Hasta La Gadget!

Three years. That’s how long it’s been since Nokia has offered a phone for the largest carrier in the US: a unique (and yet wholly forgettable) device known as the Twist. Needless to say, the arrival of the Lumia 822 at Verizon Wireless comes at a crucial time for Nokia, which must quickly establish itself in the United States if it hopes to remain a legitimate contender in the smartphone realm. That’s a lot of weight to carry on one’s shoulders — even for a mighty Finn.

Fortunately, the Lumia 822 is well-suited to help establish a beachhead on Lady Liberty’s shores. At just $100 on-contract, it’s a good value and deserves genuine consideration from OS switchers and first-time smartphone buyers alike. Granted, it lacks the premium display and camera wizardry of the Lumia 920, but with greater built-in storage and a better front-facing camera, it narrowly bests the Lumia 820 for AT&T and the Lumia 810 for T-Mobile. Add to that Data Sense — a new data monitoring and compression feature of Windows Phone 8, but currently exclusive to Verizon — and the Lumia 822 easily becomes the most compelling of Nokia’s mid-range Windows Phone lineup. Even if its design is a bit… bland.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 822 review: the pride of Espoo returns to Verizon Wireless

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia, Verizon

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The “Smoked By Windows Phone” marketing drive has seen over 250,000 head-to-head handset battles so far, with many hits for Redmond and also a few embarrassing misses. The campaign is now changing tack to embrace a slightly safer, less physical tone, under the banner of “Meet your Match.” The side-by-side comparisons with rival phones will remain, but the spotlight has been broadened to cover features like camera work and sharing, among others, instead of focusing only on speed. While it’s likely the offer of free phones as prizes that will light up faces in the promo vids, regardless of the strengths of the OS itself, the overall pitch certainly feels more on-point than some others we’ve seen.

Continue reading ‘Smoked by Windows Phone’ campaign stops the smack talk, asks you to ‘Meet your Match’

Filed under: Cellphones, Microsoft

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Source: Windows Phone Blog, YouTube

Owners of older Windows Phones who expect to run out of railroad after 7.8 could actually have some cause for hope — meager though it may be. A leaked slide, said to originate from a 25-page Nokia roadmap sent to WParea by an anonymous tipster, points toward at least one more update after Windows Phone 7.8 lands. However, it’s clear that whoever drew up the slide isn’t fully in the know, since the mystery version is simply described as “7.x.”. Meanwhile, the official Russian Windows Phone Twitter account has also kept the wheels rolling by promising 18 months of support for 7.8. We can’t exactly vouch for this either, since the tweet appears to have been deleted, but it does suggest that those last-year Lumias will keep chugging on for a good while longer.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

Nokia leak suggests there’s something between Windows Phone 7.8 and 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 06:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhoneArena  |  WParea (German), Windows Phone Live (Russian)  | Email this | Comments

In some senses, we’ve been waiting for this moment since last May: Verizon is back to selling brand-new Windows Phone hardware. Starting today, the carrier is offering both the $200 HTC Windows Phone 8X as its flagship and the $100 Nokia Lumia 822 for the more cost-conscious. Both Windows Phone 8 devices have a slight spin on the stock formula. Verizon’s 8X is currently the only variant of the phone that supports wireless charging, if you’re in the position of choosing between Big Red’s network and AT&T’s; the Lumia 822’s differences are more cosmetic, but they may appeal to those who aren’t fans of the boxier 810 and 820. The only immediate caveat is a very monochromatic selection that won’t improve until the blue and red 8X editions start shipping from next week onwards.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC, Nokia, Verizon

PSA: Verizon returns to Windows Phone today, HTC 8X and Nokia Lumia 822 go on sale originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A few days ago we reviewed the global version of Nokia’s Lumia 920 flagship running Windows Phone 8. The handset’s been available for purchase on AT&T since last Friday with a few carrier-specific tweaks, such as compatible LTE bands. It’s aggressively priced at $100 with a two-year agreement — this includes 32GB of built-in storage, a free Nokia wireless charging plate (while supplies last) and the same camera magic as its global sibling. It’s a phone that would otherwise cost about £445 ($710) unsubsidized and unlocked. Nokia’s Lumia 920 for AT&T comes in a choice of high-gloss (red, yellow or white) and matte (cyan or black) finishes. Despite the global and AT&T models being virtually identical, there are minor differences worth noting. Join us after the break for the details.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 920 for AT&T: what’s different?

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia, AT&T

Nokia Lumia 920 for AT&T: what’s different? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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