Recent Articles

We’ve covered SoundGecko before, the media project that Long Zheng is a part of and veteran Windows Phone users will familiar with. The app and service allows users to “flag” articles to be converted into audio format, perfect for those of you who want to “read” while driving or who’s eyes are just too tired. What’s more, the service in its basic form is free (though there is a paid option with more features) and it launched with a fancy Windows Phone app.

Now we’re excited to announce that version 2.0 is live in the Store. So what’s new? The app now features “stations” for easier content discovery. Basically, you can now follow specific topics of your choosing or even specific brands and websites (or a combo).

For the past month or so, we've been teasing you about our new online event, code-named #TM13. That ends next week, when we officially announce the event, and tell you all about it. In the meantime, here's one last tease...and a chance to win a trip to NYC for a grand party, Great Gatsby style.

The wait is over: you can now order up a brand new Nokia Lumia 521 direct from T-Mobile. The cost of the device is of course exceptionally low, coming in at just $29 down payment and just $5 a month for your two-year…errr…non-contract with T-Mobile. Feeling lavish? Then you can just buy the phone outright for a mere $150, which last we checked is damn low for a brand new smartphone in 2013.

The Lumia 521 from Nokia is a custom variant of the Lumia 520, comes in white and sports a dual-core 1GHz CPU, 4” LCD display, 512MB of RAM and a 5MP rear shooter. While you give up things like NFC, wireless charging, a front-facing camera and the ability to play a handful of games, you do get a solid smartphone running Windows Phone 8 and Nokia’s excellent navigation software and app selection.

UK mobile operator Vodafone is set to wait until this coming September until the company looks to launch its 4G LTE upgrade, according to The Guardian. The newspaper states Vodafone will miss the original target window of summer to launch 4G services and compete with EE. It's believed the delay will be in place for a compatible iPhone, but we could also be witnessing support for Nokia's new flagship.

According to The Verge, HTC Chief Product Officer Kouji Kodera has departed on separate ways from the manufacturer. The struggling company is experiencing a number of high-ranking departures, including the VP of Global Communications, who announced he would be exiting last week. So what's going on at HTC?

According to our source at Microsoft, there won’t be a general Xbox Windows Phone release this week. That could be because N.O.V.A. 3 still hasn’t passed certification yet (as Gameloft has informed us) and neither has anything else, or maybe Microsoft just wants Xbox fans focused on the Xbox One this week instead of their phones.

Don’t fret, though! Non-Nokia owners just got two new Xbox Windows Phone titles to choose from: Spy Mouse and Trivial Pursuit. And Nokia owners, boy is this a good week for you…

Nokia and Electronic Arts have just released not one, two, or even three new games. That’s right, FOUR new Nokia exclusives rolled in overnight: Mass Effect: Infiltrator (requires Windows Phone 8), NBA Jam, Real Racing 2, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12. In other words, most of the big games we’ve been looking forward to since EA and Nokia first announced their partnership!

The only bad news: Windows Phone 8 users with 512 MB RAM devices can't play any of these games, while Nokia WP7 users can. Weirdness...

Earlier today, Microsoft and the Realmadrid Foundation commenced an endeavor for social projects in Latin America and the Caribbean by way of pen and paper. The recently signed agreement focuses on bringing software and cash donations to Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico. In addition, Microsoft will provide hundreds of millions of young people with their YouthSpark program’s resources.

An interesting Kickstarter listing has been spotted. A smartwatch called AGENT is currently open for backing, but has already surpassed the team's goal of $100,000. So what exactly is AGENT? It's a watch that can connect to smartphones, as well as power apps and more. 

Following up on our earlier post, we told you that the free, ad-supported version of Itsdagram would go live today and sure enough, it has.

For users who don’t want to fork over $1.49 for the app (or who can’t due to lack of carrier billing in their region) you can now get the completely free and fully functional Instagram-client for Windows Phone 8. The app is exactly like its paid sibling but has some banner ads near the bottom—otherwise the apps are identical.