Lumia 920 would be ranged by the carrier as an exclusive in the US, the second time AT&T has been the sole place to pick up a flagship Lumia Windows Phone. Although rival brands have had great success broadly spreading their devices across multiple networks, Nokia has previously insisted that its strategy of focusing marketing and sales training on one specific carrier has paid dividends as it attempts to reposition itself in the smartphone marketplace.

Nokia’s Elop: Lumia is “a step above” HTC’s Windows Phones is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Love you some Windows Phone? Big fan of HTC? Well, then, we imagine this has been a good week for you! If you missed our coverage from New York as it happened, first of all, shame on you. But, we’ll forgive you, and as a special treat even point you to a video of the whole event online. Simply head past the break for the goods, and if you don’t want to know what happens, don’t click on any of the earlier links in this post. Too late for spoilers? Okay, they announce new phones!

Continue reading HTC’s Windows Phone 8 press event now available to watch online (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

HTC’s Windows Phone 8 press event now available to watch online (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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