Month: February 2014

Nokia has just kicked off their press conference in Barcelona, Spain. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announced that the Lumia 520 is the most selling smartphone in the world. In addition, he also added that BBM messenger which is already on Android on iOS, it will now enter Windows Phones through Lumia devices. This announcement comes after Microsoft announcing the Facebook Messenger’s arrival to Windows Phone ecosystem in a matter of few weeks. Not to forget, apps like Path, Vine, Instagram, Mint etc are already on Windows Phones now. Next time you say, Windows Phones don’t have enough apps, you may wanna think again. 

Nokia finally breaks the suspense. Nokia has just announced the Nokia X and X+. It also supports Android applications. The phones have been built on the Open source Android project. Nokia X is a low end phone while Nokia X+ is an enhanced version with more storage and memory card support. 

“Nokia X takes people to Microsoft’s cloud and not Google’s cloud”, said Mr Elop. Nokia X series will also feature Nokia Here Maps and Nokia Mix Radio along with the Nokia OneDrive. 

 The Nokia XL features a 5 inch IPS capacitive display. It features 2MP camera on the front and 5MP camera at the back. Skype will offer free one month unlimited free calls to mobiles and land phones with Nokia X devices. 

Nokia X series will also feature fast lane. This phone tries to bring the best of both Android and Windows Phones. Nokia X is priced 89 Euro, Nokia X+ will be available for 99 Euros and Nokia XL will be available for 109 Euros. The Nokia X will be available immediately while Nokia X+ and Nokia XL will be available in second half of 2014.

Microsoft is currently holding a press conference at MWC Barcelona, Spain. Microsoft has been announcing some cool new features that will be arriving soon to Windows Phones in the next few weeks(Spring 2014 approx).

Features include:

• Dual sim support(With Dual phone live tiles)
• Wider Hardware support(Snapdragon 200, 400, and 400 LTE chipsets)
• Facebook Messenger app for Windows Phone 8
• Ability to store apps in memory cards
• On screen buttons

That’s not a lot of features, but its good to know there are some features coming.

Nokia has released an amazing app to the Windows phone store that will help you keep track of all the events at MWC like the speakers, exhibitor list, take notes within the app, share contact information etc. And it gets better. The app also lets you get to the venue if you’re at Barcelona and also listen to some Spanish songs on the radio. Read the full set of features below.

View the entire list of MWC exhibitors, speakers and agenda, including the tracks for Conference and Nokia ADC.
View venue maps without an Internet connection
Personalize your favourite speaker, exhibitor and event list.
Explore Barcelona with the help of built-in Here Map, Here Transit and AR.
Network within the event by sharing your contact information and event detail using NFC.
Read the latest Nokia announcement and MWC social media feeds.
Listen to songs of local Spanish artists and learn a few useful Spanish phrases to help you get around Barcelona
Participate in MWC Challenge and MWC Photos sharing to win Lumia phones. 

Click here to download the app

Facebook will soon acquire the popular instant messaging software Whatsapp for a whopping $16 billion in cash and stock. That’s nearly $43 per each user of its total 450+ million monthly users.

Whatsapp is undoubtedly one of the leading instant messaging app out there. Facebook previously tried to acquire Snapchat for $4 billion. But Snapchat had turned down that offer. This acquisition is in many ways better than Snapchat for Facebook as Whatsapp has a larger userbase than former. However, the question now is, can both the companies come up with new good working model as they have completely different working principles as of now.

Facebook’s messaging system is available both on desktop and smartphones, while Whatsapp is limited smartphones alone. Whatsapp also follows a yearly subscription pattern with no ads whatsover. As pen Jan Koum, CEO of Whatsapp, they will continue to strictly follow their working principles. Both the companies have already discussed about this before coming to an agreement. Facebook already integrates with SMS app on Android. And soon it will also integrate Whatsapp. Things are looking interesting for the both the company owners and us the users. Let’s hope Facebook does not screw this up !!

Japan’s biggest online retailer Rakuten Inc will soon acquire the famous voice calling app Viber. If you own a smartphone, chances are high that you’ve used and appreciated the Viber app. Its very famous for its crystal clear voice calling feature and sticker market which is one of its largest earning business. 

Viber currently has 300 million users and is growing day by day. Viber is used in over 193 countries across the world. I’ve always hoped Whatsapp and Viber would tie a knot creating one of the best call/messaging software. That aside, this is actually a good news Viber and its users in hopes that Rakuten will now implement all the changes that Viber had to set back due to its lack of funding and the loss it had incurred in the last year. 

Via WSJ

In a surprising turn of events, Nokia has just launched a new flagship named Lumia icon in the US through Verizon. That’s right, we’re only two weeks away from MWC and yet something this big comes.

This new phone is similar to the Lumia 1520 announced a few months back. However, this is a more compact phone that its big brother.

The phone sports a 5” Full HD display with 441ppi, 2.2 GHz qualcomm 800 processor, 32GB internal memory, 2GB RAM, a whopping 20MP camera and it does not have protruding lens like the Lumia 1020, which is nice. It also brings wireless charging and a decent 2420 mAh battery. 

Motorola’s latest Moto G is now available in UAE for just AED 899. That’s right. Moto G has been making a lot of noise online due to its inexpensive price which is not just applicable to US but all around the world. A week back Moto G was also launched in India for Rs 12449/- and has been sold out in most places. 

Motorola’s Moto G comes with quad core 4.5” display, dual sim support, 1.2Ghz processor with 1GB of RAM, Kitkat(Upgradeable from the v4.3), 8/16GB, corning gorilla glass 3, 5MP camera on the back with LED flash and a non removable 2070mAh. Considering the features and outright upgradeability to Android 4.4, Moto G is more than a good bargain at this price. Get it before its too late !!

In a very bold and surprising move, Sony has stopped providing support for many of their 2012 smartphones. Through a blogpost on the XperiaBlog, Sony confirmed that it will no longer support Sony Xperia arc S, Xperia S, Xperia SL, Xperia ion, Xperia acro S, Xperia go, Xperia P, Xperia J, Xperia miro, Xperia sola, Xperia tipo, and Xperia U. If you own one of these models, now would be a good time to upgrade. In a very competitive field of smartphones, I think its a mistake on Sony’s part to withdraw support for these models considering their age. I’m not quite sure how many of the customers would buy another Sony phone again after this move. What do you think ?