windows 8

Could we finally see a Windows 8-powered NOOK?

With Amazon wooing the world late last week with their new Fire and PaperWhite tablets (and eReader), many have been left wondering what Barnes & Noble’s response would be. The online book retailer has slashed prices recently on their NOOK tablets, paving the way for a new holiday refresh and release.

Now, sources to the site Digital Trends have confirmed with them that in late September in Union Square, New York, the company will unveil a new Nook tablet rumored to be powered by Windows 8.

By now it’s old news that the Zune Desktop as we know it will be phased out—in fact we’ve seen features already removed over the last few months.  What was to replace it though was always a bit of a mystery though there are only so many options available.

Now an image has leaked out of what appears to be the ‘companion app’ for Windows Phone and Windows 8—think of it as Zune Desktop the next generation. There's really not too much to the image though we suppose it is better than nothing.

Is this a new Nokia Tablet with Windows 8?

It appears that Nokia may have more than just new phones to show off next week in New York City. According to the site WPDang, internal images from Nokia show what appears to be a full on Windows 8 Tablet in a "a mysterious Banner map" hidden on the site.

The actual device body is mostly out of view but instead what we see is a rather large display with Windows 8 tiles, including one for ‘Desktop’. In addition, what appear to be new high Symbian devices are also shown, meaning Nokia may not yet be done with that OS yet either.

Of course this could be an error in a render, though we would like to think that Nokia would not make such an obvious an amateur mistake...

Listening to podcasts on the go is one of my favorite pastimes, a great way to catch up with the latest news or a special interest. For those of us who reside outside of North America, podcast support has been a bit limited to say the least. Unlike our pals in the US, we cannot subscribe to podcasts through the marketplace on either Zune desktop software or directly using the phone. Annoying, but Mango at least introduced a half-workable solution. Unfortunately, after the Tango update it’s no longer possible to use that either.

To subscribe to podcasts prior to Tango, first we needed to set them up in the Zune desktop suite. Once subscribed, simply plugging in the phone and synchronising would pass the podcast to it. Podcasts would the automatically download without further PC interaction. Alas, this is now not the case. What’s going on?

Mark your calendar, October is shaping up to be a busy month for Microsoft. Rumors have surfaced for release dates for both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.

Okay... we've known for some time that the general availability for Windows 8 is October 26th. It now appears that on October 25th, there will be a Microsoft launch event for Windows 8 and the Surface RT in New York City. No specifics on the event as of yet but Windows 8 and the Surface tablets should become available at midnight following the event.

Samsung has just announced their range of Windows 8 devices. We have already touched on the ATIV S and Tab rumors earlier and now we know a whole lot more about what Samsung has in store. Samsung is no strangers to producing Windows PCs and looks like they are taking their duties very seriously with this latest line up.

The three devices we’re most interested in are the ATIV Tab, Samsung's super thin WinRT device, the ATIV Smart PC Pro and ATIV Smart PC running the full fat version of Windows 8. Aside from the ATIV tab they will have the detachable keyboard that’s looking to be the in thing with Windows 8 devices.  These three new tablets join the ATIV S Windows Phone to complete the Samsung ATIV lineup.

Hold onto your seats, this is a big one. Sony has unveiled a 20" table-top Windows 8 PC today at IFA Berlin, titled VAIO Tap 20. The battery-powered PC features a stand allowing the user to adjust the device to suit immediate needs, whether it be tablet photo viewing (on the lap as it weighs in at a sturdy 11 pounds) or desktop-style web browsing. It's a Windows 8 PC that's surely going to turn some heads, so what's included in the package?

Word is already on the street that Samsung is looking to unveil Windows hardware at the closely approaching IFA (official website), which will be held in Berlin this week (yes, we have Mobile Nation's people there for coverage, no worries). This will more than likely include Windows 8 PCs and tablets, as well as a potential Windows Phone 8 (Apollo) device or two. 

Through SamMobile we're now aware that Samsung has trademarked 'Ativ', which could be used as branding for future hardware families. Ativ Tab, being the most conspicuous, looks to be the potential name for Samsung's venture into Windows 8 tablets. There is a high probability this will become reality as we're not likely to see the manufacturer alter its Android arsenal. We hope to find out more information in the next few days at IFA.

While Windows 8 is still slated for an October 26, 2012 release we are discovering that the desktop wallpapers make for some really nice Windows Phone lock screen wallpapers.

Our friends over at 1800PocketPC have converted the Windows 8 collection of Start Screen wallpapers into Windows Phone lock screen wallpapers. The Windows 8 collection includes 69 of these colorful wallpapers and so far, 23 have been converted to 480x800 images.