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Ever dreamed of having more than one user account on your smartphone? Microsoft’s making that a reality with Kid’s Corner for Windows Phone 8. If you’re not a parent, don’t let the name deceive you: this particular feature is great for both the tiny tots and all of your grown-up friends, as it allows you to choose which apps, games, music and videos show up when the device is in that particular mode. It’s a feature that has strangely eluded the other major platforms, and it absolutely gives WP8 an edge for those concerned about youngsters (and potentially even colleagues) getting into trouble with your phone.

For more, check out our Windows Phone 8 event liveblog!

Continue reading Microsoft brings guest user account to Windows Phone 8 via Kid’s Corner

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Microsoft

Microsoft brings guest user account to Windows Phone 8 via Kid’s Corner originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 8 devices will get a year’s ad-free access to Pandora, the streaming music service, Microsoft has confirmed at its launch event today. The new app was a much-demanded one by would-be Windows Phone users in the US, and is part of Microsoft’s attempt to fill in empty gaps in the smartphone platform’s line-up.

Pandora, for those who aren’t familiar, takes an initial suggestion of an artist by the listener, and then builds a custom playlist based on music it thinks will be similar. It’s based on interlinking audio data from the Music Genome Project, with users rating suggestions to guide how the playlist develops.

Of course, Pandora isn’t the only streaming music service out there, and Nokia is perhaps going to be frustrated by the news of its addition. Nokia Music has already been available for Windows Phone 7 devices, and will be included as an exclusive to Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 Lumia devices, as part of the company’s attempt to pull together differentiating features.

What may save Nokia is Pandora’s limited availability compared to Windows Phone overall. Microsoft will be pushing its smartphone globally, but Pandora can only be used in the US; Nokia Music, meanwhile, is offered with all of the Lumia phones, no matter where they’re sold.

Pandora for Windows Phone 8 official with 1-year ad-free included is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week Microsoft has introduced an update to Windows Phone 8 with a brand new set of features for their lock screen – starting with Live Apps. This update brings on a feature similar to what we’re seeing with Windows 8, the desktop system being released here right at the same time as Windows Phone 8. Here with Live Apps comes a unique version of Facebook, made specifically for the Windows Phone 8 environment – personalization for your everyday first look at the smart mobile world.

This update also brings Windows Phone 8 into a new age for a collection of applications including Angry Birds Roost, Words with Friends, Chase, Twitter, and Skype. The Windows 8 version of Skype is made with a new architecture – so too is the Windows Phone 8 edition. With Microsoft owning the bulk of Skype, you’ve got features that don’t appear on any other operating system.

Skype is one example of an app that doesn’t run in the background – it’s on all the time, but doesn’t drain your battery like a normal app would. True also is the set of apps that appear at your lockscreen. Temple Run is also coming to the Windows Phone 8 environment, as is the Star Wars version of Angry Birds.

Stay tuned to SlashGear for more Windows Phone 8 action all day long as we stay on the Microsoft event right here in our Microsoft portal!

Windows Phone 8 gets Live Apps for lock screen is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Verizon and Nokia have officially announced the CDMA version of Nokia’s Lumia 820, the Verizon Lumia 822, running Windows Phone 8. Supporting Verizon’s EVDO Rev.A and 4G LTE networks, the Lumia 822 is otherwise identical to the GSM model which will be offered on both AT&T and T-Mobile USA, complete with interchangeable covers and the possibility of wireless charging.

There’s also an 8-megapixel camera on the back, with Carl Zeiss lens, and a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera for video calls. Nokia adds Smart Shoot to the Windows Phone camera app, too, slicing moving objects out of the frame as well as allowing photographers to pick the best combination of facial expressions in group shots.

Nokia Drive+ and Nokia Music are also preloaded, with turn-by-turn navigation, City Lens augmented reality, and free streaming audio. Obviously there’ll also be the Windows Phone Market, with all of the usual apps for Microsoft’s platform, too.

Unfortunately, neither Nokia nor Verizon are saying when, exactly, the Lumia 822 will be going on sale, nor for how much. That may well change later today, however, given Microsoft’s incoming Windows Phone 8 launch event in San Francisco.

Update: According to Nokia USA’s page, the Lumia 822 will be priced at $99.99 with a new, two-year agreement.

Verizon Nokia Lumia 822 official with 4G LTE [Update: $100] is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We know tomorrow’s Windows Phone 8 event will finally answer all of those burning mysteries that we’ve been yearning to hear more about since Microsoft first announced the new OS in June. After all, the company has kept its upcoming platform under tight wraps, preventing its hardware partners from showing it off to the press. So what else will the folks from Redmond have up their sleeves? Stay tuned here as we bring you all of the revelations live in San Francisco, tomorrow at 1PM ET!

Filed under: Announcements, Mobile, Microsoft

The Microsoft Windows Phone 8 event happens tomorrow, get your liveblog here! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Oct 2012 23:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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