Nokia Xpress for Lumia has been brought into the Windows Phone world via Beta Labs and 'offers a new way to save data, time and money while you find and enjoy interesting web content'. In other words, it's a proxy-server-based browsing system that compresses web content in much the same way as the famous Opera Mini - though there are some very interesting layout and subscription twists here, which we break down for you below.
Nokia Reading, an eBook and news reading app, has received a major update to version 1.4.86.978. The key new feature is News Stream, which provides a friendly and visually rich user experience for consuming RSS (news) feeds from newspapers, blogs, and other websites. In addition, DRM-free eBooks (PDF and ePUB formats) can now be imported from SkyDrive, complementing the built in eBook store.
An update to Nokia Maps, version 2.5, is now available from the Nokia collection in Windows Phone Marketplace. The new version improves the ability to plan and edit routes, adds support for Groupon offers integration (currently US only), and, in select areas, will show live traffic data on the map.
The Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh update is now widely available for the Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710. The software update includes both the generic "Tango" platform updates (MMS updates, SIM contacts) and a number of Nokia specific updates (Internet tethering, flip to silent). In most cases a three stage update process will be required, which takes around an hour to complete.
Nokia has published the third major release of its car satellite navigation app, Nokia Drive, to the Windows Phone Marketplace. The headline update is the new "My Commute" feature, which learns about your driving preferences and helps you make decisions about which routes to take. Other updates include automatic day/night mode, support for favourite places, and the ability to pin destinations to the Start Screen.
At today's Windows Phone Summit, Microsoft announced a new software update that will be available for existing Windows Phone handsets. Labelled Windows Phone 7.8, the update will feature some of the core elements of Windows Phone 8 that can be supported on the older hardware, including the new Start screen.
As part of the Windows Phone Summit today, Nokia's Senior Vice President, Kevin Shields, announced a string of additions (Counters, Contact Share, PlayTo, Camera Extras) and updates (Nokia Music 3.0, Nokia Drive 3.0) to the company's exclusive app collection for its Lumia devices. Microsoft also credited Nokia with arranging a deal with games company, Zynga, for bringing Words with Friends and Draw Something to Windows Phone, with a two month exclusivity period for Nokia Lumia devices.
At an event in San Francisco today, Microsoft offered a first look at the key platform features of the next version of Windows Phone. Windows Phone 8 will have a common core with Windows 8, sharing the same kernel, file system, device drivers and security model, closely aligning the two operating systems.
The second update to the AAWP (All About Windows Phone) app, version 1.3, is now available from the Windows Phone Marketplace. The latest update adds a font-size option and support for landscape orientation when viewing stories. It also improves the app's handling of images and offline usage scenarios.
An update to Nokia Maps, version 2.0, is now available from the Windows Phone Marketplace. The new version adds support for syncing favourites (saved) places to maps.nokia.com, enables the pinning of routes to the start screen and adds the ability to submit reviews and photos of places directly from the app.
