-
by Adrian Diaconescu | March 4, 2016 3:08 AMRead OnThere have been more false starts to the highly anticipated Windows 10 Mobile rollout for WP 8.1-powered Lumia devices than anyone imagined in their darkest nightmares, so it’s getting harder and harder to trust even Microsoft when it comes to update timelines. Let alone a forum moderator for Vodafone Italy, who shows great confidence in predicting W10M OTAs will begin the week of March 7 – 13 for the Lumia 1520, 930, 735, 830, 635, and 535. Unfortunately, we’ve no idea what this confidence is based on, as Redmond continues to seem more focused on stabilizing the new OS and ironing ...
-
by Adrian Diaconescu | January 28, 2016 2:35 AMRead OnFor a mobile OS iteration that’s been struggling with various bugs and stability issues essentially since its very inception, putting off updates of devices running on older builds more than once, Windows 10 is sure enjoying a healthy growth within its otherwise modest ecosystem. Practically tied with Windows Phone 8.0 for second place in worldwide version popularity last month, W10M surged an additional 0.7 percent between late December and now, while the 8.0 rendition dropped 0.4 percent. That brings the freshest platform flavor very close to a 10 percent piece of the pie, at 9.5, ...
-
by Adrian Diaconescu | January 6, 2016 5:59 AMRead OnCould Redmond’s Windows 10 Mobile woes be finally over? Probably not all of them, and likely not for good, but the Lumia 950 and 950 XL are once again shipping in most parts of the old continent, which suggests rampant demand was indeed behind recent shortages rather than software glitches. Meanwhile, you should stop worrying about W10 updates for old WP8.1-running phones hitting longer delays than a few weeks. Microsoft was awfully vague when announcing there would be no movement on the front until “early 2016”, but it turns out the creators of the world’s third largest handheld ...
-
by Adrian Diaconescu | September 14, 2015 8:37 AMRead OnThere’s already a whole lot of confusion as to what may or may not qualify for a Windows 10 Mobile upgrade once the platform’s new release will be ready for primetime, and Microsoft is sure not helping clear things up by filing a limited number of Lumia handhelds under “Windows 10 Ready” in its British e-store, and “Windows 10 Eligible” stateside. The lists only contain seven names in the UK, and four (!!!) as far as America is concerned, but that’s almost certainly because they squarely focus on devices actually available for sale at the moment. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make ...
-
Read OnThe day you've been waiting for has arrived: the Windows 10 preview release for existing Lumia smartphones is here. We've known to expect it for sometime in February, but after last week's rumored start to the preview failed to happen, we were left without a great sense of an ETA. All we needed was a little patience, because today Microsoft finally flips the switch, inviting curious Windows Phone users to get an early taste of Windows 10 on their phones. To get the preview on your phone you'll need to register for the Windows Insider program, though that's free and easy (hit up the first ...
-
by Jaime Rivera | February 11, 2015 4:12 PMRead OnMicrosoft has gained a lot of fame for making its mobile operating system run like a champ on the lowest hardware specifications imaginable. Sadly, Windows Phone 8.1 hasn't necessarily shined in allowing Microsoft to retain this reputation, and with the confirmation that Windows 10 will run on devices with 512MB of RAM, but with less features, you could say we have all the reasons in the world to be worried. If you currently own any budget Lumia, we've got some possible good news. Microsoft's Gabriel Alu has taken on Twitter to tell us all that he's currently testing Windows 10 on a budget ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | January 16, 2015 6:16 PMRead On
Nokia launched the affordable Lumia 635 all the way back in April (making this a proper Nokia Lumia, before Microsoft transitioned the family over to its own branding), and in the months since, we've seen the phone come to more and more carriers. Over the summer, networks like T-Mobile and AT&T got their hands on the phone, and back in December we got word of the phone finding some new homes: Boost and Virgin now sell the phone for their no-contract plans, and we heard that Sprint would eventually be picking it up for regular postpaid plans. Today's the day that finally happens, as ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | December 24, 2014 6:48 PMRead OnIt may be too late for meaningful holiday gift-shopping at this late hour (and no, your whatever you can find at the local mini mart doesn't count), but the smartphone deals keep right on popping up. A few weeks back we spotted a very attractive offer for the Lumia 530, with the already-budget-priced smartphone selling for a mere $35. While that was great in its own right, today we learn about a better-equipped cousin of the 530 scoring a nearly-as-good offer for itself, with Radio Shack selling the AT&T Lumia 635 for as little as $40. This is the no-contract Go Phone version of the ...
-
by Jaime Rivera | December 16, 2014 6:48 PMRead OnSprint hasn't been famous for launching Windows Phone 8.1 devices. As a matter of fact, the company hasn't really launched any at the moment, and specially Lumia devices across its pre-paid customer brands. The good news is that both Sprint and Microsoft have announced a partnership today to end this problem, and we start with an aggressive device for its price tag. Microsoft and Sprint have just announced the launch of the Lumia 635 on the Sprint post-paid network as soon as December 23rd, and on its pre-paid companies like Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile as early as January 16. The device ...
-
by Michael Fisher | August 4, 2014 4:39 PMRead On
Time was, the only road to a consistent smartphone experience was to drop a metric buttload of cash and hope the device lived up to its hype. If it didn't, and you didn't catch it before the return period expired, too bad: you were stuck with that $600 brick for the rest of your two-year contract unless you could find someone to take it off your hands. Over the past year, the reality of the absurdly expensive smartphone has begun to come apart. Sure, most true flagships are still awfully pricey when you look at their off-contract cost, but devices like Motorola's Moto G and Moto E have ...
-
Read OnAT&T remains one of the best carriers to be with if you want to get your hands all over the newest phones to hit the market. Apart from the Amazon Fire Phone exclusive, the carrier has just net itself two new phones, announcing Nokia Lumia 635 and HTC Desire 610 availability on its network. The Lumia 635, which just showed up on the doorsteps of rival carrier T-Mobile, packs a 4.5-inch 480x854 display and Windows Phone 8.1. It will be available on AT&T GoPhone on July 25, and will later make its way over to AT&T online and in retail stores on August 8. The GoPhone pricing is ...
-
by Jaime Rivera | July 3, 2014 4:15 PMRead OnThe Nokia Lumia 635 is probably one of the most anticipated phones of the year. Surely it's not the most powerful or good looking phone in the market, but the fact that costs between $99 to $129 off-contract, and even better, the fact that it runs Windows Phone like a champ, are all reasons to make this phone a success. Recently the device was pulled from the Microsoft Store for reasons that we still can't explain, but the problem seems to be solved today. As of today you can pre-order the Nokia Lumia 635 on the Microsoft Store if you want to use it on T-Mobile. We still don't know why ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | July 1, 2014 1:27 PMRead OnThese last few weeks have seen the Lumia 635 creeping up on us here in the States, following the smartphone's formal introduction back at Build in early April. T-Mobile was quick to announce its support for the 635 even back then, and lately it's just been a question of when the phone would get around to arriving. We saw it make the requisite swing by the FCC in late May, signaling things were progressing on their way towards retail availability, but then just last week we witnessed Microsoft abruptly halt pre-orders; was something wrong? Fret not, as today T-Mobile goes official with 635 ...
-
by Jaime Rivera | June 24, 2014 1:57 PMRead OnProbably one of the most anticipated Windows Phones of the year, is also one of the most affordable ones, if not the most affordable. The Nokia Lumia 635 made the same amount of headlines as its predecessor did, and obviously that's because you can have a full-fledged Windows Phone for a crazy price tag. What's interesting is that even though pre-orders for the Nokia Lumia 635 began a day ago, same prices announced of $99 for the AT&T model unlocked and $129 for the T-Mobile version, also unlocked, the Microsoft Store has just yanked these pre-orders without no explanation. The ...
-
by Jaime Rivera | May 30, 2014 7:02 PMRead On
The Nokia Lumia 635 may not be the flagship that its size points it out to be, but then again, there is also a market for those that want a decent-sized phone with an enticing price tag. After its recent announcement and launch in certain countries abroad, we're still waiting for it to reach US shores, and obviously there are steps in that process, which have already begun. The Nokia Lumia 635 has just stopped by the FCC, and judging by its frequency support of bands AWS 1700/2100 MHz and LTE bands 2, 4, 5, 7 and 17, this is clearly the same device to support both AT&T and T-Mobile. ...
-
Read OnWhat exactly qualifies as a "remix?" How deluded do you have to be to believe in all these "Prime" rumors? Why are we so transfixed by the notion of lasers on smartphones, and so easily taken in by a smartphone commercial, if it's shot like a trailer for Inception? We tackle these questions, and the biggest announcement section in the history of the podcast, in episode 096 of the Pocketnow Weekly. No, that's not bragging – it's just an unavoidable symptom of a month packed with unboxings, hands-ons, product launches, and reviews (both forthcoming and already-published). But even in the ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | April 14, 2014 4:34 PMRead OnNokia just introduced its latest batch of Windows Phone models a couple weeks back, welcoming the first of its models that will ship running Windows Phone 8.1. The Lumia 630/635 we've been following since we first heard its codename Moneypenny back in November of last year. Now that it's official, what are we to look forward to from Nokia next? As luck would have it, a crop of new codenames has arrived fresh off the leak wagaon, and from the look of things Nokia is up to its old habits. According to @evlekas, new Nokia codenames include Ara, Leo, Moonraker, Onyx, Peridot, Superman, Tesla, ...
-
by Michael Fisher | April 3, 2014 7:00 PMRead On
Microsoft gets itself a striking new digital assistant, Nokia prepares sharp new smartphone hardware, Samsung and HTC kick off a new round of rasslin', and Pocketnow team members start an informal book club! It might be a scatterbrained itinerary, but at least it's action-packed – and that's just scratching the surface of this week's epic two-hour mobile technology podcast. Join us as we debate the merits of Windows Phone 8.1 Cortana, the forthcoming Nokia Cyan update, and the Samsung ATIV SE before moving on to non-Build topics ranging from BoomSound to smartphone waterproofing ... not ...
-
Read OnMicrosoft's Build 2014 keynote is still underway, and we weren't expecting any Nokia news until later in the day, but Stephen Elop has managed to surprise us by joining Microsoft on-stage and revealing the Lumia 930. The Lumia 930 features a five-inch 1080p display, has built-in support for wireless charging, and offers a 20MP main camera with optical stabilization.The phone's powered by a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 SoC. Sales of the 930 will begin this June, with a suggested price of about $600, off-contract. Nokia will introduce the phone to markets in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, while ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | March 25, 2014 12:08 PMRead OnNokia's got a couple buns in the oven – and by “buns” we mean Windows Phone handsets, and by oven we mean, well, assembly line, we guess. But no matter how we're referring to them, phones like the Lumia 630/635 and Lumia 930 have just been itching to go public. Earlier we heard that Nokia might have its eye on an April 19 launch event, but just last week we picked up on a new rumor suggesting that the phones could debut quite a bit sooner, and might be unveiled right at the start of the month, on April 2. Sure enough, today Nokia starts sending out invitations to just such an April 2 ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | March 21, 2014 12:19 PMRead OnWhen it comes to Windows Phone news, as well as news of the latest Lumia smartphones from Nokia, there are two dates we've been keeping in mind: April 2, and April 19. The former is when Microsoft's Build conference gets underway this year, and sometime during the event (which runs though April 4), we're expecting Microsoft to make a big Windows Phone 8.1 announcement. The latter date is one we've heard rumored for a Nokia event, where it would presumably introduce its first native WP8.1 handsets. Now, however, it seems that those new Lumias may make their first public appearance a little ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | March 6, 2014 7:09 PMRead OnWell, speak of the devil! We were only just looking at the FCC paperwork for a smartphone that may very well be the Nokia Lumia 635 (assuming it's not the 630 itself), when now a new render of the 630 has leaked, showing us the handset from a new angle and seeming to verify that the phone will arrive without a physical camera shutter button. While technically there's nothing new about Windows Phone models without a camera button (the Alcatel One Touch View from 2012 lacks one), the idea's been gaining a lot more traction as we prepare for the arrival of Windows Phone 8.1. Part of that ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | March 6, 2014 5:12 PMRead OnDoes Nokia have a launch event scheduled for April 19? That's a big fat “maybe” for the moment, but if it does end up taking place, two of the phones we might hope to see are the Lumia 630 and 635. Leaked specs have talked about things like an FWVGA 4.5-inch display, 1GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 400, so while we're looking at lower-end hardware, there's still cause to be excited: dual-SIM support should be available for one model, and both are expected to run Windows Phone 8.1, dropping their hardware Windows keys in the process. As we wait to learn what becomes of those April launch ...
-
by Stephen Schenck | March 5, 2014 7:41 PMRead OnAt the MWC last week, Nokia certainly delivered: in addition to the Nokia X we were all expecting, we also got those X+ and XL variants. But beyond this new Android project, we've also been tracking rumors about a number of Windows Phone handsets, and despite some of them having been hanging around for months, they were no-shows at MWC. Considering that the Lumia 630/635 are supposed to run Windows Phone 8.1, their absence wasn't entirely unsurprising, but we still found ourselves left with a new question: just when would this hardware go official? While it's far from confirmed, today we ...
-
by Jaime Rivera | February 12, 2014 11:53 PMRead OnWatch today's Pocketnow Daily as we talk about Nokia's recent and accidental announcement of the Lumia Icon for Verizon. Nokia then continues with the spotlight as we go through the rumors of a Lumia 930, aside from a Lumia 630/635 for MWC. Then we talk about Google's Chromecast as it seems it'll be able to mirror your Android display very soon. Apple follows the news as we go through the rumors of why the next iPhone and iPad will be able to be slimmer. We end today's show talking about the HTC Desire 8 and the HTC M8 as well. All this and more after the break. Stories: - Nokia slips ...
