So part of my routine is to spend a few minutes getting an idea of the general tech news each day and I’m thinking, why not expand that into a quick list right here on my blog. I’ll keep the last 7 entries or thereabout on here. We’ll see if i can keep this up, so this is just a start. So here goes…
August 31st
Nokia
- More images of Lumia 820 (Arrow) and 920 (phi) leak with the leaker suggesting they are PureView devices (though other than that, there is no firm evidence, just hints here and there). These images are on may sites, but here’s the take from The Mobile Fanatics
- Amazon Kindle Fire to have Nokia Maps? I thought Amazon announcing their new device on the 6th was just to steal Nokia’s thunder, but Nokia might be getting something out of this too, with Reuters reporting that Google maps are being replaced with Nokia Maps on their new devices. I wonder if this is to do with offline support?
Windows Phone
- The Verge: HTC Accord leaks (This was the mid tier one based on earlier leaks – as listed here on WPCentral, with Zenith as the flagship). I’m pretty sure that Windows Phone 7 home screen will be replaced by Windows 8 when it is officially announced.
Other
- The list XBox live game titles for Windows 8 Launch has been published by Microsoft and it’s here on the Windows Team Blog
August 30th
Mobile development
- Qt 5 beta has been announced – the Qt Blog has all the details
- Nokia Developer Community Blog: Developing a Windows Phone 7 Application in 25 Minutes (Featured Video) The video covers topics like Windows Phone 7 Metro UI, Development Concepts, Expression Blend and Visual Studio. Certainly worth a watch if you are just beginning to develop on Windows Phone 7.
Nokia
- MicroNokiaDev: Nokia will webcast the Sept 5th event from New York
- Nokia Conversations: Nokia announces new range of bluetooth speakers in partnership with JBL – come in the same colors as their new phones? Either way – PLayUp speakers are successor to PLay 360, can hit 89dB and will cost around €149.
Windows Phone
- PhoneArena (and everywhere else): Samsung Ativ S is the first Windows 8 phone to be officially announced
Other
- Way too much IFA stuff to go in to and link to all of it. Check the Verge, Engadget, Slashgear or any of the major tech sites and you should see a whole bunch of new devices from the likes of
- Sony (Tablet S, Tablet T, Xperia V, Xperia T, Xperia )
- Samsung (Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Camera, Ativ S, Ativ Tab,
- HTC (Desire X),
- LG (Optimus L9),
- Archos (GamePad),
- Asus (Vivo Tab, Vivo Tab RT)
- Digital Media Zone: Windows 8 hardware explosion – Comparing the devices. It’s an excellent table to compare the new Windows 8 devices.
August 29th
Mobile Development
- Microsoft announces Windows Azure Mobile Services – cloud services for your Windows 8 apps, with support for Windows Phone, Android and iPhone coming soon & a 90 day free trial available now.
- The Next Web: Google kills it’s weather API which means means goodbye to several API’s affecting existing apps. For example, Stormglass, the Windows Phone weather live tile won’t function. Hold your bad reviews on weather apps for now and be aware that developers that relied on Google’s API everywhere are probably scrambling to find an alternative and update their apps.
Nokia
- There is a teaser video for September 5th has been released showing a girl riding a bike. The caption says “Things are about to change on 5 September 2012. Stay tuned!” The wisdom across the blogosphere seems to think the only conclusion can be that it was shot using a Windows Phone with PureView technology included. You can watch the video and see for yourself on YouTube.
Other
- Its IFA in Germany - Can you say Windows 8? Device announcements include these from Asus and Sony.
- The Verge: Beyond Lies the Wup – a history of dubstep. Not really much to do with tech, but an interesting read loaded with Soundcloud clips.
August 28th
Mobile Development
- MyNokiaBlog: Video into to Nokia SDK 2.0 for Java – make apps for Series 40 touch devices
Nokia
Windows Phone
- Nokia Innovation: Windows Phone 8 – what we know so far – recapping the list of features we know will be coming to Windows Phone 8 from all the various leaks and presentations this year.
Other
- The Verge – Apple vs Samsung: the verdict. I think you must be living under a rock not to have heard about this by now, but just in case, here’s the complete list of articles the Verge has written on the subject, since the verdict was announced.
- Phone Arena: How Samsung lost the case and why Apple may lose the appeal an interesting piece, suggesting that Samsungs legal team made a mess of it, but if they do their job properly, some of these patents should be struck down.
- The Verge – Sony releasing hybrid Windows 8 tablets to take on Surface – Windows 8 will launch with some nice hardware
- The verge – Samsung releasing series 5 and series 7 all in one Windows 8 PC’s – more nice Windows 8 hardware.
August 24th
Windows Phone
- WMPowerUser: DOCOMO getting new WIndows Phones from Fujitsu, Nokia and Samsung these devices will be part of the DOCOMO NEXT range and the Fujitsu T-01E is said to be a successor to the IS12T – the Mango phone with the 13MP camera and 32GB of memory.
Other
- The Verge: Apple and Samsung both hit with injunctions in South Korea for patent infringement – bans for the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Tab 10.1.
- Microsoft: Advertising SDK now Compatible with Windows 8 RTM
August 23rd
Nokia
- Nokia launching Phi and Arrow in the US, with Phi going to AT&T exclusively, Arrow going to both AT&T and T-Mobile and a variant called Atlas going to Verizon later. (The Verge)
-
Nokia, Samsung, Sony Mobile, and others create In-Location Alliance to improve indoor location-based services (The Verge) – look there for the brief version, but for the full story on what this means, check out this detailed Nokia Conversations article.
- “We can see the benefits of indoor positioning technology, especially in big venues, such as hospitals, railway stations, factories, museums and schools. We’ve even had discussions with ship owners who would like to offer better services for their passengers on cruise ships,” says Jouni.” (Jouni is Nokia’s Jouni Kämäräinen, chair of the In-Location Alliance)
- Asha phones are a hit and buying time for Nokia (Bloomberg via My Nokia Blog
- Nokia Finnish investors considering gathering signatures to get CEO Elop sacked (Phone Arena – though they mention Communities Dominate Brands as a source and I’m sure Tomi Ahonen loved this news)
Other
- AT&T explains why it will block FaceTime over 3G for some users: because a loophole in the system allows it (Phone Arena)
- Simple Mobile offers Unlimited 4G plans for $50/month (Phone arena) – Simple Mobile (a T-Mobile MVNO) starts to look even more compelling, though I get the impression they still have a bit of reputation rebuild to do regarding how they handle data.
August 22nd
Mobile Development
- (All About Windows Phone) Chevron unlocked devices will re-lock when connected to Zune. Chevron unlock’s have expired so will relock when you next connect them to Zune. This is a big deal and means that if you want to unlock your device again you will need a App hub account or (unofficially, and this will likely void your warranty) be running a custom ROM. MSDN subscribes however, will see Windows Phone Developer accounts as part of their MSDN package – perhaps a move to make sure the free unlock codes go to more developers than people who just want to install registry hacks on their phone. I meant to post a bigger article on this and still might, but this was reported everywhere and, the All About Windows Phone article one is a good one to read to get the details.
- (Nokia Developer) Extending the Windows Phone Pictures Hub – Nice How-to article, and the author just won a Lumia for it apparently.
Nokia
- Nokia Connects and Nokia Conversations blog’s have merged. This is good because it will mean Nokia Conversations will be the one place to go for almost all of your Nokia announcements and they will also have more trial devices (hopefully that improves my chances of getting some more sent my way as well). So look for the new Connects and Trial a Nokia sections on the left hand side of the page. You can read more about this both (Conversations) here and (Connects) here.
- (Bloomberg) Nokia Windows Phone 8 devices said to arrive on Verizon this year – not a surprise at all (it would be if they had said Sprint though).
- (My Nokia Blog)Nokia 808 PureView for $599 at Amazon US - finally becoming more affordable
- (My Nokia Blog)Screenshots – Nokia Belle Refresh for C7
- (Unleash the Phones) Nokia Asha 311 Review
Windows Phone
- (The Verge) Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 will support the Unity Game engine – hopefully we will see some awesome games on both platforms.
- (The Inquirer) ZTE won’t have any Windows Phone 8 handsets until late 2013
- (Nokia Innovation) Windows 8 Wifi Offloading and why you should be concerned – “WiFi Offloading gives your mobile provider access to your mobile device, not just access but unrestricted access, they can turn on the WiFi on your phone and connect it to a WiFi hotspot without you even knowing it, if that doesn’t freak you out even a tinsy winsy bit then i don’t know what will.”
Other
- (The Verge)T-Mobile USA adding Unlimited, throttled Data Plans September 5th, and they are affordable too $20 for Value plans and $30 for standard. These could be maybe a nice option for people when they shop for their new Windows Phone 8 devices this autumn.
- (The Verge) Dell promises lots of Windows 8 devices to compete with Surface
- (The Verge) Samsung and apple gave their closing arguments yesterday – this thing will hopefully be over and done with soon, but the task before the jurors is difficult and ugly so don’t expect a quick decision.
- (Engadget) Hands on with the Nikon Coolpix S800c – Nikon’s answer to the 808 PureView? – a 16MP camera running android.
