Hasta La Gadget!

Steve Ballmer announced first of all today at Build 2012 that they’d sold 4 million Windows 8 upgrades in the three days since it’s been launched. It’s no small number, of course, and for the developers seeing this system for the first time here in its final form at the developer conference we’re experiencing here this week, it’s nothing but great! Laptop sales are up 20% over forecasts, said Ballmer, and by the words of Ballmer, it would appear that Microsoft is doing better than they expected they would – imagine that!

The enthusiasm was addictive at Build 2012 right at the dawn of Windows Phone 8, Ballmer making it clear that his journey from his arrival in the USA in 1988 spanned the gamut: Windows 95, 98, the PC going big, and more. The message was clear: Windows 8 is the next generation, and with Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT the wave is coming in strong. Ballmer makes it clear that it’s not just about one screen, not just about one version of the operating system – it’s about everything, all of the displays, all of the form factors.

This kind of experience is “alive with activity”, said Ballmer, and every screen is “alive and active with information” from the cloud, through Microsoft. With the launch of Windows Phone 8, said Ballmer, “the phone launches in full fruition into the Windows 8 family.” Ballmer’s talk was more than just a primer for the event, it was a sell-point for investors as well.

“If you want the best experience with your Windows Computer, you will own a Windows phone.” – Ballmer

It was time to build not just a single standard phone for everyone, Ballmer said of the original launch of Windows Phone, it was time to build something personal for each user. That’s one of the big points being driven home with Windows Phone 8 as well – as evidenced earlier this week with the big Windows Phone 8 launch event as well with Jessica Alba and friends.

Stick around our Microsoft hub as well as the Windows Phone 8 tag for more information on Windows Phone 8 than you’ll be able to handle all week!

Steve Ballmer hypes massive Windows 8 launch numbers at Build 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Now Windows Phone 8 has arrived with Xbox Music in tow, what’s next for Nokia Music? Well, at a press briefing this week in London, it told the assembled tech press that its still going — and Nokia’s even adding features. The music service is apparently continuing to expand, with new tracks being added weekly — Nokia’s mix radio currently houses 338 curated mixes in the UK alone, across pretty broad selection of music genres. And yep, there was a mention of K-Pop.

New functionality improvements include an immediate share-to-Facebook option, while the Gig Finder feature nestled within the music app picks up improved search skills, capable of checking specific venues and areas, along with the ability to buy tickets for — and get directions to — future gigs. The app’s new audio equalizer has 18 presets while you’ll also be able to tweak the seven-channel system to your own personal preference. On top of that, Dolby tech is also embedded in, with Dolby headphone (a signal processing upgrade) in attendance on both the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820. Nokia also affirmed that the upgraded app will be included on its hardware that gets bumped up to version 7.8. We’re just about to get our review model and will give the new features a full rundown as soon as we can.

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio/Video, Mobile, Nokia

Nokia Music gets upgraded for Lumia 920 and Lumia 820: Equalizer, Dolby support, Facebook connectivity originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 11:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gameloft, the popular French video game game developer and publisher, has just announced that it will bringing 12 of its most popular video games to Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system. The said titles, which includes Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour and N.O.V.A. 3: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, are optimized with new Xbox features for Windows Phone 8 and will allow users to access Xbox leaderboards and Xbox Achievements.

Other titles include Ice Age Village, Shark Dash, Asphalt 7: Heat, The Dark Knight Rises, UNO & Friends, Order & Chaos Online, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fashion Icon, Poker for Prizes, and Real Soccer 2013. Gameloft says that the aforementioned titles will run across all Windows 8 Phones soon from partners including Nokia, Samsung, and HTC.

“Gameloft is thrilled to be able to take advantage of the integrated Xbox gaming service on Windows Phone 8,” said Baudouin Corman Vice-President of Publishing for the Americas at Gameloft. “As smartphones continue to gain ground as one of the most widely adopted gaming devices, we see this as a great opportunity for us to optimize our titles for Windows Phone 8 users to enjoy with the platform’s new features.”

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Windows Phone 8 SDK Released at BUILD, Skype for Windows Phone 8 preview,

Never count Microsoft out of the game, especially if it has to do with operating systems – it is their bread and butter after all, and even on the mobile platform, they do have a considerable amount of firepower never mind that right now, they are tussling it out with RIM for a tiny slice of the mobile operating system pie which is dominated by iOS and Android at the moment. The latest announcement of the Windows Phone 8 smartphone operating system happened yesterday, and it does look like the masses will be spoilt for choice if you have yet to jump aboard the smartphone bandwagon, or want to make a switch from either iOS, Android or BlackBerry OS.

We will take a look at some of the more notable features found on Windows Phone 8, starting with Live Tiles that function as the heart and soul of Windows Phone – and no other device has them at the moment. You are able to arrange the iconic Start screen just they way you want with Live Tiles, pinning your favorite people, apps, music, games, and photos amongst others. Not only that, there are three sizes of Live Tiles as well as 20 bright color options including cobalt, crimson and lime to choose from, truly personalizing your handset.

It is also the only smartphone to come with Live Apps that delivers information right to the Start screen, including the Groupon deal of the day, flight information and news headlines. This also means Facebook is capable of delivering real-time information to your lock screen with an updated wallpaper, now how about that? Windows Phone Store will also not fall short on the apps department, boasting 120,000 apps to choose from, ranging from “Angry Birds Star Wars” to “Cut the Rope Experiments,” “Disney’s Where’s My Water,” “LivingSocial,” “Temple Run,” and “Urbanspoon” amongst others. Pandora will also arrive on Windows Phone in early 2013 with one year of ad-free music, now how about that?

Kid’s Corner might be a winner for parents whose kids want to use their smartphones – it lets you share your device without having them fool around with the other settings. Sort of like a user account on your smartphone, that’s what Kid’s Corner is all about. As for being selective in your communications with certain friends, the Rooms feature lets you share and chat with one particular group instead of the entire social network, thanks to the creation of private groups of folks who also use Windows Phone 8.

Are you all stoked up for a Windows Phone 8 experience, and which device would you settle for?

Press Release
[ Windows Phone 8 debuts copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

What, did you think Americans or Europeans would get the first crack at the Lumia 920? Continuing a recent pattern of Canadians getting devices first, Rogers has confirmed that some of its stores will have Nokia’s flagship Windows Phone 8 hardware in stock on October 30th — that’s almost immediately, folks. If you call and find you’re near one of the choice few shops carrying the 920, it will cost you either $100 Canadian on a lengthy 3-year contract or $550 outright to walk away with Microsoft’s poster child. Nearly the only drawbacks to being a pioneer are the black-only color choice (sorry, still no patriotic red) and Rogers’ current lock on the initial launch, although Microsoft’s own mention of the Lumia coming to Rogers “and others” gives us hope that Bell and Telus will follow soon. It’s a small price to pay for making even the Finns slightly jealous.

Update: Surprise — Rogers caught the Microsoft page for itself and says the hint of non-exclusivity was a mistake that’s being corrected. We don’t know if the carrier has a permanent exclusive, but we’d tentatively go shopping for a Samsung ATIV S on Telus if you’re looking for a high-end Windows Phone on another Canadian network.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

Nokia Lumia 920 ships first to Rogers, makes Canadians the world’s vanguards for $100 (update: still very exclusive) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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