All things Mobile and Technology, Bizarre, Mainstream and In Between

Lumia 900 and 610 Hitting Oz In June!

Nokia held an event in Sydney last evening to announce availability of the Lumia 900 and the budget Lumia 610 on the Australian market, completing the Lumia range for Aussies.

The Nokia Lumia 900 will be available in June from Optus for $0 upfront on the $60 Optus Plan, and major retailers for an RRP AUD$699. The Nokia Lumia 610 has an RRP of AUD$329 and will be available from Boost Mobile in June and from Vodafone and major retailers in July.

Looks like the 900 will initially be available in matt black, magenta, cyan, with white to follow. The 610 will be available in the same colours, and exclusive to Boost until July. In terms of visibility and getting the OS into peoples hands, the 610 while reasonably priced, is the better chance, the 900 is still a good price compared to other phones on the market.

Nokia Australia’s managing director, Chris Carr, said, “We are seeing real momentum for our Nokia Lumia smartphones among consumers and business users since launching the Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710 in March, as well as increasing developer interest and exponential growth in our ecosystem.”

“The introduction of the new Nokia Lumia 900 and Nokia Lumia 610 has been very well-received overseas, and we expect a similar consumer reaction here.

The hype surrounding the Lumia 900 makes it the most anticipated Windows Phone to come to the country. Be it down to Nokia’s great marketing, or the the solidity of the OS, there is now a Lumia available for all pockets, in all price ranges. Nokia’s been clinical in it’s approach, and sees Australia as a haven for Windows Phone devices, to the extent that it is solely concentrating on the OS here, for now.

Nokia Press Release

{ 0 comments }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 18, 2012 in
#WP7,#WP7.5,Lumia 610,Lumia 900,Nokia,press release,windows phone

Developed Down Under, The Logical Progression!

Remember Developed Down Under, the free app that came about via a collaboration between Scott Sheedy of WPDownUnder and Niall Ginsbourg of Mobilewares. If you haven’t come across the app/community initiative before, the gist of the app is a showcase for locally developed Windows Phone applications, which are generally hard to find via search, from the phone or the desktop. Local devs can register to have their apps included in the catalogue, and there’s a news feed from five local Windows Phone news sites.

Developed Down Under (aka DDU) is a community lead initiative which is all about connecting Australian developed Windows Phone apps with users.

So in what seems like a logical progression, Developed Down Under, now has it’s own web portal, home on the intertubes.

Here you can read about the inspiration and the efforts that realised this community program, and keep abreast of further developments and news related to the Aussie Windows Phone community. Don’t forget to keep an eye out on Twitter for the #wp7au and #wpddu hashtags, and get involved in your local Windows Phone conversation.

View the full press release [PDF].

{ 1 comment }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 17, 2012 in
#WP7,#wp7au,#wpddu,press release,windows phone

Windows Phone Tango Demo on the Lumia 710!

With Nokia definitely bringing more of it’s devices to Australia, namely the Lumia 900 and 610, news of updates, specifically Tango, [consumer refresh three, build 8773] becoming available is leaking out. WPCentral got their hands on a build for the Lumia 710, using this software, and the features include a few things that have been sorely missed from the OS. Call forwarding, picture and video mms, voice note mms, call waiting, internet sharing and more. A lot of these features will probably be dependent on carriers and phone plans of course, but plug some of the big gaps in the OS, that have been available to iOS and Android users for a while.

{ 0 comments }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 13, 2012 in
#WP7,#WP7.5,Lumia 710,Nokia,Tango,update,windows phone

Firmware Update for Unlocked HTC HD7, Available Now!

Earlier this month we heard about a random Tango update that one Microsoft employee received, and it was thought that all would receive it, but that was not the case. Tonight I got an update notification on my HTC HD7, and it started off as an HTC Update, no indication that it would be an OS upgrade at all. It ran a backup, that was very quick, considering the phone is over half, more than 7 Gb of data/media on the phone and started downloading the update.

My wireless internet connection isn’t the fastest, but the download only took about ten minutes, so it wasn’t that large. Then it proceeded to do a full backup of the phone, with no option to skip it. In the end it was just a firmware update from HTC, OS version still 8107.79, the firmware went from 51101 to 51201, and the boot loader went from 134400, to 139198. Hopefully this is in preparation for the Tango update, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

The phone feels a bit snappier, scrolling feels more fluid and apps start up marginally quicker, but on average there’s not a lot more to report.

Old

New

{ 2 comments }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 10, 2012 in
#WP7,HTC HD7,windows phone

Do You Remember? Windows Mobile, Windows Phone?

Talking about updates for Windows Phone,and the fact that Tango will really not bring a huge difference to current handsets, and the recent news that LG might be slipping into the netherworld as far as Windows phone is concerned, it took me back to the early days, and the very first phones that we saw were LG. A lot of these devices were seeded to the press, early, to Windows Mobile users/experts.

LG were a strong early partner, maybe that was before their local market became pernickety. They had to deliver phones that had to meet local demands.

We were delivered Windows Phone via videos like these, and it has become so much more. It’s worth taking account of the time, and effort, development, the fact that it’s a well developed mobile OS to what we started out with. Some sort of condolence should also go to LG, as they were in on the start of the game, but their local market has kept them from taking the OS to the heights that their initial involvement indicated.

{ 0 comments }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 7, 2012 in
#WP7,#WP7.5,#wp7au

One Unlocked HTC Mozart Gets Tango Update Early!

In what seems like an isolated case, one user has reported getting updates on an unlocked HTC Mozart, comprising three updates, all the way up to OS Version 7.10.8779.8. Aviraj Ajgekar, a Microsoft employee and tech evangelist reported on his blog on the fourth of May, that his Mozart received the update in a series of three updates.

The first update I received was 7.10.8112.7. It was a small update took few seconds to download. One new enhancement is that instead of forcing the phone data backup it given me an option to apply the update without taking backup (a checkbox provided) which was brilliant as it saved lot of time.

The ability to bypass backing up the phone would really speed up the process, although I’m sure a lot of people would like to keep the option to roll back. Aviraj’s description of the update indicates that the downloads were not huge, and that no obvious changes were evident afterwards.

At this point I could not find any new feature as such except minor performance improvement while launching applications.

What is strange, is that no other users, have reported receiving the update, and I can confirm that my own Mozart is languishing on 7.10.8107, after trying multiple times to update. Why one phone updated, when many others haven’t, the only clue, or reasonable explanation I could find, comes from the comments over at Neowin,

He probably has a phone that has a serial number that’s been flagged for beta updates by mistake.

What ever the anomaly, it bodes well for WP users with unlocked devices, and the timing fits with carrier branded phones, likely to get the update in June. Reporting this as the floodgates opening though, is misleading at this point, but it might prompt MS to start pushing the update out sooner that they were planning on.

Via WPCentral

{ 0 comments }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 6, 2012 in
#WP7,HTC Mozart,Mango,Tango

Windows Mobile Marketplace Closing May 17 !

Windows Mobile, which was rebranded Windows Phone, back in 2009, around version 6.5, was Microsoft’s mobile solution of the time. Many Windows Phone 7 users probably migrated to the OS, out of loyalty to Microsoft. Windows Mobile though has it’s hard core fans, so it will probably cause a little bit of sadness when users realise that come May 17, Microsoft will withdraw support for the OS, it’s programs, finally. Hosted under the same mantle as the Windows Phone Marketplace, this also consolidates the portal further to MS’s recent changes. What the closure means to those still using WinMo, no more is there a central place to source apps/programs for their devices, forcing them to source such items from the developers sites, [if they are still online] or enthusiast sites like XDA Developers.

The way Microsoft approached the end of support for Windows Mobile, rumours about WinMo 7, no upgrade for current devices to upgrade to Windows Phone, and a couple of years of software support after device discontinuation, may parallel the situation with Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 8 will be a remake of MS’s mobile OS, and will not support current devices, although applications should be able to run on WP7 and WP8. WP7.5 phones will always be that, and even though they may get some similar functions to WP8 in an update, it still won’t be WP8. The Majority will update, devices and OS, then there will be the diehards, who hang on to WP7.5 for as long as they possibly can. Does anyone else see a pattern emerging?

Take Action
Microsoft recommends you review the applications or games installed on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone and install any available updates in advance of the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service shut-down on May 17, 2012.

Read On

{ 0 comments }

Post written by Peter Murphy on May 3, 2012 in
#WP7,windows mobile,windows phone

Wireless Charging Hack for the Lumia 800!

Not since the Palm Pre, have we seen this feature flaunted, and it’s definitely not something that you would sneeze at in a new device. Sadly the Pre and it’s Touchstone charging technology, never made it big. A feature that many of us would pay for, wireless charging, is still a thing of science fiction to many of us. Three years down the road from the Pre, it looks like “sans cable” may be the new hot selling point for the Samsung Galaxy S III. In the world of smartphone hardware, where processors are rivalling laptop hardware, with dual and quad core processors, will wireless charging be a novel differentiator. Windows Phone’s/Zune’s wireless sync feature, it makes a perfect companion for WP devices. So it seems a little obvious, that a user put one and one together, and came up with a way to modify the Lumia 800 hardware to add wireless charging. Mind you it’s not for the feint hearted, both the 800 and 900, do not give the impression that they are easily torn down.

Read On