Windows Phone 8

March 21, 2013 by mashable!

Windows Phone Ad Disses Galaxy S III With Camera Comparison

As part of its "Windows Phone Challenge," Microsoft compares the camera capabilities of Nokia's Lumia 920 and Samsung's Galaxy S III in a new video ad.

Naturally, the Lumia — a Windows Phone — is portrayed as reigning supreme. The ad's "real people" who own the Galaxy S III toss it aside for the Lumia after seeing that the latter produces photos "like a professional camera."

But some YouTube viewers took issue with the fairness of the video's comparison shot, which features a dazzlingly bright Lumia pic versus a dark and blurry Galaxy one

"No one thought that the brightness of the [Galaxy] phone [was] turned all the way down? Also, the screen is dim because if it wasn't then the soft keys would be lit up just like the Nokia," said YouTuber Kenny Hudman

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Advertising, Beautiful, Business, Gadgets, Galaxy S III, Mashable, Mobile, Nokia Lumia 920, Samsung Galaxy S III, Windows Phone 8, YouTube Video Lead

March 18, 2013 by mashable!

Microsoft to End Support for Windows Phone 8 July 2014

Microsoft has revealed the product support life-cycle for Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8 will end in the second half of 2014. Specifically, Microsoft plans to support Windows Phone 8 until July 8, 2014, and Windows Phone 7.8 until Sept. 9, 2014

These dates are derived from the life-cycle start date, which is Dec. 14, 2013 for WP8, and Feb. 9, 2013 for WP7.8. Microsoft's support page explains the company product support strategy as follows:

"Microsoft will make updates available for the Operating System on your phone, including security updates, for a period of 18 months after the life-cycle start date. Distribution of the updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone. Update availability will also vary by country, region, and hardware capabilities."

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, Dev & Design, Mashable, microsoft, Mobile, Tech, Windows Phone 7.8, Windows Phone 8

January 6, 2013 by mashable!

Google Says It Will Stop Blocking Maps from Windows Phone

Google says it will stop redirecting Windows Phone users away from its mobile Google Maps website.

This weekend, controversy erupted after users reported that attempts to access Google Maps on Windows Phone devices led to redirects to the Google homepage. Google confirmed the redirect on Friday, telling Mashable and other news outlets that the decision to redirect users away from Google Maps was because it had optimized its mobile Google Maps website for WebKit-based browsers.

Because Internet Explorer for Windows Phone uses the Trident rendering engine and not WebKit, Google Maps wouldn't load on that browser. The unspoken message was that Windows Phone was incapable of properly rende…
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More About: Google, Google Maps, internet explorer, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, Google, Google Maps, internet explorer, Mashable, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

January 6, 2013 by mashable!

7 Predictions for Microsoft in 2013

Can you imagine a bigger year for Microsoft than 2012? The company started the year with a huge strategic partnership with Nokia, went into competition with its partners by making its own tablet, and closed things out with the most ambitious change to Windows since 1995. For sheer drama, 2012 is going to be tough to beat.

But 2013 may end up mattering more to the company in the long run. Whereas 2012 was all about Microsoft moving major pieces into place to execute on a grand strategy, 2013 will be the year we find out if that strategy was brilliant long-term planning or a disastrous blunder.

Initial signs aren't that favorable. Early numbers about PC sales show there hasn't been any u…
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More About: features, microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Predictions 2013, Windows 8, windows phone, Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, Xbox 360

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, features, Mashable, microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Predictions 2013, Windows 8, windows phone, Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, Xbox 360

January 5, 2013 by mashable!

Windows Phone Doesn’t Support Google Maps Because Google Doesn’t Want It To

The situation regarding accessing Google Maps on Windows Phone devices is about vendor choice, not browser capabilities.

Let's try this again. Yesterday, a number of reports surfaced that Windows Phone users were unable to access Google Maps in the browser. Instead of reaching the Maps page, users are automatically redirected to the main Google homepage. This is true both for users attempting to access Google Maps from the mobile or desktop view in Internet Explorer on Windows Phone 7.X and Windows Phone 8 devices.

Google's official response -- as we pointed out yesterday -- is that the decision to redirect users a…
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More About: Google, Google Maps, microsoft, webkit, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, Google, Google Maps, Mashable, microsoft, webkit, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

January 4, 2013 by mashable!

This is Why You Can’t Access Google Maps on Windows Phone

Todays' Internet lesson is simple: rendering engines matter.

If you're a Windows Phone 8 user, chances are you are unable to access Google Maps in Internet Explorer. Attempting to access Google Maps from a Windows Phone device redirects the user to Google's main homepage.

Earlier this afternoon, this behavior was noted by forum users on The Verge. We were able to confirm the behavior on our own Windows Phone devices and on a desktop web browser with a modified user-agent string. Sure enough, attempts to access maps.google.com or google.com/maps led to a redirect to the main Google homepage.

Was this the latest move in a growing mobile feud between Microsoft and Google? It was curio…
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More About: Google, Google Maps, microsoft, webkit, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, Google, Google Maps, Mashable, microsoft, webkit, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

December 13, 2012 by mashable!

Amazon Launches Kindle Apps in China and Two Other Stories You Need to Know

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories.

Amazon Launches Kindle Apps and E-Bookstore in China

Amazon has launched its Kindle apps for iOS and Android, as well as a Kindle e-bookstore in China.

Although there's no mention of an actual Kindle hardware launch in the country, the software launch probably means it's coming soon. Amazon launched its electronic book store in Brazil last week, promising that the Kindle e-reader will arrive in the country in the "coming weeks."

Samsung Sues LG Over LCD Displays

Sams…
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More About: LG, Windows Phone 8, amazon, features, first to know series, mashable, samsung

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: amazon, Beautiful, features, first to know series, LG, Mashable, samsung, Windows Phone 8

December 1, 2012 by mashable!

Santa Uses Windows Phone to Track Who’s Been Naughty or Nice

Every wonder how Santa keeps track of who’s been naughty or nice?

According to a new Windows Phone ad, there’s an app for that. In the video above, the Naughty or Nice Live App helps Santa watch out for who’s been bad or good, delivering that information directly to a live tile on his bright red Windows Phone.

Unfortunately for Santa and company, that means he has to cancel the holiday pool party when the nice number spirals upward, so the elves can make more toys.

Santa isn’t the only North Pole resident using Windows Phone. Earlier this week Microsoft posted a video of the Abominable Snowman using Windows Phone while at…
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More About: Windows Phone 8, microsoft

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, Mashable, microsoft, Windows Phone 8

November 20, 2012 by mashable!

Living With Lumia: The Problem With Windows Phone Apps

I'm now seven days -- a full week! -- into using the Nokia Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8 instead of the iPhone 5 in our Living With Lumia challenge.

For this dispatch, I wanted to focus on some of my favorite Windows Phone apps that I've discovered through this process. While I touched on apps in an earlier post, it's a topic that is worth revisiting.

The Windows Phone app story is quickly improving. If I compare the landscape to even six or eight months ago, the number of big name apps on the platform has expanded and third-parties are stepping in to fill out the missing gaps.

Aside from Instagram and Hulu Plus, most of my "must-have" apps ar…
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More About: Lumia 920, Nokia, Windows Phone 8, living with lumia, microsoft, windows phone

Filed Under: Mashable! Tagged With: Beautiful, living with lumia, Lumia 920, Mashable, microsoft, Nokia, windows phone, Windows Phone 8

November 20, 2012 by mashable!

How I Fixed My Battery Issues on the Nokia Lumia 920

How does an Apple fangirl survive the weekend after switching from an iPhone 5 to Nokia's Lumia 920 running Windows Phone? It turns out, surprisingly well.

I had a few issues getting my videos up over the weekend, but this post-dated entry follows up on my battery life issues (and how I think I've solved them), discusses the camera, and includes discussion of my first weekend with the Lumia 920.

Day 4, 5, 6: Weekend Bonanza

The good news is my battery life is significantly better than it was at the end of the week. After speaking with Microsoft, I followed their advice and uninstalled and reinstalled Skype and Facebook.

Apparently, ther…
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More About: Lumia 920, Nokia, Windows Phone 8, living with lumia, microsoft, windows phone