HTC Windows Phone 8X and Windows Phone 8 In-Depth Review
Interested in the features of Windows Phone 8, or want to know if Microsoft’s signature WP8 device, the HTC Windows Phone 8X, is worth purchase? Check out my video review of the Verizon Wireless HTC 8X and WP8 OS…
Xbox Music’s DRM leading to serious issues for Windows Phone 8 users
I recently came across a major issue in Windows Phone 8 and Xbox Music Pass. The issue, which many users are suffering from, is downloaded music through Xbox Music is giving either “We’re having through playing this right now” or “We are unable to confirm media usage rights for this content” errors when attempting to play music on a WP8 device. I attempted to contact both Xbox Music support and Windows Phone support, with no fix for the issue. My issue has been escalated, but some are reporting that they haven’t heard back. Users have tried everything from removing and re-downloading songs to full resets of their devices, and even swapping out to new devices, with no fix. Microsoft has yet to acknowledge the issue, which leaves many users, including myself, very worried.
Facebook Paying for Patents from Microsoft
Facebook shelled out $550 million dollars to Microsoft, and why you ask? They are working on keeping their company out of the courtroom as much as possible. With that money Facebook has gained access to 600 patents. Facebook was previously sued by Yahoo for patent infringement, and apparently they want to steer clear of these possibilities in the future.
Interesting enough, Microsoft paid AOL $1 billion dollars earlier this month, for access to their patents and some of these are included in the Facebook deal. Facebook has been after certain AOL patents recently and this deal definitely helped them gain access to some.
(via All Things D)
Nokia Lumia 800, Flagship Windows Phone Device
The tech industry has been waiting for the official announcement of a Nokia Windows Phone device, ever since Microsoft announced they would be pairing with them. That day has officially come today. The Nokia Lumia 800 is the flagship device, out of the phones announced, so let’s go over some of the specs.
Before we get into the exact specs, over-all the device looks almost identical to the Nokia N9. With that said, it is a 16GB phone that has a single core 1.4GHz processor. Up front, it has a 3.7 (800X480) AMOLED display and comes in 3 colors black, cyan or magenta. Around back, the 8MP camera has the famous Carl Zeiss optics, and is capable of taking 720P video at 30 frames per second.
Nokia has added some specific apps like Nokia Drive (that is their own turn-by-turn GPS), ESPN Sports Hub, and Nokia Music. Lumia is a quad-band GSM device capable of 14.4Mbps HSDPA speeds and keeping it alive is a 1450mAh battery. The Lumia 800 is an intriguing device and we are very excited to see it. The bad news is, we are not hearing any talk about a US release at the moment. What do you think, you think this device is good enough to compete with the top devices in today’s market? We think so, but only time will tell that.
(via This is my Next)
Microsoft Making even more Money off of Android
Microsoft has plenty of money and it sure isn’t making a killing on Windows Phone, so they take all the licensing fees they can get from Android. Microsoft has landed another patent agreement with the Android manufacturer Compal. Lenovo is one of the companies that Compal is involved with and now they have to give a fair share of their 28 billion annual income to Microsoft.
Microsoft now cashes in on licensing fees from 55 percent of Android manufacturers. They make a lot more money off of Android than they do their own Mobile OS. It seems like in all the patents wars with the companies these days, every one has their own way of protecting their patents. Microsoft just chooses to sit back and let the money tree grow.
(via Android and Me)
