Rumors

The operation team behind Chinese app Love Wallpaper HD recently found new device codenames from Samsung, Huawei and Nokia. Yesterday the guys had another look at their updated server log. And guess what they found? A new device from HTC. That makes almost a full house (save for ZTE) for the next wave of Windows Phone devices.

My Nokia Blog is reporting on specifications the next Nokia flagship Windows Phone (possibly the RM-877) will feature. Mentioning sources familiar with company plans, it's believed that the device will indeed have a superior camera to what's currently available on the platform. That we can be sure of as Nokia is pushing optics even further, but what about the other entries on the specifications sheet? According to the source, Nokia is working on two different models of the EOS, which we've previously looked at numerous times.

So... after the Surface frenzy, for October we have another huge expectation left: Windows Phone 8. Microsoft is expected to fully unveil its next-gen smartphone OS at the very end of this month. But as always, things have started to leak ahead of the schedule, and source of the leak is China.

Nokia's big day has the tech-world aflutter. (Yes, we said aflutter!)

Yes folks, we’re just over half-a-day away from finally putting all of the puzzle pieces together and getting to see what Nokia has planned for the initial release of Windows Phone 8.

In turn, we figured we do a little wrap up those rumors, leaks and images to better prepare yourself for tomorrow.

Speaking of, tomorrow we will have a Live Blog during the event starting at 9:45am ET. Nokia will also be streaming the announcement, which we will have running in conjunction with our coverage (seeing as video has delays, we’ll be slightly ahead with our photos).

Afterwards, we expect some hands on time with whatever is revealed and we have an interview lined up for later in the day with Nokia. Then it’s on to the party in the evening. So grab some coffee and a seat, because it’s going to be a wild ride...

A rather blurry image has surfaced that some believe is the back cover of the Nokia Arrow. The back cover does slightly resemble the patent drawings we ran across earlier but there's enough variations to have us scratching our head.

For instance, the photo has the camera and flash above and below, while the patent drawing has the two side by side. The rounded corners seem to match though.

There's still a lot of unknowns surround the Nokia Arrow and hopefully everything will come into focus next week at Nokia's New York event.

Curious though... if this holds true what would you think if the Arrow was a yellow Nokia Windows Phone?

Source: welovewp; Thanks, Simon, for the tip!

Only for demonstration purposes

We are only a few hours away from Microsoft's media event where it is expected the software giant will take the wraps off their own tablet running Windows 8.  We have now seen leaked specs on an Xbox Surface tablet. Could this be Microsoft's tablet or is this a completely different device?

According to the specs that have surfaced on the Xbox Surface the tablet will sport a 7" 1280x720 screen, SD card support and Bluetooth/Wifi radios.  There is also indications that the Surface will have four USB ports, an ethernet port, and HDMI port.

Note when reading the specs: there are TWO devices, one tablet and one "stationary". Don't confuse the two.

Again, we don't know if the Xbox Surface is what we'll see at today's Microsoft's media event but it does look like an interesting device. What makes this all a bit more interesting is LiveSide has attained a second document that has the same Xbox Surface branding, corroborating the story.

Hit the break for page two of the leaked specs and take note that under Tablet Device (Controller) specs there mention of "Kinect Workloads".  Could the Xbox Surface have Kinect motion technologies built in?

Update: We should also not that Barnes & Noble are not a part of tonight's announcement, lending credence to this idea a bit more

Source: LiveSide; StephenWagner.com

One app sorely missing with Windows Phone is Photosynth. You already have a desktop application and, to the dismay of some, an iOS app for Photosynth. We've heard that Windows Phone was a top priority with Photosynth and it now looks as if a Windows Phone version is close to being released.

The website GEMIND has stumbled upon signs that Microsoft has been creating accounts on the Photosynth website to test the integration of a Windows Phone app. They have even stumbled on test photo sets on the Photosynth website that appear to be have taken with various Windows Phones.

For those not familiar, Photosynth stitches together series of photographs to create panoramic images. Microsoft stalled on developing a Windows Phone version of the app due to camera API issues. Issues that should have been resolved with the Mango update.

No clue as to how close the development is but based on the dates of the test sets, a Photosynth Windows Phone app might be just around the corner.

We'll echo GEMIND's sentiments on the issue, It's about time Microsoft.

source: GEMIND; Thanks, Rodrigo, for the tip!

In response to circulating rumors regarding Windows Phone 8's lack of application backwards compatibility, Microsoft's Brandon Watson -- Director of Developer Experience -- confirmed today that the upcoming OS revision will run older Windows Phone 7 applications. Yep, that means Sally's Salon will port over just fine.

But from a technical perspective, how existing apps will work unmodified is fuzzy. For example, if the new resolution rumors pan out, should we expect some sort of zooming functionality akin to Apple's iPad (running iPhone applications)? And what about those awesome premium apps (e.g. Youtube, Tango, Navigon) with native hooks into the underlying OS? We presume everyone using native code is on Windows Phone for the long haul, but it's worth asking.

Anyway, stay tuned. We expect both Windows Phone "Tango" and "Apollo" to be detailed at Mobile World Congress next month. Rest assured we'll have feet -- at least Daniel Rubino's -- on the ground providing updates.

Source: WinSuperSite

We have heard rumors of a March 18th launch for the AT&T Nokia Lumia 900 but now we are seeing rumors on pricing for Nokia's latest Windows Phone. BGR is reporting that they have received a portion of AT&T's 2012 roadmap which shows the Lumia 900 hitting the shelves on March 18th. The roadmap also indicates the Lumia 900 will cost a meager $99 after contractual discounts.

The March 18th date does fit with AT&T's previous releases that hit on either the first of third Sunday of the month.  The $99 price tag is a little surprising but a nice one if the rumor holds true.  Sporting a 4.3" AMOLED Clearblack touchscreen, 8mp Camera, 1mp front camera, 16gb of storage, and 4G LTE networking the Lumia 900 is an appealing Windows Phone in its own right. Add a $99 price tag to it and it may be too hard to resist with the Samsung Focus S and HTC Titan going for $199.

Update: Confirmed by Paul Thurrott "Yes, that $99 price is in fact correct for the Lumia 900 based on the docs I saw."

source: BGR