Przedstawiciel PLAY LUBLIN

Od jutra do oferty podstawowej Play wprowadzamy telefon Samsung C3520, który do tej pory dostępny był w ofercie na życzenie. Szczegóły jak zwykle w cenniku.

Od północy ruszamy z kolejną promocją doładowań. Z Waszych komentarzy na blogu i naszym profilu na FB wynika, że bardzo lubicie te promocje Jakie benefity tym razem? Wartość doładowania Bonus 5 – 10 zł 40 MB 11 – 25 zł 200 SMS-ów 26 – 300 zł 40% więcej wartości doładowania Promocja obowiązuje TYLKO w [...]

Od jutra do oferty podstawowej Play wprowadzamy telefon Samsung C3520, który do tej pory dostępny był w ofercie na życzenie. Szczegóły jak zwykle w cenniku.

We’ve always believed Xperia Tablet Z to be a fantastic product, but yesterday proved it’s not just us, as our flagship tablet picked up seven major awards.

Here’s the roll -

Tech Radar | “Best Tablet” (see Phones and Tablets editor Gareth Beavis present the rosette to Sony Mobile VP North Western Europe, Pierre Perron below \/)

Mobile Geeks | “Best Tablet”

Know Your Mobile | “Best of MWC”

Ubergizmo | “Best of MWC 2013″

PC Pro | “Best Android Tablet”

Expert Reviews | “Best of MWC 2013″

Laptop Magazine | “Best of MWC 2013″

Wow – it’s great to be recognised in this way – here’s to hopefully picking up a few more before the week’s out!

The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences in the US define a short film as a movie less than forty minutes in length, while the British Academy of Film reckon they can be no longer than half an hour. Whatever the correct definition, one thing’s for sure, done right they can pack a real punch. The question is how? To find this out, and more, we asked Nokia Music Short Film Competition judges to share their expertise. Trevor Groth is the Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival and Mike Plante is the founder of indie distributor Cinemad Presents. Here’s what they had to say.

Short films are something of an underrated genre. What do you like about them and how would you sell the idea of watching one to somebody who’s never had the pleasure.

Short films have all the excitement and power feature films have – deep drama, hilarious comedy, action, documentary, animation. Just in bite-sized form. Everyone already watches short films – TV episodes, music videos, online comedy skits, even commercials. Short films take more risks though, in style and story.

Which one short film should every budding filmmaker watch and and why?

There is no single short that speaks to everyone, but FAST FILM is a great love letter to cinema that will remind you of film history, the power of story, and will inspire you to make films.

An increasing number of people are making mobile movies.  What are the advantages and challenges, you think, in using a smartphone for short filmmaking?

Being able to get around fast and still get a quality image while using real locations as a backdrop.

How do you think smartphones might affect movie making in the coming years?

For a certain kind of short, like a documentary or a music video, the amount of access is incredible. You can film something at all times in most lighting situations.

What three top tips would you give to people looking to win the Nokia Music Short Film Competition?

Be creative with a story or characters – pretty pictures alone aren’t enough.

However, create images that feel special and unique to your film.

And “short” is the optimal word, make sure the run time is what’s best for your film, not too long.

Some fantastic tips from guys who’ve been there and done that. If you want to put their words of wisdom into action, why not enter our Nokia Music Short Film Competition. Launched in association with Sundance London, the brief is simple: To showcase the amazing, the unusual and the unknown music happening underground around the world.

Filmmakers need to simply upload a short 15 to 60 secs video trailer by March 14^th visualizing the underground music scene in their chosen city. Think of this trailer as an audition, which showcases your concept. If your idea is chosen, you’ll receive two Nokia Lumia 920s and a $5,000 budget to shoot your film. What’s more, both films are guaranteed a special screening at the Sundance London Film & Music Festival (2013) in April, and one lucky grand prizewinner will walk away with $5,000 and a Nokia Lumia 920.

Think you’ve got what it takes? Then why not start making short movie magic today!

Image credit: Vancouver Film School

At the Mobile World Congress this year, not only have we welcomed two new Nokia Lumia smartphones to the family, the Nokia Gear team has also announced some exciting new accessories; including additional shells for the Nokia Lumia 520, and a wireless charging cover for the Nokia Lumia 720. And best of all – a wireless charging car holder!

Nokia Wireless Charging Car Holder – for the Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820, and the Lumia 520.

Known as the CR-200, this phone holder can be mounted on the dashboard or windscreen of your car and can be used in either a horizontal or vertical position – much like any other phone holder.

However, to save you time and hassle from fumbling for the power cable in the footwell, wireless charging is incorporated right into the design. You can leave the holder plugged into the power outlet, as you’re unlikely to be removing that as often as you would the phone. That means all you need to do the next time you sit in the driver’s seat, is slot in your phone to charge.

Additionally, the holder contains an NFC-tag that’s capable of launching predefined apps on your phone. For example, you can choose to automatically launch HERE Drive when you attach your phone – easy!

Retailing at around €69, the CR-200 comes in black and will be available from April 2013.

Nokia Wireless Charging Cover – for the Nokia Lumia 720.

Even though we’ve just announced the Nokia Lumia 720, we’re also expanding people’s experiences with the new smartphone.

Should you want to wirelessly charge your new Nokia Lumia 720, then just clip the CC-3064. Now, when you want to charge your phone all you need to do is place the phone onto a wireless charger, such as the Nokia Wireless Charging Plate, or the Nokia Wireless Charging Pillow by Fatboy.

You can join the wireless charging revolution without forking out for a top-end smartphone. Nokia wants everybody to be able to experience this new, easy way of charging.

Retailing at around €29.90, the CC-3064 will be available in black, white, cyan, yellow and magenta  – Nokia’s signature colours – with a matte finish. These will be available from €29.90.

Nokia Shell – for the Nokia Lumia 520.

Nokia believes that everybody should be able to personalise their phone to suit their style – we’re all different.

Three additional shells for the Nokia Lumia 520 will be available in red, white and yellow.

The CC-3068 will cost around €9, with availability during Q2 of 2013.

The UN estimates that by 2030 more than 5 billion people will be living in urban environments, with the fastest growth expected in Asia and Africa. Megacities, such as Mexico City, Mumbai and Lagos, with a population of more than 10 million people are emerging around the world.

But just as cities are important to foster economic innovation and human progress, they have a ‘dark side’ too, spreading pollution and other problems.

These important issues were explored by Michael Halbherr, Nokia’s Executive VP of Location & Commerce, in a keynote address at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona yesterday. 

He set out a compelling argument showing how location services will help to make these sprawling metropolitan areas smarter, more sustainable and more efficient.

City Living

It is easy to see why cities have become such a magnetic force for so many people. Michael Halbherr calls them ‘the nexus of human progress where social and economic trends emerge. ‘

People are drawn to cities because they offer hope for jobs, prosperity and a higher standard of living. However, the sheer number of people involved and the monumental scale of growing cities have created a whole new set of challenges.

Space and resources are limited. Congestion and pollution are other common problems. Public transport and infrastructure are being stretched to their limits. You could say that chaos has become normal. 

But location services can now help people and businesses make sense of this chaos and can be an indispensable guide to the changing world.

Reinventing the Map 

Maps have been around since the Babylonian times, Michael Halbherr pointed out. He said though that maps are evolving and five trends are coming together to make maps more meaningful in how we manage our lives.

First there is the unprecedented growth of cities, but in addition the Internet is becoming mobile and sensors are embedded in every mobile device collecting tons of data. Plus there has been an explosion in the number of special purpose devices and the Internet is becoming more social. 

Taken together these trends mean that ‘where?’ has become as fundamental to our lives as ‘how?’ and ‘why?’, especially in cities.

“We need to go beyond the map from the cacophony of the real world to the virtual world,” said Michael Halbherr. This is where Nokia has been reinventing the map.

The location experience 

Rather than a series of coordinates and lines on a page, Nokia’s HERE Maps are dynamic reflecting the changing world we live in and the numerous ways we now use maps. It is what Michael calls  ‘computational cartography.’

Take, for example, HERE City Lens, which shows people valuable information about the places around them on their smartphone’s viewfinder overlaid on top of what their seeing in the real world.

Michael said that the LiveSight technology powering HERE City Lens was just one example of reinventing the map and the possibilities were endless for helping people in their daily lives. He said that it’s an example of what now makes a phone a gateway to the real world.

The HERE experiences such as HERE Maps, HERE Drive, HERE Transit and HERE City Lens all help to get people where they need to go and help them to discover new places. 

Plus these location solutions also work across every major operating system and platform.

Making cities smarter

In essence Michael emphasized that as cities have become more crowded and more chaotic, location tools have become increasingly crucial. Our reinvented maps will need to become more dynamic, hyper precise and fresh.

The challenge now is to create the most comprehensive and accurate picture of the real world so we can use those maps to help us whatever the use and context.

‘The new map will not just be for the developed world,’ said Halbherr. ‘But for all the people across the world moving from rural to urban areas and who need to make sense of the world where they live.’

Top image credit: Girish Menon / Shutterstock.com

Nokia’s imaging experts followed a familiar path to the acclaimed Nokia Lumia 920 when creating the camera for the Nokia Lumia 720, with a mission to let people capture stunning images at both day and night.

How could they deliver an industry leading imaging experience within the sleek dimensions of the Nokia Lumia 720? We spoke to Juha Alakarhu (@jalakarhu), Nokia’s head of imaging technologies, to find out.

The best camera possible

“There are many factors that influence camera performance; it’s all about finding the right balance of these factors.” says Juha Alakarhu, Nokia’s head of imaging technologies.

“We simply wanted to create the best possible image quality with this product. Everything else was secondary. It’s what you can capture with the camera that matters rather than the technical parameters.”

As a result of this steadfast approach, the Nokia Lumia 720 has an outstanding imaging experience for a midrange smartphone.

Seeing light through the dark

“So, as we had free hands to decide the technical parameters, we first created several concept designs and simulated their performance. We actually considered different sensor sizes, pixel sizes, and resolutions from 3 to 12 megapixels. Going too high resolution could lead to reduced aperture size (the hole that lets in the light). On the other hand, we didn’t want to go too low either, given the physical limitations set by Bayer sampling and Nyqvist theorem. (*)” In the end, Juha’s team found that the 6.7 megapixel sensor was the perfect sweet spot for this sleek-design camera.

The key innovation has been increasing the aperture to f/1.9. This is the biggest aperture on any Nokia smartphone, and it’s no surprise that the Lumia 720 captures excellent images in low light conditions. This is a problem, of course, that Nokia has already solved before.

“We are utilising the same know how that we developed in the Lumia 920 so the image sensor technology is similar. It has the latest back illuminated technology and it also has the true 16:9 mode that no other handset manufacturer but Nokia has,” says Juha.

“Great hardware alone doesn’t make a great camera. We also need great imaging algorithms. We have very clever noise reduction and sharpening algorithms. We spent a huge amount of time perfecting them to keep the images as natural as possible in all conditions.”

Look to the front

The Nokia Lumia 720 was developed in, and to a large degree inspired by, China.

This Chinese influence also spread to Juha’s imaging team, where the local enthusiasm for taking self-portraits has resulted in the best front facing camera that Nokia has ever made.

“I believe that this is the only front facing camera in the world that is using four physical lenses,” says Juha. “This is very rare because most front facing cameras only use two or maybe three lenses. Four enables us to get the best possible sharpness.”

In addition, the front facing camera has an aperture size of f/2.4 and the sensor is also back illuminated. The wide-angle lens means that you won’t just be able to take portraits of yourself but there will also be room for a friend too!

See the quality

“I would recommend anybody to use the Lumia 720’s camera, take images in any possible conditions, compare it to any camera that you have and you will see the quality in the Lumia 720.’ 

Here are some great shots to prove it.

(*) Bayer color filter arrangement is used in almost all digital cameras. With Bayer color filters, half of the pixels sense green light, 25% sense red, and 25% sense blue light.

In essence, Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem says that you have to sample input data with two times higher frequency than maximum output frequency. 

You will have seen the news and press releases by now concerning the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720,  affordable and mid-range additions to the Nokia Lumia range, but what do people think? Well, I’m here to bring you the thoughts of those closest to the action out in Barcelona.

Nokia Lumia 520

Let’s start with the Nokia Lumia 520, Nokia’s ‘most affordable Windows Phone’ according to Mark Guim over at The Nokia Blog. He posted this hands on demo from Nokia Design giving the official tour of the phone and highlighting all the…highlights:

A little later on Sam got to sit down with the phone, and he put together his own version of the ‘quick hands on and first impressions’ video:

His initial takeaways from having a closer look at the phone:

‘Impressed as regards the build quality’

‘Nice, fluid device’

‘Looks nice, no?’

Nokia Lumia 720

Moving on to the Nokia Lumia 720, the more mid-range of the two phones we’re looking at today. As you might expect from Clinton Jeff, he has a post that has both quality images (see above) and a great little hands on with the phone where he runs through the key features:

Running a ‘real world’ experiment, Ali from My Nokia Blog took the Nokia Lumia 720 into a dark booth with a member of the competition, and sampled some images with the cameras. Guess which phone won…

As hemedans puts it in the comments on the post ‘[the] 720 is amazing, these budget phones always surprise me’, and andrew_b adds that the

’720 is looking increasingly like the pick of the bunch for price/performance in the current…Lumia lineup’

So what do you guys think? Impressed by the new phones? Have questions or comments for the guys who brought you their impressions? Let us know in a comment below, or as ever you can condense your thoughts into 140 characters and hit us up on Twitter.

It may only be forty-eight or so hours since news of the Nokia Lumia 520 was shared with the world, but already there’s a huge amount of analysis, reviews, hands-ons and opinions online. Hardly surprising when you consider what the Nokia Lumia 520 represents: proof that you don’t have to compromise on quality to get a fun, affordable smartphone. To see why, let’s check out some must-know facts.

1. Just like The Nokia Lumia 820 and Nokia Lumia 920, the Nokia Lumia 520 comes with super sensitive touch. This means you can tap and scroll the 4” touch screen with your nails, your car keys or even your gloves.

2. Also just like the 820 and 920, the Nokia Lumia 520 comes with Cinemagraph, which allows you to add motion to your still pictures and share them with your friends on Facebook, other social networks, or via email.

3.  Happily, the Nokia Lumia 520 also features Smart Shoot, a unique Lumia app, which automatically takes multiple group pictures with a single click. You can effortlessly combine the pics to create the perfect shot, or even remove people altogether.

4. Another exciting photography feature is Panorama, which enables you to take super-wide-angled photos to showcase more of the scene you’re shooting.  

5. If you’re into mobile tunes, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Nokia Lumia 520 includes Nokia Music, a free unlimited streaming music service, with no ads or sign up.

6. Thanks to HERE maps, you don’t have to worry about losing your way with the Nokia Lumia 520 either. This fab app provides information, photos and reviews of nearby places and includes walking guidance to your chosen destination. It also includes HERE Drive, and HERE Transit.

 7. With 7GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft SkyDrive, it’s super easy to sync, store, access and share files between your Nokia Lumia 520 and your computer.

8. The Nokia Lumia 520 also includes Microsoft Office with Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint available out of the box.

9.  In the colourful tradition of the Lumia family, the Nokia Lumia 520 is available in yellow, red, cyan, white and black changeable shells.

10. Running Windows Phone 8, the Nokia Lumia 520 makes keeping organized easier than ever. People Hub puts all your social media notifications and messages into one convenient location.

Ten very good reasons to take the plunge and get your hands, gloved or not, on this fun and affordable smartphone. But which features get you most excited? Let us know in the comments below.