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Bloomberg: Nokia Lumia 928 coming to Verizon next month

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Microsoft, Rumors,

Nokia Lumia 928

It looks like Verizon Wireless is set to finally offer the Nokia Lumia 928, giving Verizon a flagship Windows Phone 8 device, starting next month. While no formal announcements have been made, two people familiar with the details have confirmed it. Since flagship Lumia smartphones in the US have typically been AT&T exclusives, it'll be interesting to see what the Verizon effect will have on sales. The Lumia 928 will have an aluminum enclosure rather than the polycarbonate Lumias that we're used to, with a 4.5-inch display, 8-megapixel camera, and wireless charging capabilities.


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Nokia Lumia 521 coming to T-Mobile in May

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Microsoft,

Nokia Lumia 521

T-Mobile is set to release the Nokia Lumia 521, powered by Windows Phone 8, sometime next month in May. The Lumia 521 sports a 4-inch display, 5 megapixel rear camera with autofocus that records 720p video, and the exclusive suite of Nokia apps like Nokia Music, Cinemagraph, Maps, Transit, HERE Drive, etc. The device will run on T-Mobile 4G (not LTE) network. T-Mobile is keeping quiet on exact pricing and availability for now for whatever reason, but the Lumia 521 won't exactly be flying off of store shelves, so you shouldn't have a hard time finding it once it lands at Walmart, Microsoft Retail Stores, and T-Mobile locations next month.


Unboxing Live 109: Nokia Lumia 920

We open up the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 smartphone in this episode. It's the flagship model available from AT&T, sporting a PureMotion HD+ display, 4G LTE, and PureView camera with optical image stabilization and Carl Zeiss lens. You can pick up the Nokia Lumia 920 from AT&T from $99.99. It's a bit heavy, but the phone looks great, the camera is fantastic, and for $100, it's hard to beat the value.

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Unboxing Live 107: HTC 8X Windows Phone

We got a look at the AT&T HTC 8X Windows Phone device, running Windows Phone 8, and we hit you with an unboxing of this smartphone in this episode. The 8X is HTC's flagship Windows Phone 8 device, sporting a 720p display with 1080p video recording from both the front and rear cameras. It's rare to get that high a recording resolution from a front camera, and is a nice touch that sets the 8X apart from other Windows Phone 8 devices from companies like Nokia and Samsung.

Don't forget to subscribe to Gear Live on YouTube!


Pandora now available for Windows Phone 8 with free, ad-free listening through 2013

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Microsoft, Music,

Pandora for Windows Phone

As we reported months ago, Pandora has finally come to Windows Phone 8. Even better, Windows Phone 8 users get free ad-free listening for the rest of the year, a feature that typically costs $3.99 per month, or $36 per year, known as Pandora One. A few weeks back, Pandora also announced a monthly 40-hour listening cap for free users, so this makes Pandora on Windows Phone 8 the best bang for your buck--provided you want to use a Windows Phone. One other cool feature is that Pandora integrates in with the Windows Phone Kid's Corner feature. When in Kid's Corner, Pandora doesn't show or play any explicit content. You can download it now.

Read More | Windows Phone

Slacker Radio sees massive redesign, aims for Pandora, Spotify

Slacker Radio redesign

Slacker has been around for a few years as both a free and premium Internet radio service, and now the service has released a new redesign. The old black and gold interface is replaced with a newer, hipper, cleaner look on all platforms, including web, Xbox 360 app, and mobile apps. Slacker had to do something to take some attention away from Rdio, Spotify, Pandora, and the like, and we have to say that the new design makes things easier on the eyes, and thusly, easier to use.

Slacker pricing remains intact. You have the free version, Radio Plus for $3.99 per month, and then Slacker Premium for $9.99 per month. Updated Windows Phone 8 and BlackBerry 10 versions are on the way as well.


Spotify finally comes to Windows Phone 8

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Handhelds, Music, Software,

Spotify Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone 8 users have been patiently waiting for Spotify to hit the platform, and the day has finally arrived. You can download the beta Spotify app to get your subscription music streaming on while simultaneously kicking Xbox Music to the curb. The wait was due to the Windows Phone 7 Spotify app being built by a third party and paid for by Microsoft, in an attempt to just get Spotify onto its phones, and since Windows Phone 8 is a totally different platform, the app needed to be rewritten from scratch. Not sure why that garish pus-yellow background needed to be included, but we guess beggars can't be choosers.

Read More | Windows Phone Blog

Valentine’s Day Giveaway: Red Nokia Lumia 920

nokia lumia 920 giveaway

Yes - we're giving away a Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone, running Windows Phone 8 for Valentine's Day! Seriously, February is the month of red, and we've got the perfect smartphone for you to match. The Noka Lumia 920 runs on the AT&T network, and supports LTE.

So, how do you enter to win the Nokia Lumia 920? Simply use the widget below to keep track of your entries! We've got a lot of ways for you to enter, but don't check off any that you don't actually perform. If you do, you'll be eliminated:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

By the way, if you wanna pick up a Lumia 920 on your own, AT&T is currently running a buy 1, get 1 special, meaning you walk away with two Lumia 920 devices for the price of one through February 21st.


Why did Nokia review its own Lumia 620 on its own site?

Nokia Lumia 620 review

Can someone explain to me why Nokia is now reviewing its own Windows Phone smartphones on its own corporate blog? This just screams conflict of interest. In fact, it doesn't appear that the reviewer had anything bad to say about the Nokia Lumia 620 - but hey, it matched the green jumper he happened to be wearing that day, so, that's something…right?

The company just changed the headline, removing the word "review" and replacing it with "hands-on" while adding this note to the post:

This article was first headlined as a ‘review’, obviously, it’s more of a hands-on account of Adam’s experiences and the headline has been changed to reflect that.

They don't seem to realize that, whether you call it a hands-on or a review, it is 100% biased. Seriously, the "reviewer" found nothing wrong and nothing about the device that could be improved. Horrible.

Read More | Nokia

Microsoft to migrate Messenger users to Skype on March 15

Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Software,

Skype Microsoft Messenger

Microsoft is officially retiring its Messenger service and will redirect users, and their contacts, to Skype.

According to The Next Web, users will retain access to Microsoft Messenger until March 15th, at which point they will then be prompted to join Skype. The migration will be made with your contacts in tow, so that alleviates some of the stress involved in the changing of hands. Mobile users of Skype will be glad to know that Microsoft account support is already mixed in with the iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 8 to make the transfer as swift as possible.

How do you feel about the death of Messenger? Let us know in the comments.

Read More | The Next Web

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