Windows Phone's Apollo update poised for landing by mid-2012, says Nokia VP

We've been contemplating that the big Apollo update, which might end up being called Windows Phone 8, will arrive too late if Microsoft kept with the once-a-year scheme between WP7 and 7.5 Mango.

Nokia's VP Niklas Savander said its Windows Phones with Apollo will be the real deal where Nokia plans to shine, but if Apollo will be a year from now, Android and iOS will have leaped quite a bit again.

Now an interview with another VP of Nokia, Michael Halbehrr, hints that the update might arrive sooner, by mid-2012, while he was talking about his Locations department, and how they are working with Microsoft to leverage the NAVTEQ GPS services more in Apollo. Microsoft has since said this timeframe is "inaccurate", but didn't specify when will the update hit.

Considering that Apollo is likely to bring support for new multicore chassis with HD displays, something that Android is already offering, it better be as quick as possible.

Windows Phone Mango update now available to all first-gen WP handsets

Windows Phone Mango brings more than 500 new features, but up until now it only brought it to some first-gen WP devices. That’s no longer the case - Microsoft has fulfilled its promise and now the Windows Phone 7.5 update is available to all previous WP7 handsets:

“We’re now delivering Mango to 100 percent of eligible phones around the world, regardless of carrier. (In other words, to everything that’s not listed as “scheduling” or “testing” on Where’s My Phone Update?),” Microsoft’s Eric Hautala, General Manager of Customer Experience Engineering said in a post on the Windows Phone blog.

In the meanwhile, you can also see a firmware update pending. That’s a separate deal, but it’s pushed at the same time and will bring improved performance, fixed bugs and new features if your phone supports them.

“We’re also sending out “firmware” updates to some phones around the world, so don’t be surprised if you see another update notification pop up on your phone in the coming days. … Not everybody will receive or require a firmware update: It all depends on your country, carrier, and phone model,” Hautala added.

Have you already updated and how do you like the Windows Phone in its Mango flavor?

Microsoft to hold a Windows Phone event on November 7

Microsoft is getting ready to host an event on November 7 in New York in order to formally introduce us to the next-generation of Windows Phones such as the HTC Titan and the Samsung Focus S.

The first wave of Windows Phones hit the market in November of last year. AT&T offered customers the Samsung Focus, the HTC Surround and the LG Quantum while T-Mobile had the HTC HD7. This year it appears as though the event will strictly feature smartphones that will only be hitting the AT&T network, at least at the time of their launch.

The invite itself shows off the three smartphones bound for AT&T. Those three devices are the Samsung Focus Flash, the HTC Titan and the Samsung Focus S. Each of these second-gen Windows Phones will off course run on the updated Mango platform but there are differences about each in terms of hardware.

The Focus Flash has the smallest screen of the bunch, measuring in at 3.7-inches. The Focus S packs a 4.3-inch display which is an improvement over the 4-inch display found on the original Focus. Both of the Samsung handsets displays are of the Super AMOLED type. As far as screen real estate goes, the HTC Titan takes the cake since it packs a whopping 4.7-inch S-LCD display. Of course because its Windows Phone they all have resolutions of 480x800.

All three handsets also have single-core processors. Each Samsung device is clocked at 1.4GHz while the HTC Titan is clocked at 1.5GHz. The Focus Flash has a 5 megapixel camera while the Titan and the Focus S have 8 megapixel shooters. We expect that all three will be able to record video in 720p HD. Each device also has a front-facing camera that can be used to video chat when Microsoft launches newly acquired Skype on the platform or the app Tango that is beating Skype to the Windows Phone punch.

Hopefully we will have some release dates to mark on our calendars after the November 7 event. Once Nokia decides to bring their newly announced Windows Phones such as the Lumia 800 to the states Microsoft will have a solid arsenal in their war against the dominant mobile platforms. You might notice that on the invite it says “That’s not the only big thing Windows Phone has planned.” Any idea what Microsoft means by that? Tell us what you think.

Tango, not Skype, to be first video chatting app for Windows Phone

Microsoft recently made a big purchase in the form of Skype in order to deeply integrate the video conferencing service into Windows Phone, but the video chatting application known as Tango is beating Skype to the punch on November 7.

It was only a little less than two weeks ago that Microsoft completed their acquisition of Skype. The $8.5 billion purchase is expected to bring deep Skype integration to the Windows Phone Mango platform. After the deal was finalized Skype CEO Tony Bates believes that they will be able to accelerate their goals to reach 1 billion users on a daily basis. While that is still possible, the arrival of a fairly popular video app ahead of Skype’s launch may be a blow.

Tango has been available in the Android Market and the iOS App Store for some time now. It allows users to video chat not just over WiFi, but over 3G and 4G networks as well. As a matter of fact, Tango was the application of choice when Microsoft demoed video calling on the Windows Phone operating system back in September.

When Tango launches in the Windows Phone Marketplace it will not cost a penny. It is already being used my millions of people around the globe so it definitely could be a factor in Skype hitting their lofty goals. However, Skype will have the advantage of being integrated in the platform rather than just a third party app. We’ll just have to wait and see what Microsoft has in mind.

Microsoft Opens Up Mango Update to All Windows Phones

Microsoft today announced that all Windows Phone 7 devices now have access to 7.5 Mango. Microsoft had previously only made Mango available to about 50% of the Windows Phones in the market, but says the update process has been rolling forward very smoothly. In the U.S., all WP7 devices except the Dell Venue Pro should be receiving the Mango update from their carrier at this time. Microsoft also indicated that starting next week it will deliver some device-specific updates that augment the Mango update. Device users will be alerted when these secondary updates become available.

Microsoft Hopes to Drop Windows Phone Cost by Half

Microsoft believes that by next year, the cost to produce Windows Phone smartphones will be half what it cost when the platform launched in 2010. Microsoft has cut new deals with component makers, such as Qualcomm, in order to drive down the cost to manufacture handsets. Andy Lees, head of the Windows Phone division at Microsoft, told BusinessWeek in an interview that the cost for building a Windows Phone device was $400 at launch, and it should be closer to $200 within a year. While Lees admitted that network operators set the final sales price, they should be able to offer them at lower prices. Lees said the company hopes lower cost phones leads to volume growth for the platform. Microsoft is in the middle of rolling out Windows Phone 7.5 Mango to the first generation of hardware.

Orange exec says the future of Windows Phone depends on Nokia

Orange is one of the biggest carrier with presence all around the world - from Europe to the Middle East and even Africa. It’s a key factor for the success of Windows Phone, but up until now, the support for Microsoft’s platform on the side of the carrier hasn’t resulted in user adoption. Quite the contrary.

Senior VP of devices and mobile multimedia at Orange Yves Maitre shared with CNET that Windows Phone is in fact the lowest-selling platform on the carrier’s European, Middle Easter and African lineups. Its sales put it Android, which has the most sales, iOS and BlackBerry, which Orange says has strong sales.

"Honestly, it hasn't been as successful as we expected," he commented on Windows Phone. He was very specific about the biggest factor for the future success of Microsoft’s platform - Nokia’s unveiling of new devices next week at Nokia World, which could well be renamed to Windows World given the anticiapted announcements.

Customers are also waiting for those new smartphones as Espoo is expected to bring the "pure Microsoft experience."

But make no mistake - Nokia World next Wednesday will be watched closely by carriers as well, who’d have to decide on their spending to support the brand and Microsoft’s platform.

Nokia has been very specific about its upcoming Windows Phone lineup - it will initially only launch in select markets, so that others where Symbian sales are strong don’t get disturbed, chief executive Stephen Elop himself noted. North America is of very high priority, but Yves Maitre says that it will be Europe that will be the decisive factor: "If Nokia/Microsoft is not successful in Europe, then it will be tough in other countries."

Until the big announcement comes, Orange remains tepidly optimistic. The carrier, though, knows the value of the Nokia brand: “When you have a Nokia phone, it's like you're driving a Mercedes Benz," Maitre said.

LTE to come to Windows Phone with the Tango update, but for dual-core and HD screens wait for Apollo

LTE is currently not very relevant worldwide, with Verizon's comprehensive network being an exception, so supporting the technology in Windows Phones hasn't been high on the list, but is about to come with the next update called Tango. It is aimed at supporting low-end models, and will introduce 480x320 chassis as well, according to tweets by the omnipresent MS_Nerd.

The huge Windows Phone Apollo update that awaits us next year, will bring support for multicore chipsets and HD displays, like the ones that are starting to find their way into high-end Android phones. When are Tango and Apollo supposed to hit is anyone's guess, but we just got Mango, so, if Microsoft keeps the same annual pace with its Windows Phone updates, we might have to wait quite a bit, at which time the Android and iOS ecosystems will have introduced even more compelling handsets.

AT&T’s New Windows Phone Mango Handsets Shown Off

Microsoft has released some photos of a range of new Windows Phone Mango handsets which will be available with mobile carrier AT&T in the US, and the three devices include the new HTC Titan, the Samsung Focus S and the Samsung Focus Flash.

All of the three new Windows Phone 7 devices will be available with AT&T shortly, have a look at the photo gallery below of AT&T’s latest Windows Phone Mango smartphones. Unfortunately there are no details on pricing as yet and also no details on an exact launch date.

More information's:
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/10/19/first-look-at-amp-t-s-new-htc-titan-samsung-focus-s-and-samsung-focus-flash.aspx

Windows Phone Mango Preview:

Windows Phones manufacturing price to be reduced by half for next year to gain on volume

Considering that the first teardowns show sub-$200 manufacturing price for phones like the Apple iPhone 4S, the revelation by Microsoft's Andy Lees that the initial batch of Windows Phones went up to $400 a piece was rather telling why manufacturers were reluctant to push more - the margins must have been razor-thin.

Now, he claims, Microsoft has secured the kind of long term component supply contracts that the best manufacturers enjoy, which will allow the production price to go down to $200 for Windows Phones as well. What will be the final price for the end consumer is another story. Apple is this bight shining example how you can make a smartphone for roughly $200 and sell it for roughly $600 by keeping tight grip on the supply chain and control component prices by prepaying, so the competition is apparently starting to learn.

Andy Lees mentioned "volume, volume, volume" as Microsoft's main incentive to talk to exclusive suppliers like Qualcomm for better prices, since the WP manufacturers will be able to produce the phones cheaper and in abundance. He said that Redmond will be paid less royalty fees for using Windows Phone, since the licenses price depends on the cost to manufacture somewhat, but volume will be making up for that.

Microsoft is also planning to enter China with its mobile OS next year, probably riding on the wings of the upcoming Nokia Windows Phones, as the Finns sport an abundance of street cred there.

Half of Symbian users would consider a Windows Phone from Nokia

According to a poll taken by allaboutsymbian.com, a little less than half of the users of a Nokia Symbian device would consider purchasing a Windows Phone from the Finland based manufacturer.

Nokia’s global dominance has been on a steady decline over the last few years thanks to the substantial growth and popularity of their rivals. Realizing that Symbian might not be able to survive today’s market, Nokia has adopted Microsoft’s mobile platform in an attempt to compete.

Just a few weeks ago a leaked image surfaced of what is possible the Nokia Sea Ray, which many expect to me the manufacturer’s first Windows Phone powered handset. A combination of the young yet polished Windows Phone operating system with Nokia’s top-notch hardware may end up being a winner. At least Nokia hopes so.

A bulk of Nokia Windows Phone adopters may very well be current Nokia owners. According to the poll taken by allaboutsymbian.com, 48.58% of Symbian users would consider purchasing a Windows Phone from Nokia. Considering the amount of Symbian devices still in use around the globe, this could be great news for Nokia. Of course this is only a poll.

The more than 51% that said they would not purchase a Nokia Windows Phone did not have the ability to specify why or what else they would consider buying instead. So how about it, would you any of you current Symbian users purchase a Nokia Windows Phone? Tell us what you think.

Turn by Turn Navigation for Windows Phone getting offline maps this week, cheaper than Navigon

How does $31.99 for offline voice-guided navigation backed up by NAVTEQ maps sound to you, Windows Phone users? It looks like the Turn by Turn Navigation app is getting the offline treatment this week for the US, and in Europe the process already started in places like Hungary, for example.

That's a far cry from the $49.99 in the US, and EUR 59.49 introductory price for Navigon's similar solution, that was recently outed, although it is a bit richer in fucntionality.

We can only imagine that these navigation solutions for Windows Phone are bound to fall in price when the free Nokia Maps integration hits with the upcoming Nokia Windows Phones about to be unveiled at Nokia World two weeks from now.

Acer Allegro Windows Phone Mango Device Coming To Europe

Some of our readers will remember the Acer W4 Windows Phone smartphone that we heard about back in May, it looks like it is headed to Europe as the Acer Allegro, and it is expected to go on sale just in time for Christmas.

The Acer Allegro will come with Windows 7.5 Mango, and it features a 3.6 inch VGA touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, there is also a 5 megapixel camera, plus 8GB of built in storage. The Acer Allegro is expected to retail for 299 Euros SIM free, and no doubt it will be available with many of the European carriers for a lower price when you sign up to on of their contracts.

More information's:
http://www.t3.com/news/acer-allegro-windows-phone-incoming

Acer Aspire 9300 filmik do aukcji Allegro cz.1: