There may be an Apple event rumored for next week, but this week’s scheduled events might actually be even more exciting. Nokia is holding an event to unveil its rumored flagship Windows Phone 8 device, Motorola has some new announcements up its sleeve, and, of course, Amazon is expected to roll out its new line of Kindle ereaders and tablets. So the question is, what are you most excited for? More »
Ahead of Nokia’s Windows Phone event, there’s been plenty of discussion about the Lumia 920’s PureView classification, and though the camera’s pixel count remains TBA, we’re still getting a few sneak peeks at the upcoming hardware. Yesterday, leaked press photos of a Lumia wireless charging pad suggested that the new phone will be available in yellow and red. Based on a tweet from EVLeaks today, it looks like the Lumia 920 will be available in a few additional shades: white, grey and black. EVLeaks previously tweeted pics of the Lumia 820 in seven different hues, so it looks like we’re in for a (ahem) colorful event tomorrow.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Leaked photo shows Nokia Lumia 920 with five color options originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
If you’ve been keeping your eyes on Windows Phone, but have been holding off on switching over until it gets a few more crucial features and/or apps, here’s an interesting rumor: WMPowerUser says that Microsoft is working on a new group chat feature called Room, which apparently works in a similar manner as BlackBerry Instant Messenger or the group message feature in Apple’s iMessage. More »
Back in July it was reported that Acer had plans to only release Windows Phone 8 handsets in 2013. However according to the folks at Digitimes, Acer’s president Jim Wong told them that they will only be releasing one Windows Phone 8 device in 2013, and 5 Android devices as well. Now as far as the mobile industry is concerned, Acer has been known for their computers and tablets like the Iconia series for example, and not so much their mobile phones. While they have released several in the past, it’s safe to say that they were far from memorable.
According to the report from Digitimes, Acer has plans for high-end devices which will feature Qualcomm’s dual-core CPUs, although come 2013 we have to wonder if dual-core could still be considered “high-end” especially in a market where quad-core smartphones are becoming more commonplace. In any case we’re not sure if Acer’s upcoming smartphones will be able to compete against some of the bigger players in the smartphone market such as Samsung or HTC, but it will be interesting to see what they will be able to offer.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Acer to only release Windows Phone 8 devices next year, Acer W11 QWERTY Windows Phone 8 handset rumored for a Fall release,
Nokia’s photography expert has struck out at PureView criticisms, apparently taking to task those who doubt the rumored Lumia 920 PureView is eligible to bear the brand. Damian Dinning, who spent five years developing PureView, took to Twitter to give an impromptu lesson in the advanced camera technology and – though he was careful not to reference unannounced Lumias – why an 8-megapixel camera could still deliver PureView-class stills and video.
“As said many times before it’s NOT about the number of pixels but what you do with them” Dinning pointed out, going on to argue that “the future of photography will be about how you use pixels, optics and image processing together.”
Contrary to those suggesting that a PureView Lumia would need considerably more than 8-megapixels in order to qualify, Dinning described the tech as more of a hybridization of multiple factors. “PureView is about blending optics, pixels and image processing in new and different ways to allow you to do things you otherwise cannot” he explained, “NOT a single specific feature or specification.”
The uncertainty around branding is fueled in part because Nokia so far has released only one PureView device, the 41-megapixel 808. That uses its excess of pixels for oversampling – combining data from seven individual dots for each final pixel in a roughly 5-megapixel still – as well as to deliver lossless zooming. The end results are astonishingly good, though the lenses and CMOS sensor required are bulky.
That might be acceptable for a niche photography camera running Symbian, but Nokia needs to keep the Windows Phone 8 Lumia line-up slinky and pocketable. It’s unclear what software magic the company will combine with its supposed 8-megapixel Lumia 920 camera, though the expectation is that it will indeed be more a matter of processing than of the sort of raw oversampling seen on the 808 PureView.
SlashGear is headed off to NYC for Nokia and Microsoft’s Wednesday event, when we’ll see just what the two companies have been working on to launch Windows Phone 8. Catch up with all the rumors and leaks around the event in our wrap-up.
Nokia PureView chief slaps down Lumia 920 camera criticism is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 secrets may have been spilled – in part – already, but the company is still teasing ahead of its big NYC event on Wednesday this week. Latest is a short video for what looks to be an augmented reality app, pulling together the company’s City Lens technology – released as an updated Windows Phone beta earlier this week – with social networks.
The brief clip hints at how the camera will work with social networks such as Facebook and Foursquare, along with pulling ratings from online, for places nearby. In the video demo, it’s for a shoe store, with indications of how much kudos the retailer has with your social contacts.
It’s not clear at this stage whether the information would actually be overlaid on top of a real-world view, as we know augmented reality and as City Lens works currently, or if that’s just a bit of visual gloss for the teaser. Windows Phone’s live tiles on the homescreen might be a good way of flagging up more subtle suggestions, though you’d need to be paying attention to the screen to regularly notice them.
Nokia September 5 teaser:
SlashGear is headed to NYC tomorrow for all the Nokia news, so join us in the morning as we look through the Lumias, apps, and more. There’s a round-up of all the leaks so far here.
Nokia City Lens for Windows Phone:
Nokia teaser tips City Lens augmented reality for WP8 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
With just a day to go, Nokia has pushed out another brief teaser, this time pointing towards more map-based contextual functionality. It looks like whatever the company’s got up its sleeves, alongside any new Lumia hardware, should include some map-based social network chops and City Lens features — not much of a shocker given that the latter has just shed its beta status.
Update: Nokia’s throw out another video — which reveals that its good-looking star does manage to find those shoes. Phew. We’ve added it after the break.
Continue reading Nokia invites you to stay tuned, offers augmented reality teaser (updated)
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Nokia invites you to stay tuned, offers augmented reality teaser (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Verge had gotten an exclusive look at what was deemed to be the Windows 8 companion app for the upcoming Windows Phone 8 mobile operating system. After all, it is well documented that Microsoft was working to retire its fair share of Zune desktop app features in recent memory, paving the way to move forward as the industry switches over to Xbox Music. Not only that,Microsoft has also worked hard to introduce new apps which have been tasked to manage and synchronize Windows Phone 8 devices, and there are those who are close to Microsoft’s WIndows Phone plans laying claim to what you see above – a Windows 8 companion app for Windows Phone 8 devices.
Sporting a Metro style one, the above companion app was specially churned out to replace the Zune client for Windows 8 users, where there is also the high possibility of the app being installed automatically for Windows Phone 8 users who are running on a Windows 8 PC whenever one connects a device. Expect this particular Windows 8 companion app to arrive in the Windows Store at around the same time as Windows Phone 8 launches, which would be sometime later in October.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Samsung reportedly looking to Microsoft to lessen their dependency on Google’s Android, Windows Phone 8 targeted for October 29th release,
I am not quite sure about you, but a name like the HTC Accord should remain as it is, instead of calling it a rather vague HTC 8X. It does make one wonder what happened to the preceding models which some might think to be the HTC 7X, HTC 6X, et cetera. Well, at least this was the latest bit of information gathered from a leaked copy of the HTC Accord’s (HTC 8X) quick start guide. This particular leak hailed from Twitter, so you might want to take this bit of news with a grain of salt, although it was the very same person who shared on the HTC Accord’s specifications prior.
The HTC Accord (HTC 8X) will be a Windows Phone 8-powered device, sporting the standard set of Windows Phone software buttons in addition to a volume rocker and notification LED as well as a dedicated camera button to boot. Purportedly carrying an 8-megapixel camera, we should expect HTC to step up and deliver an official announcement on the HTC 8X in due time, presumably right after the joint Microsoft and Nokia event.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: HTC working with Verizon on Android ICS update for the HTC Thunderbolt, Windows 8 companion app for Windows Phone 8 spotted,
It’s tough to ignore that the Zune era at Microsoft is quickly winding to a close. That doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be out of options for syncing a Windows Phone’s contents by the time the Zune desktop app fades away, however. A tip to The Verge has shown a companion app for Windows 8 users that will reportedly load the first time a Windows Phone 8 device syncs up, giving a fully Metro-friendly place to transfer any media. Windows 7 would get its own parallel, just in case some of us aren’t willing or able to upgrade our PCs in concert. The replacement desktop apps could be available at about the same time as the Windows Phone 8 launch, if the claims are at all accurate — which might leave less than two months before one more vestige of Microsoft’s MP3 player days goes away.
Filed under: Cellphones, Software
Windows Phone companion surfaces for Windows 8, could take over syncing duties originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 03 Sep 2012 19:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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