Nokia’s Lumia 2520 Windows RT tablet has been some time coming. The company’s last attempt at full Windows, the Nokia Booklet, proved too expensive and too slow, and Nokia’s enthusiasm for big-screen devices has waned ever since. The Lumia 2520 changes all that, however, a 10.1-inch alternative to the full-sized iPad and numerous Android tablets, […]
Microsoft is dead-set on keeping Windows RT with devices like the Surface 2, but now that it’s committed to shelling out $7.2 billion for Nokia’s devices business, the folks in Redmond have yet another source of hardware know-how to tap. Perhaps the earliest fruit of that reinforced partnership is the $499 Lumia 2520, Nokia’s newest tablet and its first to run Windows RT.
As a slew of leaks have already suggested, the 2520 doesn’t stray too far from the existing Lumia smartphone formula. The trademark polycarbonate Lumia body has been carried over, and with it comes much of the same design language – think gently curving midsections and tapered edges. Meanwhile, the whole shebang is powered by the same 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 we saw in the Lumia 1520.
But of course, there’s one thing you’ll probably notice before all of that. Nokia has outfitted the Lumia 2520 with a 10.1-inch IPS LCD panel that runs at 1080p and is swathed in Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2. Some of Nokia’s mobile DNA has carried over into this tablet too: unlike what other companies have done, all Lumia 2520s will ship with LTE radios for mobile connectivity… whether or not their owners choose to fire up them is another question entirely.
But RT? Really? The platform has been critically derided, and at this point nearly every OEM of note save for Microsoft itself has publicly moved away from it. Considering its tight (and now tighter) relationship with Microsoft, it’s perhaps no surprise that Nokia is finally getting roped into building RT hardware. Thankfully, in typical Nokia fashion, the resulting device is as consumer-friendly a Windows RT tablet as I’ve ever seen.
I got the chance to play with the Lumia 2520 in New York while Ifi Majid (Nokia’s head of North American marketing) looked on, and one thing is for sure – the Lumia formula feels just right when applied to tablets. The Surface’s angular design and metallic chassis seemed tailor-made to evoke feelings of mechanical awe, but the 2520 is its friendlier, more colorful counterpart.
The 2520 is impressive on a technical level, too. The display is plenty crisp, and it’s capable of showing off Windows RT’s myriad colors without getting too lurid and in-your-face – its great viewing angles were only icing on the cake. And swiping through the start screen and firing up apps was as snappy as you’d expect considering the chipset running the show. If you’re an RT devotee (there’s bound to be a few of them, right?), make it a point to play with one. I suspect you’ll find a lot to like.
But can this be the sort of crossover device that Nokia and Microsoft really need? Nokia’s unveiling comes hours before Apple is set to show off some new iPads, and at this point there’s little question which device people will flock to more. With the Lumia 2520 though, Nokia seems intent on fighting Windows RT’s perception problem – Majid noted to me that if RT was originally positioned as a strong competitor to the iOS than as a me-too kid sibling of Windows 8, things may have turned out very differently.
Maybe the Lumia 2520 will be the device to finally turn things around for RT. Maybe it won’t. Either way, it seems clear that RT isn’t dead just yet.
This is a developing story, please refresh for updates.
Nokia has expanded its Lumia lineup by introducing a pair of new devices: a larger, 6-inch smartphone, and an entirely new product for the company, a Windows tablet.
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Nokia just revealed its very first tablet, the 10-inch, Windows RT 8.1-running Lumia 2520. As far as tablets go, it’s pretty standard fare.
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Nokia has revealed its much-anticipated Windows RT tablet, the Nokia Lumia 2520, a 10.1-inch slate pairing the distinctive and colorful design of the company’s Windows Phone range with LTE as standard and a suite of homegrown apps. Revealed today at Nokia’s Dubai event, the Lumia 2520 has a special Full HD display that runs at […]
The Surface RT was Microsoft’s brassy if ultimately flawed attempt to do a cannonball into the placid, iPad and Kindle-dominated tablet pool. It didn’t quite work out. With the Surface 2, Microsoft is taking the opportunity to say "No guys, but really," with a blistering, scary sort of confidence.
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Windows RT users looking to upgrade their copies of Windows RT 8 to Windows RT 8.1 will have to wait. Some users are reporting that the update is bricking their Surface machines, so Microsoft has pulled the upgrade from the Windows Store for the time being. No official announcement has been made about the cause […]
Earlier this week Microsoft finally started rolling out Windows 8.1, its much awaited update. Despite various builds being leaked over the last few months, there was quite a lot of anticipation and hype surrounding Microsoft’s latest Windows software update. Merely two days after making the update available, Microsoft has pulled the Windows RT 8.1 update from the Windows Store. The company says that the removal has taken place due to a “situation” it is currently investigating, though it says little about the aforementioned situation itself.
Microsoft says that it has temporarily removed Windows RT 8.1 for Windows Store because a “limited number of users” were affected by a situation when updating their Windows RT devices to the latest update. Microsoft says that it is working to take care of this situation “as quickly as possible.” It hasn’t provided a timeframe in which we can expect the update to become available again. There were scattered complaints online about it being difficult to update a Windows RT device to Windows RT 8.1. Some users found it difficult to location and get the update process rolling on their devices. As it stands right now, users with a Windows RT device have to make do with their existing software version, hopefully Microsoft will get things back on track soon so that all of them can get on the Windows RT 8.1 bandwagon soon.
Windows RT 8.1 Update Pulled From Windows Store original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Windows Phone 8.1 will ditch the “back” button and support up to 10-inch displays, it’s reported, with Microsoft also aiming to use the 2014 release to help push the smartphone platform further up into flagship territory. Codenamed Windows Phone “Blue”, the new version will see Microsoft address user satisfaction, WinSuperSite claims, paring away some of […]
The back button in Windows Phone devices is there to allow users who want to go back to other applications with ease, though if a new rumor is true, future devices might do away with this button altogether. Paul Thurrott, a man believed to have insights into Microsoft’s work, has heard from a single source that the support for a hardware back button will be eliminated in WIndows Phone 8.1. This particular WP update is expected to be released next year.
It is not known how multitasking will work in Windows Phone 8.1, given the fact that the back button is also used to bring up the multitasking user interface. Microsoft is expected to tweak the multitasking experience in Windows Phone 8.1, so its possible that it might devise a completely new way of bringing up the interface. This update is also expected to bring support for devices that have displays up to 10 inches. The current Windows Phone 8 GDR3 update brings support for devices with 5 and 6 inch displays, going by this rumor, it appears that Windows Phone 8.1 will up the ante. The company is also rumored to be creating a universal binary for apps, which would mean that developers won’t have to make separate apps for Windows Phone and Windows RT, a single app will be able to run on both platforms. This is in line with recent rumors which suggest that Microsoft might merge Windows RT and WIndows Phone over the next two years. Windows Phone 8.1 is expected to release for existing devices in spring next year.
Windows Phone 8.1 Rumored To Drop Support For Hardware Back Button original content from Ubergizmo. 
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