Windows Phone to get next major update after Cyan; The Lumia Denim

The official Lumia Cyan update is getting available for all WP8 devices now and a few days back, Nokia Microsoft Mobile announced their next major update at the IFA 2014. The Windows Phone 8.1 update 1, nicknamed as The Lumia Denim update is said to roll out worldwide this winter. It will cover loads of improvements and features in the phone especially with Cortana and Camera. Microsoft also announced Three new devices, Lumia 730 dual sim, 735 and 830. All the three will have Lumia Denim out-of-the-box.

The Lumia Denim features :

CORTANA

Cortana is something that needs no introduction. It is the most efficient personal assistant out there in The US (hope you know how to get it for phones outside US ). And now Cortana will be made available officially in UK and China as public beta and  public alpha for countries like India, Canada and Australia. For WP users in US, Cortana is gonna get a whole lot of improvements like improved natural language, calendar improvement, car-kit integration, snooze reminders, bluetooth for contacts etc. Other two attractions are Sensor-core technology and Geo-tagging. From now on you don’t need to press any buttons, just say “Hey Cortana” and she is active, allowing it to be fully voice controlled. With Geo-tagging you can add a reminder like “ Call Dad when i reach home” and Cortana can now track you with GPS and pops up a message to call dad the moment you reach home.

CAMERA

With the update the Nokia Camera will now be replaced with Lumia Camera. This feature is hardware dependent and is only available for Lumia 930, 1520 and 830 in the first phase.  The camera will get improvements in its speed as it takes certain milli seconds(time that human eye takes to blink) to go from shot to shot. The Moment Capture feature allows you to quickly start recording 4K quality recording at 24FPS with each frame at 8.3 Megapixels. It also benefits improves image processing algorithms which delivers clearer and sharp photos and light is not a big deal anymore.
The Update 1 also brings back the Glance Screen with improvements. Bing weather, Fitness and notifications can be seen directly on the glance screen now.

LIVE FOLDERS

Long press an app for a second and drag it onto another tile. Thats it, you have created a folder in your start screen. This is one of the most awaited feature for windows phones. You also have the option to rename the folder or add more tiles in it. This will help a lot in maintaining an organised start screen and makes it look neat.

APPS CORNER

This is also a handy feature for your windows phone. With this you can create customized start screens in your phone, like when you are at work your start screen will have apps like MS Word, Adobe Reader, LinkedIn, IE. Similarly, at home it will have Facebook, MixRadio, Youtube, Flipkart app and all those related stuff. Also if you are giving it to a child, you can ensure they can only access age-appropriate contents.

OTHER FEATURES

The Windows Phone 8.1 update 1 will also have a bunch of new features and improvements in Internet Explorer as the sites will load faster. Text messages can be merged and forwarded easily and customize snooze time in alarm app, i.e if you want to snooze 12 minutes, now you can. A consumer VPN feature is also added which secures your privacy when connected to a public WiFi. The Windows store live tile will show the most popular or most relevant items but this update will be available exclusively to users in United States.

CONCLUSION

Well the features announced are pretty cool, but there wont be much for low range devices, like the Lumia 520. The Lumia Camera and its improvements wont be seen in these popular devices. The update is confirmed for devices from Microsoft, so if you are using an HTC 8X and you didn't receive the update, there is nothing to wonder because you are not in the club. Watch the video below.

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Micromax to launch Windows Phones with 1GB RAM at a price less than that of Lumia 520

At the last BUILD conference held at San Francisco, Microsoft has announced its partnership with 11 new companies from different countries including India's own Micromax. Microsoft has also made Windows Phone OS free for devices under 9” inch which helps manufacturers reduce the cost of their phones.
[READ MORE : Micromax partnered with Microsoft ]
Being the 10th largest cell phone manufacturing company in the world, Second largest in India and one among the Microsoft OEM partner, Micromax, as expected, has come up with two new entry level phones running on Windows Phone 8.1.  Micromax is very popular with its wide range of affordable Android phones (Bolt, Canvas etc) not only in India, but also in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and soon in Russia. Now its reaching out for Windows phone fans as well. With the launch, they have become the first Indian smartphone player to launch a Windows Phone in the market.

Micromax has added two new warriors to its popular Canvas range which will be the cheapest phones having Windows Phone 8.1. The Canvas Win W092 and Canvas Win W121 will be launched in early July this year and will be priced 6500(€80) and 9500(€115) respectively. About the launch, Sanjay Kapoor, Chairman, Micromax said, “ With our vision to democratize technology and belief in providing consumers with choice of platforms, we are pleased to introduce a new range of Windows-based phones. I am pleased that Micromax is the only Indian mobile phone brand to be present across the two most popular operating platforms in the world.”

With no doubt, both the phones will be competing tightly with Nokia’s Lumia 520 and Lumia 630 and obviously, Micromax scores more. Both the phones have 1GB of ram and 8GB of internal memory whereas both lumias have just 512 MB. They also lack a front cam and LED flash but Micromax has managed to equip their phones with all these features at a price even lower than the Lumia 520. The W121 has got a removable leather finish back panel just like the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Micromax have managed to come up with the build quality on Nokia Lumia in the W121with the same material used in all Lumias as Nokia uses polycarbonate(free of PVC) instead of plastic. Lumia 525 is a good option if you prefer 1 GB of RAM and personally i feel  Lumia 630 is a bit overpriced. So, let’s go for a little comparison between these phones.
[Releated Read: Nokia Lumia 630 specifications and images ]

COMPARISON

Nokia Lumia 630 VS Micromax Win W121

	MMX W121	Nokia Lumia 630
Display	5” IPS (1280 x 720)	4.5” IPS LCD Display (480 x 854)
Processor	Qualcom Snapdragon 200 1.2 GHz Quadcore( Cortex A7)	Qualcom Snapdragon 400 GHz Quadcore( Cortex A7)
Operating System	Windows Phone 8.1	Windows Phone 8.1
RAM & Storage	1 GB RAM 8 GB Internal memory 32 GB expandable	512 MB RAM 8 GB Internal Memory 128 GB SD card support
Camera	8 MP rear,2 MP front LED Flash	5 MP rear
Battery	2000 mAH	1830 mAH (BL-5H)
Price	9500 ($159)	10500 ($158)

 

Nokia Lumia 520 VS Micromax Win W092

	MMX W092	Nokia Lumia 520
Display	4” IPS (800 x 480)	4” IPS (800 x 480)
Processor	Qualcom Snapdragon 200 1.2 GHz Quadcore( Cortex A7)	Qualcom Snapdragon S4 1.0 GHz Processor( Dual Core Krait)
Operating System	Windows Phone 8.1	Windows Phone 8 (upgradable)
RAM & Storage	1 GB RAM 8 GB Internal memory 32 GB expandable	512 MB RAM 8 GB Internal Memory
Camera	5 MP rear,0.3 MP front LED Flash	5 MP rear
Battery	1500 mAH	1430 mAH (BL-5J)
Price	6500 ($121)	8500 ($108)

Talking about the Canvas Win W121, the phone’s design is inspired from other canvas phones and the phone do looks nice. You can take off the battery whenever needed and the leather case is interchangeable. The quality of viewing is not impressive as its look but the screen graphics are smoother than other Canvases running on Android OS. MS Office comes pre-loaded with the device and it is powered with Windows phone 8.1 out of the box. Apps can be downloaded from the official windows phone store but the Nokia Here Maps, Nokia mix radio are not available. Microsoft’s Siri-rival Cortana can also be made available by changing your region to United States.

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10 Free Apps for Photo Editing on the Move

Editing photos is like applying finishing touches to a painting. Photographs often don't look as good as they could unless you apply that finishing touch. Since most people use their smartphones to take pictures, we have shortlisted the best photo editing apps that you can use on-the-go to take your photography to the next level.

1. VSCO Cam (iPhone, Android)

VSCO (pronounced visco) Cam started out as a paid app but went free last year. It is one of the best photo editing apps on iOS and Android if you want advanced controls. VSCO Cam has a great collection of filters, which are better than those on Instagram. While some filters are free, you'll have to pay for many others. Don't let this dissuade you from trying the app, as the free filters are good enough for most people.
VSCO Cam's editing tools include brightness, contrast, saturation, tint, crop, rotate, sharpness, highlights, shadows, among a few others. As evident, it has enough tools for professional photo editing.
However, beginners will take some time to figure out how to use VSCO Cam because the app relies on icons and code numbers instead of words. For instance, filters have names like B1, X1, etc., which may be hard to remember initially. All editing tools are icons (sharpness is a triangle, saturation is a rectangle with a gradient, etc.) and it may take you a little while to go through all the tools and find what you need.

Click here to download for iOS
Click here to download for Android

2. Snapseed (iPhone, iPad, Android)

VSCO Cam has almost everything you'll need, but it isn't yet available on tablets. If you want a great photo editing app for the iPad, Snapseed is a good choice. Snapseed's interface is intuitive. Once you add photos to the app, select manual tuning and swipe upwards or downwards on the picture. This shows you different variables such as contrast, saturation, etc. Select any one and simply swipe towards the right to increase its value or in the opposite direction to reduce it.
This app is walking the tightrope between ease of use and advanced functionality. So far, Snapseed has got the balance just right. For power users, Snapseed has the selective adjust feature. This lets you change contrast, etc. on any part of the photo, without editing the whole picture. Snapseed's filters range from great (Grunge, Retrolux, Vintage) to average (Drama, Black & White). VSCO Cam has a better variety of tools, but Snapseed makes it easier to access all of its tools.
Snapseed is available for iOS and Android.

Click here to download for iOS
Click here to download for Android

3. Adobe Lightroom (iPad)

Lightroom and Photoshop are the reasons behind Adobe's iron grip on the desktop photo editing market. Lightroom for iPad isn't good as a standalone photo editing app, but it shines when used in conjunction with Lightroom for Windows or Mac. This means that you will need an Adobe subscription (around Rs 2,000 per month) to make the most of this iPad app.

If you are a subscriber or don't mind getting a subscription, Lightroom for iPad lets you synchronise edits between your desktop and iPad. The problem is that Lightroom for iPad lacks the advanced editing tools that are cherished by those who use the desktop app. If you want to make a quick edit, or apply a preset effect, Lightroom for iPad saves you the trouble of returning to your desktop. Lightroom is one of the few apps that support RAW files, which might appeal to those who use DSLR cameras. For those who want advanced editing options, Adobe's Photoshop Touch is a better (paid) alternative on the iPad.

Click here to download for iPad


4. Instagram (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone)

Apart from being one of the world's most popular photo communities, Instagram is a fast, hassle-free photo editing app. Its filters are adequate for most people, but not for power users. If you are into black-and-white photography, you might want to try other apps because Instagram's filters aren't the best.

Click here to download for iOS
Click here to download for Android
Click here to download for Windows Phone


5. Pixlr Express (Android, iOS)

Autodesk's photo-editing app Pixlr Express is quite useful when you want to remove unwanted spots or marks from photos. Whether it is dust on your camera's lens or flash burning out a small portion of the image, Pixlr Express is a good app for image correction. Available for both Android and iOS, Pixlr Express has easy to use tools, which help you touch-up images quickly. It has enough tools for power users too, coupled with Photoshop-like effects such as pencil, poster, sketch and halftone, among others.

Click here to download for iOS
Click here to download for Android


6. Flickr (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone)

Like Instagram, Flickr has a great community of photographers. Unlike Instagram, however, Flickr has advanced editing tools, which is better for enthusiasts. Another advantage is that Flickr doesn't restrict you to square photos. Its built-in filters are fairly good too. The only major negative is that Flickr's Windows Phone app isn't as good as iOS and Android variants.

Click here to download for iOS
Click here to download for Android
Click here to download for Windows Phone


7. Photo Editor by Aviary (Android, iOS, Windows Phone)

If you are a Windows Phone user, Photo Editor by Aviary is one of the best apps for tweaking pictures. Although the app still works well, you should know that its developers stopped updating the Windows Phone version last year. This app - under active development for iPhone and Android - also makes it easy to add text, drawings and stickers to your photos. Apart from these, it has all basic editing tools such as filters, effects, crop, rotate, etc. It doesn't have much in the way of advanced options, but that shouldn't be a problem for casual users.

Click here to download for iOS
Click here to download for Android
Click here to download for Windows Phone

8. Repix (Android, iOS)

If you like pretty apps, then both Repix, and the next app in the list, will appeal to you. Apart from great design, Repix has some cool filters, basic editing tools (brightness, saturation, etc) and even effects such as flares and posterize. If you want more filters or effects, you can purchase those through the app.

Website


9. Litely (Android, iOS)

Litely is similar to Repix, but it has fewer features and is easier to use. You can easily apply preset effects to any photo. A two-finger swipe shows you a before and after view of the picture. This makes it easy to see how an edit has changed the picture.

Website


10. Photo Studio (BlackBerry 10, Android)

BlackBerry users don't have access to many great photo editing apps. However, Photo Studio is a fairly good option for those using BlackBerry 10. It is a simple image editor that lets you take pictures and apply effects and frames to those. Although its collection of filters is better than those on Instagram, the app lacks advanced editing tools, apart from one that lets you correct RGB levels. This means that those who want fine control over their images will be disappointed. Photo Studio also lets you make collages and apply sketch effects to your photographs.

We hope that these apps helped you make your photographs look professional. In case we missed any of your favourite editing apps or if you liked our choice of apps, please leave a comment to let us know.

Click here to download for Android
Click here to download for BlackBerry

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Micromax partnered with Microsoft

Well, both the ‘Micro’s are gonna make ‘Macro’ changes in the Indian gadget market. At the Microsoft's BUILD conference in San Francisco, Terry Myerson(Microsoft Executive VP), has officially announced their new partnerships with 11 new partners including India's homegrown handset maker Micromax to offer Windows 8.1-powered devices. The deal  is expected to intensify competition in the smartphone and tablets market especially in India.

Micromax is considered one of the leaders in Indian market for smart devices, standing second to the giant, Samsung. Micromax's revenues were Rs 3,168 crore for the financial year 2012-13 and it expects to clock revenues of $1 billion for the last fiscal ended March 2014,helding about 16 per cent market share in 2013. Some its top selling models were the entry level smartphones like A35 Bolt and A67, IDC data showed.

Besides, Microsoft has also announced that they will offer Windows OS free to smartphone and tablet makers which will help them to compete firmly with Google's Android and Apple's iOS in the fiercely competitive market. This offering also enables hardware partners to provide their customers a one-year subscription to Office 365.

Indian Customers can expect entry level Windows 8.1 powered smartphones from Micromax at a cost less than that of Lumia520.Well it will be a tough competition for the  Finnish phone maker Nokia, As the companys Windows phone range starts from 8000-8500 INR. Micromax is expected to launch their devices later this year. The phones will be having dual-sim functionality for sure, where as Nokia has launched their first windows 8.1 powered dual-sim phone Lumia 630 at Rs.10000 INR along with Lumia 630(single sim),635 and 930,all powered by WP8.1. Microsoft is also planning for Universal apps which will work with all four platform variants from Microsoft including Xbox One and 'WINDOWS IN THE CAR' similar to Apple Car Play. Some other announcements at BUILD conference are featured here.

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A lot of reasons to get excited on Windows Phone 8.1

Its already confirmed by Microsoft that the update of windows phone 8 to Windows Phone 8.1 at its Build developers conference in San Francisco, The first major update in 18 months. The update will be giving a completely new experience to WP8 users as the phone will undergo major changes. Available for all phones running on WP8(including 520), the update will be first rolling out in US and other countries getting it within this year. And finally the phone will be having a notification drawer called Action Center, which collects text messages, emails, calls and updates from social networks and other apps. It also has quick toggles for things like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

One of the much awaited feature in the update is Cortana, a personal digital assistant similar to Apple’s Siri, who can help make your life easier.Instead of searching for things, you ask Cortana - so if you want to know what the weatherforecast is, how many pounds are in a kilo, who's winning the match or when Obama's birthday is, you'll ask and Cortana will give you the answer. She has some sort of answers for everything. you'll be able to set a reminder to ask somebody about something, and the reminder will pop up if you text, call or otherwise interact with that person. Microsoft stated that Cortana will be socially intelligent. She has the ability to search the Internet, set up alarms, shift calendar appointments, find restaurants, send messages, place calls and much much more.

Cortana wasn't the only new aspect of Windows Phone 8.1 d appears as a Live Tile on your device. Her intelligence comes via Bing, which has access to Tellme's natural language processing.She replaces the search function in Windows Phone and the Bing tile is no more in your homescreen, Cortana also has the ability to figure out what your habits are (when you wake up, when you're at work, what you frequently search for), and use that information to predict your next move. Similar as it maybe to Siri and Google Now, Cortana isn't a straight clone either. Unlike the other two services,Microsoft will not only allow third-party apps to utilize Cortana's service, either by controlling apps via voice or fetching data for predictive search. . Microsoft demonstrated Cortana working in Skype, Hulu Plus and Facebook.

Microsoft promises that Cortana will be the best thing ever: she'll take the best of Google Now's analysis and Siri's user-friendliness, bring them together and then take everything one step further. Cortana won't just listen to you, she'll understand you, and she'll be aware of everything from your location to your personal preferences.Cortana will be available to third party developers: unlike Siri, which is limited to Apple's own apps and a few Apple services, Cortana could potentially work with any of your apps. Ask Cortana who’s her daddy, and she’ll say;

“Technically speaking, he’s Bill Gates. No big deal.”
watch the video here.
For Indian users, the full version of Cortana is expected to come in 2015 which is obviously very sad. but theres a good news also(read it here).

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Nokia Lumia 630 specifications and images tipped in new leaks

While Nokia's big event is just a few days away (2 April), alleged specifications of the much-anticipated Nokia Lumia 630 (thought to be codenamed Moneypenny) have been leaked along with the first alleged live shots of the device.
The report comes via GSMarena via Chinese and French websites. According to the report, Nokia Lumia 630 will be equipped with a 4.5-inch display with a resolution of 480x854 pixels, which is slightly different from the earlier rumoured 4.3-inch display. It is said to pack a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S400 processor supported by 1GB of RAM. The reports adds that the Lumia 630's 5-megapixel rear camera will not feature a flash, while there is no front camera on offer.
The Lumia 630 is touted to have 8GB of built-in storage, and will allegedly measure 129.5x66.7mm. The smartphone is also said to be will be the first Windows Phone 8.1 with dual-SIM, dual-standby functionality. The Chinese website along with the specifications also published an alleged press render of the Lumia 630, alongside the recently launched Lumia 1320 and 1520.
The other leak by the French website, which also corroborated the Chinese report's specifications, showcased the alleged Lumia 630 in pictures. The tipster has managed to click pictures near what is being claimed to be an official poster for the Nokia Lumia 630, though the images don't really reveal the design of the phone, except the two network operators (indicating dual-SIM) and front navigation buttons.
At Nokia's 2 April event, the company is expected to reveal two budget Lumia devices - Nokia Lumia 630 and Nokia Lumia 930 (thought to be codenamed Martini). No details have been reported about the Lumia 930 handset till date. It is also speculated that we might see other Windows Phone 8.1 devices alongside such as Nokia Lumia 1820, Lumia 1525 and Lumia 1520 V.
A recent report on Friday had speculated specifications of the Nokia Lumia 1820. It is said to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM. The smartphone is also said to feature a 5.2-inch display with a 2K resolution.

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How to Take Screenshots in Windows Phone 8

Windows Phone 8 is the next big thing. It is the second major version of Microsoft's operating system, which comes after Windows Phone 7. One of Windows Phone 8 new features is the ability to take Screenshots. After reading this article, you will be able to successfully take screenshots on your windows phone in a flash. the steps to take screenshots are:-

1. Navigate to the place where you wish to take a screenshot at.
2. A successful screenshot is indicated when a screen of your accent color flashes over the whole screen.Press and hold the windows button, then press the power button.
3. Go to the photos app, and then to 'albums'. You'll find your screenshot in the screenshots album.

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