There is no place for silly mistakes in the tech industry and Microsoft has realised that. After dropping the Nokia brand completely, the company has a lot of work to do in terms of brand image as all its key smartphone components are at stake. Windows Phone OS is one of them.
The company, responding to a customer’s query on Twitter, has made it clear that it “plans to upgrade all Windows Phone 8 devices to Windows 10 in the future.” This also includes the Windows 8 devices launched under the name of Nokia. The next big Windows OS, Windows 10, is still in the early development stage, hence, Microsoft is tight-lipped about the arrival of the new OS.
@Kalars07 We plan to upgrade all Windows Phone 8 devices to Windows 10 in the future :)
However, it is a sign of relief to the Nokia Lumia owners who felt backstabbed when the company completely dropped the Nokia branding. Earlier in 2012, Windows lovers were disappointed when Microsoft decided that the existing devices wouldn’t make the jump to Windows Phone 8.
The new operating system was unveiled at San Francisco for Business customers. Microsoft has already released a technical preview version for selected users. It is expected to unveil new consumer features early next year. Windows 10 is expected to reach the market by mid-2015. Considering Microsoft nails its flagship operating system in every alternate release, we have a lot of hopes with this one.
Nokia has announced the Lumia 1320, a new smartphone in the Lumia series along with the Lumia 1520 at the today’s launch in Abu Dhabi. Nokia also announced other device like the 2520 Windows tablet and the Asha Phones.
The Nokia Lumia 1320 features a 6 inch HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The device is powered by powered by a 1.7 GHz dual-core processor and Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipse, the device runs on Windows Phone 8 OS. Lumia 1320 sports a 5 MP camera with LED flash and a VGA front camera.
The device is packed with a 3400 mAh battery which is same as its big brother Lumia 1520. The device has an internal storage of 8 GB which is expandable via micro SD and is coupled with a 1 GB of RAM. The phone is available in black, white, red and yellow color and is priced at 339 USD. The device will be available early 2014.
Specification of the Lumia 1320:
Operating System: Windows Phone 8 with the latest updates
Memory: 1GB RAM, 8GB internal user memory; 7GB SkyDrive cloud storage, micro SD card support up to 64GB
Display: 6-inch HD LCD IPS (1280×720), Super sensitive touch support for glove and long nail use; Gorilla Glass 3
Nokia has put all rumors aside with the official launch of the Nokia Lumia 1520. Nokia today unveiled its new phablet device at Nokia World held in Abu Dabi.
This flagship device from Nokia features a 6 inch Full HD 1080p display resolution is a first for Microsoft’s mobile operating system for that matter of fact this might a first windows phone with a Full HD 6 inch display. The device is powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor and is powered by GDR3 the lates Windows Phone Build. The phone sports a 20 MP PureView camera with a BSI f/2.4 Zeiss lens and optical image stabilization, along with its new camera app called the Nokia Camera.
The Lumia 1520 has an inbuilt storage of 32 GB which is expandable upto 64 GB. Nokia has included a big 3400 mAh battery, the device is packed with a 2 GB of RAM. The polycarbonate build supports wireless charging.
The Lumia 1520 will be available in white, yellow, black and red, Priced at $750.
Along with Lumia 1520, Nokia is also expected to unveil the mid range device the Lumia 1320 in the event today. The new leaked images from evleaks reveal a new Lumia 1320 code-named Batman.
The leaked renders of the rumoured Nokia Lumia 1320 suggest that the device will feature a large touchscreen and showcase a similar design we have seen on Lumia 625. However, the alleged Nokia Lumia 1320 might launch by end of this year. The images show the front and the back of the device. While this is some leaked news, stay tuned for some official news which is just few hours away!
Nokia recently launched its flagship phone in India, the Nokia Lumia 1020 comes up with a 41 MP sensor and is now available for preorder on Nokia’s website and on other online shopping websites as well.
The Nokia Lumia 1020 has a 4.5 inch AMOLED ClearBlack display with Pure Motion HD+ technology along with a resolution of 1280 × 768 pixels. The Lumia 1020 includes a 2 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. While, the device is powered by a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU and a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Chipset, it runs on the latest Windows Phone 8 OS along with Amber update.
The Lumia 1020 has a 41 MP rear camera with Optical Image Stabilization, Xenon flash and also LED flash for video recording. The device has a 1.2 MP front-facing camera with wide angle lens and can make HD video. The device includes a 2000 mAh battery and supports wireless charging just like some of its old Lumia brothers.
When and if you preorder the device from Nokia’s website you will find EMI options and a free gift which is a Nokia WH-530 stereo headphones worth 2999 INR. However, the device is available in three colors Yellow, white and Black and will be available in the market by the third week of October.
Microsoft and Nokia have been strategic partners for the manufacture of Windows Phone devices for a couple of years. Microsoft helped the company bail out of its financial woes when Nokia took 1 Billion USD to exclusively manufacture Windows Phone devices and drop plans to make devices on Android, Symbian and Meego. Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia comes in after the successful transition of Motorola into Google, for the company may be a proud owner of a high tech manufacturing brand. Such an acquisition will enable Microsoft to manufacture devices as per their own set norms and create benchmarks for other partners. Along with the hardware and services Microsoft will also become the owner of a wide array of patents and licenses that Nokia owns, one of which earns US $ 1 for every iPhone sold.
Microsoft puts it out there, the company claims that buying a manufacturer like Nokia will enable Microsoft to deliver a
“first-rate Microsoft phone experience for users”.
Microsoft has been trying to be a hardware manufacturer in the past few years, as it attempted with the “bust” Windows RT and 8 based Surface Tablets, the Acquisition of Nokia could lead to new Hardware under the Microsoft name in the mobility segment. What the future of the once world leader in Mobile telephone will be post the acquisition is unknown, but we hope that this does not pan out similar to the HP – Palm acquisition, which ended the life of a very innovative company.
Microsoft could easily be blamed for this acquisition as well, 3 years ago Nokia was valued at well over US $ 25 Billion, Microsoft’s so called “Strategic Partnership” basically ended the marketshare that Nokia had enjoyed in the good old days of Symbian and S40. Analysts claim, if Nokia had stuck to new operating systems like Meego and relatively young Android ( at the time), the company would have prospered and would have been close to the likes of Samsung and Apple in number of movements.
Today Nokia heavily depends on its feature-phone sales for its revenues, and in a global world where the 100$ smartphone is overtaking the 100$ feature phone, Nokia may have realized the limited lifecycle it had left.
Microsoft is no stranger to takeovers, and with many a past companies under its sleeve, Nokia would be more of a trophy, just so the execs at Redmond can say “Hey, We manufacture our own phones! Just like Apple and Google.”
Microsoft really has an opportunity, with the vast array of designers and young minds at Nokia, years of experience and a complete team of experts in mobility, maybe the top brass at Microsoft will be more open to world changing ideas, than they were back at Nokia. Heck in 2006 a fully capacitive touchscreen phone was rejected within the Finland HQ at Nokia stating that the world was not ready for a full touch phone. In 2007 June, the iPhone was launched, Nokia couldn’t have been more wrong.
Nokia has promised that its Lumia Amber update will reach all Windows Phone 8 devices by the end of September.
The Finnish phone maker is rolling out the update for its Lumia 920, Lumia 820, Lumia 720, Lumia 620 and Lumia 520 as well as their variants.
Amber introduces a number of new features to the Lumia range, including new photo-editing tools and improved camera capabilities. The Nokia Smart Camera app also introduces motion sequence shooting on its high-end Lumia 920, 925 and 928 handsets.
The Amber update also has “Glance Screen,” a tool that makes your phone’s inactive state more interesting. When your handset is inactive, it will display a clock and battery information. So, you can more quickly interact with your phone without having to do anything at all. You can turn off Glance, of course, or have it switch off after a set amount of time.
Unfortunately the negative news includes that some of the most desirable features are not coming to all handsets.
In the post Nokia confirms that the ‘double tap to wake’ feature is not supported on Lumia 720, Lumia 625, Lumia 620, Lumia 521, Lumia 520.
Also Nokia confirmed the FM Radio feature will not be coming to the Lumia 620, Lumia 810 and Lumia 928 as they “do not have the FM radio chip.”
Nokia recently launched its new Nokia Here Auto in-dash navigation system.
Days before Nokia has a chance to unveil its Mobile World Congress lineup, apparent leaks of its two upcoming smartphones, the Lumia 720 and Lumia 520, have already surfaced to go along with some bubbled-up specs.
While we can’t tell specs from the official renders provided by @evleaks, it’s a safe bet that these phones will be announced next week at Mobile World Congress. It’s also safe to assume that the Lumia 720 will have slightly toned-down specs from the 820, but will maintain its colourful heritage. Nokia appears to have done away with removable back plates on the Nokia Lumia 720, making for a thinner and likely lighter smartphone.
And though we can’t tell scale from this particular photo, a 4.3-inch 800×480 resolution ClearBlack screen is in the cards, alongside a 1Ghz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus SoC, 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, an 8MP rear camera and a 2MP front camera.
Rumoured specs of the Nokia Lumia 520 put the device at 4-inches, with 512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage and a 5MP rear camera.
The two devices should slot in directly above and below the Nokia Lumia 620, leaving Nokia with a full spectrum of Windows Phone 8 devices at every price point. However we are still waiting for the launch of the Lumia 620 in India!
The big news today comes from the company-formerly-known-as-RIM and their new OS and flagship smartphone. Blackberry has always been loved by businesses for it’s many business features, but in the past few years the competition, such as Windows Phone, has made big strides to be business ready. This has lead a lot of businesses to adopt “bring your own phone,” which lets employees use many different popular smartphones, not just Blackberry devices.
Nokia has taken to Facebook to point out that Lumia devices are just as business-ready, if not more, than Blackberry devices.
[quote]Nokia Canada’s Facebook page stated that “Blackberries make a great snack, but for the world’s best business smartphone try a Lumia.” This is of course part of the new “Make the Switch” marketing campaign that encourages people to use the Lumia.[/quote]
Windows Phone has native Skype support along with Office applications, plus SkyDrive for backup. BlackBerry is known in the industry for having the best, probably most secure, email support for businesses, but Windows Phone 8 also added many modern security protocols. In addition, BlackBerry has SAP support, Box and Dropbox for cloud storage and will soon be adding Skype to their list of apps.
It’ll be very interesting to see who wins the battle for 3rd place.
Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones during the fourth quarter of last year, as the company’s Devices & Services unit exceeded expectations, according to preliminary data.
[quote]Stephen Elop, the company’s often-criticized CEO said, “We are pleased that Q4 2012 was a solid quarter where we exceeded expectations and delivered underlying profitability in Devices & Services.” While net profit was minimal at around $262 million USD, there is reason to be bullish for the next several quarters as Lumia sales continue to rise as the company releases its phones into more markets.[/quote]
The next 12 months will be key for Nokia and Microsoft, and the sale of 4.4 million Lumia smartphones is a step in the right direction, according to Pete Cunningham, principal analyst at market research company Canalys.
Nokia also sold 9.3 million Asha touch smartphones, as well as 2.2 million Symbian smartphones.
During the fourth quarter in 2011 Nokia sold 113.5 million units, including around a million Lumia devices and a total of 19.6 million smartphones.
The 4.4 million Lumia smartphones Nokia sold also compares to the 2.9 million it sold during the third quarter. The company could have sold even more if it hadn’t been for supply constraints, which especially affected the Lumia 920.
Nokia is also getting a €50 million sum from non-recurring IPR income (coincidentally, RIM recently had to pay Nokia €50 million after a patent settlement).
Anyway, the Nokia Siemens networks also exceeded expectations and posted a profit for a third quarter in a row. The non-IFRS operating margin for this division in Q4 2012 is expected to be 13-15%.
While Nokia is ending 2012 on a positive note, the start of 2013 will be less rosy – the seasonally weak quarter will lead to a non-IFRS operating margin of negative 2% (+/- 4%).
Meanwhile, Nokia today launched the Lumia 920, 820 and 620 at an event here in New Delhi.
The Windows Phone 7.8 platform has been spotted in NaviFirm for Nokia’s devices powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 OS, suggesting that it should not be too long before users receive it officially.
What Windows Phone 7.8 brings is a new home screen with live tiles available in 3 different sizes, just like in Windows Phone 8. A whole bunch of new interface theme colors have been thrown in, although the background can still be had in either white or black. Also, the lock screen wallpaper can be replaced with the one featured in the Bing application.
If you want to upgrade your Nokia Lumia 900,800,710,610 and Nokia Lumia 510 to Windows Phone 7.8 by flashing method (all data(s) will be loss), you can just download the firmware from navifirm and use flashing tools (e.g Nokia Care Suite). Simply select the device from the list, and then choose to download the latest firmware available for it (it should be the last item in the list in the middle, labeled 1750.823.8858.12460 for Lumia 800, for example).
Please note that you flash your device at your own risk and we cannot take any responsibility for damage caused to your Windows Phone.
Nokia has just launched their most affordable Windows Phone 8 device the Nokia Lumia 620. The Phone which runs Microsoft latest Mobile operating system is powered by a Qualcomm S4 1GHz dual-core CPU. Includes a 3.8-inch ClearBlack WVGA screen running at 800 x 480 resolution. FOr Optics we have a 5-megapixel rear camera and a front facing VGA one. The Phone has a fixed storage of 8 GB and no expandability upto 64GB via MicroSD.
Nokia is ready to play the 610 game with the Lumia 620 as the company will offer seven colors with exchangeable shells in gloss and matte finishes depending on color. You will also get a full host of Nokia only apps including Nokia Drive, Nokia Music and Nokia Maps. Nokia is also calling it the world’d most affordable Windows Phone 8 device yet with a price of 190 euros or Rs. 12,999 globally. We are hopeful that the company can quickly launch and make the device available in India around the same price mark
[toggle_box title=”Press Release” width=”Width of toggle box”]
Nokia introduces new Nokia Lumia 620
Nokia’s third and most affordable Windows Phone 8 smartphone offers youthful appeal
Espoo, Finland and Paris, France – Nokia today introduced the Nokia Lumia 620, the third and most affordable in its range of Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Alongside the flagship Nokia Lumia 920 and mid-range Nokia Lumia 820, the Nokia Lumia 620 offers a more fun, youthful appeal, and compact design.
The Nokia Lumia 620 uses a new dual-shot color technique to deliver a variety of striking color and texture effects. Dual-shot adds a second layer of colored, transparent or translucent polycarbonate on top of a base layer to produce secondary color blends and depth effects. With seven different exchangeable shells to choose from, people can adapt the look of their Nokia Lumia 620 to their own personal taste and style.
“We continue to execute on our strategy to reach new audiences and new markets,” said Jo Harlow, executive vice president, Nokia Smart Devices. “With its innovative design, the latest Windows Phone 8 software and signature experiences from Nokia, like Nokia lenses, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music, the Nokia Lumia 620 is a highly competitive smartphone at this price point.”
Among the features shared with the Nokia Lumia 920 and Nokia Lumia 820 are exclusive camera lenses that transform the creative power of the Nokia Lumia 620’s five megapixel main camera and VGA front-facing camera. The Cinemagraph lens adds simple animations to still photographs, while Smart Shoot creates a single, perfect shot from multiple images, even removing unwanted objects from the picture.
The Nokia Lumia 620 also provides access to the world’s best maps and location experience, including Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Transport and the exclusive Nokia City Lens. Nokia City Lens displays information about local surroundings overlaid onto buildings as seen through the camera viewfinder.
Making it easy to discover and enjoy new music, Nokia Music provides free streaming of ad-free tracks without registration or subscription and the ability to download playlists for listening offline.
With NFC support, the Nokia Lumia 620 can easily pair with NFC-enabled accessories like the JBL PlayUp Portable Speaker for Nokia. Open and secure NFC-connectivity makes it possible to share and receive content by tapping with compatible devices, or make secure payments using the Wallet application in Windows Phone 8.
Powered by Windows Phone 8, the Nokia Lumia 620 delivers a more personal smartphone experience. Adjustable Live Tiles update direct to the Start Screen. People Hub pulls together contact information from multiple address books and social networks into a single location, making it easy to stay in touch with friends and set up contact Groups and private Rooms for sharing. From the Me Tile people can check in to their location, post an update, set chat status, see what’s new and monitor notifications across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Windows Phone 8 also includes Xbox Live, Microsoft Office, 7GB of online SkyDrive storage and faster, safer surfing with Internet Explorer 10.
These features and capabilities are enabled by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon(TM) S4 Plus processors.
“People can do more of the things they love when they choose a mobile device that has a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor,” said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm Europe. “The Snapdragon S4 Plus processor is the heart of the Nokia Lumia 620, making it possible to multi-task, stream in HD and share content at super-fast speeds.”
The Nokia Lumia 620 will be available in a range of colors* including, lime green, orange, magenta, yellow, cyan, white and black. Estimated at USD 249, excluding taxes and subsidies, the Nokia Lumia 620 will begin selling in January 2013 in Asia, followed closely by Europe and the Middle East before expanding further.
* Availability of colored shells may vary by country.
After the Windows Phone 7.8-powerd Nokia Lumia 900 spotted in China earlier this month, a new device has been caught on camera running the unannounced operating system, the Lumia 510.
A new video, presumably from Winp.cn, shows the current build of Windows Phone 7.8 (8858) in action on the Nokia Lumia 510. Actually, it’s less action and more of a nice, soothing stroll on some of the more superficial changes coming in the OS update. The new tiles are shown off and we even see the Bing lockscreen wallpaper working.
A new rumour states that Windows Phone 7.8 will launch as early as Wednesday of this week, though in what capacity we don’t know. We may get a roll-out schedule in the very least, though even that is up in the air.
There have been several leaks that indicate Nokia is actively working on a new major Windows Phone update for its first generation Lumia handsets, though there has been no word on availability.
One nice feature exclusive, it seems, to Nokia phones is the ability to keep WiFi on in the background when the screen is off. This may seem trivial to most smartphone users but amazingly the functionality is not currently present in Windows Phone as we know it.
We still expect WP 7.8 to come out sometime early 2013.
Nokia has so far unveiled four Windows Phone 8 devices – the Nokia Lumia 920, 820, 822, and 810. It appears the company has another device coming, as today images of a device said to be the Nokia Lumia 830 has been leaked on Chinese forum Dospy.com.
While at first the new phone resembles the 820 in some ways, it is actually slightly narrower than the upcoming follow-up to the Lumia 800. While there is no indication that the 830 will be more powerful than the 820, WPCentral is positing that this could be in fact a successor to the successful (and cheap) Lumia 710.
No further details were revealed about the device, but from the photos above you can see that the device will come in five different colors – black, white, red, yellow, and a distinctive green. We’ve heard previously that Nokia is planning to release a Nokia “Zeal” Windows Phone 8 device, which is said to come with 4.3” screen, 1GHz dual core processor, 512 MB RAM, 8GB of storage and microSD card support.
Whats this, Is Nokia selling trademarks and logos to keep up with expenses?
This might not actually be the case but the new Facebook campaign cover image is quite similar to the good old Nokia “Connecting People” Trademark image. I Hope Nokia has some sort of legal work in place, so that they can sue their way back into the limelight.
Nokia introduced its”Connecting People” advertising slogan, coined by Ove Strandbergand used since 1992. Nokia was the world’s largest vendor of mobile phones from 1998 to 2011. However, over the past five years it has suffered declining market share as a result of the growing use of smartphones from other vendors, principally the Apple iPhone and devices running on Google’s Android operating system. As a result, its share price has fallen from a high of US$40 in 2007 to under US$3 in 2012. Since February 2011, Nokia has had a strategic partnership with Microsoft, as part of which all Nokia smartphones will incorporate Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system (replacing Symbian).
Nokia unveiled its first Windows Phone handsets, the Lumia 710 and 800, in October 2011 which did not do well in the market as expected. Nokia then went on to release two other Lumia Phones the 710 and the Lumia 900, both of which also did not do well considering the fact that Microsoft launched the new Windows Phone 8 OS which would not be compatible on these phones.
Nokia is now banking on the release of their new 2012 Lineup of phones including the Lumia 920 and 820 which were announced on 5th Sept 2012, and are expected to become available mid November. We did go hands on with these phones and feel that they might be the saving grace Nokia is after.
