Hasta La Gadget!

All the talk about Windows Phone 8 in the past couple of days, and there was not even a single beep coming out concerning Windows Phone 7.8, which is said to be Windows Phone 8 Lite by some quarters. Sure, it will target smartphones which run on the Windows Phone 7 operating system which do not have the processing firepower as well as necessary hardware to make the jump to the latest Windows Phone 8, making Windows Phone 7.8 something that resides somewhere in between. It seems that the Windows Phone Italia Facebook page proved to be more generous with information compared to the rest of the folks at Microsoft, where answering a question from a fan actually revealed additional features which can be found in Windows Phone 7.8. It is rather unfortunate that the response is no longer online, which lends more credence to the things that were shared beforehand.

It seems that the new homescreen has something known as ‘Club’, where in all probability it is Rooms, Xbox Music and SmartGlass thrown into the fray. Sure, what you read on Facebook should never be taken as gospel truth at any point in time, but at least it is a start. For folks who have resisted the upgrade wave and are still rocking to Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 7.5 devices, a little bit of patience should see you enjoy the benefits of Windows Phone 7.8 in due time.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft sued due to Windows Live Tiles, Windows Phone 7.8 update might take awhile before release,

The Nokia Lumia 920 has finally arrived, complete with AT&T‘s 4G LTE data speed and Windows Phone 8 in its final iteration. This device has a 4.5-inch display with 768 x 1280 pixel resolution, making this a massively dense 332 PPI machine, and has no less than Corning Gorilla Glass 2 up front to protect it. Under the hood we’ve got the most advanced mobile operating system Microsoft has ever produced backed up by a fabulous Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz – it’s quick!

This device feels just as great to hold as each of the Nokia devices produced before with the same body – pillowy, round edges yet secure and solid throughout. The back is made entirely of hard plastic – here in red, but coming in several colors in the end, while the front is that one single Gorilla Glass 2 panel you’ll just want to rub up against your cheek its so smooth; there’s just something about those round edges. The top and the bottom of the device are flat and contain a couple of rather impressive speakers and a microUSB port on the bottom and a SIM card tray and single centered headphone jack at the top.

The right side of the device has a set of three buttons – one near the bottom (or the right side if you’re holding it landscape) controls the camera, while the other two are made for power/lock and volume control. The left side of the device has no buttons or ports of any kind. The back of the device also has a camera that’s drool-worthy: Carl Zeiss and Tessar 2.0/26 packing gear with a dual-LED flash to back it up. This camera also works with PureView technology and a host of software features that make it unique – we’ll be presenting a full section on this part of the device in our full review.

The software inside this device is extremely swift. The only loading times that we’ve noticed thus far have been in starting up a game for the first time and in waiting for a data connection – on the other hand, AT&T 4G LTE has been rather responsive on the whole. The display, too, has been suitably impressive – though the glare from the glass might give you a bit of trouble outdoors, the brightness should back you up even in near-direct sunlight.

We’ll be giving this smartphone a full rundown in review form soon – for now, let us know everything you want to know about the AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 and we’ll do our best to cover it all!

AT&T Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on and first impressions is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Now that Microsoft’s officially flooded the world with good tidings of Windows Phone 8, it’s the turn of OEMs and carriers to get the word out about their own Microsoft-flavored smartphones. We finally got a chance to play with Nokia’s previously leaked and recently announced Lumia 822 for Verizon, a mid-range handset similar to the Lumia 820 on AT&T and the Lumia 810 for T-Mobile that will cost $99 with a two-year contract. Availability is slated for sometime in November — it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Nokia device on Verizon (sorry, but those Pantech-built models don’t count), so this is rather exciting news.

Spec-wise the Lumia 822 features a 4.3-inch WVGA ClearBlack AMOLED display, an eight-megapixel autofocus Carl Zeiss camera, a 1.2MP front-facing shooter, a Qualcomm dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB or RAM, 16GB of internal flash, microSD support for additional storage, and optional Qi-compatible wireless charging. Radios include CDMA and LTE for Verizon, GSM / GPRS / EDGE / UMTS / HSPA+ for global roaming, WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and NFC.

In terms of design, the Lumia 822 is much curvier than its siblings and the battery cover doesn’t wrap around the sides. The camera pod and flash placement matches the longitudinal setup from the Lumia 920 and Lumia 810 instead of the transverse layout found on the Lumia 820. At 142g (5 ounces) it’s quite a hefty device, but despite being 11.2mm (0.44 inches) thick, it feels very nice in hand. Build quality is solid, which is pretty much what you’d expect from Nokia. The phone will be available in three colors: black, white and our favorite, a stunning shade of grey. See for yourself in the gallery below, and peek after the break for our hands-on video.

Brad Molen contributed to this report.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon hands-on (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia, Verizon

Nokia Lumia 822 for Verizon hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Oct 2012 08:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How amped is Microsoft to get developers into the Windows Phone 8 Store? The company announced today at Build that it’s lowering developer registration to $8 — that’s down from $99. Got to get in there quick, however — that price is only good for the next eight days. Seems to be some kind of theme here, no?

Update: Looks like the discount situation is a little more involved than just that. According to Microsoft, “You’ll be charged $99 USD or equivalent in your local currency, and we’ll refund the difference in the next 30 to 45 days.” Ninety-two percent discounts don’t just happen overnight, after all.

Filed under: Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft drops Windows Phone Store developer registration to $8 for eight days originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft just made its Windows Phone 8 SDK public at the BUILD developer conference. The new SDK brings much expected (and awaited) features like native C++ code and overall compatibility with the Windows 8 SDK.

This new SDK is much (much!) better than the Windows Phone 7 SDK, which required all code to be written in C#. This was without a doubt a “no-go” for developers who had a huge C++ code base (or those who simply dislike C#) and I believe that it has hampered the Windows Phone 7 app ramp-up from the get go. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nokia special event wrap-up, Nokia Windows Phone Event on Sept 5 = Windows Phone 8!,