Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Thursday evening, folks – just one more work day and the glorious weekend is here once again. This afternoon we heard that both the iPad Mini and the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro – neither of which officially exist yet, remember – have been delayed due to problems with component yields, but not long after, analysts were saying that the MacBook Pro with Retina Display is still on track to launch this year. Apple has managed to delay the ban of the iPhone and iPad in South Korea, and we learned that the company’s new dock connector is nearly impossible to mod in a new teardown.

If you’ve been waiting for either the DROID RAZR HD or the RAZR MAXX HD, good news: you’ll be able to pick them up from Verizon in just one short week. The Samsung Galaxy S III Mini was officially unveiled today, though its specs aren’t much to write home about, and we learned that the sales ban on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been lifted. Google boss Eric Schmidt expects Android to hit 1 billion activations within the next year, and today Sprint confirmed that it has been in buyout talks with SoftBank.

Apple has released a new iPod ad called “Bounce,” while Nokia was busy delivering prices for its Lumia 920 and 820 accessories in the UK. Apple was awarded an interesting new patent today, and Verizon says that it will keep its 2G/3G service active until at least 2021. Today Acer revealed both the new M5 and V5 lines of Windows 8 notebooks, and we heard that at one point, Nokia was planning to bring an N9 MeeGo tablet to Verizon.

Facebook is looking to improve its apps with stricter Open Graphs policies, and Gearbox announced a new DLC pack for good ol’ Borderlands 2 today. Ubisoft delivered a new trailer showing off the weapons in Assassin’s Creed III, while a new compilation called the Rockstar Games Collection: Edition 1 was announced. Anonymous has apparently gone to war with Facebook, bringing down the social network across Europe today, but thankfully it seems that things are slowly coming back online. Finally tonight, we go hands-on with both the Huawei Ascend D Quad XL and SHADOWGUN: DEADZONE‘s new multiplayer beta, while Chris Burns tells us why the Galaxy S III Mini represents a missed opportunity for Samsung. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, go out and enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 11, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Photos have emerged of the Nokia Lumia 822, which is the yet-to-be-released Verizon version of the Nokia Lumia 820. The Nokia Lumia 822 is a Windows Phone 8 smartphone, and is joined in the Lumia family by the 920 and 810 models. Little is known about this phone, but the pictures show that it is a sleek handset with an interesting matte-type finish on the back.

The Nokia 822 will, presumably, have the same specifications as the Nokia Lumia 820, considering the only difference between the two is the 822′s exclusivity to Verizon and slight differences in the way the device is shaped. The mobile gadget is mid-range all around, with a 4.3 inch WVGA display, and a front camera and 8MP rear camera. The Lumia 820 is an LTE device, so it’s safe to assume that the Lumia 822 will support Verizon’s 4G LTE.

Nokia’s push of the Lumia models across multiple US carriers puts it in a precarious – and potentially lucrative – position. With the right marketing, the Lumia models could give the company a large sales jump. Due to the newness of Windows Phone 8, however, and Nokia’s “meh” status at the moment, without the right marketing hook, consumers may hesitate to take the jump, causing the entire endeavor to flounder.

There’s no word yet on when the Nokia Lumia 822 will be available from Verizon, or what its price will be. Because the phone is mid-range, with moderate specs, its probably safe to assume that the price will be lowish. Rumor says this handset will be released sometime around the HTC 8X‘s launch.

[via WM Power User]

Verizon Nokia Lumia 822 appears in leaked photos is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With the exclusivity of the Nokia Lumia 920 on AT&T announced at the start of this Windows Phone 8 generation of phones, the future seemed to dim a little for the company’s chances at taking on the rest of the market in the USA. When the Nokia Lumia 810 was announced this week for T-Mobile, it instantly became apparent that Nokia wasn’t limiting its wares to one carrier – not at all. With rumors abound that Verizon will be in the mix soon as well, we’ve got a real collection of Nokia device out to take on the USA – will it be enough to keep users interested in the Windows Phone 8 universe?

It’s absolutely vital that Nokia push their graphic design prowess on this launch – they’ve got no lack of knowhow in this arena, and compared to even Apple, they’ve got top-class sharpness in the flat advertisement arena. But without a single message, Nokia will once again fail to capture the full attention of the public. Nokia has an opportunity to center themselves on one spot and let the Lumias sell like mad – “Nokia Lumia: Colorful, Powerful, Smart.”

With advertisements on every corner, repeat messages on major web hubs, television, and even in print publications, Nokia would be able to sustain the environment necessary to create faith in the consumer. Then Microsoft comes in. If Microsoft would provide coverage throughout its own advertisement spread, the Lumia universe could grow.

Each time you see a Windows 8 computer, you should see a Windows Phone 8 device – and not just any Windows Phone 8 device, a Nokia Lumia. Although to be fair, it will be difficult for many consumers to tell whether they’re seeing a Lumia or a Windows Phone 8X – we’ll see how that pans out over the next few months.

Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 hero branding key to success is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As exciting as the 8X and Lumia 920 are, no phone lineup — especially not one launching a new OS — is complete without a midrange competitor. Nokia has answered that call with the Lumia 820, a modestly specced and marketing gimmick free Windows Phone 8 device that’s ready to combine all the advantages of Microsoft’s latest mobile platform and AT&T’s growing LTE footprint with an easy to swallow price point. Or, at least so we assume. Price is still up in the air on this glossy polycarbonate device, but we can only imagine that the 4.3-inch WVGA screen and PureView-less camera won’t be commanding top dollar.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 820 for AT&T hands-on

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia, AT&T

Nokia Lumia 820 for AT&T hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Oct 2012 17:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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.