lumia

We've lost count of just how many developer giveaways Microsoft and Nokia have held in the past, which isn't a bad thing. The developer support has been pretty solid on the platform (though there are some issues here and there) and it looks as though we're set to see another giveaway kick off in Australia.

The Nokia Lumia 800 has been featured in a recent BetVictor television advert, which we spotted on Comedy Central. BetVictor (Victor Chandler International) is a leading British bookmakers and has a strong television presence. At the 16 second mark in the advertisement, we can clearly see the Lumia 800 on the table, but unfortunately both the Windows Phone UI and Nokia branding are absent for brand-free purposes.

Flat or curved for the Phi--Why not both?

Although details are not confirmed and scarce at this point, many in our audience are asking and debating if the new Lumia phone headed to AT&T, codenamed ‘Phi’ has a curved screen or not.

For some, the Lumia 800’s curved glass was the pinnacle of design and elegance. Indeed, it does feel exceptionally nice in the hand both for holding and swiping across the screen. When the Lumia 900 forgo this detail, some were disappointed as the 900 instead has a completely flat screen with a raised edge.

What many in our audience may not know is that Nokia actually gave an official reason for this design change on the 900 during a Q&A sessions on their blog...

Your honor, we present Exhibit A

Today are the closing arguments in the highly watched Apple versus Samsung patent trial, meaning there is a lot of ‘Law & Order’ type drama occurring. Or at least that’s what we like to believe in reading the many live-blogs that are covering the case right now.

Probably one of the most entertaining moments came from Apple’s lawyers who were presenting their final case to the jury. At around 1:38 PM PT their lawyer, Harold McElhinny, evidently held up a unspecified Nokia Lumia Windows Phone and exclaimed...

Although augmented-reality sounds a bit gimmicky to our ears, bringing back memories of the 1990’s and 'virtual reality', there’s little doubt that some of you of use these tools. And they are kind of cool.

Nokia City Lens (beta) is just such an app as it uses your Lumia’s camera, compass and accelerometer to display what’s around you or perhaps more accurately, to highlight areas based on categories. It’s a useful tool especially if you’re in a urban environment, walking around, looking for an establishment or wanting to discover something new.

An update has been released for Nokia's Weather Windows Phone app, which is available in the OEM collection on the Marketplace. The app is a "suped-up" version of The Weather Channel app that is available for all Windows Phone owners to use, and sports some interesting functionality and features. The manufacturer launched their own version of the app back in July and already they've released an update.

It was previously limited in availability but this update brings with it new region support. While no changelog is presently available, we expect backend changes and improvements to be bundled with the release. 

Is this the Nokia 'Phi' Lumia 800 sequel?

File this under rumor but certainly plausible. The fan site Nokia Innovations is reporting that the alleged Nokia prototype phone that was leaked last night is in fact the Nokia ‘Phi’. Mind you that’s the code-name not product name, much like the Ace and SeaRay were used for the Lumia 900 and 800 respectively. What’s interesting about Nokia Innovation’s post is that it slghtly pre-dated those images by a few hours as that site was expecting their own images to come forward too.

The notion that Nokia would make a successor to the Lumia 800 is not far fetched at all. It’s a wildly popular design, one that we prefer even over the Lumia 900 due to the curved screen. Evidently Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was impressed with the Lumia 800 that he doesn’t want to let the design go, just have it evolve which to our ears makes sense.

So without further ado, here are some of the rumored specifications of the Lumia 800 successor aka the ‘Phi’...

Nokia has taken the Lumia Challenge to Italy. The Windows Phone marketing campaign -- think Smoked by Windows Phone -- challenges participants to see if their competitor smartphone can beat a Lumia 900 at common tasks. Ranging anywhere from taking a photo and uploading to Facebook to locating a nearby restaurant, the challenges are generally won by Windows Phone thanks to the level of integration present.

Participants came wielding a variety of devices, including Samsung, HTC and the iPhone. Nokia has been extraordinarily successful in its Dare to Live campaign, which is touring the UK. We took a look at the results at the half-way marker and were able to reveal that Windows Phones were winning majority of challenges. 

Here's hoping that success is seen in these marketing stunts across the world. At the very least, this is a strong attempt to rebuild the Nokia brand as a Windows Phone OEM.

via: Plaffo (YouTube); thanks, Antonio, for the heads up!

Nokia is marketing the recently launched magenta Lumia 900 Windows Phone by launching nail polish to match the unique smartphone colour. Designed by Duality Cosmetics, the "Nokia Lumia Pink" is an exclusive nail polish that's only available at one-day salons Nokia is hosting in Dallas, Denver, and Los Angeles. Nicki Minaj nail stylist Kandi Banks will be on-hand to offer pink manicures and pedicures for those who pop on down when the salons are hosted nearby.

Much like the previous Nicki Minaj concert, as well as the London 4D light show with Deadmau5, this isn't going to boost sales of the Lumia 900, but is more to do with pushing the device and Windows Phone brand beyond those who follow tech news and know enough about mobile phones. There's a fairly sizeable world out there, which Nokia has intended to tackle. With these one-day events, instead of targeting solely women, Nokia invited everyone to come play with the Lumia handsets (as can be witnessed by the hairy faces in the Dallas Lumia Lounge photo gallery).