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From: zax	5/23/2012 12:26:19 AM
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Huawei’s Senior Vice President confirms they are working on a Windows Phone 8 handset May 22, 2012 \| By Surur wmpoweruser.com So far the only one NOT talking about Windows Phone 8 is Microsoft, with their OEMs and carrier partners pretty open about the coming arrival of the OS and their support for it. On his Weibo micro-blog, Huawei’s Senior Vice President Yu Chengdong confirmed, after a meeting with Steve Ballmer at the Windows Partner Summit in Tokyo, that the company would be creating a Windows Phone 8 handset. Calling Huawei the “world’s first the WP8 phone supplier !”, the company is expected to produce low-cost Windows Phone 8 hardware, which raises hope that the OS will support current generation hardware also as an upgrade. The announcement confirms earlier rumours, which had the company having 70 engineers working on a Windows Phone 8 handset with a 4 inch screen which will cost only 2,000 CNY (317 USD), Huawei is not normally associated with smartphones, but have sold 20 million smartphones last year, and aim to sell 60 million this year, making them a significant player. Shenzhen Post notes that these handsets may show up on Leap Wireless, a low cost US carrier that is already carrying some of Huawei’s smartphones. It is expected that Microsoft will formally unveil Windows Phone 8 at their Windows Phone developer summit on the 20th June 2012.

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From: zax	5/23/2012 8:08:41 AM
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AT&T Titan and Titan II out of stock online Posted on Wed, 23 May 2012 4:56 am EDT by Daniel Rubino wpcentral.com We're not too sure what to make out of AT&T running out of the HTC Titan I and Titan II online but if you head to their site, you can see for yourself. Now we could explain away the original Titan becoming unavailable -- after all, AT&T would probably be happy to put away any stock on that device for it's bigger and better sequel. But even the Titan II is not available, which makes us wonder if HTC is having some component or production issues (or maybe they just forgot to make more, instantrimshot). Could the Titan II be selling so well that they can't keep up? Obviously, we doubt that though we do have reports of general increases in Windows Phone sales due to the Lumia 900 (insert the whole "rising tide lifts all boats" idiom here) and maybe, just maybe the Titan II is seeing an uptick in purchases too. Heck, it should. It's a great Windows Phone and a great smartphone, rocking the largest camera available on the market. Which reminds us, why have we not seen a single commercial boasting that fact? Seems like an easy sell to us but what do we know... For those interested, Amazon Wireless still has the Titan II in stock, which is a reversal from a few weeks ago. It's also listed at the $149.99 price point. Natch. No word on supplies at local stores either, so your mileage may vary. Source: AT&T; Thanks, kylengai, for the heads up

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From: zax	5/23/2012 8:05:26 PM
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Tip: Rep says that Windows Phone 8 is for current gen phones By Michael Gillett on May 23, 2012 12:30 PM This post was originally posted on My Microsoft Life. liveside.net Today I was tipped off to “something big” by a well known source: Waggener Edstrom person says MSFT has Windows 8 (for x86), Windows RT (for next-gen ARM), & Windows Phone 8 (for current-gen phones). Most of the information in that quote is already known but the most interesting part of it is that Windows Phone 8 is for current generation phones. The reason why this is interesting is that a Waggener Edstrom rep (Microsoft’s PR company) has said this, it’s not something that they are likely to get wrong. The issue of whether Microsoft is going to offer Windows Phone 8 for current devices has been rumoured back and forth for the past few months with well respected members of the community apparently being tipped off with conflicting information. I was also provided with some additional information that states that there will be more “leaks” corroborating this information next week with an official announcement in a few weeks time. Hopefully then we wont have long to wait to see if this is just another Windows Phone 8 rumour or if this is actually something of substance; it will also be nice for Microsoft to state either way if Windows Phone 8 will work on current hardware or not. One final piece of information I was given is that there are currently organisational changes going on within Xbox, however it is unlikely that much will be heard about this until after “the holidays”.

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From: zax	5/25/2012 12:04:11 AM
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Bing Maps rolls out enhanced traffic results courtesy of Nokia Nokia brings live traffic advice and geocoding to Bing Published by Pino Bonetti on May 24, 2012 conversations.nokia.com As you all know, our partnership with Microsoft goes beyond Windows Phone on our Nokia Lumia smartphones. We’re also teaming up with Bing to offer the best location-based services and apps. One of the results of this partnership is available today: we’re pleased to announce that Bing Maps is now using our Nokia Maps traffic information and geocoding algorithms (taking latitude and longitude information and connecting that to a readable address). Last month we outlined one example of the power of Nokia’s Where Platform. As well as Nokia location-based apps built on this platform, we are also offering our compelling features to third parties to help them quickly and easily create their own tools with location-based features. Traffic comes to Bing Thanks to Nokia’s Where Platform, Bing Maps can now offer the same traffic information that is already available at Nokia Maps in 24 countries (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, UK and US). People in nearly all these countries will also be able to find out about incidents that might disrupt their journeys. Also, the traffic information in the US that was already available on Bing Maps now includes side streets. Although traffic information is the most visible feature that Nokia Maps is offering to Bing Maps at this stage, there are also other improvements. Most notably, Bing Maps is now using Nokia Maps geocoding in several countries to offer better routes and directions for people around the globe. Magic in the numbers What does this mean exactly? Geocoding (and reverse-geocoding) is a series of algorithms that are the essence of digital maps. This is the magic behind Nokia Maps. Back in the day, you had to browse an index of towns or streets to find their location on a paper map. Now you just perform a search and what you are looking for is one click or tap away. It’s how we know that Seattle’s Space Needle is at the geocoordinates N47° 37' 13.807?, W122° 20' 57.088? and vice versa. But in practical terms it means something simpler yet: you can find places and get to them faster than ever. Watch this space for more ways that Nokia will become the engine powering Bing Maps on Windows Phone devices and applications.

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From: zax

5/25/2012 7:46:05 PM

1 Recommendation of 949

IDC:Windows Phone makes strong gains in Europe, grew 156% YoY
May 25, 2012 | By Surur

wmpoweruser.com

	Q1 2011	Q1 2012	Q1 2012
Android		15.5 million	55%
iPhone	21%	7 million	25%
Symbian		1.4 million	5%
RIM	17%	2.5 million	9%
Windows Phone	2.2%	1.14 million	4.1%
Other		0.66 million	2.4%
Total		28.2 million

IDC Europe has released some figures for Q1 2012 for their region, which reveals that, despite previous ideas that the OS is struggling there, it is in fact growing strongly.

Francisco Jeronimo, research manager for European mobile devices at IDC, said that Windows Phone shipments for the first quarter of 2012 were up 156 percent, year-on-year. In total, Windows Phone market share grew to 4.1 percent (1.14 million units), up from 2.2 percent, according to figures from IDC’s first-quarter 2012 mobile phone shipment and market share report, released on Friday.

The volumes are not yet enough however to rescue Nokia.

"The Nokia Lumia range has performed interestingly but it still below expectations," Jeronimo said. "Nokia’s new Windows phones to be launched this year will continue to contribute to steady growth for the OS."

He added that Windows Phone would continue to make gains throughout 2012 and that "the new Windows Phone 8 handsets to be launched by manufacturers are drawing attention from operators in Europe".

iOS and Android continued to grow, with Android growing most remarkable.

iOS went up from 21 to 25%, a slowing of growth which should really worry Cupertino.

Google has no such worries, growing a massive 124% in shipments to 55% of the market and 15.5 million units.

Blackberry and Symbian both slipped.

"BlackBerry OS is losing its shine with consumers. Shipments were down 27 percent year-on-year to 2.5m units and market share fell 9 percent in [the first quarter of 2012] from 17 percent in the first quarter 2011," Jeronimo said. "Symbian represented less than 5 percent of total smartphone shipments in Western Europe. The operating system lacks operator support and the latest version of the OS, the Symbian Belle, has failed to attract consumers in the region."

Symbian device sales were down a total of 70 percent during the period. Jeronimo added that he expects "the last Symbian devices to be shipped by the end of the first quarter 2013".

"Google’s operating system has been able to compete with Apple’s iOS in the high-end price-tier segment, but more importantly it dominates the lower-end price tiers where Symbian and BlackBerry were traditionally strong," Jeronimo said.

It appears Android has become the new Symbian, which is relatively good news for Windows Phone, given how most Android users tend to want to move to another operating system once their had their fill of the poor user experience on that platform.

With a market share of 4.1% in Q1 2012 it would not take too much more to move the needle to 10%, especially with the rapid demise of Blackberry and Symbian. Here’s looking forward to Q4 2012.

Via ZDNet UK and Mobiletoday.co.uk

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From: zax	5/25/2012 7:47:48 PM
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O2 Germany claims to have a 32 GB Nokia Lumia 900: Update – confirmed May 25, 2012 \| By Surur wmpoweruser.com O2 Germany is offering the Nokia Lumia 900 in white for pre-order. This is not your run of the mill Nokia Lumia 900 however. Besides being in glossy white., the smartphone is also uniquely offering 32 GB of storage. The handset is limited to 16 GB elsewhere. O2 Germany is also offering a 32 GB HTC One X, whereas USA is being offered the 16 GB version, making it possible the company has indeed decided to offer increased storage. We are reaching out to Nokia to find out more, but in the mean time salivate over the spec bump at O2 Germany here. Update: We called O2 Germany customer service, and they confirmed the specs. Time to pop the champagne cork Thanks Chris for the tip.

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From: zax

5/26/2012 7:32:56 PM

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Samsung Omnia W still selling well in India
May 26, 2012 | By Surur

wmpoweruser.com

Nokia is not the whole Windows Phone story, and in some parts of the world other Windows Phone OEMs are doing pretty well.

In India the Samsung Omnia W, a mid-range Windows Phone, seems to be selling pretty well, if its position on Flipkart.com is any indication.

The handset currently holds the 10th position in a pretty long list, which is pretty good for a smartphone which costs Rs15,200 competing against dumb phones costing as little as Rs 999.

The only more expensive handset higher on the list is the Samsung Galaxy Note, which retails for Rs 32,700.

On rival site 91mobiles.com Windows Phone is also doing well, with the Nokia Lumia 800 topping the weekly Above Rs 25,000 list.

Windows Phone has only a small but growing presence in India, with Symbian still dominating the market there. There is however every possibility that the OS will be able to overtake the very expensive iPhone and Blackberry installed base there over the next few months with a low-cost device strategy.

Thanks Arun for the tip.

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From: zax	5/26/2012 7:36:14 PM
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Windows Phone 8 handsets skulking around Down Under May 26, 2012 \| By Surur wmpoweruser.com Australian site WPDownUnder have it on good authority that Windows Phone 8 handsets are currently being tested in Australia. They know of at least 3 OEMs testing units there, naming Nokia, HTC and Samsung. More interesting they have the first news of what one of Nokia’s new Windows Phone 8 handsets will look like, saying it will continue the current Nokia Lumia 800/900 styling, apparently looking “almost identical”. It is currently strongly believed that Microsoft will unveil Windows Phone 8 on the 20th June, although that does not guarantee that handsets will be shown at the same event. Read more at WPDownUnder here.

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From: zax	5/27/2012 5:20:52 PM
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Nokia Lumia 610 NFC may come to other carriers May 27, 2012 \| By Surur wmpoweruser.com In early April Nokia announced the the Nokia Lumia 610 NFC, an NFC equipped Nokia Lumia 610, will be coming to Orange’s network. At the time it appeared that the phone will be exclusive to the carrier, but now NFCExpert.ru reports that this may not be the case. “We wanted to promote the NFC ecosystem, and we believe the Lumia 610 would be a success because it’s an affordable device addressing young people,” said Andrea Bacioccola, lead program manager for NFC in Nokia’s Windows Phone program. “It will be available for operators all around the world.” Nokia said it hopes to ship the NFC version of the phone to operators globally He also said Nokia is encouraging Windows Phone developers to start working on NFC applications, including apps that could support secure applications stored on NFC SIM cards. “It will be published,” Bacioccola said of the Windows Phone APIs involving NFC. “They (developers) will get APIs and all the documentation and support from Nokia. With the Nokia Lumia 610, you will be able to create secure NFC applications.” In contrast, Google has not published its Google Wallet application-programming interface, or API, for its NFC-enabled Android phones. The wallet is anchored by an embedded secure element. Microsoft had very little involvement in the development of the NFC support in the Nokia Lumia 610 NFC, but is expected to fully support it natively in Windows Phone 8. Read more at NFCExpert.ru here.

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