We’re still recovering from Microsoft’s //BUILD/ conference from last week. Build 2014 was the event that Microsoft finally showed us Windows Phone 8.1 for the first time publically. It was also full of information for developers throughout the week at all the various sessions. Microsoft has compiled a really handy recap of the event last week. Need to catch up and digest all the info...
One of the many things we’re excited for in Window Phone 8.1 is that it’s going to allow developers to create video editing apps. While we were at Build 2014, one of the sessions showed off, for the first time ever, a Windows Phone app performing a video edit. Take a look after the break. It’s easy to shoot videos with our camera phones, but your friends would not want to watch...
Windows Phone 8.1. Windows 8.1 Update 1. Cortana. Ben and Terry are unsurprisingly excited about the announcements of Build 2014. Watch this video to find out why.
This was a very busy week for all of us here at Windows Phone Central. We went up to San Francisco to attend Build 2014. There Microsoft officially announced Windows Phone 8.1, a new update to Windows 8.1, Windows on Devices and much more. Friday we snuck up to Petaluma, California to visit TWiT Studios for an in-studio taping of Windows Weekly 356. Daniel Rubino joined Mary Jo Foley,...
One particularly interesting talk out of Build showcased Microsoft’s plan to bring Windows Phone into the car with a new embedded software concept. The idea here will be to project the data from the phone onto the dash display in a usable, safe format, but as you can see, a lot of the Windows visual style is retained. This is great, considering most embedded car system interfaces (...
When it comes to video playback on Windows Phone, especially YouTube, things can get a little complicated. We won’t rehash the whole Google-Microsoft tiff over an official app again, but what we can share with you is some details about how Microsoft worked really hard on Windows Phone 8.1’s HTML5 video capability. We recently spoke with a Microsoft Program Manager who worked on the IE...
Nokia announced not only new hardware at Build this year, but also SensorCore for developers. This Software Development Kit enables developers to utilize sensors on a Lumia Windows Phone without sacrificing battery life a whole deal – perfect for health and fitness apps or services that rely on sensors for data.
Yesterday at Nokia’s #moreLumia event we spoke with Jens Eggert. He’s a lead program manager at Nokia and helped show us some of the cool new features coming to Nokia Camera on the Lumia 930. He’s giving us a look at new features with Nokia StoryTeller and a very cool new feature that Nokia is calling ‘Living Images’. . We’re most impressed with the next version of Nokia Camera. When...
The Nokia Lumia 930 announced during Build is in many the perfect Lumia. There are just two features that are missing that may keep it from being the best Windows Phone on the market: no micro SD card and no Glance screen. The lack of a micro SD card is perhaps not that bad, considering that the Lumia 930 ships with 32 GB of internal storage. Despite the grumbles in comments here about...
Yesterday Nokia announced three new Windows Phones for the smartphone buying public. They are the Lumia 630, Lumia 635 and Lumia 930. The Lumia 630 is notable for being the first dual-SIM Windows Phone. It’ll also be available before the Lumia 930, making it the first Windows Phone 8.1 device you’ll be able to buy. We went and did a hands-on with the dual-SIM version of the Lumia 630....
Yesterday, Nokia announced the Nokia Lumia 930, a new flagship device running Windows Phone 8.1. That phone is due for release in the coming weeks and for all intents and purposes, it’s the same hardware as the Nokia Lumia Icon for Verizon. There are two differences though: color options, which is obvious and something more subtle: Dolby Digital Plus audio recording. According to Nokia...
Last night we went to visit Nokia at their #moreLumia event here in San Francisco. There wasn’t anything new learned there, it served more as a recap with Stephen Elop over the announcement made earlier of the Lumia 630, Lumia 635 and Lumia 930. We did get hands-on time with the devices and even some others that didn’t get too much time in the limelight. Lime...Green…Green Lumia 1520....
This isn’t so much news as just something to chew on while you wait for the Windows Phone 8.1 bits to rollout in the coming weeks. Cortana, the recently announced personal voice-assistant app, is being programmed to have quite the personality. Much like Apple’s Siri, Cortana will not only answer your legitimate real-life questions, but she will respond with wit and humor when asked non-...
The Windows Phone native calendar. Let’s not mince words, it was quite…basic. Limited views, restricted features – Microsoft practically forced third-party developers to make alternatives, such as Simple Calendar or Cal. But even those had OS limitations due to constrained APIs. With Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft certainly gave the native calendar a much needed overhaul. We managed to...
Yesterday, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 8.1 to the world. We gave you numerous videos featuring the OS in action, including Cortana, the Notification center and more. However, that was on a Lumia 630 prototype, one that we weren’t supposed to have in the first place – the risks we take for you, folks! But how does Windows Phone 8.1 roll on the 2.2 GHz quad-core Lumia 1520? We...
The Nokia MD-12 is a brand new wireless speaker system just announced at the #moreLumia event, part of the ongoing Build 2014 conference. Weighing roughly as much as an apple — har! — Nokia calls the MD-12 a "funky" new portable Bluetooth mini-speaker. It's got a built-in vibrating actuator for heavy base, and offers 15-hours of battery life so you can power your party, and your after...
We’re here live at Nokia’s #moreLumia event. The company already announced the Lumia 630 and Lumia 930 earlier today during Microsoft’s keynote at Build 2014. We’re expecting Nokia to go into detail about the devices and show off more accessories. Join our live blog of the event.
Hot on the heels of Microsoft officially announcing Windows Phone 8.1, the SDK Development Tools are now available for download. The Windows Phone emulator has also been updated to handle Windows Phone 8.1. All which in preparation for the eventual release of the Windows Phone 8.1 SDK. The Windows Phone 8.1 development tools are included with Visual Studio 2013. If you already have...
DVLUP, Nokia's developer outreach program, has announced a new system to better incentivize and reward their most loyal, most successful app makers. Called DVLUP Status, it introduces three new, "highly coveted" badges — Specialist (bronze), Expert (silver), and Legend (gold). Earn them and you'll be rewarded with elite privileges galore.
Today’s a very busy day for Windows Phone users and developers all over the world. A host of exciting new features in Windows Phone 8.1 have been announced today by Microsoft at Build 2014. Nokia also announced two new phones – the Lumia 630/635 and the Lumia 930. Chris Weber, Nokia’s executive vice president of global sales and marketing, is going on Twitter to answer your questions....