The mobile phone market is constantly in flux, and part of any manufacturer's strategy is what happens next with its handsets and its customers. Looking at Nokia's handset line-up of smartphones and feature phones, its next move could really benefit the Windows Phone ecosystem, as well as see it establish Microsoft's platform in the low-end market.
One of the key benefits of Google Now for Android is that it offers contextual information about you, where you are and where you've got to get to. OK, there's extra movie, and sport and flight stuff too, but that's all handled in Windows Phone with live tiles for the specific applications. What I wanted to show here though, was setting up a core of your Start screen to show much the same information as Android's famous Google Now system.
Most of the Windows Phone 8 stable of devices have been updated through the various versions of the OS, over the air, and with all content staying intact. But what, I wondered would be the experience of someone coming to Windows Phone 8 GDR2, with Nokia Amber, for the first time? In other words, what does a totally fresh install of this latest version of Windows Phone look like? Here's my walkthrough, with comments.
In the triumverate of major partners for Windows Phone (Nokia, HTC, and Samsung), HTC seem to be lost at sea. After a strong opening alongside Windows Phone 8, the Taiwanese company has slid under the radar, with little news or noise about their WP plans since October last year. With their share price dropping, is it time for a change in strategy from HTC to re-establish a presence in the Microsoft-based market?
With both the Nokia Lumia 920 and 925 now on Nokia Amber software, it was widely expected that camera results from the two devices would be largely similar, at least in terms of image processing. However, the algorithms used by Nokia do seem different, as you can see below in our interactive comparator. Images from the 925 should, in theory, be slightly sharper, according to Nokia, because of the extra lens element (6 pieces, remember), but in practice the 920's images are now quite a bit 'sharper', perhaps an attempt to compensate in software for the lack of the extra optical element? There's also the question of whether the Lumia 920 photos are now too sharp, of course. Comments welcome!
We all know how this works now. AMOLED screens have pixels which light themselves, enabling power-efficient always-on displays of time (and other notifications, depending on the OS), while LCD screens rely on a relatively power-hungry backlight, meaning that for anything to display at all in most light conditions, the backlight has to be on. Scotching the idea of an always-on display on LCD-equipped smartphones. But.... not so fast. For Nokia has waved its engineering wand and worked a veritable miracle.
With the Lumia 1020, Nokia created a smartphone with a hardware feature that has everyone talking. Not only does that create a buzz around the 1020 handset, but it also has a knock-on effect across the entire Lumia range - the so called "Halo Effect" of marketing, where a high-end device helps sells the rest of the range. The PureView-equipped Windows Phone isn't the first slice of technology to push a smartphone platform forward, but what comes next?
In this feature, we offer you an in depth guide to the additions and improvements that are arriving on Windows Phone 8 thanks to the advent of the Microsoft GDR2 and Nokia Lumia Amber software updates. Both the GDR2 and Lumia Amber updates have started rolling out, but are not yet available for all devices. The majority of Windows Phone 8 devices are expected to receive the update before the end of September.
Given it was late to the game, why is Nokia such a strong presence in the Windows Phone ecosystem? Just like a game of Command and Conquer, It's not just about commitment, it's also about strategic thinking, positioning, and managing resources. Nokia has played those three cards better than Microsoft's other partners, and it will serve them well as they rebuild their presence in the smartphone world.
It's been a good week or two for apps on Windows Phone, with some big names and some bigger numbers arriving in the Windows Phone store. But it's not the numbers that have me excited, its the quality of the apps and the appearance of a few big names that have me confident for the future of Windows Phone app development.
