Przedstawiciel PLAY LUBLIN

Since it was launched at the start of September the Nokia Lumia 820 has received a ton of coverage. Pocket Lint said, “Visually, and technically, this phone is arguably more interesting than the 920.” While the guys at Phone Arena think it’s “100% Nokia,” talking about “extremely well-made phones that can withstand all kinds of harsh treatment.” After garnering so much attention, you’d think there’s nothing else to learn. Well, we spoke to Pablo Tapia, Global Marketing Manager, and he shared ten things you might still not know about the Nokia Lumia 820.

1. The Nokia Lumia 820 has 2 HAAC microphones, which means you can record loud sounds outdoors, and events like the concert below, without distortion.

2. The Lumia 820 has tons of memory. The SD card expansion supports up to 64 GB, then there’s 8 GB Internal+ 7 GB in SkyDrive. All together, that’s a whopping 79 GB of memory.

3. Tethering on the Nokia Lumia 820 supports up to 8 devices. So, you can share your superfast LTE connection with your friends or your laptop and use Wi-Fi to share your devices.

4. Despite its gorgeous looks the Nokia Lumia 820 is not a unibody device, which means that if you want, you can remove the battery.

5. With Smart shoot, you can use the Nokia Lumia 820 to create the perfect picture of friends and family. Simply take a series of pictures one after the other, then merge the best together to capture everyone at their best.

5. Rather than having a speaker on the back, The Nokia Lumia 820 has a speaker at the bottom. Consequently, when you place the device on a soft surface, you can still hear your conference call and music.

6. The Nokia 820′s Nokia exclusive lens means that you can animate your photos with Cinemagraph.

8. With Nokia Music, you can use the Nokia Lumia 820 to stream all the music you want for free. What’s more, if you connect it to a JBL speaker set, Mix radio will be your DJ all night long. 

9. The Nokia Lumia 820 has NFC, which means you can connect to multiple devices, receive or send information, and in some countries pay for things like movie tickets. 

10. You can use the Nokia Lumia 820’s camera to translate text.  You just use Bing search, press the eye-icon and point the camera at a foreign text and you get the translation. No more blindly pointing at an incomprehensible menu.

It’s clear that the Nokia Lumia 820 is jam packed with innovative tech, but which of these ten fascinating features most surprised you? Let us know in the comments below.

On the 28th November Nokia joined forces with electronic DJ deadmau5 at a secret London location for the ‘This is Lumia’ #Switch light and music spectacular to celebrate the release of the Lumia 920 and 820.  

The exclusive street-based party took place one year on from the biggest light show that London has ever seen (when we projected 4D visuals onto the Millbank Tower - again with deadmau5 in tow). 

Before I describe to you what happened on the night, I think you should watch the video below (word of advice: change the quality to 1080p). 

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Talk about a 360 degree attack on your senses! 

What happened?

Nokia Connects turned up at the Nokia UK event knowing very little about what exactly was going on. The whole show was shrouded in secrecy, we knew deadmau5, lights, lasers and music were all in the mix, but that was it.

It was dry (which makes a change for the UK), the air was crisp, the street was packed with Nokia/deadmau5 fans and a full moon illuminated the sky behind the Shard. 

It was like being on a film set for a big budget movie; local convenience stores had been taken over for the night by Nokia (spot the bemused neighbour below), 40 policemen and 40 security guards were present and there was a very eerie and mysterious vibe in the air as everyone waited in anticipation.

Then, from nowhere, the iconic deadmau5 helmet appeared from the rooftops and the party kicked off with a bang!

Windows, walls, lamp posts, bins (yes, actual wheelie bins), shops and even old graffiti started to come alive with light, pulsing in time with deadmau5′s tracks . Lasers and speakers engulfed the roofs around us, huge disco balls were driven around the site on trucks and giant NOKIA LUMIA signs were wheeled past.   

Just when we thought the set was over; deadmau5 ran down from the building, cycled past the crowd on an LED BMX and continued playing on a raised moving platform, without his famous mask on!  

After closing the show he headed off to the Electric Brixton for the Nokia after party.

Click below to see the full 30 minute version of the show from Claus Strasburger:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

All the lovely people who came with us had a an awesome time! Here are some of those ‘lovely people’:

Jenny Hayden

Martyn Newton

Jon Choo

Mac Morrison (and Riaz Ahmed who happened to be standing just behind Mac!) 

Also, we wanted to say a massive hello to Tim Harper, Dan Muslow and Chris Zoryk who were great fun on the night.

If you would like to know more about the mau5 then please head to the deadmau5 homepage (the guy is a legend). Or if you would like to make the #Switch to Lumia then head here. As per usual, we’ve got lots to tell you about the new Lumia range. 

Image credit(s);  Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Nokia

Od północy przez 24h potrwa kolejna promocja doładowań w naszej aplikacji na profilu Facebook.com/Play. Zapraszamy! Jakie benefity? Regulamin Oferty Promocyjnej Ekstra bonusy za doładowanie przez Facebook i doladowanie.play.pl _30.11.2012

Jest już dostępna aktualizacja Androida dla Samsunga Galaxy SIII. Aktualizujcie!

Od północy przez 24h potrwa kolejna promocja doładowań w naszej aplikacji na profilu Facebook.com/Play. Zapraszamy! Jakie benefity? Regulamin Oferty Promocyjnej Ekstra bonusy za doładowanie przez Facebook i doladowanie.play.pl _30.11.2012

Jest już dostępna aktualizacja Androida dla Samsunga Galaxy SIII. Aktualizujcie!

Just a quick one – my colleagues over at Developer World recently made the Sony Tablet SDK add-on available for download, meaning basically all developer related tools for Xperia devices are now accessible from Developer World.

Developers can create apps/content that make use of some of the special features/functionality in our devices, and access an information rich resource that includes: tutorials, guides, marketing advice, tips & tricks and open source material – it’s well worth checking out.

Guys,

We’ve recently launched a new Twitter stream, @SonyMobileNews – a resource for media and bloggers.

It’ll feature contributions from my colleagues, Ivette, Kajsa and Gareth and act as the go-to resource for media enquiries or questions; Xperia product portfolio, PR software and hardware updates, CSR or questions on the Sony Mobile organization.

We’ll also be live-tweeting from tradeshows and events – so, feel free to follow us if you’re on Twitter.

For customer service queries, Sony reps are on hand to help at talk.sonymobile.com and if you’d like to follow our brand stream, please drop by @SonyXperia.

See you there.

One of the things I love the most about the relentless march of new technology is how quickly people are able to adapt and, almost by stealth, establish new paradigms.

The evolution of mobile phones is a good case study for future anthropologists.

People around the world have consistently shown their ingenuity in how they are using their mobile phones. Text-speak and the rise of SMS is a prime example. In many countries, SMS is now far more popular than actually talking on your phone. 

Also, when the very first mobile phone came out, who could have predicted how important location services and cameras would become? It all seemed to happen because that’s just how most people were using their mobiles. 

These new shifts are not confined to cutting edge phones either. People without smart devices are still finding smart ways of using the ‘dumb’ phones that they do have.

One way they are doing this is the phenomenon that’s become known as ‘beeping’.

Big beeps 

Put simply, beeping is when you call someone and then hang up after it has rung for a split-second. Think of it as giving someone a quick nudge or shout across the room. 

What does the beep mean? It can mean anything but crucially it will be understood between the two parties. Some common messages for beeps are things such as ‘please come and pick me up’ or simply ‘I’m thinking of you, please call me back.’ 

The practice is particularly common in emerging economies like India, Pakistan and the African nations. 

It’s popular because it’s practically free and means that if the second party does want to speak to you, then they’ll have to call you back and bear the burden of paying for that phone call.

It is also just a very simple and efficient way of getting your message across. Who needs words, when a beep says it all?

The repertoire

Beeping was first identified a few years ago in Rwanda by Microsoft researcher Richard Donner, who wrote a paper called The Rules of Beeping.

He said that beeping was: 

“A simple strategy to redistribute telecommunications costs and as a form of code which, intentionally or not, serves to strengthen relationships and reinforce social norms.” 

Mr Donner identified three major kinds of beeps and how they were being used:

• Most common of all are callback beeps. They are a “request” that the recipient return the beeper’s missed call with a voice call.
• Prearranged shorthand beeps. For example, ‘beep me when you’ve finished your shopping and I’ll come to pick you up.’
• Relational beeps are made between friends and expect no reply or action to be taken. It’s used for simple greetings such as ‘hello’ or ‘goodnight.’

The rules

As well as the different kinds of beeps, Mr Donner also found that hierarchies and social conventions have also arisen around beeping. 

For example, callback beeps are sent to people with more money than you because they can afford to pay for the call. Likewise, you can send them to friends and family if you have run out of minutes.

There are also occasions when beeping is frowned upon, such as when you are hoping for favourable treatment from the person you are beeping. A man who is courting a girl should not beep her either. Who said romance was dead?

Beeping off

In its simplest form you can think of beeping as a kind of Morse code. Strangers to countries where it is practiced may well find it annoying and confusing, particularly if you keep answering your phone quickly before the caller can hang up!

Even in the UK, I have heard anecdotal evidence that a form of beeping was used among some families with the old fixed-line phones to relay simple messages – “ring the phone twice to let me know you’ve arrived home safely,” and that sort of thing [Ian – we did when I was a kid to let my grandmother know we’d got home].

So, beeping is not exactly new but mobile phone technology has helped it to become a major cultural phenomenon around the world.

Will it last? As Richard Donner said, cheaper operator deals and other disruptive technologies such as instant messaging may very well reduce its popularity. For now though, I think it’s clever, witty and long may they keep on beeping.

Image credits: IIDC and whiteafrican

*Beeping is also known as flashing, but don’t confuse this with wiping or upgrading your phone’s software or firmware, which is also commonly referred to as flashing.

The best innovations in technology are often the ones that combine simplicity with a sprinkle of magic. Think about the first time you connected a device to WiFi or the first time you made a video call with Skype.

Our latest app for the Nokia Lumia 820 and Lumia 920, PhotoBeamer, offers a similarly amazing new experience for smartphone users.

Download PhotoBeamer

1. Press the Search button on your Nokia Lumia and then tap Vision
2. Scan the QR code
3. Tap on the link when it appears on the screen
4. Install the application from the Windows Phone Store

This is what happens. You install the app and use it to look at pictures in your gallery. As soon as you open a picture, you’re told to go to photobeamer.com in any web browser (not the one on your phone!).  

Point the phone camera at the QR code that appears on the website, tap it when it’s visible on the camera screen, and then the magic happens.

Your photos are automatically transmitted to the website and shown on the screen without another click. It’s the fastest and most adaptable way to show off your pictures we’ve seen.

Simplicity is hard to do

Of course, behind the scenes, there’s quite a lot of complexity going on that’s required to allow things to happen so quickly and simply.

David Fredh, who joined Nokia as part of the recent acquisition of imaging know-how from Scalado, is the lead product manager behind the app. David explains: “We had two main aims for PhotoBeamer: to make sharing as simple as possible. But also to make it as fast as possible.”

The QR code is, of course, unique every time the site is opened, and as soon as you’ve scanned it, the app starts sending your pictures, caching them for fast performance as you scroll back and forth through a set.

Images are streamed progressively from the device to the target screen. Thanks to this optimisation of the data, PhotoBeamer can work even on a standard 3G connection, as well as 4G and WiFi.

Samuli Hänninen, who heads up Nokia’s imaging efforts, commented: “It’s great to see the first full delivery from our colleagues in the new Lund office, and a terrific product that reaffirms Nokia’s leadership in the imaging space.”