Nokia’s cheap Windows Phone 8 smartphone, the Lumia 620, has yesterday received an Australian release date. The Finnish mobile maker will release the phone on February 22 with a price tag of $329; and will be available through its normal retail channels including Dick Smith, Harvey NOrman and JB Hi Fi.
Good news Windows Phone users! Microsoft and Google have come to some sort of conclusion to a potential mess where users would not be able to sync to Google services via Exchange ActiveSync. Google will extend support til July 31; while Microsoft will update Windows Phone to support CalDAV and CardDAV.
Stewart Wilson / TECHGEEK.com.au
Google have completely back flipped on their decision to block the use of Google Maps on Windows Phone devices after a huge uproar from the Internet community. Through a statement provided by Google to The Verge, Google say they are “working to remove the redirect” that they had put in place. The full statement from Google is:
Image: activefree/Flickr (Creative Commons).
When was the last time you used a web-app on your phone more than once? Hmm, yeah, I can’t remember a time either, maybe apart from a link to a few blogs. Which is why the usual shit-storm that arises with any change to anything is pointless, especially in the case of Google Maps on Windows Phone. If you own a Windows Phone, Google Maps is available to you, and will always be available to you in some way, even in the form of native apps, despite Google’s decision to discontinue support for a webapp that was never, ever, even supported.
2012 was a year of refinement from Google and Apple, opting to make small changes to their flagship platforms of Android and iOS, as well as their device portfolios. Yet, almost shockingly, the opposite can be said for Microsoft, who instead launched the biggest change to Windows since its inception, as well as brought core redesigns of Windows Phone to market and introduced a competitive tablet OS that works on ARM.
Nokia Australia has confirmed when the Lumia 920 and 820 smartphones will coming to Australia. The first Windows Phone 8 smartphones from the Finnish phone maker will sold from the end of November, with the Lumia 820 sold through Optus and Vodafone, and the 920 sold through Telstra.
While Zune Pass had always been a great service, Microsoft lacked the marketshare to actually push it on devices. The Zune lineup, made to compete with Apple’s iPod, never caught on, and Windows Phone 7 has proven to lack a strong following. Xbox Music is set to change this, coming out tomorrow on Xbox 360′s and later this month on Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Phone 8, a mobile platform still not even launched. iOS and Android apps are coming too either later in the year or in 2013, however Windows 7, Mac OS X and Windows Phone 7 users will be missing the party entirely. A web version is also expected to come, but no official dates are available, and it’s currently, according to Microsoft, only a blip on their Xbox Music roadmap.
Telstra has scored a major coup for their 4G network with the announcement that Nokia will be selling the Lumia 920 on its network. Also announced was that Optus and Vodafone will gain the rights to sell the lower-end Lumia 820.
HTC have just shown a little sneak peak for their Thursday event. In a post to Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, the handset maker revealed the corner of a phone, which appears to be running Windows Phone 8. And don’t be confused, the 19.9 is referring to the date of the event (in the US), not the screen size. Although that wouldn’t be surprising, given the state of the smartphone industry.
‘Metro’ is no more. After a naming dispute with a European partner (which is also known by that name), Microsoft has decided to rename the codename user interface to “Windows-8 Style UI”. Yes, everything that uses it – from Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and even the Xbox 360, which doesn’t even share an 8 – will feature the new “Windows-8 Style UI”.
Just more than a year since the pact was signed, Nokia’s Lumia 900 is the latest phone running Windows Phone 7. Revealed at this year’s CES, it has managed to capture America when it was released in April. But while it looks like the Lumia 800, it does have some differences, such as a bigger screen. However, does that make it a better phone than the 800?
But the all important question is – is it worth getting? Terence Huynh answers.
After announcing a larger-than-expected quarterly loss, delaying the release of its new smarphones and stock plunging 18 percent, Research in Motion is rumoured to be considering selling its network business (leaving it to manufacturer phones) or even considering an alliance with Microsoft and adopt Windows Phone 8.
How huge is June turning out to be? Microsoft, which announced a Windows Phone Developer Summit last month, has just sent out another invitation to the US press, with the words ”A sneak peek of the future of Windows Phone”. It’s the same event, but it now looks like the rumours of Windows Phone 8 could come true.
So Spotify has finally launched in Australia, which looks like it’ll be the last piece of the Australian streaming music puzzle for a long time to come. And it’s really great, as Australian’s now have more choice than ever. But for me, I can’t choose any of these services.
Telstra has announced that it will be bringing out its first 4G phone running Windows Phone, parterning with HTC to bring the TITAN 4G to Australia – beating the Lumia 900 (which has been announced on Optus, but will run on its 3G network as opposed to its upcoming 4G LTE network) as the first WP7 phone for Australia.