If you didn’t get enough mobile news during the week, not to worry, because we’ve opened the firehose for the truly hardcore. This week brought a smartphone inspired by TopGear’s 2012 supercar of the year, leaks of a water-resistant handset for T-Mobile and an Android smartphone from LG that sells for under $100 outright. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore all that’s happening in the mobile world for this week of August 5th, 2013.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Thought Samsung has long since moved on from the second-generation Galaxy and tech news in general forgets about essentially any phone (even the Lumia 520) almost without fail once they’ve been out for a short period of time, there’s a battle going on at T-Mobile between these two machines. Both the Nokia Lumia 521 (as […]
A couple of days ago we reported that the Windows Phone GDR2 update was spotted in Nokia’s servers, and while it could be retrieved and flashed manually, what this also implied was that the update could be pushed out soon and sure enough it has! Nokia France has revealed via Twitter that the update is indeed available and is making its way to users in France. For those running unlocked Nokia Lumia devices that are eligible for the update, you should be able to get the update with no issue, although those who are tied to carriers might need to wait for carrier approval and such.
There’s no word when Nokia will begin pushing out the update to those of us stateside or for the rest of the world, but at least it’s good to know that the updates are on its way so it’s only a matter of time before we see them. Any of our Windows Phone readers in the US receive a notification about the GDR2 update yet?
Nokia France Confirms GDR2 Update Rolling Out Locally original content from Ubergizmo. 
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These days, you don’t even have to ring someone, listen to their spiel and wait for a beep when you can just use apps to send voice snippets. WhatsApp, which recently reached 300 million users, has made its existing experience even easier with a new feature that lets you record and send voice memos with one press of the mic icon. A WhatsApp spokesperson told Engadget that the company has “spent a lot of time refining [voice messaging] and made it really simple to use.”
As a testament to this, WhatsApp has now removed length limits for recorded messages and plays audio within the app instead of opening a media player. Playback will automatically switch from a handset’s speakers to its earpiece when the device is held to your ear, and the mic icon will turn blue when recipients have listened to spoken missives. With the new perks available on the mess of platforms WhatsApp calls home (iOS, Android, Windows Phone, BB10 and Nokia Symbian / S40), we bet everyone with that chatty friend are shaking in their boots.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: AllThingsD
Source: Whatsapp
Nokia may see a surge of Windows Phone apps on the horizon, but it’s not waiting for that deluge before it offers further app advice to new Lumia owners. Its new App Social Beta improves on App Highlights by crowdsourcing suggestions. Users create and follow app lists whose popularity determines which titles rise to the top; there’s also a news feed for those who only want to see recommendations from friends and favorite curators. There’s no guarantee that Nokia will help you find that perfect Instagram substitute, but App Social Beta’s immediate availability in 14 countries may keep the search time to a minimum.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia
Source: Windows Phone Store
The phablet wars are heating up. For those who don’t know, a phablet is actually a cross between a smartphone and a tablet. Basically, the device has a display larger than a conventional smartphone but smaller than a 7 inch tablet. Samsung is going to launch its latest phablet on September 4th, HTC is expected to launch the HTC One Max around the same time. Nokia has long been rumored to be developing a phablet of its own. MyNokiaBlog claims to have heard from sources that Nokia’s quadcore processor touting phablet with a full 1080p HD display might be launched as early as September.
The source hasn’t heard anything about the screen size of this device, but they believe that it might be over 5 inches. This is said to be the first Lumia device to have a quadcore processor as well as a full HD display. Internal specifications remain a mystery right now. A few weeks ago we saw a picture of a purported front panel that apparently belonged to a Nokia phablet. It is possible that the Finnish manufacturer might be internally testing a prototype at this point in time. If Nokia releases its device in September as well, its going to be a titanic battle of the phablets next month.
Nokia Quadcore Phablet With 1080p Display Rumored original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Considering how popular Nokia’s Series 40 handsets are worldwide, it should come as no surprise that the platform is finally getting a dedicated LinkedIn client. The app, which is available on the Nokia Store for free, is designed specifically for Series 40 touch phones like the sexy new Asha 501 (it also supports the Asha 305, 306, 308, 309, 310 and 311). Existing users can update their LinkedIn stream, manage their inbox, search their network and check their profile, while new users can sign up right from the login screen. LinkedIn for Series 40 comes hot on the heels of last month’s Foursquare client and joins the existing Symbian and Windows Phone apps. Check the source links below for more info.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia
Source: Nokia Store, Nokia Conversations
With the smartphone market being extremely competitive these days, we have seen companies such as Samsung and Microsoft cook up some creative ads (some of which are downright bizarre) in which they attempt to make the competition look silly, and the common target seems to be Apple whose iPhone device is undoubtedly a hot commodity. Well it looks like Nokia has released their own ad in which they target Apple’s iPhone 5, comparing it against the company’s Lumia 925 device proclaiming that their handset has the ability to take better photos than the iPhone 5.
The ad admits that there are more photos taken on the iPhone than any other phone, and Nokia attempts to show that they are going for quality, not quantity which we guess we can appreciate. The ad then goes on to show the difference in quality between devices, highlighting some of the camera features. While the difference in photo quality is pretty obvious, we have to wonder why they chose to use the Lumia 925 instead of the Lumia 1020 where the camera is the main focus. In any case if you have a couple of minutes to spare, check out the video above to see the difference!
Nokia Lumia 925 Ad Compares Itself Against The iPhone original content from Ubergizmo. 
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If you own a Nokia Lumia 820 or Lumia 920 device, you might be pleased to learn that according to a smattering of reports, the Windows Phone GDR2 update for either device has been spotted in Nokia’s servers. What this means is that for those who might be too impatient to wait for their carrier or Nokia to begin rolling out the update to users, you can go ahead and download the updates manually and flash them onto your device yourself.
What this also means is that by flashing the update, you’re effectively wiping your phone and it will be a fresh install, so all the data will be gone and your phone will be as if it just came right out of the box. Of course this isn’t exactly for everyone since we imagine not everyone is tech savvy enough to figure this out on their own, so if you’re unsure about what you’re doing, you might want to hold off on it first. Since the update is already on Nokia’s servers, we can only imagine it won’t be long before it begins making its way to Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 devices.
Windows Phone GDR2 Update For Lumia 820/920 Spotted On Nokia’s Servers original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Nokia has thrown down the gauntlet to the iPhone 5, with a new commercial that pits Apple’s smartphone against the Lumia 925‘s camera and – so the plucky Finns claim – finds Cupertino’s finest left wanting. The advert, promising “Better Photos Every Day”, shows side-by-side comparisons taken on the iPhone 5 and the Lumia 925, […]
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