WSJ confirms existence of Nokia Normandy. Device to be revealed at MWC 2014

The rumor mill is still spinning on the codenamed Nokia Normandy device also know as the Nokia X device. This device wouldn't be special at all if it wasn't allegedly running on Android 4.4 KitKat. The phone is supposed to run a stripped down version of KitKat with a UI similar to Windows Phone tile user interface and it would replace the current Nokia Asha range of phones.

It's a little weird that Nokia would do that when they sold its mobile production to Microsoft. Maybe it will be the last device Nokia pushes out while still not under Microsofts rule.

If the rumors are to be trusted the phone should have a 4-inch screen with a 480 x 800 pixel resolution and be power by a dual-core, 1GHz Snapdragon processor eith 512MB of RAM. Pretty good if comared to other low end Android and Asha phones.

The list continues with 4 GB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 5-megapixel camera, and a 1500mAh battery. A dual-SIM variant may also be launched available for certain markets.

Many have been waiting for a Android running Nokia but this probably is not the device they had in mind. Even the UI looks nothing like Android at all. With most of the UI looking like the tile interface on Windows Phone. The only thing they could take advantage of are the apps found at the Google Play store.

As seen on the leaked pictures and confirmed by sources very close to Nokia the Normandy device should be available in 6 colors.

This whole situation stil seems a little odd but Wall Street Journal stated that it has confirmed this rumors by a source very close to Nokia and that the Nokia Normandy device is going to be revealed at Mobile World Congress 2014.

Related articles

• Most Awaited Nokia X Android Smartphone
• Nokia to Reveal Android Powered "Normandy" at MWC in Barcelona
• Will Windows Mobile Phones Make a Comeback?
• Nokia sends out invites for its MWC conference, Nokia X and more on the way
• Nokia Normandy prototype photo leaked

Leaked screenshots show of Windows Phone 8.1 Notification Center

We've been waiting a long time for this one haven't we. Recent screenshot leaks online show of Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8.1 update that the Redmond giant has worked hard the past few months on. As visible on the screenshot a highly requested and fully working Notification center that will allow users to customize and control their app notifications.

The first screenshot shows that the ''Action Center'' as Microsoft is calling it will be a quick swipe from the top of the screen. This will display four quick settings shortcuts like Wi-Fi, Bloetooth, Airplane mode etc. All four are customizable. The Action center will now also display the full date and battery level percentage (no need for third party apps anymore). Also app notifications will be able to be silently updated, moved and deleted from this view.

This latest screenshot leak follows a previous example showing the separate volume controls for Windows Phone 8.1. Microsoft is finally splitting volume controls for ringer / notifications and media / apps in the upcoming update. It’s a minor addition, but a highly requested feature from Windows Phone users. Microsoft is also building its own "Cortana" personal assistant into Windows Phone 8.1. Foursquare, Bing, and other data sources will help power the service, and it’s expected to be unveiled alongside all of Windows Phone 8.1’s features at the Build developer conference in April.

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Week Recap

This week was an interesting one in the world of tech. All eyes from the tech world were pointed at the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit, we also had a few leaks and more.

A lot of hipe was around the icopedance of Zuckerberg to run a huge company like Facebook, so we wrote about why Mark is not right for the place of CEO of Facebook. Also on Monday we had a leak of new Windows Phone 8 Nokia phones, to to be exact. One is supposed to be a new Lumia and the other one to be a new Nokia Phi. Reed here

Microsoft changed its logo after a full 25 years using the old one. This was all over the news because the new logo uses Microsoft's ''modern'' look which means they are really serious about the new interface. Reed here

The big news this week was the Apple vs Samsung lawsuit, actually there were two lawsuits one was in South Korea and one in California, the one in Korea was won by Samsung, some of Samsung’s and Apple’s older phones will not be sold in South Korea anymore. The one in California, however was won by Apple (apple sewing Samsung for stealing their design and UI patents) and Samsung had to pay 1,05 billion $ to Apple. Story 1 & Story 2

Leaked Nokia Phi?

There was a leak on twitter today. @camb078 published pictures of the suposed Windows Phone 8 nokia device Phi. If we could belive this pictures (and this is less likely) the Nokia Phi will be coming in more colors then classic cyan, white and hot pink. We could see a yellow, flourescent green and orange. The Nokia Phi is supposed to have a 4.65 inch screen size. So we don't know if to thrust this photos but Mynokiablog says that @camb078 is a valid source. 

As we wrote in a previous article Nokia will be holding an event in New York on 5th September where we suppose they are going to introduce new Windows Phone 8 devices.

After 25 years Microsoft changes their official logo

This year Microsoft has a boatload of new things to show us like the new Windows operating system Windows 8, a new mobile platform Windows Phone 8, a completly new office and also new Xbox services and other cool things thats why Microsoft has choosen this year to be the year that they change their official logo.

Microsoft has really embraced the new ''modern'' look trough out it's services and products but now they are implementing it in their new logo. The new logo is made out of a simbol with the onecolored tiles and text. Microsoft has used the tiles that had been used in the Windows logo but the Windows logo has been also changed with the new version. The text in the logo is Segoe - also an element that they use.

A brief presentation of the new look:

Leaked Nokia Windows Phone 8 device

An event was scheduled by Nokia and Microsoft on 5th September and we can only guess whats that going to be about. Of course, Nokia is going to launch it's new Windows phone 8 devices. As this event draws near there are more and more rumours and leaks.

One of the latest leaks was a front panel of a Windows Phone 8 device ( see the buttons and the Windows Phone 8 logo) with a Nokia logo on top and also a hole for a front-facing camera. Sources say that this device is codenamed Phi and it is going to belong to the mid-range market and is going to replace the Lumia 800. The phone has a 4 inch screen and also which is not visible in the picture it's going to have a curved front just like the Lumia 800. The thing that remains a mistery is the space below the capacitive buttons.

The launch of Windows 8 devices by Nokia is scheduled on September 5th but it is expected that they won't hitt the market until november.

The new Skype. Awfully good and completely ''modern''

As we all know Microsoft's new user interface isn't called Metro anymore, temporarely it was called Windows 8 style UI but lastly Microsoft has gone with the name Modern UI. So now all Windows 8 and Windows phone 8 apps have the implemented Modern UI. The new Skype is no exception it has win over all of the Modern UI features and is now completely designed for Windows 8.

The team over from Neowin had the chance to play with the new version of Skype, the application for comunication and VoIP calling and as told they were realy thrilled with it. Not only does the app run realy stable but has a great elegant design.

Hurry and download the final version of Windows 8

On the first day of August Microsoft has announced the RTM ( Release To Manufacturing) version of Windows 8 to its hardware manufacturers and partners. The same is available to a limited number of users but it seems that users who are subscribed to MSDN and Technet can download the Windows 8 RTM version without any problems.

Everybody who is interested can download it from official Microsoft sites for free but a few limitations. The Windows 8 you download will be activated 90 days from the day of the instalation and after that be almost unusable. After the ''trial'' is over the desktop wallpaper will be black with a message that says that your copy of this operating system isn't genuine and the PC will shut down every few hours with granting you the ability to save your work.

You can download the Windows 8 RTM version from this site but be warned, Microsoft's servers are overun with the number of requests to download this so don't be surprised if you need to wait a while before the download starts.

P.S. If you want to download this you need to have one of Microsofts accounts - live.com, hotmail.com, outlook.com and after the login you will be transfered to the MSDN signup site.

After outlook.com Skydrive gets a redesign

After the launch of the new Outlook it was only a matter of time when the rest of Microsofts web-based services are going to get the new ‘’modern UI’’ as Microsoft calls it after it was forbidden to call it Metro UI. So, after Outlook the turn for a redesign is on SkyDrive, and soon Calendar.
So the same look that was original on the Media Center, then Zune, Windows Phone and on the end on Windows 8 are hold pretty tight by Microsoft and they realy intend to keep it. The new look of SkyDrive, the personal cloud storage is now ready for millions of users.
The SkyDrives web user interface is designed for tablets and computers with ‘’instant search’’ abbilities, kontekstual interchangable tool bar, drag&drop organisation and HTML5 sorting. SkyDrive for Windows Desktop and OS X is now even more faster with file upload as well with more under the hood optimisations. Now there is also a new Android app for SkyDrive which alowes fast acces, upload and sharing of files with others.

The developers aren’t left out of the circle too.
The old users who were already using the free 25 GB of cloud storage are going to be realy happy with this new simple design and the new syncronisation between devices is as simple as ever; between a computer and smartphone or other devices everything is fast and smooth.

Find out more about the new SkyDrive

One sidenote the new SkyDrive is not available for everyone but it suposed to be within a 24 hour timeframe. Also some restriction involving file tipes that can be uploaded are removed and uploading full resolution photos is now also supported.

Concept Tuesday's - BlackBerry on Windows Phone

 You know the internet is full of concepts, before the iPhone launch there are tons of new concepts, Samsung concepts and more. But today we have a more unusual concept a BlackBerry concept running Windows Phone 8.

Designer Valentin Gallard has given us an insight into how BlackBerry might look like on Windows Phone - and to be honest the thing seems just right. There are no pretencius details or technologies, and in the light of the old story that RIM is consulting with Microsoft we might see something like the Wind concept in the bright future.

This isn't the first concept Valentin has done (neither the last we hope) that involves BlackBerry and Windows Phone even though it seems realy legit - especialy becouse it integrates the BlackBerry services into the OS.

The concepted phone would be run on a dual core processor clocked on 1.5 GHz with 1GB of RAM. It karakterizes with the 4 inch display with a resolution of 1024x600 and with the part of the industrial design the device is almost fully covered with Gorilla glass 2 (the front and the back). There are also dual cameras, an 8 MP one on the back and a 2 MP on the front. There is also something that Valentin has come up with called the ''powepad'' which is a specialy designed and adaptable button.

Even if it is less likely that RIM is going to parter with Microsoft there is nothing wrong in fantasising - especialy if the result is a well designed device like this one.

Source and design : Yanko Design

Windows 8 - what we know so far?

There is only so little time left till the launch of Windows 8, so we wanted to sum up everything we know about this new gen Microsoft operating system. Last week Windows 8 went RTM (release to manufacturing) which is the last stage of development before release.

These are the packages for the two Windows 8 versions (The Verge)

1. Versions & Pricing - Windows 8 has revealed that the release date of this OS is on October 26th. Also revealed the price which is going to be 39.99 $ for a upgrade - this is going to last to January 31 and then the price is going to get bigger. Windows 8 is going to standard ship in 2 versions - Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro.





2. Metro UI? Not so much... - As you probably know innitialy in the Developer preview and Consumer preview called the new UI the Metro UI. But not anymore. They got a court order from a company saying that they are using the new Metro which is already taken. So Microsoft temorarely called it the Windows 8 Style UI but as we find out today the final name of the user interface is going to be, wait - MODERN UI. What a creative name, don't you think?

3. Surface - Microsoft, as they said are also a hardware manufacturer so they wanted to create a companion for the new os so they created the tablet Surface. The surface trablet is going to come in two versions. A wide consumer range one and a Pro one. They also come with smart cover like keyboards. So we know pretty much everything about this tablet, but the only thing that remains a mistery is the price. More about the Surface in a future article.

4. Store - so as you know with Windows 8 you get the Windows store for apps. There isn't much to tell you about the store, the only info we need to give you is that the store has about 500 apps. The number is only going to get bigger as we approach the release day.

So we think there isn't any more stuff that is important to write about we are going to see everything and maybe more goodies on the release day.