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Tag: windows-phone

  • Samsung Launches Omnia W with Windows Phone Mango

    Samsung, the world’s number two mobile phones manufacturer, has announced the launch of the Samsung Omnia W, the first company's smartphone based on the latest version of the Microsoft Windows Phone, also known as Mango.

    Omnia W has 3.7-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 1.4 GHz processor, 5-megapixel camera and 512 MB RAM and 8GB internal memory.

    According to Microsoft, Windows Phone was developed in order to provide intuitive phones, "smart and socially connected." The six Microsoft applications provide interesting content and innovative communication experience. Windows Phone People Hub integrates the most important social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Windows Live, so that the users to always stay connected to the communities they belong.

    Office Hub offers greater productivity in movement and includes access to Windows Live Sky Drive, which offers 25GB storage capacity and easy access to documents and media files. Users can create and edit documents through the mobile versions of Microsoft Office Excel, Word and PowerPoint, but can also use the One Note, a platform designed for taking notes, allowing convenient storing of the voice memos, pictures and notes in text format.

    The flawless access to entertainment can be made thanks to the integration of Picture Hub, Music & Video Hub – provided by Microsoft Zune – and Game Hub, which provides the latest social gaming experiences through Xbox Live. This interface allows players to chat even during the game.

    Users can stay up to date with the latest news and events via the Now 2.0, which offers live information regarding business, stock markets or weather. RSS Time allows downloading and reading RSS feeds for newspapers, magazines and blogs in an easy and digestible format; the articles of interest can be instantly shared by e-mail or posted on Facebook.

    The device offers enhanced integration of social networks, by adding the Twitter and LinkedIn networks to Omnia’s interface. Thus, pictures and videos can be shared instantly across a variety of social networks with no complications.

    Omnia W will be commercially available in late October in Italy and gradually worldwide, including the rest of Europe, CIS, Latin America, Africa, Southern and Southwestern Asia.

    You may also want to read:
    iPhone Did Not Conquer Yet the Hearts of the Rich
    Apple Launches Two New Smartphones in 2011: iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S
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  • What You Should Keep in Mind When Buying a Smartphone

    Buying a smartphone is more difficult than it seems. Often, after you do finally purchase it, you feel like you didn’t take the best. And even if it is not so complicated it’s still a frustrating process. The guys at Business Intelligence did a survey in which they asked buyers what are they taking into account when buying a phone.

    On the 5th place came out that many of those who want to buy a new smartphone think of how difficult it’s for them to move the context from one phone to another – all the messages, pictures, calendar, settings, accounts, says one of the authors of the survey.

    He added that for doing this you need to consider the phones you use for transfer, and if you’re still in this chapter, you’d better get something to eat as it will take a while until you’ll succeed. So if you want to know more … Google it.

    In the 4th place in the top things to keep in mind is the mobile operator. This rule is valid in any country, a telephone buyer, especially when buying the phone under subscription, has to choose the operator depending on family and friends.

    The selection of applications is also a priority for consumers, so it is considered "worthy" of a 3rd place. That’s because our phone is so smart depending on how many applications we put on it. But do not forget that the Internet, which all the smart phones can access it, is the ultimate application.

    The phone features are a very important element to be considered by customers. Slider or not, battery lifetime, screen size, storage capacity or Flash support – all these are factors which consumers take into account. The leaders of this survey warn not to fall into the trap of the camera. It does not matter how many megapixels the camera has, so think efficient.

    The most important thing to consider is the platform. For the most of those surveyed it matters if the phone is running on Android, Windows Phone, Web OS, iOS – basically, the operating system dictates, in many cases, what is the best phone. The way icons are placed, how you interact with it matters a lot, because if you do not like, then you bought the phone for nothing.

    In the survey I mentioned above, surprisingly, price was not one of the most important characteristics that consumers take into account when buying a smartphone.

    Related stories:
    Nokia E6 and X7 Ready for Delivery in Europe
    ASUS PadFone – a hybrid between smartphone and tablet
    Microsoft Announces Windows Phone Mango
    The Future Smartphone Designs Presented

  • Windows Phone Will Dictate the Smartphone World Soon?

    There is a huge race among smartphones as currently Apple and Android leading this market. The prevailing interest for smartphone is making much famous research firms to conduct various researches on this market on constant basis and coming up various predictions. The latest research and results from IDC lifted a new veil for these predictions.

    This IDC research revealed that Windows Phone will pretty soon lead the market almost all over shadowing the current popular contenders Apple and Android.

    This research also started soothsaying that by 2015 the Windows Phone occupies the throne successfully. The research result said the there will be one out of five smartphones sold will result from Microsoft. Is it really necessary for Apple and Android to react to this research?

    Coming to the facts, some people really find it tough to get along with Apple’s monopoly and Android’s beyond levels flexibility as a threat. Nokia was already in huge turmoil through its recent partnership with Microsoft. Nokia is no longer looking into the further developments for their Symbian as there is no such desired sales growth for it. Perhaps, all these conditions might fuel up the growth for Windows Phone besides the huge popularity for Microsoft. Practically speaking the IDC results are going to be true until and unless Apple and Android change their approach towards their customer base.

    The recent security threat at Android Market is still warning many smartphone users and asking them to take a wise decision. Apple is still trying to control its customer base through its strong iOS and iTunes. Market is always against to the controls and all of the sudden there is chances to cut lose and start to go against to the limitations through available choices. This is clearly indicating that the Apple and Android is the people to reconsider their approach keeping in mind the possible threat.

    Above details are released by the IDC basing on their research. Just look into those jaw dropping predictions.

    There is one more vital factor to be remembered by everyone. The 2015 predictions mentioned 23.7% as Android share and in fact this is a commanding figure when compared with other contenders. But, reality is Google will not be making any thing out of this success. The Android’s major success share will goes to Oracle for its java-related patent suit issues. This is according to the Google’s acquisition agreement of Sun Microsystems in January. Microsoft too got its share in Google’s success to bite, through Android original equipment manufacturer and gets a part of share on sold out every HTC device. It is clearly indicating how the Google is going to be squeezed and what it is going to make out of its own success. This kind of squeezing might make Google to neglect from concentrating much on Android’s developments and stays happy with whatever is coming through.

    All the mentioned situations are really supporting the IDC perditions and definitely a success path started to lay down on own for Windows Phone’s future.

  • Microsoft Announces Windows Phone Mango

    Microsoft has announced the new version of Windows Phone, Mango, which is said to bring over 500 new features to Microsoft’s mobile OS users. The new version will be available from this fall and will be downloadable for free.

    Windows Phone Mango, will be present on the first Nokia smartphone that will end the partnership with Symbian. It seems that Nokia already has mobile phones with Windows Phone in their "laboratory" and a small selection of smartphones with Mango will be launched by the end of this year.

    "Seven months ago, we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more. With Mango, Windows Phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the internet, giving you better results with less effort,” said Andy Lees, President of Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft.

    Among the most important features Mango brings to the users are:

    • Threads. Switch between text, Facebook chat and Windows Live Messenger within the same conversation.
    • Groups. Group contacts into personalized Live Tiles to see the latest status updates right from the Start Screen and quickly send a text, email or IM to the whole group.
    • Deeper social network integration. Twitter and LinkedIn feeds are now integrated into contact cards, and “Mango” includes built-in Facebook check-ins and new face detection software that makes it easier to quickly tag photos and post to the Web.
    • Linked inbox. See multiple email accounts in one linked inbox. Conversations are organized to make it easy to stay on top of the latest mail.
    • Hands-free messaging. Built-in voice-to-text and text-to-voice support enables hands-free texting or chatting.
    • App Connect. By connecting apps to search results and deepening their integration with Windows Phone Hubs, including Music and Video and Pictures, “Mango” allows apps to be surfaced when and where they make sense.
    • Improved Live Tiles. Get real-time information from apps without having to open them. Live Tiles can be more dynamic and hold more information.
    • Multitasking. Quickly switch between apps in use and allow apps to run in the background, helping to preserve battery life and performance.
    • Internet Explorer 9. A browser based on the powerful Internet Explorer 9 and including support for HTML5 and full hardware acceleration.
    • Local Scout. Provides hyperlocal search results and recommends nearby restaurants, shopping and activities in an easy-to-use guide.
    • Bing on Windows Phone. More ways to search the Web, including Bing Vision, Music Search and Voice so it’s easy to discover and decide.
    • Quick Cards. When searching for a product, movie, event or place, see a quick summary of relevant information, including related apps.

    According to Jo Harlow, Vice President of Nokia, Mango is the perfect operating system for use on the first Nokia mobile phones that are making the switch to Windows, and both developers and consumers will benefit from the new selection of phones.

  • Apple Takes the Lead in the US Smartphone Market with a 26% Share

    In Q3 2010, the worldwide smartphone market grew an impressive 95% over the same quarter a year ago to 80.9 million shipped units, according to Canalys.

    Nokia retained its leadership position, albeit by a diminished margin, with a 33% share of the market. Apple’s healthy performance this quarter saw it achieve a 17% share worldwide, a little ahead of RIM, which held a 15% share this quarter.

    In the world’s largest smart phone market, the US, Apple ousted RIM from the top spot, seizing a 26% share as iPhone shipments continued unabated. RIM has also launched its latest generation smart phone, the Torch, though it only saw half a quarter’s shipments in the US.

    But the plethora of smart phones running the Open Handset Alliance’s (OHA’s) Android platform meant that Canalys’ final published country-level data shows that it took the lead in the US market by operating system, with a 44% share.

    As well as the positive picture in the US, Canalys’ detailed country level smart phone research has consistently highlighted the importance of, and differences in, ‘emerging markets’. For example, in what are now being called the ‘BRIIC’ countries (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia and mainland China), smart phone shipments increased by 112% year-on-year, faster than the market overall, and each country individually saw strong growth. Nokia was the leading vendor in all five BRIIC markets in Q3 2010, benefiting from its global reach and channel relationships.

    According to Canalys, once again this quarter, it was devices running the Android platform that proved the greatest driver of growth in the worldwide market, up 1,309% year-on-year from 1.4 million in Q3 2009 to more than 20.0 million units in Q3 2010, forming a quarter of the market share. “With Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all delivering large numbers of Android devices, and with focused efforts from many other vendors, such as LG, Huawei and Acer, yielding promising volumes, the platform continues to gather momentum in markets around the world,2 said Canalys Senior Analyst Pete Cunningham.

    Driven by Nokia, the Symbian Foundation retained its position as the leading smart phone OS vendor worldwide. Of the 56 named countries that Canalys tracks, it is still the number one OS vendor in 37 of them because of Nokia’s dominance, plus in Japan, where its position is supported by Fujitsu and Sharp. According to the report, the launch of Nokia’s new range of Symbian devices, particularly the N8, will give a boost to its holiday season shipments, and the outlook into 2011 remains positive as Nokia aims to push Symbian devices further into the mid-tier of the market to attract mass-market volumes.

    Devices running Microsoft’s OS accounted for just 3% of worldwide smart phone shipments in Q3 2010, though with the launch of Windows Phone 7 devices, the outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond is significantly improved. “Windows Phone 7 is streets ahead of earlier iterations and provides a vastly improved user experience that will pleasantly surprise many people when they come to use it. The integration of Microsoft service assets, such as Xbox Live, Bing, Zune and Office, greatly strengthens the proposition and we are confident that the initial array of products will perform well,” said Chris Jones, Canalys Principal Analyst.

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