Hasta La Gadget!

If you were following Huawei’s presser from earlier today, you may have thought the company’s CES 2013 story was “All About Android.” Turns out, it’s not. On the showfloor here at Pepcom, the company was able to give us a first look at the Ascend W1: it’s first entry for the Windows Phone 8 space. Admittedly, the W1 doesn’t share any of the lust-worthy, high-end specs that adorn the Ascend Mate and D2, but that’s not its angle. As one Huawei rep put it, this is a value proposition, outfitted with a 4-inch display (we couldn’t verify resolution) and 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 paried with 512MB RAM. Software-wise, this is about as stock WP8 as it gets, so don’t expect to see any applications come pre-loaded onto the hardware.

Dimension-wise, the W1 is a girthy phone, cutting a silhouette that’s just about 10mm — so, it stands far outside the “world’s thinnest” category that we’ve heard so much about at this CES. It also bears a bit of heft which we can’t ascribe to its battery size. At 1,950mAh, the W1 should pack enough juice to last seven to nine days on standby and given the reduced power requirements of WP8, it’s sure to get moderate users through a full day. There’s a paltry 4GB of storage onboard, but thankfully, users can augment that via a microSD slot, allowing for up to 32GB.

UI navigation on the W1 lives up to the elegant, sweeping transitions that have become trademarks of Windows Phone 8. It’s appreciably quick and responsive. And somewhat surprisingly, viewing angles on the display held up remarkably when we tilted it about in various degrees. As for that standard micro-USB port, it seems Huawei’s done something different by allocating it to the bottom right of the handset.

Wondering when and where you’ll see the W1? Well, join the club. Huawei’s remaning tight-lipped about pricing and release details, but we did manage to get a confirmation that the W1 would be US-bound this year. For now, feast your eyes on the gallery below and check out our video after the break.

Sarah Silbert contributed to this report.

Continue reading Huawei Ascend W1 hands-on: the company’s first Windows Phone 8 device (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile

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Microsoft’s SmartGlass and Microsoft’s Halo 4 apparently aren’t quite getting along on Windows Phone 8 devices. Using SmartGlass, Halo 4 players can normally access their stats and other info about their android supersoldier using the long-established Waypoint service — except for Windows Phone 8 users, apparently. A forum thread dating back to Halo 4‘s November launch highlights the issue — as Xbox.com forum user “Scion Eon” puts it: “Whenever I try to log into SmartGlass on my phone while playing Halo 4, I am immediately greeted with a message that says ‘Your device is missing certain required features.'” As it turns out, Mr. Eon isn’t the only one experiencing said connectivity issues — specific to Windows Phone 8 devices — and Microsoft’s aware of the situation.

“We are aware that there is an issue with the Xbox SmartGlass experience for ‘Halo Waypoint’ on Windows Phone 8 devices, which may prevent users from accessing Halo 4 player stats,” a Microsoft rep told us this afternoon. Thankfully, Redmond’s also taking care of a solution. “We are actively working on a fix and expect to have a solution within the coming weeks. We appreciate your patience as this gets resolved and apologize for any inconvenience this causes,” the statement reads. Of course, should you want to access Halo 4‘s Waypoint functionality on SmartGlass before that fix, you can always use Microsoft’s competitor’s devices. But then who’d do that?

[Thanks Colin!]

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Software, Mobile, Microsoft

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Source: Xbox.com

Huawei has already left little doubt as to what we’ll see from its smartphone line at CES. If official teasers aren’t enough, however, well-known phone tipster @evleaks has given Unwired View what’s purported to be press images for the three key introductions. The Ascend W1 Windows Phone (at left) looks much like we’ve seen from live shots, just with newer black and pink hues; the Ascend D2 (right) isn’t quite so rainbow-like, but supports what’s been claimed of the 5-inch phone’s aesthetic and custom interface. A shot for the Ascend Mate (after the break), despite representing the company’s stand-out device, is the least surprising given that executive Richard Yu showed customers the real thing just days ago. We’d still give these images a long look — while there’s chances for inaccuracies or surprises, they may be the best glimpses of Huawei’s early 2013 lineup before we see it first-hand.

Continue reading Huawei D2, Mate and W1 reportedly pose for press images

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Source: Unwired View

Go ahead — lambaste me for even mentioning it. I’ll wait. Now, how’s about we look beyond the surface — the beautified tile regime and the whimsical animations — and focus on what actually matters when looking at a smartphone platform. You don’t have to look far to get a solid grasp on which platforms are soaring, which are hanging tough and which have one foot in the proverbial grave. Gartner’s latest worldwide mobile report shows Android and iOS at the top, with rarely discussed terms like “Symbian” and “Bada” above some company called “Microsoft.” Which brings me to a question that has been haunting me for months: “Why?”

Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series nearly three full years ago, bringing with it an extraordinarily fresh take on a smartphone world that has grown soggy with pages of grid-mapped programs. But, as things have turned out, beauty that’s only skin deep doesn’t do much for market share — even when you’re pouring millions upon millions of dollars into marketing, coaxing one of the most notable names in mobile to run your OS exclusively and cutting deals with carriers like it’s just some trivial affair.

I’ve waxed lyrical about the danger of Windows Phone losing out simply because it offers (comparably) little in terms of ecosystem glitz, but these days, I’m growing closer to putting the platform’s fate on a single name: Google.

Continue reading Editorial: Does Windows Phone even have a chance without Google?

Filed under: Cellphones, Software, Mobile, Apple, Microsoft, Google

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HTC’s second Windows Phone 8 device may not ever visit the US, but the 8S has arrived, at least in the UK. British carrier Three has the phone for sale starting today, both online (with delivery for Monday) and in its bricks and mortar stores, offering the Windows Phone 8S in the two-tone blue and black finish — we’re checking with Three to see whether it’ll offer any other color options, as we’ve got our eyes on the yellow version. Expect to pay £219 £180 sans monthly billing, while the phone will be free on two-year contracts priced starting at £17 per month. We’ll be putting the 8S through the review wringer soon — you can expect to see our verdict next week.

Update: Three has been in touch to say the contract-free price has now dropped to £180 — a pretty tempting launch price.

Continue reading HTC Windows Phone 8S available now on Three UK: £17 per month or £180 off-contract

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, HTC

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Source: Three UK