Shareholders approve sale of Device & Services division in Nokia – Microsoft deal

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At the long awaited extraordinary meeting in Helsinki today, shareholders have approved the deal that will allow the sale of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit to Microsoft. The deal was met with near unanimous approval with close to 99.7 percent of holders agreeing with the sale. The sale represents four-fifths of Nokia’s shares and the deal is worth around $7.2 billion.  Continue reading “Shareholders approve sale of Device & Services division in Nokia – Microsoft deal”

Joe Belfiore, Windows Phone Manager at Microsoft to head Internet Explorer app development

Joe Belfiore

Via a blog post on the official Internet Explorer Blog, Dean Hachamovitch who previously headed Internet Explorer development detailed that he will be switching over to a new team at Microsoft. What is even more interesting is that Joe Belfiore will now be taking over some of the responsibilities previously handled by Dean. Joe Belfiore who is well known for his work on Windows Phone will be leading a team focussed on the app side of Internet Explorer as well as the user experience development.  Continue reading “Joe Belfiore, Windows Phone Manager at Microsoft to head Internet Explorer app development”

Vine for Windows Phone 8 now available for download

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Vine, the highly popular video-based social network, finally has made available its app for the Windows Phone platform. Announced back at the Build conference, the app was shown off recently at the Lumia 1520 and 2520 launch event by Nokia, and it was promised that the app will be arriving soon to the platform, someday. Well, that day is today, and the app is finally live on the Windows Phone Store.

Download Vine for Windows Phone here

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UC Browser on Windows Phone now supports background downloads

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UC Browser, one of the best third party browsers on Windows Phone has received an update to support background downloads. The default browser – Internet Explorer doesn’t even support downloads, but UC browser shone as the only third party browser on Windows Phone that could, and it downloaded any file type, even MP3s and let you save them inside your Xbox music app. Previously, one needed to wait for the download to get completed before moving on to another app, but that was mainly due to a reasonable restriction on tightly integrated OSes like Windows Phone and iOS. But since WP8 and more recently GDR3, Microsoft has been a bit lenient and had opened up more options for developers to take advantage of. UC Browser does exactly that by allowing background downloads for the first time on Windows Phone.

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Micromax Windows Phones to arrive mid of next year, says co-founder

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Is Micromax working on a Windows Phone? Well, the second largest smartphone manufacturer in India by volume recently made big news when it unleashed a series of promotions featuring Hugh Jackman for the Micromax Canvas Turbo, and also announced its plans to enter the European markets like Russia and Romania, but a Windows Phone that is currently dominated by Nokia? The company’s co-founder Rahul Sharma has admitted in an interview that they are indeed working on them, and claims to have them ready for a launch mid next year. Above image is just a mock up we did to see how Windows Phone might look on the recently launched Micromax Canvas Turbo.

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RedBus.in app for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 gets a limited time offer for tickets

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RedBus.in is one of India’s most popular bus ticket booking and reservation service, which incidentally released apps for the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms earlier, with a great Metro UI based experience. But now, they have not only released updates to these apps, but also added a bit of an exclusive offer to them. With the RedBus.in app on Windows 8, you get Rs. 75/- off on a ticket, if it costs more than Rs. 500/-, till December 31st, 2013. Considering this is the holiday season when a lot of bookings are done, this seems like a perfect match for Windows 8 users wanting to book tickets for most destinations in India.

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Microsoft Remote Desktop app comes to iOS and Android

Recently, we brought you the information that Microsoft is planning to launch an app for Android and iOS devices that will let the users remotely control their Windows machines. Today, Microsoft went ahead and launched the app for Android and iOS. A lot of third-party applications were available for the same and now Microsoft has pushed out an official app to smoothen things out.

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Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3 – A Visual Walkthrough

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Microsoft just announced the Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3 release for all WP8 devices, and also announced the “Developer Preview” program for enthusiasts who want early access to the Operating System’s pre-release bits. All it needed was a simple 3-step method to install the update on your phone, and of course, without any second thoughts, we did it on our Lumia 820. Yes, we have installed the Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3 on our device and it’s running great. The press releases didn’t have much to show in terms of what’s really changed with the third update of the operating system, so we are going to give you a visual walkthrough of what’s new in the GDR3 update.

Video –

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How to easily update to Windows Phone 8 GDR Update 3

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As you might have known by now, Microsoft have just announced the arrival of the Windows Phone GDR Update 3 for all WP8 devices. While the roll out has started, it might take a while to get through to the users after carrier checks, tests and more. But for the first time ever, after actually announcing it in June 2012, the “Enthusiast” program is now live for Windows Phone 8. It basically means that, if you are interested in previewing the latest version of the operating system, with a few constraints, you can get it on any of your Windows Phone 8 devices right away, that too for free! But how? That’s exactly what we are going to see right now. I am going to try and make it as simple and quick as possible for you to get this update.

Check out our visual walkthrough of the GDR3 update

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Windows Phone GDR3 update is official, brings 1080p display and Snapdragon 800 chipset support

The long awaited Windows Phone GDR3 update has now been officially unveiled and confirms most of the rumors around the update. The biggest and most promising feature is that  Windows Phone now supports 1080p displays and the Snapdragon 800 SoC. This means that Windows Phone flagships will no longer be crippled by hardware limits when compared to Android phones. It can be said that WP phones are usually fast enough to not require top of the line hardware but chipsets like the Snapdragon 800 also bring a lot more to the table. Support for 1080p displays means that you can now have up to 6 small tiles or an additional medium sized tile. Alongside 1080p screens, Windows Phone can now also be used on 5-6 inch display devices allowing Windows Phone phablets, something we’ll be seeing very soon in the form of the Lumia 1520.

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Microsoft to release Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android this month

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Remote Desktop has been a popular feature for Windows PCs for a long time, mainly used to remotely help your friends or family, usually for troubleshooting. The Server-Client methodology has enabled the clients to exist on many platforms. In fact, the Remote Desktop Protocol is widely known to be used in third party apps, but as always, nothing comes close to the apps done by the people who created it. Microsoft are doing just that, by releasing Remote Desktop apps for iOS and Android later this month, according to the company’s own press release.

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Twitter for Windows Phone updated with Dark Theme option and Lock Screen highlights

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It’s been a while since the official Twitter for Windows Phone app got its updates. It had unsurprisingly missed the conversation thread update iOS and Android received. While that feature has still evaded the platform, we have news of an update for the app. The app now arguably brings more choices and interesting changes to the Twitter experience on your Windows Phone. Most notable of the new additions are the new dark theme option and lock screen highlights. Users can now choose between a light and dark theme and have Twitter set as the lock screen picture(using Windows Phone 8’s unique feature) to show recent highlights from your feed.

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Krrish 3 Game now available as a timed exclusive for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices

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Krrish 3, a highly anticipated Bollywood movie this year, is following the same route as previous big budget Bollywood as well as Hollywood movies by releasing a game just before the movie release. The Krrish 3 game is now available as a free download, but as a timed exclusive on Microsoft Platforms – Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8. It is currently available for download on Windows Phone 8 and it is expected to arrive on Windows 8 by the end of this week. Here’s the game’s trailer released on YouTube –

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO2vLU2p1ys

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Nokia Smartwatch Leaked?

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Two pictures of a purported Nokia Smartwatch have leaked onto the internet. Could this be announced at the Nokia World event on the 22nd of October, or is it just some long forgotten prototype? We all know that the wearable gadget revolution is here. Google brought its Glass into the limelight with a firm vision(pun intended) on the future, Pebble made its Smartwatch, followed by Samsung with its Galaxy Gear and Sony with its second version of its pioneering Smartwatch. With the leak, it looks like even Nokia, which is all ready to get acquired by Microsoft, has or had its own plans for a wearable gadget.

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Microsoft wants Windows Phone to run on HTC’s Android phones – Report

HTC Windows Phone 8X

Microsoft is apparently trying to court HTC, one of the major Android OEMs, to make Windows Phone run on its Android Phones, according to a report from Bloomberg. Another report from Android Central claims that HTC engineers are already looking at providing Dual Boot options of Windows Phone and Android for its upcoming devices. This is a surprising turn of events for the software giant, as the company has long stood by its licensing model that doesn’t allow this option of dual boot, but things may be changing fast, as the strategy is rapidly moving towards “Devices and Services”, especially with the announcement of a Nokia acquisition.

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