lut
8
Another day and another guide to the Nokia Lumia 620. Last week we gave you ‘a guide to the Lumia 620‘, and just to prove those predominantly positive thoughts and reviews were not anomalies, here’s a another guide to get you thinking about our entry level Nokia Lumia.
Hands-on
Let’s start at the beginning, with a ‘First look’ video from Basil at Know Your Mobile. Look at all those different back covers, which is your favourite?
Highlights include:
“The body is plastic and it feels ri-ri-ridiculously nice”
“It’s a premium device in terms of the functionality you get”
A review
For something more substantial try Andrew Williams’ review over on Trusted Reviews. It’s split into three meaty sections, Design and Features, Screen, Apps and Games and Music, Video and Battery life. Read all the way through, or if you’re in a hurry, skip to the end to find out why the Lumia 620 is a ‘revelation’.
A sample of what it can do
How does all this come together in practice? Well, NokNok.tv have demonstrated nicely what you can expect from the camera on a day out. Recording at 720p and 30 frames per second, at a sea life center.
And here’s an example of the Lumia 620′s front facing camera and comparison of the main camera vs the HTC Mozart. Thanks to Steviet for that one.
So there we have it. What do you think about this entry level Lumia? Have your say in the comments section now or shout at us on Twitter.
image credit: trustedreviews
Tags: None
lut
8
By Jeba Justin Abraham
The Nokia 206 is one of the most recent mobile phones we have launched, and it’s the first mobile phone that has the Lumia looks.
The Nokia 206 is a thing of beauty and feels extremely nice to hold. The premium finish to the body was a pleasant surprise, with the matt finish at the back being nice to touch. My Nokia 206 is a brilliant canary yellow and looks fabulous.
The design approach that it shares with its smartphone cousins only makes it all the more enticing.
Unlocking the phone throws up a home screen that reminds me of my beloved Nokia E71. By default, the home screen displays the clock, calendar, radio, media and shortcuts bar, but it can be personalised. I quickly changed it so that I could start a WhatsApp conversation from the home screen without the need to find the app.
Getting on the grid
Connecting the Nokia 206 to my social networks was a piece of cake.
I popped open Facebook from the shortcuts bar and logged in. The Facebook app is comprehensive and has all the functionality available from a normal web browser. There was also a default Twitter app and setting it up was as easy as logging into the app.
The phone comes bundled with WhatsApp and eBuddy messenger and they both run smoothly in the background. Whenever my friends message me, the alerts pop up on the homescreen just like a normal SMS alert.
The 2.5-inch screen makes a big difference in day-to-day usage of these apps. It is friendlier on the eye due to the bigger font size and it shows more content.
The keypad is a joy to use, especially in combination with the T9 dictionary. My expectations were exceeded.
Plugging into the WWW
Next up, email. Setting this up on the phone is as easy as entering your login credentials. I quickly set up my Hotmail and Yahoo accounts without any glitches.
The app doesn’t sync in the background or provide notifications but it provides a very easy way to access my mailbox and works very smoothly. There is even a nice email signature that gets added to outgoing emails (this can be customised of course).
Hooking up with the Internet poses no problems as the Nokia Xpress Browser is slick, smooth and loads pages instantly. Again, the bigger screen makes all the more difference when browsing.
With so many possibilities to connect to the outside world, it is so easy to lose track of data usage. Not in this case, as there is the Counters app that gives detailed information with the possibility of setting alerts when your data usage hits a certain limit.
Free time no more
There are lots of games and apps available for the Nokia 206 in the Nokia Store. I got going with Fifa 13, Midnight pool 3 and Uno. All the games are extremely addictive but that is not a problem because the battery life is just too good to be true. A single charge easily lasts a few days.
The 1.3-megapixel camera does a decent job of taking pictures but the fun part comes with sharing them (or any other file) using ‘Slam’ – this is as good as using NFC on any high end phone. Just slam it!
Nokia Nearby is another neat little web app. It shows points of interest around my current position. It’s quick and easy to use!
More for less
Even the little things are very user friendly on this device.
When I tried setting up a custom ringtone, I was simply asked to choose the start and end point of the ringtone from an MP3 file.
I could organize photos in my gallery as albums which made it simple to manage, share and run a slideshow.
In summary, I can say that one week with this device was a week well spent.
The Nokia 206 is classified as a ‘feature phone’ and I agree because it is packed to the brim with features!
Phones like these are redefining the meaning of a feature phone and I am starting to believe that when it comes to getting ‘more for less’, the sky is the limit!
Tags: None
lut
8
3D printing has been hailed as the most transformative tech since the Internet. Bold words perhaps, but its potential to change the world is truly mind-blowing. This is one reason why Nokia has grabbed the 3D printed bull by the horns and shared specs needed for 3D print enthusiasts to create their very own Nokia Lumia 820 shells. Now, with the 3D Printing Challenge, we’re offering designers the chance to get in on the act, too.
So how does it work? Simple. You use your creative expertise to create a kick ass design for a brand new Nokia Lumia 820 shell.
Express to impress
There are a couple of things you need to take into account to impress the judges. Firstly, you should consider how to make an aesthetic and artistic design, which most appeals to smartphone users. Secondly, you should try and consider the practical aspects as well. For example, perhaps you might want to create a shell that allows for a bigger battery or one with a heavy-duty speaker. Go crazy and let wishful thinking and imagination combine.
The fantastic five
Your idea will be judged on very clear criteria, broken down into five categories, each of which will have equal representation in the final decision.
- Clear articulation of designs in written language and visuals where possible
- Real life possibility of being made into a mobile phone cover
- Aesthetic design and creativity
- Likelihood that mobile consumers will take interest in your design
- Community support for your idea
Judgement day
While comments and likes will be considered as part of the community vote for the submission, jury members will also apply their expert judgement to ensure that final winners are judged by both quantitative and qualitative measures. So who are the people we’re relying upon to pick the best of the best?
We’re very happy to have Matt Kroner, a 3D product designer at MakerBot join the judging panel. MakerBot have already been printing some awesome Lumia 820 shells using this derivative based on our released designs. Matt, a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s industrial design program, specializes in 3D printing, product and toy design, and illustration. He’ll be joined by some equally illustrious experts from Nokia. These include:
- Jarno Piironen, Director, Head of Audio, Inbox and Smart Covers, Nokia
- Rhys Newman, Head of Advanced Design, Nokia
- John Kneeland, Community and Developer Marketing Manager, Nokia
- Kirsten Kuehl, Global Head of Ideas Project Community, Nokia
Come fly with us
The top five ideas picked by these talented individuals will be considered for printing at the Mobile World Congress, held between February 25-28th in Barcelona, Spain. Circumstances permitting, the winning designers will also have the chance to fly to Barcelona and share in the excitement of the event.
You have until February 15th to submit your idea to the Ideas Project. So what are you waiting for?
Tags: None
lut
8
Brides: throw away your diamonds! Graphene’s the new must-have material in town. It’s so thin it’s 2-D and it’s stronger than Superman. No wonder research scientists and industrialists are going ga-ga for it. The Graphene Flagship Consortium, a group that includes Nokia, have just won a massive grant from the EU to work on graphene development over the next decade. In the meantime, we thought you’d like to get the low down on this fantastic new supermaterial.
One. It’s only one atom thick! This makes it mathematically two dimensional and one of the thinnest materials imaginable. It’s made of carbon, and, zoomed right in to the molecular level, its hexagon lattice structure looks just like chicken wire.
Two. It’s made of a carbon structure called graphite—the very same ‘lead’ that’s in your pencil. Professor Andre Geim and Dr Kostya Novoselov from the University of Manchester discovered it back in 2004 while checking out graphite’s potential as a transistor. They went on to win a Nobel Prize in 2010 for their trouble!
Three. And guess what they used to isolate graphene? Sellotape! Geim and Novoselov used sticky tape to pull a single layer of graphite free—a technique known as mechanical exfoliation—and ended up with graphene. Don’t try this at home, though—they also needed an acetone bath, silicon, and an optical microscope.
Four. It’s also pretty pricey to manufacture. Enough graphene to cover the head of a pin would cost upwards of €1,000—better start saving…
Five. You’d get good value for money, though, if you did stump up for it: it’s both massively stretchy—it stretches up to 25% of its length!—and extraordinarily stiff. In fact, it’s the stiffest, or hardest, material known to us: it’s even stiffer than diamond!
Six. It might be the thinnest thing we’ve got, but, even at just one atom thick, it’s still visible, says Professor James Tour of Rice University, Texas. Lay a sheet of graphene against a sheet of white paper and you’ll see it. That means that you can see a single layer of atoms with your bare eyes—how’s that for super?
Seven. It’s fantastically good at electricity—graphene’s current density is a million times greater than copper’s, and its intrinsic mobility is a hundred times greater than that of silicon. Electrons move through graphene with pretty much no resistance and apparently without mass. This means, according to Manchester’s Dr Leonid Ponomarenko, that graphene can carry electricity more efficiently, precisely, and faster than any other material. It might be possible to use it to make batteries that have ten times as much electrical retention capacity as anything else we’ve got.
Eight. Graphene also conducts heat better than any other known material, beating diamond (again!) in thermal conductivity. And, speaking of heat and cold: graphene shrinks when it is warmed and it expands when it is cooled. Weird. This makes it the only known example of what the scientists call an electrically conductive membrane.
Nine. It’s the most impermeable material yet to be discovered. Helium atoms can’t even get through graphene. This means it’s great as a gas detector. It’s also got potential as a rather nifty desalination tool, according to MIT researchers; and Science magazine reports that some inventive researchers have even used it to distil vodka at room temperature. This means that it could be very handy for biofuel production—and for party tricks…
Ten. Atoms might struggle to get through, but electrons don’t have much trouble: Professor Geim says that this means that graphene will make possible experiments experiments in high-speed quantum physics that even the boffins at CERN can’t manage.
Graphene’s so amazing in so many different ways it’s almost as if it’s been beamed from the future. We’re super excited about the possibilities, but which of it’s many properties get you most enthusiastic about tomorrow’s world?
Image credits: Xurble
Tags: None
lut
8
Mark Twain famously said:
It’s easy to quit smoking. I’ve done it hundreds of times.
I’m afraid I fall into the same club, though I very much hope that my current attempt at quitting the evil weed will be my last.
So can my Lumia smartphone help me give up smoking? I guess it’s a little early to tell, but I don’t think it’s likely to harm my current efforts. (Five weeks now, folks – wish me luck!)
In addition to a swathe of games and news apps to keep my hands occupied and attention away from ciggies, I’ve also installed the KickSmoking app to give myself some positive feedback on my progress.
You start off by entering how much cigarettes cost, how many you smoke each day, and the date and time you quit.
From that, the app is able to work out how much money you’ve saved, or contributed to the new gadget fund, as I prefer to call it.
More impressively, it also charts your body and mind’s recovery from the effects of tobacco addiction. These come over in a similar way to console game achievements. You feel like you’re really winning by holding out against temptation.
After a few hours, it pings you to tell you that your cardiovascular system has improved. A few days later that your body is now free of nicotine, and so forth.
I find these updates more encouraging than the saved money. Apparently my cilia are now regenerating rapidly, whatever they are.
The other part of the app is a craving countdown. The developers reckon that most cravings only last three minutes. It gives you a countdown to watch instead of giving in and going to the shop for a packet of cigarettes. It’s a fairly trivial feature, but I’m sure it could help some people.
KickSmoking is available in paid ($1.99) and ad-supported varieties.
image credit: mendhak
Tags: None
lut
7
Eine schwere Entscheidung – soll es ein Smartphone mit neuem Betriebssystem Windows Phone 8 oder Android sein? Um diese Systemfrage zu beantworten hat Computer Bild zwei Geräte verglichen: das Nokia Lumia 820 mit Windows Phone 8 und das Android-Modell HTC … Weiterlesen »
Tags: None
lut
6
Nowe taryfy abonamentowe – SĄ, oferta dla biznesu – JEST! Czas dopalić Play Online! 
Być może havy userzy czytający tego bloga nie zdają sobie sprawy, ale użytkownicy wykorzystują Play Online najchętniej do przeglądania stron internetowych, dlatego.. Od jutra w Play startujemy z FORMUŁĄ WWW, czyli nielimitowanym przeglądaniem stron WWW. To przełomowa usługa, którą Play [...]
Tags: None
lut
6
Nowe taryfy abonamentowe – SĄ, oferta dla biznesu – JEST! Czas dopalić Play Online! Być może havy userzy czytający tego bloga nie zdają sobie sprawy, ale użytkownicy wykorzystują Play Online najchętniej do przeglądania stron internetowych, dlatego.. Od jutra w Play startujemy z FORMUŁĄ WWW, czyli nielimitowanym przeglądaniem stron WWW. To przełomowa usługa, którą Play [...]
Tags: None
lut
6
The People Hub is at epicentre of your social experience on the Nokia Lumia. This is the place where you’ll find all your contacts and their numbers, emails and addresses.
However, it’s much more than just an address book. The People Hub fully integrates popular social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, so you can easily see what everyone has been getting up to.
A long-standing feature of People Hub is Groups, where you can add filter through all your contacts to see just a chosen few. It might be your closest friends, family, colleagues or the people you play football with.
Once created, you can pin the Group to your Start screen for quick access, message or email everyone simultaneously and see their latest social network updates too.
If you have a lot of people in your Contacts Hub, then you’ll find Groups a really useful feature.
Rooms
On Windows Phone 8 this social experience has been enhanced further with the addition of Rooms.
A Room is an invitation-only only part of your Nokia Lumia 920, Lumia 820 or Lumia 620 where you can privately share your photos, videos, calendar, location and notes with other members.
All the members of a Room can chat with each other too.
When you’re initially setting up the Room, every member that you invite will receive a text message with a link to join the group.
Difference between Rooms and Groups
Rooms differ from Groups because it is an interactive space where content is shared and everyone can make changes.
In a Group no content is shared between the members – it is only a way for you organise your contacts.
You don’t need to notify people and they don’t need to take any action to join the Group – unlike in Rooms.
Setting up Rooms
Setting up Rooms on your Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia smartphone is simple to do.
- In the People Hub swipe across until you come to the Together screen
- Tap + at the bottom of the screen, and then select Room
- Type a name for your Room and press save
- Add the people that you wish to invite to the Room by tapping + and then selecting them from the list.
- If the contact you’ve selected has more than one phone number listed, you’ll be asked which one you want to use for the text invite
- When you’ve added all the members, press the Done ‘tick’ icon.
Members won’t appear in your Room until they’ve clicked on the text message link. Think of it as their acceptance of your Room invite. Members will then have the Room set up for them in the People Hub on their phone too.
When all the members have joined, then you’re all ready to start using the Room!
NB. Although Rooms work best when everyone is on Windows Phone 8 – many of the features work across all phones.
Using Rooms
Each Room you create can be pinned to your Start screen for easy access.
Inside each Room you’ll see a screen for each of the following:
- The members – Send an email to everyone in the Room
- Chat – Group chats and current location sharing
- Calendar – Everyone can see and make changes to the calendar
- Photos – Everyone can see photos and videos that have been added
- Notes – Shared notes can be created, edited or deleted
Carrying out any of these tasks will be extremely familiar to all Windows Phone users.
However, you need to remember that rather than sending a message or a photo to one person – you are sending it to everyone in the Room. Always keep this in mind!
Editing a Room
If you are the original creator of a Room – ‘the owner’ – then you can:
- Invite new members: Go to Room > Members > + > select contact
- Remove members: Room > Members > Select contact > Remove
- Rename the room: Room > Members > More … > Rename
- Delete the Room altogether: Room > Members > More … > Delete Room
If you’ve joined a Room that was set up by someone else then you can leave the Room by tapping the Room, going to Members and select Leave Room.
Rooms are simple to create, use and edit. They’re a great addition to Windows Phone 8 and underlines once again why we think your new Lumia device is the best social smartphone in the world.
Tags: None
lut
6
Attention all Nollywood fans! Make sure you’re stocked up with plenty of popcorn because you’ll be finding it difficult to tear yourself away from the new iROKOtv app on Nokia Lumia.
Download iROKOtv for Windows Phone 8
- Press the Search button on your Nokia Lumia and then tap Vision
- Scan the QR code
- Tap on the link when it appears on the screen
- Install the application from the Windows Phone Store
In addition to a wide choice of full-length Nollywood movies, you’ll also be able to watch behind-the-scenes features, interviews with the stars and entertainment gossip.
The iROKOtv mobile app will be available for Nokia Lumia devices running on Windows Phone 8, such as the Lumia 920, Lumia 820 and Lumia 620.
This is the result of a partnership between Nokia and iROKOtv, the world’s largest online distributor of Nigerian movies.
Who needs Hollywood?
For the uninitiated, the Nigerian film industry, which is also known as Nollywood, is a very big deal indeed. In fact, by volume, it is the second largest film industry in the world behind India’s Bollywood.
The films are made quickly and prolifically – some of the larger production houses can make up to 40 movies per year.
Nollywood is a homegrown success story that reflects Nigeria’s passion for story telling and watching movies. However, its appeal goes beyond its own borders.
Global appeal
“Even though it is done in Nigeria by Nigerians, it actually translates really, really well,” says Adibeli Nduka-Agwu who is iROKO’s Head of Business Development and Partners in Africa.
“We find that these are the sort of movies that do well across all African countries. Everyone from South Africa to Kenya but also in the UK, US and all those places where you have people with connections to the African diaspora.”
Is there such a thing as a typical Nollywood movie?
“There are certainly some recurring themes… Romantic comedies, love and a lot of drama – definitely a lot of drama!”
“The power lies in great story telling and some fabulous actors and actresses, such as Mr. Ibu, Mercy Johnson, Mama G and Tonto Dikeh.”
Another of those recurring themes is a penchant for naming their movies after common brands or global celebrities. For instance, on the app you’ll be able to watch films such as Return of Beyonce and Rihanna or Fazebook Lovers.
The mobile experience
When it came to making their Lumia app, iROKO were keen to get all the features that are available on their website transferred to the mobile experience, such as the ability to search by genre or actor and selecting movies to watch later.
In addition, there was also the acknowledgement that people consume content differently on their mobile than they do when sat in front of the TV or computer.
“What we have added to this app are things that you can view much more quickly,” Adibeli tells Conversations.
“People have certain movies that they love and they just want to see a scene or the best part of the movie.
“Normally to watch a clip you have to go through the entire movie but with this app you can just watch the most popular scene, or search for their favourite actress and get her most popular scenes.”
Working with Nokia
On bringing the iROKOtv app to Nokia Lumia, Adibeli says:
“One thing that was very important to us is that people have a very good experience and that’s why we wanted devices that could do our work justice.
“We’ve been working with Nokia for a very long time and we felt confident that this was the only way we could get the type of experience that we wanted to have.
“In Africa, Nokia is by far the biggest in terms of mobile phones and we believe we are the biggest in terms of African entertainment.”
“Together we’ve made the biggest and best Nollywood app that there could be.”
Nokia Lumia owners with a Windows Phone 8 device can download the iROKOtv app now from the Store and they’ll get three months’ subscription for free.
Existing iROKOtv PLUS customers will have free access to the app.
Tags: None
