Hasta La Gadget!

Lumia users have no need for low-quality-GIF makers, thank you very much. Why? Because they can now use the new version of Cinemagraph to create animated images in full 1,080 x 720 glory. What’s more, HD cat mems made with the updated app — not to be confused with the similar Cinemagram — can be viewed as short high-res video clips instead of GIFs when accessed on computers. As a nice bonus, the developers also threw in a new color pop feature that lets you highlight one hue and render the rest of the image black and white. Sure, the style’s been overdone, but we’ll bet many WP8 users are thankful the app’s expanding its filter offerings in the absence of Instagram.

Filed under: Misc, Mobile, Nokia

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With all the higher-end Nokia Lumia phones announced recently, like the Lumia 925, Lumia 928, and the recently announced Lumia 1020, we guess it can’t be helped that older Nokia devices have fallen by the wayside or there hasn’t been […]

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We reported back in June that Halo: Spartan Assault would be making its way to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, marking the franchise’s first foray into the mobile device dominion, as well as a long-awaited return to PC. Word at the time said that it would be launched some time in July, and per an announcement by Nokia on Twitter this evening, today is that day.

Those using a Windows Phone 8 device on Verizon will be able to grab Halo: Spartan Assault from the Windows Phone store, while those running mobile operating system on a different carrier are going to have to wait until next month. Windows 8 users, however, have seen their days of waiting come to an end, with the game being available for download from the Windows Store.

The game was created by 343 Industries and Vanguard Games, and won’t be seeing a big launch in retail stores, with it instead serving to help push gamers towards the Windows platform, whether mobile or otherwise. This is the first Halo franchise game developed for touchscreen devices, and as such it won’t be quite as intense as its console-based brethren.

There are 25 missions available in the game, with the player operating as Spartan Davis and Commander Sarah Palmer. It is promised to offer gamers a robust story line that dives “deeper into the back-story of the Human-Covenant wars,” giving enthusiasts a reason to pick up a copy. The app – both mobile and Windows 8 version – is priced at $6.99, but you’ll have to pay for each separately if you want it on both your computer and smartphone, for example.

The game can be used with a touchscreen, but there’s also support for using a keyboard and mouse if desired. Whatever device is used will need to have at least 1GB of RAM, while those with lower memory will be able to pick up a revised version designed specifically for the less powerful hardware next month, according to Microsoft. Have you already grabbed a copy? If so, let us know what you think!

SOURCE: Windows Blog

Halo: Spartan Assault releases for Verizon Windows Phone 8 devices and Windows 8 is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia has announced its Q2 2013 financial results, with the company selling 7.4m Lumia Windows Phones though still making a €115m ($151m) loss in the three month period. The company improved on Q1, according to the full results [pdf link] released today, when losses reached €150m, and smartphone sales are up 21-percent quarter-on-quarter, though down 27-percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, average selling price of Nokia’s smartphones is down, by 18-percent versus Q1 2013, to €157 ($206). Nokia’s cheaper devices slumped 27-percent year over year, to 53.7m devices, while the introduction of the lower-cost Lumia 720 and Lumia 520 helped drive rising Windows Phone sales.

As for Microsoft, Nokia pocketed a $250m “platform support payment” from the Windows Phone developer, though Nokia still has to pay licensing fees for the OS.

Speaking of mobile phone sales, and specifically the Asha 501, CEO Stephen Elop said that the team would do more to drive differentiation in the category. “While we are very encouraged by the consumer response to our innovations in this price category,” he said, “our Mobile Phones business unit is planning to take actions to focus its product offering and improve product competitiveness.”

That “action” will include job losses, it seems. “The planned restructure is estimated to impact a maximum of 440 positions globally, while also creating a number of new positions and offering possibilities for redeployment” Nokia says.

It’s not been an easy few years for Nokia, especially with the faster-than-expected decline in demand for feature-phones in developing markets. Nokia had previously counted upon that demand to tide the company over, financially, while Windows Phone bedded in, but the rise of cheap Android devices scuppered all that.

In fact, Nokia says, Symbian demand has crashed altogether. “Our Symbian volumes decreased from 6 million units in the second quarter 2012 to approximately zero in the second quarter 2013″ the company admitted today.

Instead, there’s been a gradual rise in Windows Phone, with sales increasing quarter-on-quarter but the OS as a whole still having a minority share of the smartphone market. What success there’s been has focused on the budget-end of the segment, too, with Nokia’s low-cost Lumia 520 now the best-selling Windows Phone.

Part of Nokia’s next challenge, therefore, is to drive interest in its more expensive models, and push up its average selling price. The trio of Lumia 9xx series devices, most recently the Nokia Lumia 925, and the new Lumia 1020 PureView will be key in driving that high-end appeal.

Looking forward, Nokia expects Q3 2013 operating margin to be -2% (+/-4%) though an increase in device sales.

Nokia Q2 2013: 7.4m Lumia Windows Phone sales but $151m loss is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The 41-megapixel Nokia Lumia 1020 must have impressed a fair number of people ever since it was introduced, and it was just yesterday when the pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 1020 on AT&T were opened, and here we are with […]

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