Hasta La Gadget!

The earliest of early adopters have now been using Windows Phone 8 for almost three weeks—and it seems that there may be a few teething problems. In particular, some users are reporting infuriating random reboots and some battery life issues. More »

Ex-Windows chief Steven Sinofsky has weighed in on rumors that his abrupt departure from Microsoft came after foiled plans of merging the Windows and Windows Phone teams, denying any such attempt at power consolidation. Speaking in the comments with former Microsoftie Hal Berenson, Sinofsky countered suggestions that he had been bruised by the company’s refusal to give him control over key parts of Microsoft’s computing business.

“I never initiated any discussions to bring together the organizations/products you describe and no one ever approached me to manage them as part of Windows 7 or 8″ Sinofsky wrote. The former exec did not comment specifically on claims that he was chasing the Microsoft CEO position, and that his leaving the firm was at least in part down to Steve Ballmer refusing to name him next-in-line.

However, Sinofsky did counter suggestions that he had attempted to build an empire within Microsoft during his time at the company. In fact, he argues, his tendency would be to push for improved communications between still distinct groups:

“If we had worked together you would know that historically, very few things moved into teams I managed as (you’ve no doubt seen in internal blogs) and when they did I usually pushed back hard looking for a cross-group way to achieve the goal (in other words, decide open issues rather than force an org change to subsequently decide something). it is far better to collaborate with the org in place and avoid the disruption unless it is on a product cycle boundary and far better to plan and execute together than just organize together” Steven Sinofsky

The exact reasons behind Sinofsky’s departure look unlikely to be revealed any time soon, though the former Windows head maintains that he is simply taking a break in-between Microsoft’s significant product cycles. Perhaps tellingly, though, his former duties have now been divided between two staff members, rather than handed in their entirety to a single replacement. Tami Reller will handle the business side moving forward, while Julie Larson-Green will tackle the engineering aspect.

[via Michael Gartenberg]

Sinofsky: I wasn’t building a Windows and Windows Phone fiefdom is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The HTC Windows Phone 8X is without a doubt the finest Windows Phone machine HTC has ever produced, and certainly one of the most beautiful devices they’ve ever created regardless of operating system. Because we’ve already done a full HTC Windows Phone 8X review as the device exists on AT&T, the following look a the T-Mobile version will be shorter than your average SlashGear review – especially here since the differences between the devices are so incredibly few. Just as Samsung got wise with the Galaxy S III and having the same hardware and software build, for the most part, for carriers across the earth, so too has HTC kept the fighting “one design for all” spirit here with the 8X, a strong device from all angles.

What you’re seeing here is a device with a perfectly loud and well-working set of hardware. The Windows Phone 8X has a lovely 4.3-inch 342 PPI display using S-LCD2 technology with 720 x 1280 pixels – that’s quite a few, mind you. Up front you’ve got a pane of Gorilla Glass 2 from Corning with curved edges and around the edges and the back you’ve got one single piece of soft-touch plastic. Don’t let it fool you though, this device is designed to be rough and tough and hardcore even without a 3rd party case to protect it – though they do already exist, mind you.

Inside you’ve got 16GB of storage and 1GB of RAM paired with a the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual-core processor at 1.5GHz – the same as the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Nokia Lumia 810 (the other Windows Phone 8 device released on T-Mobile at the same time as this unit.) On the back you’ve got an 8 megapixel camera and up front a 2.1 megapixel camera, both of them capable of recording 1080p video for video chat or sharing to the web.

The S4 processor paired with Adreno 225 graphics make this machine run rather quickly no matter the situation and we’ve yet to find an app that runs less they completely optimally. Video playback is swift and clean, opening any app is a snap, and starting the device up straight from the camera shutter button works extremely reliably. Inside you’ve got an 1800 mAh battery which, helped out immensely by the Qualcomm processor’s battery conservation abilities, makes for a full day’s hard work without a problem.

This device is smaller than the Nokia Lumia 810 and certainly feels more like a top-tier device than that unit. The only thing the Lumia 810 has that the Windows Phone 8X does not is a selection of Nokia apps for augmented reality and mapping abilities. Otherwise they work and feel essentially the same – in the software department, at least. The HTC device is also $50 more than the Nokia device at launch.

The camera on this device is remarkably similar to the one on the Lumia 810, bringing on high-quality images almost without fail. The one Windows Phone device on the market right now that has photography abilities above and beyond what this Windows Phone 8X is capable of is the Nokia Lumia 920 – what with its PureView technology embedded and all. Have a peek at our Nokia Lumia 920 review and check out a gallery of photos taken by the Windows Phone 8X by HTC right here:

Then know this: this device is a great example of what Windows Phone 8 is possible of. You’ll certainly still have to compare to the competition with alternate operating systems, especially those made by HTC running Android, if you want to make a fair decision about which smartphone is best for you. But if you’re hankering for Windows Phone 8 specifically, the HTC Windows Phone 8X is easily one of our top choices on any carrier it’s with.

T-Mobile HTC Windows Phone 8X Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Last month a press rendering of the Huawei Ascend W1 was spotted, revealing the China company’s attempt at a Windows Phone 8 device, which they seemingly have taken a design cue from Nokia with the use of bright colors. In any case it was suggested that perhaps we could be seeing the Ascend W1 by the end of the year, but unfortunately that will not be the case. According to the folks at WPCentral, they report that the Huawei Ascend W1 will only make its official debut come 2013 – to be more specific, the Ascend W1 will most likely be shown off a CES 2013 which will be taking place in January.

We will be taking this with a grain of salt for now, but given that CES is a pretty big deal and a great place to show off new products, we wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. Alleged hardware specifications of the Ascend W1 include a 4” WVGA display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a VGA front-facing camera, a 5MP rear-facing camera, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage with Windows Phone 8 running the show.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Mysterious Windows Phone device spotted in the wild, speculated to be another Huawei device, Photos of Huawei’s W1 Windows Phone 8 handset leaked,

Samsung’s bada platform may be less well known than Windows Phone, but it’s still outselling Microsoft platform in worldwide smartphone sales. While the big movement may be up at the iOS and Android end, bada’s 3-percent of the worldwide market share in Q3 2012 is, according to the latest clutch of stats from analysts Gartner, enough to eclipse Microsoft’s OS at 2.4-percent. However, that could well change as Windows Phone 8 sales begin.

“Windows Phone’s share weakened year-on-year as the Windows Phone 8 launch dampened demand of Windows Phone 7 devices” Gartner suggested, though the new version of the platform may not be the instant good news OEMs like Nokia are hoping for. In fact, Nokia’s new Lumia devices will only “help to halt the decline in share” in Q4, with no “significant improvement” predicted until 2013.

Nokia isn’t the only firm having a tough quarter. RIM and HTC dropped to third and fourth places in the manufacturers chart respectively, and there are fears that even retaining those positions may be untenable. “The challenges might prevent them from holding on to their current rankings in coming quarters” Gartner’s Anshul Gupta said of the firms.

On the up, meanwhile, are Samsung and Apple. Samsung has the Q3 2012 top spot, with 22.9-percent of the market, while Apple has 5.5-percent of the market; Android has 72.4-percent market share, according to Gartner’s figures, a sizable jump year-on-year from 52.5-percent. In contrast, iOS market share declined slightly, from 15-percent a year ago to 13.9-percent, though it’s RIM and Symbian which saw the biggest falls.

Apple’s Q4 2012 is likely to be a good one, Gartner concludes, with the new iPhone 5 and fledgling sales in various new locations meaning the holiday quarter should end positively. Many iPhone 4S/4 owners held off upgrading until the new handset was released, the analysts point out, something which Apple itself has suggested.

The holiday season overall, however, may not be the salvation many firms hope for. Gartner predicts smartphone sales will not get the traditional kick, as shoppers look to other devices such as tablets for potential gifts.

Remember bada? Well, it’s giving Windows Phone a kicking is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.