Before sale to Microsoft, Nokia was testing Android on Lumia phones

While Nokia has made a name for itself with its wide range of Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone, a report from The New York Times has revealed that Nokia was interested in Android. "Well before" discussions between Microsoft and Nokia lead to the former company buying the latter, Nokia was reportedly testing Android on their Lumia smartphones, having managed to get it running on prototype devices.

Microsoft apparently knew about Nokia's testing of Android, although it didn't form any part of discussions between the companies during the acquisition stage. Nokia had arranged a deal with Microsoft in 2011 to solely produce Windows Phones, although the deal expired in 2014, meaning Android Lumia phones might have made it to the market in under a year's time.

If Nokia had produced a Lumia-like device running Android, with features we've come to love such as 41-megapixel PureView cameras, it might have been the death of Windows Phone. Nokia makes almost all the Windows Phone devices currently available, and commands an impressive 87% share of the Windows Phone market; without them, Microsoft's small share of smartphone sales would begin to dwindle.

Nokia has had to face a large amount of criticism for choosing Windows Phone over Android. The Finnish company had a 30% of the smartphone market in 2010, before that dropped away to the 3% it is now. Smartphone buyers have also often wished that Lumia phones would run Android rather than Windows Phone, citing the weak ecosystem as a reason against purchasing their devices.

Whether or not a switch to Android would have considerably boosted Lumia sales will forever remain unknown, with the company set to produce Windows Phones from here on out.

Nokia Windows Phone 8 handsets rumored for early September unveil

Microsoft unveiled the next major update to Windows Phone during a special Windows Phone Summit in late June, but so far the company has refused to say when devices will hit the market aside from "this fall." That said, according to rumors first reported by Chinese site WPDang and backed up today by Bloomberg, Nokia plans to announce Windows Phone 8 handsets as early as next month at its Nokia World event.

Nokia World 2012 will kick off in Helsinki roughly a month form now on the 5th and 6th of September, a week ahead of the rumored September 12 announcement of the next iPhone. The early unveiling may help it gain some mindshare among consumers in the run-up to the holiday shopping season, although actual Windows Phone 8 handsets may not hit shelves until sometime around November.

For reference, if the latest rumors surrounding the iPhone launch are accurate, Apple could have new hardware ready for consumers as early as September 21, nine days after the unveiling.

The Finnish company held the spot as the world’s leading mobile phone maker for fourteen straight years but was overtaken by Samsung earlier in 2012, according to research firm Gartner.

Despite favorable reviews, the Lumia handsets have struggled to compete against established platforms such as Android and iOS. The fact that its flagship Lumia 900, launched just a few months ago, will not get the upgrade to Windows Phone 8 later this year has done little to help. Nokia plans to rollout a Windows Phone 7.8 update that will bring some of Windows Phone 8’s changes to existing devices.

The decision was nevertheless received with optimism by some users who feel it is necessary to leave previous generation handsets behind in order for the platform to advance. Among other things, WP 8 will finally support multi-core processors and share common code with the Windows 8 desktop OS.

RIM to split handset and messaging services into two companies

Research in Motion has been fighting an uphill battle to remain relevant in the handset market for a number of years but according to one report, they will soon concede defeat. RIM is planning to divide their handset and messaging service into two separate entities and sell the handset division, according to Gizmodo as first reported by the Sunday Times (login required).

The newspaper claims that RIM would keep the messaging and data capabilities like BBM, BIS and BES but would license out their usage to third parties. This idea to license BBM has reportedly been tossed around before with some inside the company thinking it would help brand recognition while others believe it would give customers yet another reason to switch to Android or the iPhone.

The newspaper suggests a few other options as well, including the possibility of selling the business to Amazon or Facebook, handing over the messaging division to Google or Apple if the price is right or continue to remain a single entity but sell a stake in RIM to a large company like Microsoft or someone else with handset ambitions.

Forbes points out that none of these ideas are new and some are pretty comical at the core, like Microsoft investing in RIM. After all, they have Windows Phone and Nokia to work with. Adding RIM would seemingly do next to nothing for their handset division.

We’re not sure what will eventually happen to RIM but they certainly can’t continue on their current path without changes for too much longer.

Source : http://techspot.com

Nokia says they are doing 'more than enough' for Lumia users

Microsoft kicked off their Windows Phone Developer Summit yesterday by detailing several new features in Windows Phone 8 and filling in some of the blanks surrounding the existing mobile phone operating system. Specifically, Microsoft confirmed that handsets like the Lumia 900 would not be compatible with the new OS due out later this year.

Instead, legacy hardware will be upgraded to Windows Phone 7.8, an OS that will deliver some fresh features like a new Start Screen interface. This admission sparked some debate as to whether Microsoft and Nokia are doing enough for existing Lumia owners. In search of more answers, The Verge recently sat down with Nokia’s Kevin Shields to get some answers.

In a nutshell, Shields feels that Nokia is doing more than enough, pointing out that most customers probably aren’t aware of the upgrade roadblock. He further notes that anyone that walks into a store and buys a Lumia 900 is getting a great offer on a product that has a long lifetime of innovation.

During yesterday’s event, Nokia announced a new set of apps and updates coming to Lumia phones in the US and China in the near future. The Camera Extras app includes burst shooting, an action shot mode and a panorama mode while the Play To app helps users stream photos and videos to any DLNA device, such as a Smart TV, PC, Mac, PS3 or Xbox 360. Both of these features should be available by the weekend.

Counters and Contact Share allow the user to monitor phone usage and share contacts, respectively. Both will be available to those in the US next month.a

No Lumia 900 on T-Mobile in Germany, related to WP8 upgrade path?

An unlocked version of the Lumia 900 launched in Germany last week but when the phone was notably absent on T-Mobile, customers became suspicious. When the question was presented on a T-Mobile support forum, a customer service representative reportedly checked around the office and learned they wouldn’t be carrying the phone because the operating system wouldn’t be upgradable to Windows Phone 8 when it launches in a few months.

A T-Mobile spokesperson from the region has since issued statements to various media claiming the forum response isn’t an official statement from Deutsche Telekom and they have no idea where said information came from. The spokesperson concludes that such a statement would never be communicated and noted the phone was not being offered due to market conditions and customer needs.

This only added fuel to the rumors that current Windows Phone device would not be compatible with Windows Phone 8. Following Microsoft’s sneak peak at Windows Phone event earlier today, we now have confirmation that Windows Phone 7.5 devices will not be able to run Windows Phone 8. Instead, legacy device owners will receive new features through Windows Phone 7.8. Details are still scarce at this point but we suspect 7.8 would be pushed out to handsets around the same time as WP8 devices launch.

The Microsoft upgrade path announcement certainly lends some credit to the Lumia 900 / T-Mobile fiasco but we don’t expect the telecommunications company to actually admit it.

Microsoft details Windows Phone 8, arriving this fall

Microsoft’s Windows Phone Developer Summit kicked off just a few hours ago where the company is sharing a bit of what’s coming with the next major update to their smartphone platform. Among the most noticeable changes at first glance is a redesigned home screen, which now allows every tile to be customized in one of three sizes available, and does away with the right-hand "rail" that held the link to the full app list.

Besides expanding the screen real-estate for live tiles Microsoft will also be offering more color customization and personalization options for the new Start Screen in Windows Phone 8.

Skype and VoIP

VoIP functionality will be baked into the operating system, but rather than just offering native Skype integration, Microsoft is adding a background agent that can handle incoming and outgoing calls as well as messaging and integration with several of Windows Phone 8 features. Skype is fully going take advantage of this and so can any other VoIP applications without favoring one over the other.

Microsoft's Greg Sullivan believes the integration is so good that he jokes Apple should create its own FaceTime app on Windows Phone 8, and it would work better than it does on the iPhone.

Internet Explorer 10, Nokia Maps

Windows Phone 8 will of course include Internet Explorer 10, which is based on the same desktop code used in the Windows 8, offering four times faster javascript performance and full HTML5 support. It will also bring over some security-related improvements, like a phishing filter and the SmartScreen URL reputation system.

Nokia mapping information will be a key part of Windows Phone 8 going forward. Although this means the Finnish phone maker will be surrendering one of the advantages it had over competing Windows Phone OEMs, the move will ensure a good mapping experience on every Windows Phone 8 device. It will include support offline maps, turn by turn directions, and all third part apps will be able to access mapping data.

A shared core

The new Windows Phone 8 platform will share common code with the Windows 8 desktop OS. Stuff such as the kernel code, file system, networking services, media foundation, device drivers, and parts of the security model from Windows 8 will be shared between the two platforms. Microsoft is calling this the ‘Windows Core’ and it will enable developers to port their apps between the two platforms without re-writing a lot of code.

Developers will get access to new tools and an updated SDK later this summer that are based on Visual Studio 2012 — supporting apps for both Windows Phone and Windows Phone 8.

Despite this change all existing Windows Phone apps will continue to run on Windows Phone 8. On the downside, however, current Windows Phone 7.5 and earlier devices will not be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 — as has been rumored for months. Instead, the company plans to rollout a Windows Phone 7.8 update that will bring some of Windows Phone 8’s changes to existing devices.

Dual-core processors, NFC, microSD support

Microsoft is also expanding the hardware specifications that Windows Phone 8 supports, allowing manufacturers to deliver more powerful solutions to challenge the iPhone and high-end Android devices. The platform will support dual-core devices this fall and quad-cores sometime after that — in fact, one of the hardware implications of the ‘Windows Core’ is that WP8 in theory will support up to 64-core chips.

Windows Phone 8 will also support more powerful GPUs and three screen resolutions: the current WVGA (800 x 480), WXGA (1280 x 768) and true 720p (1280 x 720). These will have similar aspect ratios (two at 15:9 and one at 16:9) to ensure there's no issue with applications not looking properly all devices.

Another noteworthy addition is NFC support and Microsoft’s own Mobile Wallet Hub. The latter is designed to support NFC payments and the ability to store credit card information, member cards, and frequent flyer cards. It is sort of a hybrid between Google Wallet and Apple’s Passbook, and apparently Microsoft already has several carriers and financial institutions on board with its payments solution.

Additionally, there's a new feature called Tap + Send that allows seamless content sharing between NFC-enabled Windows Phone 8 devices, similar to Android's Beam function.

Microsoft is also adding full SD card support to Windows Phone 8, allowing users to transfer music, photos, video, and even install applications just like they would with removable external storage in Windows PCs.

Microsoft job listing reveals automatic backups coming to Windows Phone

Microsoft is planning an automatic backup feature for the next version of Windows Phone. Although not officially announced yet, the plans were made public in a recent job posting on Microsoft’s Careers website.

It’s not uncommon for companies to seek out employees with a very specific set of skills that are catered to a particular project they are working on. This can be a bit of a double-edged sword as said company would need to be pretty detailed in the job listing to find the right person. Such detail can often paint a vivid picture of future plans for software and hardware which is exactly the case with this listing from Redmond.

The listing is inviting candidates to join the Windows Phone Backup, Migrate, and Restore team. As per the description, the goal of the project revolves around disaster recovery – restoring your phone to a good state should you happen to lose the device or buy a new one, drop it in a swimming pool or if your child accidentally wipes the phone by entering the wrong PIN number too many times.

Microsoft has some catching up to do as other manufacturers have similar features already in place that allow users to seamlessly recover data should the unthinkable happen. Microsoft states that they are planning to introduce the new feature in the next version of Windows Phone, although they didn’t specify if this would be Tango or Apollo.

Those interested in the job can check out the original listing by clicking here.

Rumor: Microsoft to buy Nokia smartphone division in 2012

Microsoft may be poised to purchase Nokia’s smartphone division by the middle of 2012. Analysts at Danske Bank sparked speculation in a report in which they said a deal with Microsoft “makes sense”, according to Bloomberg.

A deal with Redmond has been rumored ever since Nokia named Microsoft executive Stephen Elop as their CEO in September 2010. Nokia shipped their first smartphones running Windows Phone operating system this quarter. The Lumia 800 and 710 were introduced in late October and have been billed by many as the best Windows Phones yet.

Such a merger could be good for both businesses as Microsoft competes with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems for market share.

Nokia stock rose as much as 3.2 percent based on the report. Danske Bank has even changed their recommendation on Nokia from “hold” to “buy”. Company stock has declined significantly in the past year, losing roughly 50 percent of its value since January. Nokia is currently valued around $19.1 billion.

A deal with Nokia wouldn’t be the first high profile acquisition in recent memory. In August, Google agreed to purchase Motorola’s mobile unit for $12.5 billion. The deal is still pending customary regulatory approvals but if passed, it would mark Google’s largest-ever acquisition.

A spokesman for Nokia, Doug Dawson, denied the report in an email statement to Bloomberg, saying the company put these rumors to rest a long time ago.

Windows Phone leadership changed, Windows 8 integration hinted

On Monday, Steve Ballmer issued a memo informing Microsoft employees that leadership of the Windows Phone 7 team would be handed over to vice president and lead engineer, Terry Myerson. The former division president, Andy Lees, will be working on a special project that aims to yield the "maximum impact" of Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 in 2012. Lees had been the president of the WP7 team for three years.

While "driving maximum impact" is not clearly defined, Microsoft may be planning some substantial tie-in between Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8. Perhaps this will translate into tight integration between the two platforms, mutual promotions, common design elements, ideas for tablet PCs or even some sort of platform unification. Regardless, the implications could be profound. We'll just have to rely on our imaginations for now.

Ballmer admitted Windows Phone 7 has not seen the kind of traction Microsoft would like, with a mere 1.5 percentmarket share among smart phones world-wide. Analysts have also shown that WP7 has all but stopped in growth while Android gobbles up most new smartphone owners across the globe.

Despite the company's difficulties, Microsoft's CEO points out that smart phones with WP7 continue to receive favorable reviews and people generally seem to like the platform. Early this year, we reported that 93 percent of WP7 owners were either satisfied or very satisfied with their phones and 90 percent were willing to recommend the platform to their friends.

Ballmer also suggested Microsoft's recent deal with Nokia will help forge a healthy future for Microsoft's mobile endeavor. As part of the deal, the handset maker will been manufacturing WP7 phones for global distribution. The Lumia is the only Nokia phone currently available with WP7.

As part of a holiday promotion, Microsoft is still offering their $25 prepaid app store card for the purchase of any WP7 phone until December 31.

SMS flaw discovered in Windows Phone 7.5

Microsoft's mobile platform is coming under increased scrutiny after it was revealed that smartphones running Windows Phone 7.5 are at risk of denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that can disable their messaging functions.

Khaled Salemeh, who has been commenting about it on his Twitter account, discovered the flaw. He enlisted the help of WinRumors on Monday and both parties are in the process of disclosing the issue to Microsoft directly. According to WinRumors, the vulnerability works by sending a specially crafted SMS to a Windows Phone device, causing the handset to reboot with the messaging hub functionality disabled.

The site tested it on several different handset models including HTC's Titan and Samsung's Focus Flash. They also noted that the devices used both WP7.5 version 7740 and the Mango RTM build 7720.

"The attack is not device specific and appears to be an issue with the way the Windows Phone messaging hub handles messages," says the report. WinRumors also found that the bug could be triggered if a user sent a Facebook chat message or Windows Live Messenger message to someone in their contacts list.

The site found that this flaw affects other aspects of the Windows Phone operating system too. In particular, if a user has pinned a friend as a live tile on their device and that friend posts a particular message on Facebook, then the live tile will update and cause the device to lock up. One way to work around this is quickly removing the live tile as soon as the handset loads to the home screen.

WinRumors believes the issue relates to the way the mobile OS handles messages, and doesn't represent a security threat. There is no workaround to mitigate it though and for those experiencing a problem the only way of restoring messaging functions is to perform a hard reset of the handset.