Lumia 521

Last week, T-Mobile US let loose the Windows Phone 8.1 update for their Nokia Lumia 925. At the time, we noted that the budget Windows Phone Lumia 521 was slated to get its update sometime in November.

It looks like that day is today November 4 as numerous reports are coming in from users who have a fresh update to install.

Back in the month of April, T-Mobile announced that it will be rolling out the Windows Phone 8.1 update to the Lumia 925 and the Lumia 521 over the summer. As we head into fall, there is no word of when the update will be available to users on either device, with a tweet from T-Mobile's support account only mentioning that an update will be available "later this year."

The Windows Phone 8.1 news just keeps coming today, and not to be lost in the shuffle are T-Mobile's rough upgrade plans for its Windows Phones. Both the Lumia 925 and lower-end Lumia 521 on T-Mobile will be making the jump to Windows Phone 8.1, and even 521 owners on the prepaid side with MetroPCS will be getting the update.

In January Nokia stated that the Lumia Black firmware update would be available to all in the coming weeks after its initial rollout. That didn’t exactly happen, as we’re still seeing certain regions and handsets lighting up with Lumia Black. For example, just yesterday the Lumia 620 in India received the firmware update. One little handset here in the United States still doesn’t have it. That’d be the Lumia 521, a variant of the Lumia 520 exclusive to T-Mobile. We haven’t heard much about the status of the update, but we do know it’s now listed as ‘coming soon’ on Nokia’s website.

There’s no such thing as “too many” Windows Phone handsets. Right now I’ve got about 4 on me at this coffee shop, but that pales in comparison to Daniel – who has literally every Windows Phone made. Looking to add some more devices to your quiver? There’s no excuse not to pick up either the Nokia Lumia 520 or Lumia 521. Both devices are killer for their price points, which have just got done at the Microsoft Store.

Know a friend or family member that needs an affordable smartphone on T-Mobile? You could recommend a Nokia Lumia 521. Better yet, you can buy it for them for the Holidays. Target is having Nokia’s best-selling Windows Phone 8 device in their stores next week for just $59.99. Let us remind you that’s the price without signing a two-year contract.

The deal is available from Sunday, December 15th until Saturday, December 21st. It is advertised in Target’s printed weekly ad, but we are not sure if this applies to the online store as well.

Latest data from AdDuplex shows the Lumia 520 owning 33% of the Windows Phone global market; Nokia inches closer to 90% dominance

Another month, another very informative report from AdDuplex. As the largest cross-promotion network on Windows Phone and Windows 8, AdDuplex has been a solid source of data to get a bird’s eye view of the Windows Phone platform.  

What can we learn from the data from the past month? Globally, Windows Phone 8 is now on over 70% of handhelds running Microsoft’s mobile operating system. Read on for more insights into the world of Windows Phone.

Do you have $80 laying around and want to pick yourself up a backup phone? Maybe one for your grandkid or someone in your family? Look no further than HSN who once again have the Nokia Lumia 521, T-Mobile's variant of the Lumia 520, on sale for just $80, plus free shipping.

Mind you, that’s the full price for a no-strings attached Windows Phone.

The Nokia Lumia 521 from T-Mobile and the Lumia 520 from AT&T are sitting atop Amazon.com's list of the most popular no-contract phones.

The two Windows Phones are essentially the same with both sporting 4" screens, 5MP rear camera, micro-SD card expansion, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of on-board storage. The T-Mobile 521 is listed for $124.20 with the Lumia 520 running $99.99 as an AT&T pre-paid GoPhone.