Nokia Lumia 620 vs. Sony Xperia P: Which Mid-Range Smartphone is a Better Buy?

Finnish handset maker Nokia had launched the much awaited flagship Lumia 620 smartphone only a few weeks ago into the Indian market.

Nokia's Lumia 620 falls in the bracket of mid-range smartphones which offer descent high-end features at an affordable price. Sony's Xperia P is one such competitor which packs similar features but comes with an expensive price-tag.

Here is a brief description of specifications of Nokia Lumia 620 and Sony Xperia P:


Display:

Lumia 620 sports a 3.8-inch TFT screen with 800x480p resolution display, whereas Xperia P boasts a bigger 4.0-inch TFT display with 960x540p resolutions.

Processor:
In terms of power, Lumia 620 packs a dual-core 1GHz Qualcomm processor, while Sony Xperia P too packs a dual-core processor.


Camera:

Nokia's Lumia 620 sports a 5.0-megapixel main camera with 720p HD video-recording and VGA front camera. Sony's smartphone packs an impressive 8.0-megapixel main camera with LED flash support and full HD video recording. It also comes with 8X digital zoom and a 0.3-megapixel VGA camera.

Operating System:

Like any other android smartphone, Sony Xperia P scores some points over Windows Phone 8 based Lumia 620. The Sony handset runs on Google Android mobile OS version Ginger bread with options of upgrading to the v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, which is currently the most widely used operating system version in the market. The Android ecosystem holds a large collection of more than 700,000 apps, only second to Apple's app collection.

Lumia 620 buyers will have limited options with the Windows Phone 8 OS, as the new OS was released only a few months ago in the market and only holds a little over 150,000 plus apps. Even popular photo app Instagram is yet to debut in the Windows app store.

Memory:

Sony Xperia comes with 16GB storage capacity with no options of memory expansion and packs a 1GB RAM. The Nokia smartphone comes with 8GB internal memory capable of expanding up to 64 GB via micro-SD card. But the device comes with 512 RAM; which means Lumia 620 buyers will not be able to play popular mobile game 'Angry Birds' which requires 1GB RAM.

Price:

Nokia Lumia 620 is currently priced ₹14,499, whereas Sony Xperia P holds a price-tag of ₹20,990, almost a ₹6,500 price difference between the two devices. In a price-sensitive market like India, this might play a crucial part in the minds of middle-class buyers who form a big chunk of the sub-continent's population.

With a sub-₹15,000 price-tag and peppy dual-colour back panel options, Lumia 620 is expected to be a hit among Indian youths.

Model	Nokia Lumia 620	Sony Xperia P
Display	3.8-inch TFT WVGA (800x480) with ClearBlack Display technology	4.0-inch TFT scratch-resistant screen with qHD 960x540p display resolutions and Bravia Engine
OS	Windows Phone 8 OS	Android v2.3 Ginger Bread operating system, but can be upgraded to v4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS
Processor	Qualcomm SnapdragonTM S4 based dual-core processor with 1.0GHz CPU speed	Dual-core processor with 1GHz processor
GPU	Adreno 305	Mali 400
RAM	512 MB	1GB
Storage	8GB, expandable up to 64GB	16GB, with no option of expanding memory
Camera	Rear:5.0-MP with Flash support  (2592x1936p image resolutions) Front: VGA camera(640x480)	Rear: 8.0-megapixel camera with 3D Sweep Panorama, face & smile detection, auto-focus and LED Flash support. Front: VGA camera
Battery	1300 mAh, 330 hours(3G) standby time	1305 mAh, 475 hours (3G) standby time
Network	2G & 3G	2G & 3G
Dimension	61.1 x 115.4 x 11.0 mm	122.0 x 59.5 x 10.5 mm
Weight	127 g	120 g
*Price	₹14,499/-	₹20,990

Kapil Sibal Eyes Google, Nokia to Promote Urdu

In an effort to popularise Urdu, communication minister Kapil Sibal has decided to set up a committee of experts to evolve technology for linking the culturally rich language with the Google search engine. 

He also urged Nokia - the world's largest mobile company - to develop a software so that 170 million Urdu speaking people in India can communicate with each other in this language. 

The purpose is to link Urdu with all the social networking sites, Sibal said at the Urdu Editors Forum which was also attended by Harayana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Urdu scholars. 

Sibal said he held meetings with National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) vice chairman and noted poet, Prof Wasim Barelvi and director Khawja Ekram in this connection and directed them to prepare a comprehensive proposal in this respect. He said he has convened a meeting of top communication experts April 8 to take further steps in this regard. 

He also said a team of experts will be set up to develop method and technology for using Urdu in social networking sites. This will benefit Urdu-speaking people, who are not only in India but in Pakistan and other countries too. 

Sibal said that all source material on Google will be made available in Urdu and this will help popularise the language all over the world. He said that Urdu can be taught through Skype as many students all over the world have shown interest to learn the language. 

Giving a detailed presentation, Ekram said it is possible to evolve new technology for providing source material in Urdu. 

Hooda said that his government has recently recruited scores of Urdu teachers in Muslim concentrated areas of Haryana like Mewat, Panipat and other areas and will render all possible help in promotion of the language. 

Delhi Urdu Academy vice chairman, Prof Akhtarul Wasey, former advisor to ex-prime minister Narasimha Rao, Pandit NK Sharma, Sahara Urdu group editor Syed Faisal Ali, Secular Qayadat chief editor Qari Mazhari and others also attended the function.

Nokia Shuts Biggest Store in Shanghai

The once ruling phone-maker Nokia is sure battling tough times. After selling their Finnish headquarters last year, Nokia is now shutting down exclusive Nokia stores too. The Finnish phone maker recently confirmed the shutdown of their biggest store in Shanghai.


The store which was Nokia’s flagship store and the largest their largest in the world was shut down on March 31 this year. However, Nokia refused to speak to the media breaking the silence much after the shut-down. 

Nokia explained that while the company is definitely not deserting the Chinese market, instead of having their own properties, they are looking at retailers and distribution arms for better reach. According to a Nokia spokesperson: “Nokia is focusing on growing its presence in operator and third-party retail outlets, rather than through our own physical stores. We are, of course, also continuously beefing up our online presence. With this in mind, our store in Shanghai was closed on 31 March.” The statement was provided to ZDNet who confirmed the news of the closure with Nokia.

The future looks bleak for Nokia as despite its success with the new Windows 8 phones, there is still a long way to go for the company. The Chinese markets look especially bad as Nokia’s market shares have declined sharply in China. Nokia seems to be struggling to survive in what was once considered its strongest market.

The advent of Android and Apple’s popularity in China have definitely not helped the struggling phonemaker. While Apple is getting stronger in the Asian markets, Nokia seems to be slowly falling behind. Also, considering two of the most popular Android implementers, Samsung and HTC both come from Asian markets, they have a stronghold over China. 

Nokia’s decision to shift from Symbian to Microsoft might have saved the company from doomsday but it has definitely not gone well with their biggest market. Is this another nail in the coffin for Nokia?

Press image of Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless leaks out

A press image of the previously tipped, long-awaited Nokia Lumia 928 for Verizon Wireless has made the rounds on Twitter. The Big Red's upcoming Windows Phone 8 flagship will likely be officially released by the end of this month.

As its name mildly suggests, the Nokia Lumia 928 will be closely related to the AT&T exclusive Lumia 920 - it is expected to share the same CPU and display. The Verizon offering however, will one-up its AT&T counterpart by packing a xenon flash in addition to the standard LED one. It is also expected to ditch the 920's polycarbonate unibody for an aluminum outfit.

Source: http://twitter.com/evleaks/status/320360832833835009

More US companies plan to support Windows Phone 8 than Blackberry 10

Underlining that Windows Phone has now moved ahead of Blackberry in USA in terms of market share and mind share, a recent survey by iPass® Inc. and MobileIron,  which drew from the experiences of 477 IT executives worldwide, found that IT is more bullish on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 handsets than on RIM’s BlackBerry 10 phones.

The majority (about 75 percent) of respondents were currently employed IT professionals, at the director level or above. Fifty (50) percent of respondents worked for companies with more than 1,000 employees.

The survey found only 34 percent of IT managers plan to support BlackBerry 10, compared to 45 percent who plan to support Windows Phone 8 devices going forward. This is an improvement on the current level of Windows Phone 7 support, which is around the 32.6% mark, and a large drop in support for Blackberry, which is currently at the 62% mark. iPhones are currently supported by 77% of businesses, while Android phones are supported by 61%.

The survey also found however increasingly strong support for the Bring Your own Device movement, with 81 percent of respondents stating their company now accommodates personal devices in the office, underlining the need to continue fighting for consumer market share, as the business and consumer market continues to converge.

The survey took place between December 2012 and January 2013. The full iPass/MobileIron Mobile Enterprise Report can be found at here.

Windows Phone Tops BlackBerry In U.S.

Windows Phone sales exceeded BlackBerry sales in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2012, says Strategy Analytics.


The real battle in the U.S. smartphone market isn't for first or second place, at least not yet. Apple and Google will continue to tussle for the smartphone crown for some time to come. No, the real war will be waged for third place. Right now, it looks like there may have been a change in the rankings.

"Microsoft Windows Phone overtook BlackBerry OS to become the third largest smartphone platform in the influential United States market during Q4 2012," reported Strategy Analytics. "It was the first time Microsoft has surpassed BlackBerry since 2006."

If true, it shouldn't be much of a surprise. Sales of BlackBerry smartphones in the U.S. are probably at their lowest point in a decade. Sales have been dropping steadily for some time. Further, BlackBerry widely publicized that it planned to launch BlackBerry 10 in late January. Fans of BlackBerry devices know enough to wait for the Z10 and Q10, announced last week, to arrive.

At the same time, Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8 during the fourth quarter with a half-dozen new models. Solid smartphones, such as the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X, went on sale in November at aggressive price points.

In fact, at least one source reported that WP8 sales have been incredibly strong. New statistics from AdDuplex show that in the 90 or so days since its release, there are now more active Windows Phone 8 users than Windows Phone 7 users. Considering that WP7 has been around for more than two years, that's a notable data point.

This may be a temporary victory for Microsoft, though. With BlackBerry 10 reaching U.S. store shelves in March, BlackBerry's turnaround saga begins in full. The first BB10 smartphone, the Z10, has seen decent initial demand in other markets, even outselling some WP8 devices. With the Z10 and Q10, expected to arrive in May or June, BlackBerry has a fighting chance against Microsoft.

It will be up to Microsoft's OEM partners to continue to bring new and exciting WP8 devices to market. Nokia is prepared to reveal new gear at Mobile World Congress later this month, and other smartphone makers, such as HTC and Samsung, are sure to introduce new WP8 hardware before the Q10 goes on sale toward the end of the second quarter.

Unfortunately, we'll need to wait until the close of the third or fourth quarter to see if BlackBerry or Microsoft will be standing in third place behind Apple and Google.

‘Blue is large update for Windows 8, Windows Phone and Hotmail’

Blue would not only be the codename for a large update for Windows 8 but also a large update for Windows Phone, Windows Server, Hotmail and Skydrive. Microsoft will update its products every year from now on, according to ZDNet.

The Blue update would be the first time that Microsoft will update a large amount of its products at once. ZDNet claims that the information comes from a reliable source close to Microsoft. The site frequently receives correct insider information about Microsoft which makes the rumor trustworthy. The site was also the first to report about the existence of the Blue update.

If the information is indeed correct, it’s the first time that information becomes available on a large update for Windows Phone 8. The mobile operating system already received an updated called Portico, but this was rather small and mainly fixed some bugs. A large update hasn’t been announced, but could now be part of the Blue release.

Besides the large yearly updates that should be released at once, it’s likely that Microsoft will also release smaller updates more often. Release dates for these updates would vary per platform. The yearly update cycle isn’t new for Microsoft but other large tech companies use the same method. Apple releases a new version of iOS and Mac OS X every year and Google releases large updates for Android at least two times a year. Canonical also releases two updates of Linux variant Ubuntu.

In the meantime development of Windows 9 also seems to have started. ZDnet has posted a picture of a Linkedin profile (now changed) that reveals that Microsoft has developers in India working the successor of Windows 8.

Spotify Lands On Windows Phone 8

Spotify has just landed on the Windows Phone 8 platform, giving Microsoft’s mobile users access to one of the world’s largest music streaming platforms.

Before today, the app was only available on iOS, Android, Symbian, and to legacy Windows Phone users, but Spotify has spread the love around to the newest version of the Windows Phone software.

The app is currently being released as a free beta in the Windows Phone Store.

If you’re reading this, you should already be familiar with Spotify, but in case you aren’t familiar, here’s the deal. Spotify is a music streaming platform that helps you discover new music.

Users can create their own playlists, or browse the playlists of others, and the best part is that you don’t need an internet connection to do so. The platform also works in the cloud, meaning your phone’s Spotify library is also available on your PC.

The app is free and available now, with a 30-day free trial. After that, premium service will cost $9.99 a month.

Windows Phone 7.8 finally arrives for older Lumia devices, adding apps and Start screen functionality

Nokia has announced that Windows Phone 7.8 has arrived and is encouraging people to update their Lumia devices. In a video uploaded to YouTube, the phone manufacturer highlights what’s new with the updated Windows Phone operating system, and how users can do so through their Zune software.

Promised by Microsoft in early 2013, Windows Phone 7.8 is considered by some to be the company’s “stopgap measure” for older handsets. If you’ve purchased a Windows Phone device that didn’t come with Windows Phone 8, you’re out of luck because you won’t be able to get it without buying a newer phone. To that end, Microsoft released Windows Phone 7.8, with a new Start Screen similar to Windows Phone 8.

Nokia says that the updated operating system has been shipping pre-loaded on its Nokia Lumia 510 device, along with other phones in the Lumia family. For those with Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800, and 900 model phones, update notifications will appear soon.

To update your phone, Nokia says you should connect the device to your computer through Zune for PC or the Windows Phone app for Mac and then follow the onscreen instructions.

Some of the features that the Lumia phones will receive as a result of the update includes more tiles, Internet sharing, Bluetooth sharing, image enhancements like Camera Extras, and release of apps such as Contact Share, Play To, and Nokia City Lens. Nokia says that the Start screen experience has also been refreshed to allow tiles to be resized, there are new options to lock the screen, receive a daily background image from Bing, and increased language support.

Windows Phone 7.8: hollow, pointless, and essentially useless

A few days ago, Microsoft released the long-awaited Windows Phone 7.8 update for all those users who will be stuck on Windows Phone 7 forever because there's no upgrade path to Windows Phone 8 other than buying a new phone. Now that it's here, what, exactly,does WP7.8 to the table?

Windows Phone 7's core consists of Windows CE 6.0, as we already detailed a long, long time ago. For Windows Phone 8, the company made the bold move of leaving the venerable Windows CE behind in favour of the just as venerable Windows NT. According to Microsoft, this brought with it heftier system requirements that Windows Phone 7 devices couldn't fulfil.

This was a slap in the face of the - admittedly, small - existing Windows Phone userbase, especially since Windows Phone 7 devices were still being sold, and, in fact, are still being sold today. As a sort of peace offering, Microsoft promised us Windows Phone 7.8. Its release has taken quite a bit longer than anticipated, but now that it's here, was it worth the wait?

Well, first of all, we're looking at yet another one of them phased rollouts, so it's very likely your phone hasn't been updated yet at all. There are a few ways to force the update - the Zune trick,manual .cab files, or the automated .cab install - but if you don't want to take any risks, it might take a few weeks before you'll get the update. Even though I've already happily moved on to an HTC 8X, I grabbed my unbranded and unlocked HTC HD7 out of the closet to see what WP7.8 is all about. I had to use the automatic .cab tool to update, but it worked.

So, what does Windows Phone 7.8 bring to the table? To be honest, very, very little. Despite the version number jump from 7.5 to 7.8 and the update's symbolic function as a peace offering, it's purely cosmetic, and other than resizable live tiles, a few new accent colours and minor changes to the lock screen, it brings absolutely nothing to the table. So, it basically comes down to the only new feature being resizable live tiles - of which the small versions, the new size, look fuzzy because the developers haven't updated their applications to include the proper resources.

The deprecated nature of WP7 also becomes apparent when looking at applications. You see, just as with the shift from 7.0 to 7.5, developers can't just submit a single version of their application to Microsoft. Instead, they have to maintain both a WP8 and a WP7.8 version of their application. With Windows Phone already playing a distant third fiddle to the Android and iOS juggernauts, you can't really blame developers for not bothering with WP7.8 at all, moving to working on WP8 versions only.

And so, Rowi on WP8 is version 3.2.0, but only 2.2.0 on WP7. Facebook - 4.1.0 on WP8, 2.8.0 on WP7. Not only is the operating system itself outdated, the applications are as well. You'll have to settle for slower versions, possibly with bugs that have already been fixed in the WP8 version. For a platform with few users, this doesn't seem like an inviting prospect for developers.

Really, that's all there's to it. There's nothing else to add here - that's how utterly insubstantial the Windows Phone 7.8 update is. There's no noticeable speed improvements, no defining new features, and - my biggest complaint, which I saved for last - it didn't address Windows Phone 7's biggest problem.

I was under the impression that Windows Phone 7.8 would significantly improve upon its predecessor in one particular area: the browser. Internet Explorer 9 in WP7.x was already lagging behind when it was new, and this has only gotten worse with the years. Sadly, Windows Phone 7.8 does not update Internet Explorer to version 10, which is way, way better. In other words, you're getting an update, but you're left with an old and outdated browser.

So, all in all, Windows Phone 7.8 is hollow, pointless, and essentially useless. It does nothing to address the total and utter abandonment of loyal Windows Phone 7 users, and doesn't solve the problem of current Windows Phone 7 buyers already buying outdated, deprecated stuff.

I honestly have no idea why this was released in the first place.

Windows Phone, BlackBerry will coexist with Android and Apple

The latest figures and forecasts show that despite Android and Apple's dominance, there's room in the global smartphone market for BlackBerry and Microsoft too.

Despite lavish launch events, intuitive operating systems and cutting-edge handset design, many consumers will be thinking twice about taking a chance on a Windows Phone or BlackBerry handset due to the dominance of Android and Apple and the perception that the smartphone market is essentially a two-horse race.

However, according to ABI Research, although Android will indeed account for the lion's share of global market for some time to come, of the 1.4 billion smartphones predicted to be active by the end of 2013, 45 million, or 3.2 percent, of that total will be Windows Phones and 1 percent (20 million) will be BlackBerry.

As senior ABI analyst Aapo Markkanen comments: "2013 should be seen as relative success for both Microsoft and BlackBerry. For the end of the year, we expect there to be 45 million Windows Phone handsets in use, with BlackBerry 10 holding an installed base of close to 20 million. Microsoft will also have 5.5 million Windows-powered tablets to show for it."

But while a comparatively tiny marketshare, especially compared with Android's predicted 57 percent share (based on 798 million handsets) and Apple's 294 million device 21 percent share, Microsoft's and BlackBerry's shares will still be sufficient to keep developers engaged and involved and therefore continue to make apps for both platforms.

"The greatest fear for both Microsoft and BlackBerry is that the initial sales of their smartphones will disappoint and thereby kill off the developer interest, which then would effectively close the window of opportunity on further sales success. Our view is that the installed bases of this scale would be large enough to keep these two in the game. It will definitely also help that both firms have actively kept the developers' interest in mind while designing and rolling out their platforms," says Markkanen.

So for consumers in the market for a handset that bucks the trend but who are worried that this show of individuality could saddle them with a smartphone with no apps and no future sixth months later, don't panic. At least, for the moment.

Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade on the way

Nokia's Italian arm has confirmed that the long-awaited Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade, which introduces Windows Phone 8-like features to the company's last-generation smartphone products, will be launching within the next few days.

Originally scheduled for release some time this quarter, the upgrade was announced whenMicrosoft stated that Windows Phone 7.5 users would not be able to use Windows Phone 8 - news that owners of the at the time recently-released Nokia Lumia handsets were not happy with. Designed to address concerns about longevity, Windows Phone 7.8 brings selected Windows Phone 8 features to older handsets - but it's been a long time coming.

The wait, however, looks to be finally over for Nokia Lumia owners still running Windows Phone 7.5. Responding to a customer query on Twitter, Nokia Italia confirmed that the Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade for its older handsets would be launching within the next couple of days - confirming an earlier claim from Nokia's Spanish division that the release would occur sometime in January.

Earlier this month, a version of the upgrade was uploaded to Nokia's firmware repository but not officially released to handsets. Those who wished to upgrade early found they could manually download and install the upgrade, but Nokia has since removed the files from its repository ahead of the official, formal launch.

Owners of the Nokia Lumia 610, 710, 800 or 900 - all of which use Microsoft's last-generation Windows Phone 7.5 operating system - should keep an eye on their handsets over the next week to receive notification that the upgrade is available.