News

Greed City, the location-based Windows Phone game gets more social with new update

By Paul Acevedo, Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 7:21 pm

Lighthouse Game Studio’s follow-up to Torchbear, the location-based game Greed City has been out on Windows Phone 8 for something like two months now. And in that time, the developer has released its fair share of updates. Each one of these makes the free game a little more rounded and more worthy of players’ time.

Today’s update, version 1.1.7 adds an exciting new feature: the ability to comment on other users’ actions, plus a few more minor features and bug fixes.

Angry Birds Rio flying south to Windows Phone 'very soon'

By Paul Acevedo, Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 6:09 pm

Countless Windows Phone gamers are currently pelting pigs with ball-shaped birds in the original Angry Birds (also known as Angry Birds Classic), which is free right now on both Windows Phone 7 and 8. But the release of that classic game hasn’t prompted Rovio to rest on its laurels. As it turns out, the Finnish developer has another Angry Birds sequel in the pipeline for us. Unfortunately it’s not Angry Birds Friends or Bad Piggies, but still a game Windows Phone needs: Angry Birds Rio.

What do we have to look forward to with Rovio’s latest offering and when? Read on to find out!

HTC publishes Q1 2013 financial results, has optimism for Q2 and beyond

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By Rich Edmonds, Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 9:24 am

HTC has officially published its consolidated Q1 2013 financial results, confirming what was previously revealed with the unaudited Q1 figures. As the closing of 2012 showed, HTC is in a struggling position against the almighty Samsung. The start of 2013 hasn't been kind to the company, but there's definitely optimism for its future.

Monday Brief: On a Wednesday!

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By Ashley Esqueda, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 9:20 pm

It began, as many things do with an idea -- I was in NYC for #TM13, along with all our Mobile Nations site editors, Kevin Michaluk, Phil Nickinson, and Daniel Rubino, Rene Ritchie, and Georgia, and we had Martin Reisch and his RED Scarlet 4K camera. So, we figured "why not shoot the Monday Brief in 4K!". And therein began the longest Odyssey in Monday Brief history.

The shooting itself went pretty well, with Georgia and myself kicking things off, and Kevin doing his best to finish the show with a bang. Then things started getting complicated. Turns out it takes a long, long, long time edit and render 4K video, and a really long time to upload it. Even longer when things go weird along the way. In any case, we got it all sorted now and as such we bring you, the Monday Brief.. On a Wednesday.

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Windows Phone update rolling through for the AT&T HTC 8X

News

By George Ponder, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 6:07 pm

A Windows Phone update is being pushed out for the AT&T HTC 8X but there's not much to go on as far as what the update accomplishes.

The OS version remains at 8.0.10211.204 and the Firmware reads 1532.20.20100.502. The update only takes a few minutes to install and there isn't anything obvious as to what the update brings to the table.

Our guess is this update is similar to the update Verizon pushed out recently and has a few patches here, a few fixes there. We'll see what we can dig up but in the meantime, if you see any changes after updating, let us know below in the comments.

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Windows Phone 7 and 8 gets new ports of Angry Birds and they're free for a limited time!

By Paul Acevedo, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 4:58 pm

When we didn’t hear from Microsoft about an Xbox Windows Phone release this week, we feared that there wouldn’t a new game today. It turns out that we should have had faith, because a new release did quietly slip out, and it’s an interesting one!

Following on the heels of their early April release, Amazing Alex, Rovio now breaks in the month of May with the game that started their rise to fame: Angry Birds. We’re not talking about a new Angry Birds sequel or the oft-requested spin-off Bad Piggies. No, a Windows Phone 8-exclusive version of the original Angry Birds (now called Angry Birds Classic) has just arrived with all the content missing from its unloved Windows Phone 7 predecessor. Windows Phone 7 gets a new, updated version as well but without the Xbox features. And best of all, both versions are free until May 15!

You can buy the Lumia 520 for just $150 from Koodo Mobile

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By Sam Sabri, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 4:13 pm

When the Lumia 520 was announced at Mobile World Congress a few months back it was set to be the most inexpensive Windows Phone ever. And it really is, we’ve seen it go for $240 on eBay and for $190 in India. If you’re up in Canada you can get it for an insanely low amount of $150 through Koodo Mobile.

New Windows Phone Challenge ad squares the Lumia 920 against Galaxy S3, shows off Local Scout

News

By Daniel Rubino, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 3:21 pm

Although some detractors have opined against Microsoft’s recent “Wedding” ad, which pokes fun out of the Apple v Samsung rivalry, noting that it forgot to highlight any Windows Phone features, those critics failed to mention the numerous “Challenge” ads that have been running.

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Deal Alert: Nokia Wireless Charger only $29

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By George Ponder, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 12:47 pm

If you've been on the fence about getting a wireless charger for your Nokia Lumia Windows Phone, have we got a deal for you.

PayDeals.com is offering the Nokia DT-900 Wireless Charging Plate for $29 (shipping is free). They only have the charger in black and the deal will only last until May 7th.

Nokia announces winner of Music Short Film competition, shows off the two incredible finalists

News

By Rich Edmonds, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 at 10:39 am

Nokia has published a new entry on its Conversations Blog, detailing the winner of its Music Short Film competition. The idea was to encourage filmmakers to showcase the unique and unknown music scenes in their region. It's reported that hundreds of entries were received, but the team managed to cut it down to just two finalists: Jason van Genderen and Bartosz Madejski.

A behind the scenes look at the "Don't fight. Switch" Windows Phone ad

News

By George Ponder, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 4:09 pm

Microsoft launched it's latest Windows Phone ad the other day poking fun at the Samsung/Apple rivalry. The end result was a humorous poke at the competition while highlighting our Windows Phones.

Microsoft is now sharing a behind the scenes video filmed during the making of the commercial. It's an interesting, funny perspective on how the ad was shot. The behind the scenes footage might even make for a nice follow-up commercial.

Source: Windows Phone Blog

AT&T is giving you at least $100 for your old smartphone

News

By Sam Sabri, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 3:53 pm

Starting tomorrow you can save at least $100 off of your next smartphone from AT&T. The carrier is starting a new program that gives you credit for your old devices that you can apply towards your next purchase. It sounds like a good way to get into new Lumia 920 or HTC 8X. Details below.

From the Editor’s desk: returning to normal, Lumia 928 specs and Kessler joining the party

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 3:44 pm

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the chance to write a letter to our audience, keeping you posted on things and throwing whatever is not in and of itself newsworthy into a post. So today I figured I’d share a few tidbits on the site, some Windows Phone news and other happenings.

Nokia explains how the company approaches its attractive packaging

News

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 2:25 pm

Nokia has published a post over on its Conversations blog, going into some detail about its packaging used for numerous products. Not only does Nokia package and fire out Windows Phones (and Asha handsets), but accessories too. The post notes the company sells over 250 different products around the world.

Nokia to invest in next-gen Pelican Imaging tech, allowing “fly eye” cameras for your Lumia

News

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 1:28 pm

It looks like Nokia is continuing to concentrate on mobile photography as the venture-capital investment arm of the company, Nokia Growth Partners, is throwing some money behind Pelican Imaging (http://www.pelicanimaging.com). The technology is expected to creep into future Lumia phones as the hardware behind the Pelican Imagining gets commercialized.

So what does Pelican Imagining bring to the table? They make the software to handle multiple, tiny lenses that make up a meta-camera.

Waze for Windows Phone entering beta stage, looking for recruits to test

News

By Daniel Rubino, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 11:15 am

Recently we reported that the popular traffic app Waze was finally headed to Windows Phone in an official capacity. That story was second hand reported in an online newspaper with the company itself remaining mum on the matter. Now, it’s official: Waze is in the works and about to enter beta.

That’s the good news. The bad news is it’s beta and not exactly around the corner for immediate, general release. However, betas can move fast and that original June timeframe could still easily be hit, assuming the developers are worth their salt.

Nokia to hold international media event in India on May 9th

News

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 10:01 am

Nokia has sent out invites for an international media event in New Delhi on May 9th. The invite (as shown below) states that it's time to shift gears, but fails to provide any details on what we can expect to see announced. This event also precedes the London May 14th party where we expect to see some international goodies and more.

oVid will bring networked video recording exclusively to Windows Phone this year

News

By Rich Edmonds, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 at 9:42 am

A team in France has developed an app called oVid. The idea is for a handful of Windows Phones to be linked together to record video across the network of hardware that's connected. The app was developed for this year's 2013 Imagine Cup and utilises Bluetooth and WiFi to create a rather awesome experience.

Vodafone Spain offering Nokia Lumia 720 with Joyn app pre-installed

News

By Rich Edmonds, Monday, Apr 29, 2013 at 7:43 pm

Vodafone has today announced the launch and availability of the Nokia Lumia 720, which will be the first Windows Phone with Joyn pre-installed, according to WindowsPhoneApps.se. What's Joyn exactly? It's a service that provides instant messaging, file transfer, video calling and more. It will be launched and supported by multiple mobile operators, as opposed to being a third party service.

Verizon rolls out minor firmware updates for HTC 8X, Lumia 822

News

By Daniel Rubino, Monday, Apr 29, 2013 at 6:56 pm

We’re getting a few reports in today that Verizon has begun rolling out some tiny firmware updates for their HTC 8x and Lumia 822 smartphones. Indeed we fired up an 822 to be greeted with a small update that took less than 5 minutes to install.

So what’s news? Well, this appears to be a very, very small update meant to be a quick fix for some nagging issues. We say that only because your radio, firmware and OS versions will not change with these updates. That tells us that this is basically a firmware patch of some sorts, meant more for tweaks than new features.