Hasta La Gadget!

After over three months, Windows Phone finally has a Spotify app again. The app just went up in the Store, and is rolling out as a beta. You might have to wait a bit for it to show up. More »

Huawei seems to be an up and coming smartphone manufacturer, where they have had made quite an impression at the recently concluded CES 2013 last month. Well, they do Android and Windows Phone devices, and it is the latter that we will talk about today. Microsoft and Huawei have been working together for some time now, and the culmination of their concerted efforts has resulted in a new Windows Phone device that was specially designed for Africa, which incidentally, is one of the most rapidly-growing technology markets in the world. The phone has been dubbed The Lion King, nay, I jest, but rather, it is called the Huawei 4Afrika, and will be the first in a series of smart devices that are being custom developed for the continent, and will be part of Microsoft’s sweeping new 4Afrika Initiative.

As you know, Africa is not exactly the most prosperous continent on earth, and many people there still live in poverty without gaining access to the basic needs of life such as food, water and shelter. Well, it is nice to know then that the Huawei 4Afrika handset has taken this into consideration, and will be marketed as an affordable option for students, small businesses, developers, and first-time smartphone owners. Expect the Huawei 4Afrika that runs on Windows Phone 8 to debut later this February in seven countries, and they are Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa, where you can pick up this stylish device in blue, red, black, and white colors.

What kind of hardware can we find underneath the hood? For starters, this is a variant of the Ascend W1 just in case you were wondering why it looks similar from certain aspects, carrying a 4-inch display at 480 x 800 resolution, powered by a dual-core 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, carry 4GB of internal memory, as well as the customary front and back cameras for you to capture beautiful moments, all crammed into a 10mm thin chassis. Huawei claims that its integrated power saving technology will allow the Huawei 4Afrika to have a whopping 420 hours of standby time, now how about that?

Press Release
[ Huawei heads to Africa with new Windows Phone 8 device copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

This week The Guardian is tipping the world from one of their anonymous sources that Nokia may well be bringing their full-on Nokia 808 PureView 41 megapixel sensor to a set of standard smartphones in 2013. This tip comes from “sources close to the Finnish handset maker” and is indeed appearing to us to be just about as incredible as it may seem to you. What we’ll likely see instead is a continuation of the Nokia Lumia 920′s high-powered camera technology rather than the beast that is the lens configuration on the 808 – let’s have a chat about why.

The Nokia 808 PureView is a smartphone that’s meant to be used primarily as a camera. It’s got a massive lens configuration on its back that Nokia never intended to compete with the thin and light frames of the high-end smartphones we’re seeing throughout the industry today. Instead it was (and is) meant to show the world that Nokia can, indeed, deliver this camera power in a real market-ready handset.

What we’ve got with the Nokia Lumia 920 is a device that takes on the same “feel” for the brand that Nokia is pushing with “PureView”, this time in a more realistic package for the mass market. This device is not the thinnest smartphone in the world – not by a long shot – but it’s certainly ready to compete against the average top-tier smartphone in its overall package delivery. Nokia is banking on the idea that the camera brand PureView technology will push the rest of their handsets into the limelight.

SIDE NOTE: There’s also the possibility here that the Nokia EOS Windows Phone spoken about recently could be connected to a real-deal high-powered PureView sensor. Think about it!

With the tip you’re seeing here about the 41-megapixel sensor coming to the standard handset, it’s much more likely that a game of “telephone” is going on. That means that the original message was likely something more like “Nokia will bring on more high-powered PureView smartphones in 2013″, translated several times to come out to “Nokia PureView smartphones (started with the 808) will come to market in 2013.” The realistic way of looking at this situation is as follows:

Nokia will continue to push forth with PureView brand camera technology in the handsets they deliver that, first and foremost, deliver an overall solid experience in and of themselves. Another possibility is that Nokia is evolving as quickly as HTC and will deliver something wild like multiple layers of lenses sandwiched together to create a camera that, in the end, works with enough sensors that they’d have otherwise created a 41-megapixel photo.

Perhaps four layers of 10 megapixel sensors to create one beast of a photo? We shall see!

Nokia tipped to bring 41 megapixel sensor to standard smartphones (again) is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft has announced a partnership with Huawei, a Chinese manufacturer known for its lower-end smartphones, to produce a budget-friendly Windows Phone handset for Africa called 4Afrika. The smartphone will only cost $150, and will be launched in seven countries, with more to follow. The handset will be first introduced in Cairo, Nairobi, Lagos, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and Johannesburg.

The Huawei 4Afrika handset is the first of the series Microsoft and the Chinese manufacturer have planned, part of its 4Afrika Initiative. According to the announcement, the Huawei handset has been designed specifically for developers, small businesses, and for students, offering them an affordable handset available in blue, red, black, and white.

The 4Afrika is a version of its Ascend W1 handset, offering a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU and 4GB of internal storage space. The display is 4-inches with a resolution of 480 x 800, and the case is only 10 millimeters thick. The handset is said to have a high standby time of 420 hours due to integrated power-saving technology.

Demand for smartphones in Africa has been increasing steadily over the years. Microsoft International’s President Jean-Philippe Courtois offered this statement. “We believe there has never been a better time to invest in Africa and that access to technology — particularly cloud services and smart devices — can and will serve as a great accelerator for African competitiveness.”

[via Windows]

Huawei to offer budget-friendly 4Afrika Windows Phone handset in Africa is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now. In line with Microsoft’s new Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative, a program that aims to help improve Africa’s global competitiveness, Microsoft is launching a new Windows Phone called the Huawei 4Afrika. Microsoft has partnered with Huawei to bring the affordable device to students, small businesses, and even first-time smartphone owners in countries such as Angola, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC M7 To Feature Ultrapixels Instead Of Megapixels, Mobile Carriers To Oppose Free Super Wi-Fi Network,