The EyeEm app is easily the best Windows Phone 8 alternative to Instagram for more reason than one. The first reason – and the most important – is that Instagram does not exist on Windows Phone 8 in the first place. There’s been talk of a possible app in the future, but Instagram has made it clear on more than one occasion that they’re not investing their own resources into making an app for Windows Phone 8 (not yet, at least). The second reason is that this app’s features fit perfectly inside the Windows Phone 8 (and Windows Phone 7.5, mind you), aesthetic – images flying all over the place and screens and screens full of filtered photos look great on the platform.

After using the Windows Phone 8 version of the app for a few minutes, it became clear that we had to see how the app worked on the rest of the mobile universe. As it turns out, there’s more features for this app on iPhone and Android than there are on Windows Phone. While the Windows Phone 8 version is perfectly legitimate and worth the free download without a doubt, it’s even more exciting to see the app developing on Android and iOS.

The newest update to EyeEm occurred on the 19th of October, 2012 – that’s just earlier this week. This update brings the app up to version 3.0 and adds items such as Favorite Albums for photos you love the best, Invitations for friends to hook in to your friends via email as well as Facebook, and a collection of bug fixes (of course). In the end though, this is the same app as the Windows Phone 8 version – filters, sharing, tagging and all.

EyeEm has a burgeoning community both within the app and on the web – you can log in with your EyeEm account (with or without Facebook, mind you) and comment on photos in any web browser, connect to tags and locations, and edit your profile as well. You’ve got your own profile, mind you, and your connections to other EyeEm users exist both in the app and on the web.

In other words – this ecosystem is much more developed than Instagram ever has been – and if Facebook continues down the path it’s on now, EyeEm will continue to be be more of a fully-immersive ecosystem and social network unto itself than Instagram ever will be.

Then there’s the real kicker – Instagram’s privacy blunder here at the tail end of 2012 has opened the doors wide open for similar apps and ecosystems, with EyeEm right at the ready. They’ve got a message right up at the top of their Privacy Policy that says the following:

At EyeEm we respect & protect your image rights.

By using our service you’ll always remain the copyright holder of your images, your information is safe with us and we won’t do anything with your photos or data without asking for your permission.

Please read the following policy carefully, if you aren’t a lawyer we’ve included some notes to help you make sense of it.

The most important note they make is this – simple, plain, and clear: “We do not sell your information to anyone. However, please be aware that EyeEm is an open website and anyone can see what you’re posting.”

Have a peek at EyeEm today on the web, on the Windows Marketplace for your Windows Phone 8 device, on the Google Play app store, and on the iTunes App Store for your iPhone. Let us know how you like it!

The blog post states that this issue only affects phones that were upgraded to Windows Phone 7.5 and not phones that came with 7.5 pre-installed, but some commenters on the blog post are saying that isn’t the case. Microsoft also says that this certificate issue only affects a “small percentage of the 100,000-plus apps in Marketplace,” pointing to apps like The New York Times, WhatsApp, and Translator from Bing – all three of which were updated recently – as examples.

If you run into this problem, it’s recommended that you just wait until Microsoft has delivered a fix. Microsoft warns not to delete the app that’s giving you grief, as you probably won’t be able to download it again until a fix has been issued, and you risk losing any saved data with the app by doing that. So, just sitting tight and waiting for that fix to arrive seems to be the best thing you can do in this case.

Microsoft doesn’t give a time frame for this fix, so we could be waiting a little while for it land. Things are looking hopeful though, as the company says it is “already planning to roll out a fix,” so it may not be that long before it arrives. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear, as we’ll let you know of any new developments with this issue.

Of course there are quite a few relatively large changes to this next-generation update to the Windows Phone user interface when it comes down to it, beginning with the most obvious: the addition of a tile size. You’ve got colors, three sizes of tiles, and ultra-easy to re-arrange goodness. Next you’ve got an announcement that Audible just hit the Windows Phone app market, and that Words with Friends, Draw Something, and the online banking system PayPal will all be hitting the market soon.

Above you’ll see a brand new Microsoft-made hands-on video focusing specifically on the start screen, with Windows Phone 7.8 live and in-action – this just one of a vast collection of content bits we’re sure will be appearing on the Windows Phone 7.8 homepage soon. The basic push for this version of Windows Phone as a viable alternative for those not quite entirely happy about the fact that their devices will not be upgraded to version 8 of Windows Phone is plain to be seen. Microsoft will certainly be continuing to make an effort to appear fair for legacy users moving forward, you can bank on it.

Have a peek at our own Eyes-on with Windows Phone 7.8 and check out the video from the big event earlier this month here:

The smart group feature allows you to take multiple shots of a group picture and then pick and choose the best faces for the final composite shot in case someone blinked, yawned, or didn’t smile. The action shot takes a burst of images for you to select the best from a list. The panorama feature guides you to take multiple shots that are then stitched together, while the self-timer lets the camera countdown from 10 seconds before taking a shot.

Although you download the Camera Extras bundle as an app, it actually is not a separate app. It will integrate the four new features directly in your Camera app so that features are there when you tap on the Settings menu. The bundle is available now for Lumia 900 owners in the US and China, with a global release set for July.

[via WinSuperSite]

The Omnia M will feature a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen with a WVGA resolution, single-core 1Ghz processor, 384MB of RAM, five megapixel camera with LED flash, and 4GB of internal memory. Windows Phone 7.5 is onboard, as are all the usual radios: HSPA up to 7.2Mbit/s, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, and A-GPS.

A front facing camera has found its way onto this model for video calling via Tango or Skype, and battery capacity is rated at 1,500mAh. Samsung is also bundling some custom software with the phone, such as Family Story, a way to share content to family members, plus its ChatON messaging service also available on iOS and Android. AllShare takes advantage of streaming via DLNA, and the standard Microsoft services such as SkyDrive and Xbox Live integration are par for the course.

Samsung says the phone will hit Europe initially then “other regions” later, but didn’t mention pricing or availability. Keep an eye on your local retailers in the meantime.

[via SammyHub]

Our hands-on experience here is broken into two parts so it’s all a bit more digestible to those of you familiar with Windows Phone. I say such a thing because when it comes to software, this device isn’t really any different from any other Windows Phone device other than the few updates Windows Phone 7.5 Mango brought to the experience. Instead what we’ll be concentrating on here most is the elements that make this device unique – namely its camera, its size, and the quality of its hardware build.

The display you’re working with here is a 480 x 800 pixel S-LCD 4.7-inches in size. That means its pretty big, but it’s not the sharpest smartphone in the market at 199 ppi. The display is covered by a piece of reinforced glass that’s curved at the bottom – a really classy touch that’ll make it easier to pull out of your pocket when you’ve got slippery fingers. On the back is a set of several panels of soft plastic – the bottom being a SIM card slot cover as well and having a 3D pattern that, once again, makes this phone extremely easy to grip.

The HTC Titan II has 4G LTE connectivity thanks to AT&T, and it’s 1.5GHz single-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S2 processor should be more than powerful enough to run any app or function Windows Phone 7.5 and the apps on the platform thus far. Have a peek at the photos above and below, the timeline leading up to this point in our HTC Titan II experience, and the hands-on videos of course as well. Then expect a full review of this device soon!

AT&T will be delivering Windows Phone 7.5 Tango, otherwise known as “Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh” likely some time this summer. They would not give an exact date or time for this update, but did mention that they would indeed be skipping the incremental January update known as 8107. This 7.5 Refresh will instead bring a vast number of updates instead of just bug fixes, which it will of course also include.

Windows Phone will be getting several large bumps from AT&T in coming weeks and months with two giants: the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II coming with high-end specs and lovely form factors in-tact. These devices will both also likely be coming with Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh installed on them at launch, they leading the way for the rest of the line which will get the update soon after. AT&T’s push for Windows Phone will be gigantic this year, folks, I guarantee you that.

[via Seattle Times]

The most notable device to receive a custom Tango ROM is the phone that refuses to die, the HTC HD2. Originally running Windows Mobile 6.5, the 4.3-inch WVGA handset from 2009 has managed to live on thanks to a thriving community on xda-developers. The handset has seen a number of Windows Phone 7 ROMs in the past, not to mention Android Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich ROMs.

Since Tango is mainly about bringing Windows Phone to budget hardware, you’re not going to find a lot of new features in the custom ROMs already available, but Microsoft have fixed the SMS bug. When exploited, it forced a Windows Phone handset to reboot and then disabled the messaging hub.

Tango is expected to hit Chinese Windows Phone handsets on March 21st, although there’s still no word on when we’ll see it officially across the rest of the world. There’s no firm release date for Nokia’s Lumia 610 either, although they promised a Q2 launch at MWC 2012.

[via WPCentral]

This chat resulted in the naming of the next version of the smartphone operating system, and while it does not quite fall in line with what we expected of the next version numbering of the OS, it doesn’t pop up as the least odd update name in history. This Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh will mostly be an update to the minimum specifications of the devices it’ll be able to be run on, so truly no spats should be had about it not tacking on a new number on itself as it goes forth.

This Windows Phone edition will have essentially the same features as Windows Phone 7.5 Mango but with the ability to be run on devices in lower income areas and places where phones with nicer features are not able to be subsidized properly to bring their prices down to equitable levels.

This software update is a stop closer to Windows Phone 8 Apollo which will coincide with the release of the final release version of Windows 8 for desktop computers and tablets. This operating system will be very similar in usability and functionality to Windows 8, and both will collaborate to bridge the gap between desktop and mobile extremely effectively – or so we hope! Check out our relatively short timeline on Windows Phone Tango to get the clean details on this incremental update until then!

[via Windows Phone Italy]

The Nokia Lumia 900 features a 4.3-inch 800 x 400 AMOLED touchscreen in a gorgeous polycarbonate unibody housing along with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. It runs on a 1.4GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage.

Previous reports suggested that the Nokia Lumia 900 would arrive March 18, but also indicated that the lack of technical approval by the carrier meant the date was still open to slide. But even if it had been approved, next week would be horrible timing given Apple’s new iPad launch on March 16, which will undoubtedly be the center of all media attention.

[via BGR]

As long as you have a data connection – and we’re guessing you will have, if you’re searching the internet – you can hit the microphone button next to the search box and speak your search query. Just as on Android devices, Google’s servers promise to quickly crunch your gibberish chatter and help you avoid punching out letters on the on-screen keyboard, though in our experience accuracy can vary significantly.

Finally, there’s local search, which – if you allow the app to use your location – can pull up results based on proximity. So, if you want a restaurant or an ATM, those at the nearest location to you can be recommended first.

The app supports English, Spanish, French, Italian and German, and is a free download for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango users. Question is, do users of Microsoft’s OS really want Google on their device, or are they content with Bing?

To claim your free Xpress-on color cover, you can go to this Nokia portal to submit a request and select the color you desire. Your Lumia 710 purchase must have been made sometime between January 11 and March 31 to qualify. You will need your original sales receipt showing the price, date, and store as well as the unique 15-digit IMEI of your device. You’ll also need to send in one mailing envelope containing the Online Submission Form, the original sales receipt, and the original UPC and barcode panel from the packaging, which hopefully you haven’t already tossed.

Once you send all that stuff in, Nokia will ship you the Xpress-on cover to you for free. You can check on the status of your request on the Nokia Color Cover portal. Just remember the offer ends on March 31. If you don’t currently have the Nokia Lumia 710 and are curious about the free Windows Phone device on T-Mobile, make sure to check out our full review and the links down below.

MACH 5 is considered “hypersonic,” which is five times the speed of sound and generally translates to about 3000 miles per hour in aircrafts. The Nokia Lumia 800 impressively survived the extreme pressures from the test, suggesting that your important data on the device will surely survive a jet fighter nose dive or a catastrophic tornado even if you don’t.

The test really supports Nokia’s image for quality built hardware and its very first Windows Phone is indeed not only gorgeous but one very tough cookie. But perhaps it’d be more fun if NokNok threw in a couple other phones into the wind tunnel just for comparison’s sake.

The Nokia Lumia 800 Entertainment Bundle includes not only the lovely smartphone itself, but also a Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset by Monster, a Nokia Luna Bluetooth Headset, and the Nokia Play 360 speaker, most all of which we’ve got some hands-on time before, so be sure to check those out in the links below.

This special bundle costs $899 but it’s available unlocked, meaning no contract’s required. You have the option to choose between a sleek black setup or the magenta-themed setup that comes with a white Play 360 speaker. Too bad for those pining for the turquoise version, but it’s nonetheless a great offer for the phone, two headsets, a portable speaker system, and all off-contract.

The Marketplace may take a few hours to be fully activated in all regions and not all apps may be available right away. Developers are encouraged to make their existing apps available in these new countries. To do so, log into the App Hub and select the “worldwide” option. This has to be done even if an app was previously set to be available globally.

However, apps submitted for Indonesia, Malaysia, and China are subject to additional requirements due to local regulations. With the addition of five new countries, the Windows Phone Marketplace now reaches 41 markets around the world. It also has more than 50,000 apps available since December.

That integration isn’t expected to arrive until Windows Phone 8, according to leaks earlier this week. The updated smartphone OS will apparently offer deep hooks for Skype integration, though the VoIP service won’t be specifically baked into the platform, allowing internet-base calls to be handled just as easily as traditional voice calls.

This first iteration, therefore, will be a standalone app, though that’s likely enough to keep Windows Phone users satisfied for the time being. It’s been a point of frustration for adopters of the platform that, while Microsoft now owns Skype, so far most rival mobile platforms have access to a version whereas Windows Phone does not.

The practicalities of a Mobile World Congress launch depend on how well internal testing goes, it’s claimed, though the Skype app itself is said to be “near complete.” We’ve already suggested that Skype – and some clever investment by Microsoft – could be the wildcard Windows Phone needs, and it seems that time may well be close at hand.

According to WMPoweruser, you can pre-order your Nokia Lumia 900 today at Microsoft retail stores by paying $25 upfront and you can choose between the two colors of Cyan and Black. To see if there’s a Microsoft store nearby, you can see all the locations here. Also make sure to check out our hands-on video with the Lumia 900.

The Lumia 900 is expected to feature a 4.3-inch WVGA ClearBlack display, an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss rear-facing camera, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, 512MB of RAM, 1.4GHz single-core processor, 16GB of internal memory, and support for AT&T’s LTE network. Rumors have suggested that the handset will be priced at $99 with a new two-year contract.

The Nokia Lumia 910 has never been announced before and given Murtazin’s hit-and-miss track record, more misses than hits as of late, we’ll have to take this rumor with a grain of salt. He doesn’t reveal much in the way of details on this device except that it will sport a 12-megapixel camera instead of the 8-megapixel camera that’s on the Lumia 900.

Murtazin also doesn’t dismiss the possibility that the Lumia 900 is still heading to the UK in June, but only suggests that there’s no reason to wait if the 910 gets there first. Other claims he’s made today include details on the rumored Samsung Galaxy S III, for which he spills the specs and pegs to arrive in April following an announcement at Mobile World Congress in late February.

[via PocketNow]

The HTC Radiant, as shown in the image, appears very similar to the HTC Titan, but there are some visible differences, mainly on the backside. The lens of the rear-facing camera appears larger and the dual-LED flash has been moved to the right side of the camera. The top portion of the backside also appears more curved and the Windows Phone logo is at a slightly different location.

However, in terms of actual specs, we know very little about the device. It has only been mentioned as being a 4G LTE Windows Phone device heading to AT&T. Also, we likely won’t see the HTC Radiant at CES. Rumors suggest that the device won’t be ready to debut until Mobile World Congress in February.

[via PocketNow]

The Age of Zombies is a shooter and adventure game created by the makers of the popular Fruit Ninja game. It should be a fun casual game that will also be available on iOS and Android. Bullet Asylum is from UberGeekGames and was first announced back in late 2010 for WP7, the Xbox 360, and PCs. The game looks pretty awesome from the early preview video shown below.

GeoDefense Swarm is a sequel to the popular tower defense game by Critical Thought and will also be available on iOS. And then there’s Tamagotchi, which many are familiar with as that Japanese electronic pet game that was all the rage back in the 90s.

Other upcoming games include Ghostscape, Jet Car Stunts, and Mush. But dates for when all these new games will arrive have not been revealed yet.

[via Engadget]

An image purportedly of the AT&T Ace leaked last week, showing the carrier’s logo as well as a 4G icon and front-facing camera. The assumption is that the Ace 900 will be one of AT&T’s first 4G LTE Windows Phones, tipped to go on sale sometime prior to the middle of 2012.

Other specs include 512MB of RAM and – despite a presumed carrier lock to AT&T – the inclusion of the 1700MHz band necessary for 3G on T-Mobile USA. The device is supposedly codenamed “Eloko” and will ship running Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, rather than Tango as some earlier rumors indicated.

Pocketnow threw together a size comparison mockup based on leaked dimension details of the Lumia 900, next to the existing 800, which you can see below.

The iPhone 4S can be seen significantly surpassing the Lumia 800 in performance in all tests, which include Browsermark tests, Speed Reading test, Sunspider, Acid3, and HTML5. The iPhone 4 also didn’t do too shabby, beating the Lumia 800 by a smaller margin in most of the browser tests.

The iPhone 4 is running iOS 4.3 while the iPhone 4S is running iOS 5. The tester notes that with the Speed Reading Test, iOS 5 on the iPhone 4 gives it a big boost up in speed. You can take a look at the video for yourself or catch the complete scores below. A higher number is better in most of the tests, except for the Sunspider Test where a lower number is better.

iPhone 4 – iOS 4.3
Nokia Lumia 800 – WP 7.5 (aka Mango)
iPhone 4S – iOS 5

Browsermark Test: Higher is better
iPhone 4 (iOS 4.3) – 37 503
Nokia Lumia 800 (WP7.5 aka Mango) – 30 452
iPhone 4S (iOS 5) – 86 702

Speed Reading Test:
iPhone 4 (iOS 4.3) – 2 fps (iPhone 4 with iOS 5.0 – around 37 fps)
Nokia Lumia 800 (WP7.5 aka Mango) – 40 fps
iPhone 4S (iOS 5) – 60 fps

Sunspider Test: Lower is better
iPhone 4 (iOS 4.3) – 4018.2 ms
Nokia Lumia 800 (WP7.5 aka Mango) – 7188.7 ms
iPhone 4S (iOS 5) – 2266 ms

Acid3 Test:
iPhone 4 (iOS 4.3) – 100/100
Nokia Lumia 800 (WP7.5 aka Mango) – 100/100
iPhone 4S (iOS 5) – 100/100

HTML5 Test:
iPhone 4 (iOS 4.3) – 210
Nokia Lumia 800 (WP7.5 aka Mango) – 141
iPhone 4S (iOS 5) – 296

[via MyNokiaBlog]

Over the past year there’s one brand that’s grown as a streaming media content name at such a speed and in such a way that no mobile device is complete without the ability to run the app that goes with it: Netflix. The Windows Phone forest of apps does include this mighty tree, and watching it grow with the rest of its relatives on iOS and Android has been something we’re sure Microsoft has been watching with great interesting. Netflix is something that not everybody in the world even has a subscription to, but like anything that can be there, it certainly must exist!

Next there’s the obvious duo of Facebook and Twitter – these two apps must both exist in their brand-made form and they must be great. This wasn’t true of either one at the beginning of 2011 anywhere outside of iOS, as both Twitter and Facebook made apps, but they just weren’t that fabulous. Now both brands are representing fairly well not only on iOS, but on Android and Windows Phone as well.

What missing? What’s needed if this platform plans on getting past the 50,000 mark, through 2012 and forward? Google Plus. Google+ if you prefer. Google has become such a force not only with its search engine, Gmail, and ease in integration between their suite of services that I contend no mobile platform will be able to succeed through 2012 without them. That’s how it is. Good luck Microsoft!

[via WinRumors]

Windows Phone evangelist Ben Rudolph first initiated the challenge, offering those who shared their Android malware stories and upgrade to a Windows Phone. The top 5 most compelling stories would get the upgrade. Microsoft’s senior Director of Windows Phone communications, Bill Cox, reported that the challenge has received more than 3,200 responses. However, it’ll be difficult to tell which ones are legitimate and which ones fabricated for the sake of a free phone.

Nonetheless, the timing wasn’t great for Microsoft as reports had just surfaced this week of a text messaging vulnerability on the Windows Phone. Due to the way the Mango operating system handles messages, a specially written text message sent to the device from Facebook, SMS, or Windows Live could cause it to crash. Microsoft is working to fix this issue, but it is still currently out in the wild.

[via PhoneArena]

“I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8,” said Ballmer in the memo. “We have tremendous potential with Windows Phone and Windows 8 and this move sets us up to really deliver against that potential.”

Lees has been leading the Windows Phone group for the past three years, but the platform has been slow to pickup and still has not gained much in market share despite positive reviews of the new Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update. Next year will be critical with the release of Nokia’s first Windows Phone device.

To replace Lees will be Terry Myerson, who is a corporate VP of Windows Phone Engineering. Myerson will take over some of Lees responsibilities, including business development and marketing, but will not be granted the president title of Windows Phone.

[via WinRumors]

“Microsoft would like to correct a previous statement it made around Near Field Communications,” the company’s spokesperson conceded. “While NFC is not currently supported on Windows 7.5, it is coming. We expect NFC-enabled Windows Phone devices to ship within the next year.” Previous suggestions had indicated that it was manufacturers, not Microsoft, that had opted not to implement NFC.

Even when Windows Phones with NFC support arrive, the technology will require a marketing push if it is to become commonly used. Google is running NFC payment trials in the US, as part of its Google Wallet system on select Android devices, and Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest iteration of Android, supports NFC for “Android Beam” file transfers; however, payments require retailer terminals be upgraded to support NFC, among other drawbacks, and so far only the Galaxy Nexus officially supports ICS.

Microsoft has not confirmed which way it will fall with NFC, on the payments or data side (or indeed both), though the company is believed to be developing a file transfer system that would prove inter-operable between Windows Phone handsets, Windows 8 PCs and tablets, and Xbox.

Chen revealed that Lenovo already has a clear release schedule for the device and that it’s set for the second half of 2012. This revelation follows reports that Microsoft is seeking to launch Chinese Windows Phones in early 2012 through a partnership with Chinese retailer Suning, which operates more than 700 stores throughout China.

The Lenovo Windows Phone device revealed in the leaked image resembled the company’s LePhone S2 Android smartphone but was shown running the latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango platform. It could be an early prototype of what the company has planned and a lot could change in the several months ahead of the scheduled release. Lenovo has yet to reveal any additional details on intended specs.

[via WinRumors]

The demo is located at the webpage http://aka.ms/wpdemo and is completely self contained using pre-populated user information such as contact list, agenda, and photos instead of any data on your phone. Microsoft also provides two guidance icons in the form of blue dots to help you learn how to navigate through the interface, which is fairly intuitive and slick already.

This is a nice little move by Microsoft to engage potential users that may be hesitant to switch to a Windows Phone without having first tried out the interface, which is very different from what they might be used to with the iPhone or Android. Microsoft has really stepped up Windows Phone marketing this time around and with a good push from Nokia’s Lumia 800 launch in Europe, recent metrics indicate that the platform may finally be picking up some steam.

[via 9to5 Mac]

Ferragu writes in his research note that he believes the Nokia Lumia 800 provides no breakthrough innovation while also being priced too high. He also doubts that the Windows Phone platform will gain critical mass against Android and iOS and whether Nokia’s brand would make any difference for promoting the platform.

Additionally, Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette believes that the Nokia Lumia Windows Phone shipments in the December quarter will likely be disappointing. At one point, estimates were as much as 2 million units, but the new estimate now has brought that figure down to only 500,000 units for the rest of 2011.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is launching in Europe and other parts of the world before it will head to the US in early 2012. Are you planning to pick up the Lumia and adopt the Windows Phone 7 platform, if you haven’t already? For more details and photos of the device, be sure to check out our full review.

[via Forbes]

No sign of the magenta Lumia 800, though we’re guessing that will follow on in due course as well. Pricing is from free on a £36 per month, two-year agreement with Vodafone (including 500MB of data) or from free on a £37 per month, two-year agreement with Three (including unlimited data). Unlocked versions aren’t expected to be broadly available until January next year.

Update: Vodafone UK tells us the cyan Lumia 800 is expected to ship toward the end of November.

Nokia Drive demo:

The Lumia 800 has a 3.7-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display, 1.4GHz single-core processor, 16GB of internal storage and an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, all squeezed into a milled polycarbonate casing. The first of Nokia’s Windows Phone series – the company also announced the cheaper Lumia 710 back at Nokia World last month – it marks a split from Symbian and MeeGo and the first public steps of a high-profile deal with Microsoft that could, each firm hopes, turn around their collective fortunes.

More on the Nokia Lumia 800 in our full review.

Android sits sandwiched in-between, though both smartphone and tablet developer interest dropped in the three month period. 83-percent of developers said they were “very interested” in producing apps for Android phones, and 68-percent for Android tablets (versus 88-percent for the iPad). Apple’s iOS 5 release was deemed the most important news of the quarter, followed by Samsung taking the smartphone top-spot.

RIM’s results are less impressive again. Those saying they were very interested in developing for BlackBerry phones dropped 7-percent to 21-percent, while PlayBook developer interest dropped 6-percent to 13-percent. Smart TV platforms are also not finding favor, with Google TV interest falling to 20-percent from 44-percent last year. That could change as Google TV 2.0 rolls out in the coming weeks, with support for the Android Market.

Microsoft has not hidden the fact that LTE is in the pipeline for Windows Phone. Division chief Andy Lees confirmed last month that LTE would be supported in a future version of the platform, but argued that existing implementations of 4G had led to oversized and under-performing devices. “The first LTE phones were big and big [users] of the battery,” the exec highlighted, “and I think it’s possible to do it in a way that is far more efficient, and that’s what we will be doing.”

Support for LTE is expected to be added as an incremental update to Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, the current version of the platform, PCMag reports, rather than demanding a full-scale upgrade to Tango, believed to be Microsoft’s next major iteration. However, the sources behind this AT&T LTE Lumia did not specify whether it would be Mango or Tango doing OS duty.

Of course, AT&T isn’t the only US carrier with an LTE network: Verizon started rolling out its 4G LTE before its rival, though devices are not inter-compatible. Still, it seems likely that Nokia will try to use LTE as its selling-point on more than one carrier.

More on the Nokia Lumia 800 in our full review.

“If you received a Nokia E7 back in February when we announced our new smartphone strategy, you’ll automatically receive a Windows Phone device.  If you are currently a Nokia Developer Champion or a Nokia Launchpad member, you are already eligible, and you will soon receive an e-mail to explain how to get your new Nokia Windows Phone” Nokia

App Hub membership – which is required if developers want to distribute their apps through the Windows Phone Marketplace – usually costs $99 per year, but active Nokia developers will receive emails this month telling them how they can get in on the action free. There’s also the chance of being picked for Nokia’s App Highlights app, preloaded on the company’s Windows Phone devices, which flags up a small selection of hand-picked software and is likely to provide a considerable boost to any developer lucky enough to be included.

If you’re not a developer currently on Nokia’s radar, the company suggests getting into one of the upcoming outreach events – you can keep track of them at the company’s developer site - where you might well walk away with a free phone. More on the Nokia Lumia 800 in our full review.

[Thanks Steve!]

We’ll keep this short and sweet just like the phone itself, not to mention most Windows Phone devices have all been pretty similar thus far, especially those from Samsung. The Focus Flash may not be a top of the line device but it does offer a 3.7″ AMOLED display and a speedy 1.4 GHz single-core processor. First off lets look at my hands-on and unboxing then well get started.

Samsung Focus Flash WP7 hands-on and unboxing

Hardware

Like we mentioned above the hardware isn’t really anything special or new, but then neither is the software with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. We’ve seen it before but it does come in a decent package that is at least somewhat impressive when considering the price it’ll be — just $49 with a new 2-year contract. We have a 3.7″ Super AMOLED display (no plus), a 1.4 GHz single-core Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, along with a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash around back and a 1.3 front for video chat. Sadly we only have 8GB of internal storage and no micro-SD slot, 6GB is all that is available to the user and will probably pose a few problems for the media heavy user.

It’s not the thinnest device we’ve seen but certainly not the fattest. The overall design is a lightweight black plastic with a small area of brushed aluminum on the back that gives it a quality feel. It comes in around 0.40″ thick so still quite decent in that regard and the rounded edges on the back give this phone a comfortable feel in the hands — even though the front has a very squared design.

All four sides have a port or button of some sort but that shouldn’t concern most users. We have the power button and dedicated camera buttons dressed in black on the right side, the micro-USB port for sync and charging on bottom along with the microphone pinhole as shown above. Then around to the left and top we have the volume up/down rocker and the usual 3.5mm headphone jack. A very standard design, but one that users will be both familiar and comfortable with.

While the display isn’t as large as some we’ve seen, or the Focus S launched at the same time. We do have 3.7″ of Super AMOLED beauty and the 800 x 480 resolution looks just fine with the bright and crisp Samsung display. We have no complaints with the hardware although we wouldn’t mind a slightly bigger screen, not to mention maybe a louder speaker around back. Then again, you can’t really complain for $49 can you?

Software

If you’ve been following along with WP7 you should be well aware of the software here. Running on the latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango the Metro UI is smooth, stable, and very fluid. Many might argue the fact that we only have a single-core processor here, but things are plenty quick with what’s on board on the Focus Flash. We won’t focus on the software much as you probably already know what to expect, if not here is our comprehensive WP7.5 Mango review. Everything is exactly the same here and runs great. Here’s a video tour of WP 7.5 Mango on the original Samsung Focus.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango Review (on Samsung Focus):

Sliding around and customizing tiles on your homescreen remains a bit touchy and the quickest of movement can throw it off. Being able to customize everything is a nice touch that users of WP7 have been enjoying since its release. I wont hammer this point too hard but the obvious weak point here is the WP7 marketplace still. Although we have some popular games such as Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and many others it just can’t complete with iOS or Android.

AT&T Radio worked well on the 4G (HSPA+) signal in my area and while its no Spotify you do have some great choices for music and radio stations.

Camera & Battery Life

The Focus Flash comes equipped with a 5 megapixel camera on the rear with an LED flash. We didn’t get an 8 MP shooter here but the camera does quite well for what Samsung is offering in this mid-range smartphone. It is capable of shooting 720p video like most these days and was fairly average. The dedicated button was a bit tough to press down and gave enough resistance to actually help photos become out of focus, but you’ll get the hang of it. We quickly snapped a few photos with the 5 megapixel camera and were pleasantly surprised with the overall quality when held still. I’ve seen much worse for this price point — below are some samples.

We have a mediocre 1,500 mAh battery included but it was able to get me through an entire day of moderate usage. Any day of heavy usage you’ll probably need a charge near the end of your evening but that is to be expected with smartphones. In the WP7 battery bench test it lasted almost 4 hours, better than many WP7 handsets we’ve seen lately including the Nokia Lumia 800. Expect to charge it daily if you use your phone as much as me. Light users may be able to squeeze two days from this petite little Mango powered device.

Wrap Up

The Samsung Focus Flash may not be the best WP7 device on the block, but it doesn’t try to be either. You get a great overall phone for what you pay for — if Windows Phone 7.5 Mango is your sort of thing. The specs wont have people benchmarking and comparing this phone but it has enough power to keep the masses plenty happy during daily use. It may not be the biggest, fastest, prettiest, or the best but for just $49 it should capture a few hearts from the budget crowd.

If you’re on AT&T and have been eying a budget Android handset or maybe an old iPhone 3GS consider trying the Samsung Focus Flash. The few letdowns like the weak market and short list of apps may run some users away. If you are just looking for a budget smartphone that is easy to use and will let you check the occasional email and update your Facebook, this might just be for you.

The HTC Titan runs Microsoft’s latest platform revamp but has overall modest specs. It features a 1.5GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, and 16GB of onboard storage. It also has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera. So what makes the HTC Titan really stand out is its sheer size as it boasts a massive 4.7-inch display. For more details, make sure to check out our hands-on and full review of the device.

The device will be among the first batch of new Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handsets getting ready to launch in November, including the HTC Radar, Samsung Focus S, and the Samsung Focus Flash. Microsoft has kicked off a series of events earlier this week with a six-story tall Windows Phone installation in NYC that will be followed by various events in five major US cities.

The app supports playback over WiFi and 3G, and you can choose whether to stream at regular or high quality. Offline playback is done on a per-playlist basis – tap the playlist and there’s a simple “Download” toggle at the top – with sync over 3G optional; you can also long-press on a playlist and pin it to the Start menu, make it collaborative (so allowing others to add tracks), share it via Twitter or other social networks, publish it or delete it. Playback controls are added to the lock screen, as shown above.

Spotify on Nokia Lumia 800 demo:

Search is supported, but if you’re less sure of what you’d like to listen to the app has a list of  new albums that have recently been added. Each has artwork, and you can long-press albums or individual tracks and choose to queue them, star them, add them to a playlist or share them. Add and Share buttons at the bottom do the same for the entire album.

Finally there’s the feed, where you see updates on what your Spotify People contacts are listening to as well as news from Spotify itself. Our only real criticisms are the absence of “top tracks” as you get in the Android Spotify app, and the Start menu icon, which is a stubborn green (the same as the Xbox LIVE tile, in fact) with no other color options.

The app itself is a free download, though you’ll need a Spotify Premium account – priced at $9.99/€9.99/£9.99 per month – in order to actually use it. More on the Lumia 800, meanwhile, in our full review.

Kim revealed the decision in an interview with BGR, stating that his responsibilities at Microsoft will be to “help set the future direction for the Windows Phone platform and to accelerate Microsoft’s trajectory to win the hearts and minds of consumers, carriers, device manufacturers, developers and partners.”

He continued to express great confidence in the Windows Phone platform saying, “In my experience, there is an already fervent base of Windows Phone supporters out there and they all get it. They are passionate, and already very vocal about it… so, it is really my new job to make sure we reflect that message clearly in our product and marketing collaborations with all of our partners to create more Windows Phone believers.”

Following the news of Google buying Motorola for $12.5 billion and amidst the Android-targeting patent war, there have been rumblings about Samsung refocusing on its own platform and reconsidering its commitment to Android, possibly shifting alliances to the Windows Phone platform. Samsung and Microsoft had recently signed a deal over Android patent issues, which involved a lower patent royalty fee per device in exchange for more future collaboration.

[via WinRumors]

Performances will take place (or have already taken place, depending on what time of day it is) by the band Far East Movement in what Microsoft is noting is the music and video hub. inside the “Me” tile, you’ll find a man proposing to his girlfriend as well as a weather reporter talking up the day. Have a peek at the time-lapse video of the construct being built over the course of a couple of days here:

This news comes amid another relatively large release for the week: Spotify. While the Spotify mobile app has been available for Android And iOS in the past, Windows Phone has not until now gotten a taste of its delicious musical fruits. Some of the devices this gigantic phone is being constructed to celebrate are the Samsung Focus Flash which we got some hands-on time with this past week and the Samsung Focus S which we’ve got a hands-on roundup of from around the web. Another device being released on T-Mobile is the HTC Radar 4G, a lovely smartphone indeed.

Have a peek at a few more panels opening here, with more added as they come:

You’ll have the same ability to play the tracks that are listed in your account, grab new tracks from the ever-increasing library of tracks Spotify offers. Screens are pulled back and forth like most Windows Phone-centric apps, and sound quality appears to be just fine. The green collection of colors is still in play, but it’s mostly a white situation where most other Spotify interfaces are black and gray.

You’ll be seeing this app appearing soon for your Mango devices and your same account will work fine. You will need Windows Phone 7.5 Mango get the app working, and no plans are in play to make the app work with devices with lower OS versions. Have a peek at our Spotify portal for all the Spotify news your heart can handle – note how the app has spread across a host of new platforms over the past few months here in the USA. Also head down to our Windows Phone 7.5 Mango review to know all there is about the newest version of Microsoft’s mobile OS.

If you’ve used a Samsung smartphone in the past the look and feel will both be familiar here. The difference is we have Windows Phone 7.5 Mango on board with the Focus Flash. It also looks very similar to the original Samsung Focus we reviewed here, only the screen is actually smaller coming in at just 3.7″ rather than a 4″ display like the original. There is a trade off though, we have a faster 1.4 GHz processor on the new Focus Flash and a dedicated hardware home button too. Below is our hands-on pictures and videos for you to enjoy.

Samsung Focus Flash WP7 hands-on and unboxing

With the new Focus Flash like mentioned above we have a 3.7″ AMOLED display and as usual the colors are vivid and crisp like we’ve come to expect from Samsung AMOLED’s. Along with a 1.4 GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5 megapixel camera around the rear with LED flash and a 1.3 front camera for chatting. The Focus comes with a 1500 mAh battery and sadly it does not feature a micro-SD slot for expanded storage. This was one of my biggest complaints while looking over this sleek and actually quite nice device. They do provide 8GB of internal storage, 6GB or so of which is usable.

We have a capable 5MP camera on the rear that shoots 720p video and should take some great pictures and we’ll be sure to test both in the full review — you can expect that coming soon. The hardware is really nice and for the price they’ll be offering this phone at it actually feels both durable, and very solid. That price will be just $49 with a new contact, making this one stellar deal. The edges aren’t as round as the original and it takes a more squared approach up front while the back keeps that comfortable curved design. The main thing here is the price, and that it comes with Windows Phone 7.5 Mango out of the box.

With Windows Phone 7.5 Mango we have a considerable step up in features and overall performance compared to v7 that launched a little over a year ago. We’ve reviewed 7.5 Mango in depth here, and everything is basically unchanged here with the new Focus Flash.

We’ll be sure to put the Samsung Focus Flash through the paces and see what she’s got in a full SlashGear review, but for now feel free to look over our recent Nokia Lumia 800 review, which also runs with 7.5 Mango. For now enjoy a few more pictures and come back soon for the in-depth look at the Samsung Focus Flash.