Pocketables

Windows Pone Tango screenshots reveal bug fixes, fragmentation

One of the very nice things about Windows Phone 7 has been its relative lack of fragmentation, facilitated both by Microsoft's minimum specifications and their push to update every single device to the latest version. Currently, Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is running on all Windows Phone devices, and they all have the same basic feature set and applications. 

A leaked roadmap from last December showed that the next version of Windows Phone would be Tango, and that it would be focused on bringing to market smartphones with "the best prices." Back then, we predicted that it might cause some quality control and fragmentation problems, and some screenshots leaked today seem to prove that we were at least partially correct. 

Of course, Tango will still bring a few new features to the platform, such as multiple images in MMS, native voice notes, better contact and roaming management, and possibly even video MMS. Unfortunately, that is pretty much where the good stops. Tango will also greatly lower the standard for Windows devices, allowing those with as little as 256MB of RAM, 3MP cameras, and likely slower processors and smaller screens to be sold. Additionally, users of those low end devices will be unable to download certain apps, instead getting an unhelpful error telling them they need a phone with more RAM.

Windows Phone Mango had so far been a good alternative to Android and iOS, but the Tango update will at least muddy the waters for consumers. On the right device it will be perfectly fine, but low end devices will likely serve only to confuse and frustrate consumers. It seems possible to me that Microsoft my be transitioning Windows Phone 7 into their low-end OS and planning on Windows 8 for flagship hardware, but whatever their strategy, I would hold out for Windows 8 if you are considering a Microsoft powered mobile device.

[WMPoweruser]

LG Miracle shows off its body in leaked shots

LG has begun to make its way into the US smartphone market in a big way. Other manufacturers like HTC and Samsung have been releasing many phones here for a while, but the company that claims "Life's Good" introduced its first smartphone in 2008, and had stayed relatively quiet since then until the beginning of last year. Now, LG is pumping out numerous devices for the US market, running either Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 or Google's Android.

The latest LG smartphone is the LG Miracle, which we covered on Tuesday. It's running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, and is destined for either AT&T and T-Mobile. While Tuesday brought us the specs and a leaked promotional image of the device, today brings us actual images. 

Those images will be past the break, but let's run through the specs once more. Like I already stated, the Miracle will be running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, which will be driven by the following: 4-inch 800 x 480 NOVA display, 1GHz processor, NFC connectivity, 5MP back camera, and VGA quality front camera.

We don't know exactly when this device will be officially announced, but we do know that it will be announced at some point in Q1 2012. To me, that sounds like we'll see some mention of it at MWC, and hopefully a release soon afterwards. Of course, if you're seriously considering a Windows Phone, you're probably looking towards a Nokia-branded one. I have a feeling this will be a not-so popular device, unless it's offered at free on contract.

The rest of the images are past the break, but are you interested in this phone?

NVIDIA invite for its Mobile World Congress event teases first quad-core phone

On top of everything else that has been announced for a launch at Mobile World Congress, NVIDIA has just sent out these invitations for its MWC event, in which the company will show off its quad-core Tegra 3 processor for use in smartphones. 

The market is already starting to proliferate with Tegra 3 devices, but all of them have been tablets and not phones. This event by NVIDIA will be showing off "Quad-core performance and great battery life" and "just how far NVIDIA has taken these innovations."

Companies should be showing off their own quad-core phones by themselves, too, so hopefully MWC 2012 is the "MWC of quad-core." That was, admittedly, pretty cheesy, but I do believe we'll see a ton of awesome quad-core phones from a lot of manufacturers, most of which will run Android. 

How many cores does your current phone have? And are you expecting to upgrade to a quad-core phone once they're released?

[MobileSyrup]

Microsoft and Windows Phone are Nokia's only plan for success

In just three days, the Nokia and Microsoft partnership will be one year old. A lot of good things have come out of it already, like the three (official) Lumia Windows Phones from Nokia. 

However, it might be working a little too well. Nokia VP Victor Saeijes told a Swedish newspaper that the only future option for the company is Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. In fact, Nokia doesn't even have a true plan B! "Plan B is that Plan A must succeed," said Saeijes.

Here's more of the interview, which gives a good, in-depth look at how Nokia views Windows Phone:

“It’s like starting all over again. But we must succeed in the U.S. if we are to succeed in the world.” 

Granted, Nokia is still dishing out Symbian updates for existing phones, but this is a pretty clear indication that it's a platform that will be abandoned quite soon. In any case, I'm happy that Nokia has a set path that it's going to take for the foreseeable future, as I'm a huge Nokia fan and I would hate to see the company perish. 

[Dagens Industri (Translated)]

LG Miracle Windows Phone tipped for a spring release

While Nokia has understandably been going all out with their Windows Phone releases, LG has been surprisingly quiet on the Windows Phone front. They have been trying to become a high end Android manufacturer, but their first device to run Windows Phone 7 was merely okay. 

According to today's leak from PocketNow, LG is now aiming to get back in with the Windows Phone crowd, and is betting on a Miracle to do it. All joking aside, "Miracle" is actually supposed to be the codename for LG's latest Windows device, which doesn't look too bad for a mid-range smartphone. It will be packed with a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 4-inch 800 x 480 NOVA display, 5MP 720p capable camera, and VGA front facing camera. 

Windows Phone 7.5 is powering the Miracle, and should be sufficient, at least for now. There is no information about possible updates, but the presence of a currently unsupported NFC chip suggest that LG plans to upgrade the device to Windows 8, which would certainly earn it points from Windows fans.

The Miracle is also rumored to support HSPA cellular networks, which means it will probably launch on either AT&T or T-Mobile. However, no further launch details are known, and the only timeframe we have is that the device should launch sometime this spring.

[PocketNow via Anything but iPhone]

Nokia to introduce Lumia 910 at Mobile World Congress

Some manufacturers have chosen to cut down on their smartphone releases for 2012 so they can focus on delivering better products. One manufacturer that comes to mind for that is HTC, so just recently announced such a plan. 

But for others, the complete opposite makes sense. 

Nokia, in the timeframe of just three months, has released three different Lumia phones around. The first was the Lumia 800, followed by the Lumia 710, and finally the Lumia 900. They're all fantastic Windows Phones, but Nokia does need to get itself recognized once again, and the company is doing that by releasing yet another Lumia. 

The Lumia 910 that you see in the picture above is a relatively speedy Windows Phone. It's got a 1.4GHz single-core processor, 16GB of internal storage, and a killer 12MP camera that I assume is going to be another Carl Zeiss lens like the one found in the Lumia 900. 

Mobile World Congress is just three weeks away, and Nokia's keynote is scheduled for the first day of the four day event. Because of this, I'd recommend waiting on any phone purchase, regardless of your OS of choice. This year's MWC is rumored to be pretty awesome already. 

[SlashGear]

Leaked Windows Phone 8 video shows Skype, Windows 8 integration, and more

Oddly, we haven't been hearing rumors about Android 5.0 or iOS 6 yet; today, though, a Windows Phone 8 internal video leaked, revealing a lot of information about the next iteration of Microsoft's mobile operating system. And let me tell you something right now: it's pretty awesome stuff.

First off, Microsoft will finally be making some much-needed improvements on the hardware side. With WP8, multicore processors, removable microSD cards, and four new resolutions will be introduced. Also seeing an introduction will be NFC technology, which will allow for not only wireless payments, but also the sharing of information between desktop, laptop, and tablet devices.

Speaking of that integration with laptops and other devices, Windows Phone 8 will be very similar to Windows 8. Not only will WP8 look like Windows 8, but it will also share a bunch of the core components of Windows 8's code so that developers just have to tweak a few things to have their apps run on both operating systems.

Skype will also play a major role in WP8, as Microsoft purchased the video-calling company back in May of last year. Because of the acquisition, Microsoft is going to bake Skype directly into the Windows Phone 8, meaning that Skype calls won't really be much different than a typical cell phone call. 

However, the final thing that was leaked today is what I think is the most important and will help Windows Phone skyrocket in terms of marketshare: BitLocker encryption. This technology is already included on the Enterprise and Ultimate versions of Windows 7, and it will be making its mobile appearance here. 128-bit encryption is very secure, so WP8 should be a no-brainer purchase for businesses looking to upgrade from RIM's offerings.

Unfortunately, the video that was leaked isn't on the internet at the time of this writing. But I still think Windows Phone 8 is going to be huge, and that Microsoft's competitors are going to have a bit of a tough time competing against some of these additions. Thoughts, anyone?

[Pocketnow]

HTC to slow down on releases and focus on amazing hardware

If you were to walk into any carrier's brick-and-mortar store, chances are that you'd see a multitude of different devices from any one manufacturer inside. Samsung has the Galaxy Nexus and the Galaxy S II devices competing for the top spot, and HTC has all of its great phones, too. But according to HTC's UK Chief Phil Roberson, the manufacturer doesn't want to do that anymore.

"We have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great customer experience. We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do too much. So 2012 is about giving our customers something special. We need to make sure we do not go so far down the line that we segment our products by launching lots of different SKUs."

Roberson also stated that HTC will be focusing on smartphones this year, but it also won't be stepping entirely out of the tablet market, either. But given the company's plan to release a few amazing devices a year, it's probably better to pour all its resources into smartphones. 

I've always loved HTC's devices, but I do think that 2011 was its messiest year in terms of device SKUs. I would accept one or two phones per carrier from the company; however, having low-, mid-, and high-end smartphones alongside its featurephone offerings on AT&T is pretty indicative of a company that doesn't communicate very well on the inside. I understand the need for product diversity, but that's a bit too much. At most, how about a mid- and a high-end smartphone per carrier, with one or two carriers having a featurephone? 

[Mobile Today]

Walmart offering Nokia Lumia 710 for free, with a not-so-free two-year contract

It's been a good three weeks since the holiday season, but I'm sure that there at least a few of you who still have a bit of money left over from your loving family that you'd like to blow on a new gadget. Of course, I'd recommend saving the holiday bucks and going for something that's free: the Nokia Lumia 710. 

If you live near a Walmart superstore and have been looking for a great Windows Phone for T-Mobile, now is the perfect time to pick one up. Of course, even free things aren't without their legal technicalities: the price does require you to sign a 2-year agreement with T-Mobile, and you can't be an existing subscriber.

If you're not interested in essentially being locked up with a single carrier for such a long time, the store where you can save money and live better is selling the device off-contract for a mere $350. Pretty good when you consider that you're getting a really awesome Windows Phone, but there's also the Lumia 900 to consider, which will be hitting store shelves within the next few months.

[PhoneArena]

Fujitsu to enter US smartphone market

The last time we really took a hard look at Fujitsu's phone hardware was back in October of 2011. I reviewed the Fujitsu LOOX F-07C in that month, but afterwards, things were pretty quiet from the company.

But no company wants to keep it that way, right? The main point of being a corporation is to make money and there isn't a better way to do that than selling stuff! Fujitsu understands this, and has stated that it wants to come to the US in a big way.

Hideyuki Saso, Fujitsu's Senior Executive Vice President, had this to say about expanding the company's markets:

“We would like to identify the right way of entering the North American market that would make use of our technology and expertise to make a steady landing. We don’t want to be just another mobile phone. We want to be special.”

In other words, we won't be seeing just any old smartphone. I would expect Fujitsu to release some very awesome devices when it starts bringing its business to the US sometime in the future.

[SlashGear]