Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Windows Phone 7.8 will launch in early 2013 with few notable features
Windows Phone 7.8 is set to launch in early 2013, according to a leaked slide from one of Nokia’s Chinese-language training manuals. The update for existing Windows Phone 7 users will bring no notable features other than a new home screen, with support for three tile sizes.
According to the sheet, Internet Explorer 9 will be patched with security updates, and users will be able to create ringtones out of MP3 files on the device. In addition, Bing photos will be a new repository for lockscreen images, which is a nice, small feature of Windows Phone 8.
There will also be 20 colour themes altogether, matching the count of WP8. While we’re hoping that Microsoft will include a few more tangible features than these in the production release, we fear that Windows Phone 7.8 is little more than a pity update for those running legacy hardware. We’ll see in early 2013.
Source: WinP.cn
Via: WPCentral
Monday, March 18, 2013
WIND to launch BlackBerry App World carrier billing, hopefully in time for BlackBerry 10
WIND Mobile has partnered with Wmode’s Affiliate Commerce Exchange (ACE) platform. According to the press release this allows WIND the ability to offer their customers the option to purchase “digital goods,” such as apps, books, music or movies from their smartphone and have it directly appear on their monthly bill. The first presence of this will be carrier billing from RIM’s BlackBerry App World, then possibly progressing to other platforms at an unknown later date. “ACE will enable WIND Mobile to offer its subscribers Carrier Checkout for BlackBerry AppWorld and supports an integrated charge authorization model for other 3rd party billing partners.”
BlackBerry carrier billing is available now via Bell, Rogers, TELUS, Fido and Virgin. I reached out to WIND for timing and a bit more clarification, they noted that “We are planning to launch carrier billing for BlackBerry App World soon, in the New Year (hopefully in time for BB10). Other application stores to follow. Later in the year we are planning to invite other interested third parties to partner with us and integrate through our charging API, this way our customers will be able to easily and securely pay for mobile applications, books, music, content purchases, movie rentals, subscriptions from their smartphones.”
Perhaps we’ll see WIND Mobile expand their WINDWorld mobile site into a full application depot. WIND’s WINDWorld currently only offers weather, access to Facebook, top stories, plus the option to purchase ringtones, games and wallpapers. In addition, the above statement somewhat confirms that WIND will launch RIM’s new BlackBerry 10 device.
We’ll have more info soon.
Source: MarketWire
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Windows Phone 8 is off to a great start, if Microsoft’s CEO is to be believed. During a shareholders’ meeting this week, the outspoken executive had a lot of effusive things to say about the platform, alongside claims that the new WP8 platform was outselling its predecessor by four to one.
“Windows Phone 8 has been on sale for a few weeks and is off to a great start, [and the phones] are getting rave reviews and have initially sold out in many countries.”
The issue here isn’t whether Windows Phone 8 is selling well compared to Windows Phone 7. This is undoubtedly true give the former platform’s poor sales performance throughout its brief lifespan. The real question is whether Windows Phone 8 is selling well compared to iPhone and top Android devices, but until we hear from Nokia in their next quarterly earnings we won’t know for sure.
There is anecdotal evidence that at least one Windows Phone 8 device — the Nokia Lumia 920 — is making brisk sales. The AT&T version is difficult to find in stores, according to people we’ve spoken with, and Amazon cannot keep the device in stock. Subjectively, the phone offers great value over the equivalent Android or iPhone; in Canada it is sold for $99.99 on a three-year contract with 32GB of internal storage, whereas most Android devices, or the equivalent iPhone 5, are more expensive and offer less space.
Microsoft has also been touting WP8 as a “synergistic” platform with Windows 8, which it launched around the same time. They have sold 40 million licenses since its launch a month ago but, again, Ballmer is cagey as to what that means; are 40 million computers running Windows 8, or have that many licenses merely been issued, left to sit on shelves or in OEMs’ databases?
According to Microsoft, demand for Windows 8 PCs and tablets is enormous; the data, however, shows a 21% decline for Windows PCs over last year (including tablets, which were practically non-existent), and according to analysts the Windows 8 tablet market is “virtually non-existent.” Again, until we hear from OEMs reporting actual sales data we won’t know for sure. We’ll also likely hear how many Surfaces were sold when Microsoft issues its next quarterly results. Either way, it will be spun into a web of success: Ballmer is good at that, and we love an underdog.
Source: Bloomberg, Readwrite
Related posts:Windows Phone director says Microsoft needs to ‘pick a fight’ with competition, launches Smoked By Windows Phone campaignMicrosoft to rebrand the Windows Phone Marketplace to Windows Phone StoreRogers and Microsoft detail Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 suite of devices including Samsung ATIV Smart PCWindows Phone 8 to officially launch on October 29th: RumourApple’s CEO says “we fell short” on iOS 6 Maps, suggests using alternatives
Last week when Apple’s new maps app went live customers were quick to complain about how unfinished it was. An Apple spokesperson stated that “We’re just getting started with it.” Clearly, now a week later and millions of customers upgrading to iOS 6, CEO Tim Cook has written an open letter to the masses and stated “we fell short” and that they are “extremely sorry for the frustration.” Cook noted that they are working on making maps better, but also suggests users to possibly look into alternatives like “Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps.” Full letter below:
To our customers,
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.
We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.
There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.
While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.
Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.
Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Apple: iPhone 5 users experiencing a “colored flare” on their pics should move “the camera slightly to change the position”
Over the past several weeks iPhone 5 users have reported that their new device has suffered from Wi-Fi issues, scuffs and scratches, lack luster maps, and even a “purple haze” on their pictures.
Apple has looked into all of these issues, specifically for the maps Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said they “fell short” and are working on making it better. The scratches and chips that some users are experiencing is apparently normal, Apple’s Phil Schiller reportedly stated in an email that “Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. That is normal.”
Today, Apple has come forward about the “purple haze” picture issue on their support forum. They noted that “A purplish or other colored flare, haze, or spot is imaged from out-of-scene bright light sources during still image or video capture.” The resolution to the issue, basically it’s a user error and to capture the perfect picture you’ll have to slightly re-position the camera to ensure the purple haze doesn’t appear. Here’s the full response:
“Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.”
The camera in the iPhone 5 is the same 8MP camera found in the 4S, but they’ve added a “Sapphire lens” and claim that it performs better in low lighting conditions. I can’t remember this issue happening on any previous iPhones. Has this “colored flare, haze, or spot” arrived on your pics?
Source: Apple
Via: PocketNow & Gizmodo