Przedstawiciel PLAY LUBLIN

If you were thinking that after a new beta of Nokia Pulse, a new version of Nokia Transport and an update to Nokia Drive, that the summer of updates to location-based apps for Nokia Lumia was over, think again.

Today we’re releasing a new update to Nokia Maps, with Groupon Now! deals and the highly requested journey planner.

Discover more and save more with daily Groupon Now! deals

Download Nokia Maps now

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

Nokia Maps’ mission has always been to make you feel like a local anywhere, every day. True to this motto, and after working for the past few months with Groupon, Nokia Maps  now shows offers you can enjoy here and now.

Groupon Now! on Nokia Maps is a great way to get nearby deals on demand that you can buy and use the same day. You can buy them and use them right away for instant gratification. We think that this is a perfect way to try new places or find great offers around you, in your home city or when traveling.

Finding, buying and redeeming Groupon Now! deals is easy. When looking for something on Nokia Maps, you will be shown relevant deals among the usual search results clearly marked with the green G of Groupon. All deals on Nokia Maps come with an exhaustive description and when you have selected one, you will be redirected to the Groupon mobile site.

Because Groupon Now! deals are geographically limited, this feature is currently available only in the US.

Travel smarter with advance route planning

The ability to easily create a route between any two points has been one of your most requested features since we introduced Nokia Maps for Nokia Lumia. With this new version, you can plan your trips in advance, directly on your smartphone.

After you have set the starting point and destination, you can select your favourite way to connect the dots: on foot, by car or by public transportation (where available). The best thing is you can also pin the route to your start screen and have it available anytime, or share it with friends.

Nokia Maps runs on the Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Lumia 900. The Windows Phone Marketplace will notify you of the available update or download it today, for free, from the Nokia Collection on your phone.

Important notice: there might be a publishing delay (1-2 days) on Windows Phone Marketplace in your country or region. The new version of Nokia Maps is labelled as 2.5.0.0, so check for that version when you launch Windows Phone Marketplace. If you see 2.1.0.0, then it’s the old version of Nokia Maps. Just wait a bit until the Windows Phone Marketplace page updates. Thanks for your patience.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Forget using your thumbs to type out a text message and say goodbye to flicking through your People hub to make a phone call, let your voice do the work for you. Your Nokia Lumia has the power to turn your spoken words into actions, thanks to speech commands.

To let your Nokia Lumia know that you’re ready to speak to it directly, press and hold the Windows start button and your smartphone will be put into listening mode.

Speech listens out for four basic commands: Call; Text; Find; and Open. By starting your voice command with any one of these, your Nokia Lumia will easily be able to help you out.

All the details: Nokia Lumia 800

All about our stunning new smartphone.

The specs;
the price; the facts

Call

The Nokia Lumia is capable of populating your People hub with all the people you know through your social networks and any others you may add from other sources. This usually leads to a long list of contacts. To find the right person and to call them in super-quick time, use the Call command. For example, “Call Lisa Miller”. In seconds your phone will be calling Lisa Miller and all you’ve done is ask your phone to do it.

You could even be a little more specific. If the person you want to call has several numbers saved against their name, you can jump right in and say “Call Lisa Miller Work”. This will call her work number. You can also add another command to the end of that sentence and have it dial her using your speakerphone by saying “Call Lisa Miller Speakerphone”.

Text

In a similar way from calling, this is a faster way to send somebody in your People hub a quick text message.

Start with the Text command and by saying “Text Lisa Miller”, for example. Your Lumia will find the contact and after a few seconds you’ll be asked to say the message you want to send. It’ll be typed out in front of your eyes. Finish by telling your phone to send.

Find

With the Internet at your disposal you can have your Lumia search it for absolutely anything, using your voice. Press and hold the start button and use the Find command.

The Find function uses Bing to bring you search results. This means that if you want to “Find coffee in London”, you’ll be shown a map of London with a list of coffee shops (or just use “Find coffee shops” for anything local to your current position). If you want to know the weather San Francisco, the Web search will show you the current weather, plus the five-day forecast right at the top of the results page.

You can search for anything on the Web using just your voice.

Open

Opening apps is really easy. Using the Open command you can open Nokia Drive, the calendar or your favourite pizza app, for example.

Not only can you open any of the apps you’ve downloaded from Windows Phone Marketplace, but it works for practically anything. You can open the People Hub, Messaging, Internet Explorer or Microsoft Office. If it’s on your phone, you can open it using just your voice.

Powered by Microsoft TellMe, there’s hardly any need to repeat the commands as it gets it 9 times out of ten, regardless of how quiet, gruff or high pitched your voice is.

This feature is already built-in to every Nokia Lumia phone. That means your Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 or Nokia Lumia 900 is already setup to use speech commands.

Do you talk to your Nokia Lumia? Have you used any commands we’ve not mentioned above? Use the comments section below to let us know what you think.

Image credit: CarbonNYC

Back to school season is here in the United States – as August and September come, millions of college students will head back to campuses. At just $49, the Nokia Lumia 900 is an amazing value for back-to-school minded students and parents.

So, after you get that Lumia phone, what are the best applications for students as the re-enter the gates of academia? Let’s take a look.

Please consider Mary, our fictitious student who attends Seton Hall University. Mary is really lucky because as an incoming freshman at Seton Hall, she’s received a Nokia Lumia 900 and is new the Windows Phone, so she’s thirsty for the latest apps and services that will enhance her daily experience as a student.

Working alongside her classmates

First off, Mary has some friends who keep talking about being able to swap files using a shared file service. She has a few friends who love DropBox and some other friends who already have Hotmail accounts, so naturally, they’re SkyDrive users.

No problem, because on her Lumia 900, Mary can either use the SkyDrive application on her phone. In order to keep in sync with her Dropbox using friends, she can use BoxFiles for Dropbox. With these respective apps, she can manipulate files and view documents. In fact, she can even share files from her phone with her classmates, making these apps must-haves for any student in 2012.

Keeping it all straight

As her first week gets underway, Mary is getting nervous about being able to manage her schedule and keep her class deadlines straight.  Between mid-terms, projects and other stresses, what’s Mary to do? Schedule gives Mary piece of mind as this application lets her know her upcoming lessons, times, teachers and the classrooms she needs to be in. Simply put, Schedule lets Mary keep all her classes in check.

In order to keep her work straight in her head, Mary uses Power Planner an app she uses to keep all her classwork in one easy app. Like Schedule, Power Planner lets her add classroom and track her schedule, but it goes one step further with automatic reminders, a super-fast homework entry system and online backup/restore.

Lastly, Mary is an avid Evernote user, and she’s happy to find that there is a great Evernote app for Windows Phone. With Evernote, she can enter, tag and take notes and it will all be in sync with her other devices. She can even take photos of handwritten notes for easy searching later.

Needing reference tools

Okay, now it’s time to get to work as Mary has a paper due on Monday. With Dictionary.com and Wikipedia, Mary has the tools she needs to deliver a well thought out and powerfully persuasive paper. Dictionary.com shows her spelling and also has audio pronunciation for when she’s stuck. If she’s deep in an old campus building with no signal, Dictionary.com will still be useful as it can work without an Internet connection.

Wikipedia gives Mary a great application for accessing the ubiquitous online encyclopedia tool.

If Mary has a task ahead of her requiring memorization, she can use Flashcards for her Lumia. Flashcards is great because Mary can build flash cards on her phone and not have to mess with 3×5 notebook cards and can even flag cards that continue to give you trouble. There’s a quiz mode to make sure your skills are sharp when it matters most.

For those times when Mary needs a calculator, Smartboard Calculator Free is a great option. This fun calculator that resembles an old fashioned blackboard and can handle algebra, geometry and trigonometry. You can even export the results to Excel if you want to share your brilliance!

Lastly, Mary hates buying physical books because she likes to keep a light load. Kindle Books from Amazon makes it possible for Mary to have access to the book she’s already bought over the years. She can also pick up the last page she read, bookmarks, and notes from all her books.

Which apps make your back to school a welcome event?  We look forward to the comments!

Photo credit:  stevecadman

We’ve come a long way since our early descendants scribbled some crude animal drawings on their cave walls over 30,000 years ago.

What would these inhabitants of the Stone Age have made of a quill, or a ballpoint pen? A typewriter, surely, would have frazzled their primitive minds.

However, for many of us, the pen and pencil have become anachronistic tools as well. I can’t remember the last time I needed a pencil, and the pen has become an implement of last resort. 

Most often, of course, I am typing on my computer and increasingly my smartphone. Even for jotting down reminders and shopping lists, I use a simple Notes app. It is more convenient than pen and paper and I know I won’t lose it.

Even as the mobile phone becomes the dominant device for how we capture, store and pass on information, another battle is raging about the way we are doing it.

So, it’s time declare your loyalties in the war of the input methods.

Take Our Poll

Number keypads

What does the following sequence of digits mean to you? 4, 3, 5, 5 and 6.

If you have a number keypad on your phone, then you’ve probably noticed that it spells out ‘hello’ in predictive text.

Mastering predictive text (aka T-9) should be a rite of passage for every young (or old!) person getting to grips with their first mobile phone.

Once you’ve got it figured out, it becomes second nature and long messages can flow from your fingertips with astonishing speed.

You cannot deny the simple elegance and functionality of a number keypad. 

Example phones: Nokia Asha 202 and Nokia Asha 203

Qwerty keyboard

Despite the brilliance of predictive text, the Qwerty keyboard is the input method that we are most familiar with.

Their appearance on our mobile phones heralded the age when they suddenly become an extension of our computers.

Much like the number keypads, there is the satisfying haptic feedback you get from using a keyboard with proper buttons. Somehow, it still feels like a mechanical process.

Plus, I would hazard a guess that you are less likely to make as many typing mistakes with a Qwerty keyboard than on a touchscreen device.

Example phones: Nokia Asha 302 and Nokia Asha 303  

Touchscreen

The touchscreen is fantastic for looking at photos, browsing the web and watching video, but is it really that good for typing?

Yes, touchscreen phones use a digital Qwerty keyboard as well but it is still a very different experience from pressing real buttons.

How often have you tapped the wrong letter? How frustrating is it when you are trying to type on a bumpy bus or car journey?

Despite the drawbacks though, touchscreens are very much in the ascendancy. Is it a case of their advantages outweighing the disadvantages?

Example phones: Nokia Asha 311 and Nokia 808 PureView

Voice 

Currently, with the best will in the world, getting a device to obey voice commands can still be a hit and miss affair. We are still a long way off from a mobile phone passing the Turing test.

Plus, there is still the embarrassment factor, especially in public, of talking to an inanimate object. All that said, hands free communication has clear benefits and there are situations, such as driving, when it is a necessity.

Voice is perhaps an input method that will become more and more important in the future, especially as the technology gets more advanced.

Take a look at this post about how you can use simple voice commands on your Nokia Lumia smartphone.

Example phones: Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900

Don’t forget to vote in our poll and let us know which one you prefer.

image credit: DavidRGilson

This is a practical project to add a really useful new feature to your Lumia smartphone.

We were thinking about how easy it is to read QR codes using a Nokia Lumia and the different uses you could put them to.

How about if you were to be able to replace your business cards with your phone’s lock screen?

This is intended for people who like to get hands-on with their devices and gain satisfaction out of doing something themselves.

Yes, there are apps that can do it for you, but where’s the fun in that?

Step one: you’ll need a vCard

Cramming all your business card information into a QR Code is too dense for some phones to swallow, so we’re taking a two-step approach for wider compatibility.

A vCard is a tiny text file containing contact details, with the extension .vcf, that can be imported into pretty much any address book app that exists. 

Getting one is very easy for most people. If you have an entry in Outlook Contacts or OSX Contacts, then you can right click to export it in vCard format.

If you need to use a public computer or want to make a new or different vCard, you could try out this online generator. 

Step two: put it online

You need to put your vCard file somewhere on the Web. Maybe you already have some web space you prefer to use. If you have a Lumia, you can use the public folder in SkyDrive, for example.

Go to skydrive.live.com and log-in with your Windows Live account details (the same ones used to set up your phone). Find your way to the public folder and drag and drop your vCard into the folder.

To get its web address, right click on the uploaded file, choose Share and then ‘get a link’.

A similar system exists in Dropbox and other online storage and sharing services, so use whichever you please. It just needs to be a publicly addressable place – rather than behind passwords or login screens.

Step three: create a QR code

Armed with the URL of your vCard, go to a QR code generator. There are lots of these on the Web – we used http://qrcode.kaywa.com 

Put the address into the box, press the ‘Generate (free)’ button and hey-presto you’ve got a QR Code. Save it onto your computer.

Step four: a custom wallpaper

You can make a custom wallpaper for your Nokia Lumia using any image editor from MS Paint up to Adobe Photoshop. If you’re really desperate or only have access to a public computer, then pixlr.com is an online editor that does a great job.

A Nokia Lumia wallpaper needs to be 800 x 480 pixels. Go ahead and make it as fancy or as plain as you want. Remember that the date and time sits in the bottom third of the screen and indicators at the very top, so leave those areas fairly clear.

If you’re unartistic or lazy, then you might choose one of these as a starting point. Paste in your QR code and place it somewhere suitable.

You’ll want to end up with something like this:

Don’t make the QR code too small, but it doesn’t need to be massive, either. Save it as a high-quality JPEG file.

Bonus tip: add some “lost-and-found” information while you’re at it. 

Extra bonus tip: you might also want to add the QR Code image to your email signature while you have it ready. 

Step five: get it on your phone and set it as wallpaper

If you really want, you can attach a cable and synchronise the wallpaper file over to your phone. Or put it on SkyDrive again. It was simplest for me to just email it to myself. 

When the email arrives, click on the file to download and view the full version, then the context menu in the bottom right lets you ‘use as wallpaper’.

Job done! Treat yourself to a nice cup of tea.

How else are you using QR Codes on your phone?

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Forget using your thumbs to type out a text message and say goodbye to flicking through your People hub to make a phone call, let your voice do the work for you. Your Nokia Lumia has the power to turn your spoken words into actions, thanks to speech commands.

To let your Nokia Lumia know that you’re ready to speak to it directly, press and hold the Windows start button and your smartphone will be put into listening mode.

Speech listens out for four basic commands: Call; Text; Find; and Open. By starting your voice command with any one of these, your Nokia Lumia will easily be able to help you out.

All the details: Nokia Lumia 800

All about our stunning new smartphone.

The specs;
the price; the facts

Call

The Nokia Lumia is capable of populating your People hub with all the people you know through your social networks and any others you may add from other sources. This usually leads to a long list of contacts. To find the right person and to call them in super-quick time, use the Call command. For example, “Call Lisa Miller”. In seconds your phone will be calling Lisa Miller and all you’ve done is ask your phone to do it.

You could even be a little more specific. If the person you want to call has several numbers saved against their name, you can jump right in and say “Call Lisa Miller Work”. This will call her work number. You can also add another command to the end of that sentence and have it dial her using your speakerphone by saying “Call Lisa Miller Speakerphone”.

Text

In a similar way from calling, this is a faster way to send somebody in your People hub a quick text message.

Start with the Text command and by saying “Text Lisa Miller”, for example. Your Lumia will find the contact and after a few seconds you’ll be asked to say the message you want to send. It’ll be typed out in front of your eyes. Finish by telling your phone to send.

Find

With the Internet at your disposal you can have your Lumia search it for absolutely anything, using your voice. Press and hold the start button and use the Find command.

The Find function uses Bing to bring you search results. This means that if you want to “Find coffee in London”, you’ll be shown a map of London with a list of coffee shops (or just use “Find coffee shops” for anything local to your current position). If you want to know the weather San Francisco, the Web search will show you the current weather, plus the five-day forecast right at the top of the results page.

You can search for anything on the Web using just your voice.

Open

Opening apps is really easy. Using the Open command you can open Nokia Drive, the calendar or your favourite pizza app, for example.

Not only can you open any of the apps you’ve downloaded from Windows Phone Marketplace, but it works for practically anything. You can open the People Hub, Messaging, Internet Explorer or Microsoft Office. If it’s on your phone, you can open it using just your voice.

Powered by Microsoft TellMe, there’s hardly any need to repeat the commands as it gets it 9 times out of ten, regardless of how quiet, gruff or high pitched your voice is.

This feature is already built-in to every Nokia Lumia phone. That means your Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 or Nokia Lumia 900 is already setup to use speech commands.

Do you talk to your Nokia Lumia? Have you used any commands we’ve not mentioned above? Use the comments section below to let us know what you think.

Image credit: CarbonNYC

If you were thinking that after a new beta of Nokia Pulse, a new version of Nokia Transport and an update to Nokia Drive, that the summer of updates to location-based apps for Nokia Lumia was over, think again.

Today we’re releasing a new update to Nokia Maps, with Groupon Now! deals and the highly requested journey planner.

Discover more and save more with daily Groupon Now! deals

Download Nokia Maps now

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

Nokia Maps’ mission has always been to make you feel like a local anywhere, every day. True to this motto, and after working for the past few months with Groupon, Nokia Maps  now shows offers you can enjoy here and now.

Groupon Now! on Nokia Maps is a great way to get nearby deals on demand that you can buy and use the same day. You can buy them and use them right away for instant gratification. We think that this is a perfect way to try new places or find great offers around you, in your home city or when traveling.

Finding, buying and redeeming Groupon Now! deals is easy. When looking for something on Nokia Maps, you will be shown relevant deals among the usual search results clearly marked with the green G of Groupon. All deals on Nokia Maps come with an exhaustive description and when you have selected one, you will be redirected to the Groupon mobile site.

Because Groupon Now! deals are geographically limited, this feature is currently available only in the US.

Travel smarter with advance route planning

The ability to easily create a route between any two points has been one of your most requested features since we introduced Nokia Maps for Nokia Lumia. With this new version, you can plan your trips in advance, directly on your smartphone.

After you have set the starting point and destination, you can select your favourite way to connect the dots: on foot, by car or by public transportation (where available). The best thing is you can also pin the route to your start screen and have it available anytime, or share it with friends.

Nokia Maps runs on the Nokia Lumia 610, Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and the Nokia Lumia 900. The Windows Phone Marketplace will notify you of the available update or download it today, for free, from the Nokia Collection on your phone.

Important notice: there might be a publishing delay (1-2 days) on Windows Phone Marketplace in your country or region. The new version of Nokia Maps is labelled as 2.5.0.0, so check for that version when you launch Windows Phone Marketplace. If you see 2.1.0.0, then it’s the old version of Nokia Maps. Just wait a bit until the Windows Phone Marketplace page updates. Thanks for your patience.

Oprócz producentów telefonów na Play Weekend zaprosiliśmy również producenta oprogramowania. Odwiedzą nas goście z Microsoftu i opowiedzą o najnowszym systemie operacyjnym Windows Phone. Mam nadzieję, że są gotowi na trudne pytania? Tymczasem zamykamy listę uczestników PW. Obecnie są to: Silvester Aldobasic Karol Kozłowski Damian Tomkowiak Adam Dębiński Robert Olejnik Grzegorz Trzciński Jarosław Szmańda Wojciech [...]

Tak, tak wiem na jaki spot wszysycy czekają…. Tymczasem mamy dla Was wcześniej coś bardziej smartfonowego czyli nowy spot w ramach akcji Wakacyjny zjazd cenowy. Tym razem w rolach głównych Nokia 500 z ładowarką a wszystko za 1 zł w PLAY. Spot: Teraz przeczytajcie notatke prasową jaka przygotowała agencja reklamowa, w której wszystko jest dokładnie [...]

Tak, tak wiem na jaki spot wszysycy czekają…. Tymczasem mamy dla Was wcześniej coś bardziej smartfonowego czyli nowy spot w ramach akcji Wakacyjny zjazd cenowy. Tym razem w rolach głównych Nokia 500 z ładowarką a wszystko za 1 zł w PLAY. Spot: Teraz przeczytajcie notatke prasową jaka przygotowała agencja reklamowa, w której wszystko jest dokładnie [...]