Hasta La Gadget!

It’s time to have a bit longer look at a video showing off Nokia’s brand new Lumia 820, the smaller of the two smartphones revealed this week with a fully functional version of Windows Phone 8 onboard. This device has many of the same powerful attributes as the Nokia Lumia 920, but has a bit smaller profile and brings in rounded edges and an interchangeable backplate that doesn’t have NFC embedded right out of the box. What we got to see yesterday was not just the special NFC-toting backplate that you can purchase separate from the 820, but the device working live with Nokia City Lens and Nokia Transport as well.

If you’ll head back to our original hands-on with City Lens drive suite you’ll see how this software has been in the works for Nokia devices for quite a while now. With the launch of the new Windows Phone 8 line of Nokia Lumia devices, this GPS-centered world-expanding set of apps is able to show you how unique the Nokia vision can be. The video you’re about to see includes another peek at City Lens as it applies to New York City – full of locations for whatever activity you so choose: perhaps you’d like to head to a local pizza joint?

You’ll also see our Nokia host show us through Nokia Transport which on the Lumia 820 demonstrates how long a journey from your current location to a chosen location would take on the train and on foot. This app is able to not only tell you how long it would take if you started right at the minute you found the info, but in the future as well. If you’re starting in 10 minutes, your journey might take a whole lot different amount of time depending on traffic – Nokia knows.

And of course there’s the NFC action you’ll also be seeing in our hands-on with the Nokia-related accessories shown off this week as well. Here the Nokia Lumia 820 can take part in the fun with its own NFC backplate – or battery cover, whatever you want to call it – if you do so choose to partake. Having this separate option for NFC allows Nokia to offer the device at a lower cost if the user doesn’t need the technology – fun stuff!

Have a peek at the rest of our Nokia action this week in our Nokia tag portal and check the timeline below for some key points from the event and subsequent hands-on opportunities!

Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on extended cut with NFC is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia’s big Windows Phone 8 Lumia launch yesterday had its fair share of high points – the Lumia 920 hardware is certainly appealing, for a start – and now you can relive them all with the official event recording. It’s a big deal for Nokia, with the company relying on its partnership with Microsoft and its new range of smartphones to turn around its ailing fortunes.

Reaction to the launch has been polarized. On the one hand, the two new Lumia devices have been relatively well received: the hardware is solid and reasonably distinctive, and the PureView camera technology looks incredible. Pentaband HSPA+/LTE sounds like a winner too, and the Lumia 920′s Pure Motion HD+ 4.5-inch display is particularly impressive.

On the flip side, though, the launch event itself underwhelmed. Arguably too much time spent running over the same Windows Phone 8 functionality we’ve already seen, and not enough detail on when exactly the handsets would go on sale and for how much, left more questions than answers about key information after the proverbial curtain had come down.

If you haven’t time to sit through the full event video, you can quickly get up to speed with the key announcements in our round-up. Meanwhile, you can also find more details in our hands-on with the Lumia 920 and with the Lumia 820

Watch Nokia’s Lumia 920 and 820 launch all over again is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re getting ready to wrap-up coverage for this Wednesday, and what a day we had. First up we had Nokia’s highly-anticipated Windows Phone 8 event, where it revealed both the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. There was a lot to take in during the event, and you can find everything you need to know in our Nokia wrap-up. It’s there that you can check out product announcements and hands-on posts with Nokia’s new devices, so be sure to give it a look.

After we had finished up with Nokia’s event, it was straight over to Gotham Hall, where Motorola and Google held an event of their own. Google’s Eric Schmidt took the stage first to boast the latest Android numbers, before Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside hopped up on stage to outline the company’s plan for the “The New Motorola.” After that, it was all about the reveals. Motorola revealed three new phones in total: the long-rumored DROID RAZR HD and the DROID RAZR M, which has had its share of rumors as well, along with the surprise announcement of the DROID RAZR MAXX HD. If you were waiting for Motorola’s new devices, you’ll be pleased to know that we have a couple of hands-on posts that cover all three devices.

Woodside also said today that any Motorola phones from 2012 that don’t get updated to Jelly Bean by the end of the year will be a eligible for a $100 voucher, and it was announced that the developer editions of the DROID RAZR M and the RAZR HD will come with unlockable bootloaders. A little bit later on in the day, we found out that the PureView ad Nokia showed during its presentation may be a little bit misleading, and even though there was a ton of Nokia and Motorola news today, there was still time for a new iPhone leak, this time giving us an up-close look at the battery. Windows Phone 8 will be getting screenshot support, and today the EC approved a mobile wallet team up between three European carriers, much to Google’s chagrin.

Sony is putting its massive 84-inch 4K TV up for pre-order tomorrow, T-Mobile has rolled out unlimited 4G data across the country, and Getac has revealed its new Z710 Android tablet, which looks to be capable of taking a few hits. Pre-orders for the Samsung Galaxy Note II have opened in the UK, where the new device has an expected mid-October ship date, and Ubisoft has announced that it will stop implementing always-on DRM in its PC games. Valve has been forced to impose a submission fee for those looking to list something on Steam Greenlight, Epson has unveiled a pair of home projectors, and finally tonight, NASA scientists today delayed the second engine firing of the Juno spacecraft, which will be headed for Jupiter before long.

That’s all for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up! Remember to check in with us tomorrow, as we’ll be at Amazon’s press event, where it’s expected to reveal a couple of new devices in the Kindle line!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: September 5, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve been at Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 event all morning, and the event has given us plenty to talk about. Most important is the reveal of the Nokia Lumia 920, which many figured was going to be officially announced at this event. The Lumia 920 is here at last, and it’s definitely worthy of being called Nokia’s new flagship device. Naturally, we managed to get some hands-on time with it, and we were pretty pleased with what we saw.

That wasn’t the only major announcement from today’s Nokia event, however, as the company also announced the Lumia 820. The Lumia 820 is a Windows Phone 8 handset for the budget-minded consumer, but aside from a few downgrades in some places, the Lumia 820 comes packed with the same hardware that the 920 does. Those interested in the Lumia 820 should be sure to check out our hands-on with the device to get a better feel for how it is.

With the release of the Lumia 920, Nokia is rebooting PureView, and showed off some pretty impressive results. We don’t have a solid release date for either handset yet, but both will be arriving in a variety of colors before the year ends – that’s with LTE and HSPA+ functionality too. The Nokia Lumia 920 will also be packing a glove-friendly touch screen when it arrives, and Nokia also announced a range of accessories for the device as well.

Some of those accessories include the JBL Power Up speakers and the Fatboy charging pillow – which allows for wireless charging of your handset. We went hands-on with some of those accessories, so have a look at it to see if they might be some extras you’d be interested in buying. The Lumia line will be getting AOL’s entertainment hub through AT&T, and the company also announced today that over 7 million Lumias have been sold to date. Will the Lumia 920 and 820 boost that number? You can bet that Nokia is hoping so, and from what we saw, the company just might have a pair of winners on its hands. Stay tuned.

Nokia gets Windows Phone 8 fever: Lumia 920 and 820 wrap-up is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia‘s just announced its latest stable of Windows Phone handsets, including the new Lumia 820 and we were lucky enough to get our hands on it for a few moments. After countless leaks this budget smartphone is finally official. Not to be overshadowed by the larger brother in the Lumia 920, the 820 has plenty going for it — like Windows Phone 8 — so lets take a look.

First off you instantly can both see and feel the difference compared to the larger Lumia 920. While the design is similar the newer rounded edges make it feel much more familiar and less severe in the hands. Nokia’s usual attention to detail combined with the new Windows Phone 8 makes for a refreshing new smartphone that has a familiar touch at the same time.

Again, compared to the larger brother the Lumia 820 offers an overall solid package coming in slightly smaller at 4.3-inches while not compromising on power and performance. You won’t have an HD display, or the new PureView camera technology here but the Lumia 820 is aiming for a more budget friendly crowd. Complete with a crisp and vivid 4.3-inch WVGA 480 x 800 resolution display it certainly isn’t the biggest, but feels right at home with their previous launches.

Unlike the 800 and new Lumia 920 this version doesn’t enjoy the sleek and curved edges to the glass. Instead you are greeted with a plain-Jane flat panel but that doesn’t hinder the experience so far from our initial first impressions. Other specs include the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor as its bigger brother, 1GB of RAM, 8 megapixel camera and 4G LTE will be available in supported locations too. Nokia will offer a wide array of color options as the polycarbonate back is removable. This will give you different color options for any occasion, as well as support for their new wireless charging standard.

Speaking of the back. Nokia’s previous matte colors were always a favorite of ours but the new Lumia 920 and 820 have a slightly different look to them. Adding a bit of glare and polish to their colors we can certainly see fingerprints being more of an issue than previous models — but that is just nit picking.

Now regarding Windows Phone 8 which is running wonderfully here, Microsoft says it still isn’t quite ready for prime-time but after a few quick minutes we instantly noticed the improvements. The user interface is extremely fluid and polished, and animations were butter smooth. Google snagged the use of “butter” when describing Jelly Bean, but Windows Phone 8 certainly has some buttery smooth performance here.

Nokia’s exclusive apps helps round out the Windows Phone experience but with the combination of their improvements to the new and improved Windows Phone 8 the platform is really starting to come together. My only gripe with the Lumia 820 could have to be the display. While it is 4.3-inches the lower resolution is a let down. We don’t have IPS or Samsung’s AMOLED here so it’s pretty generic compared to most from Nokia. The Lumia 820 and 920 have been announced but no specific dates or pricing was revealed at this time. We’ll know more on pricing and official details later which will give us a better idea of where to stack this against the competition.

Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.