Windows Phone 7.8 is now seeding to Nokia Lumia handsets

The long awaited, highly anticipated Windows Phone 7.8 update has made its way to the first generation Nokia Lumia smartphones. Users of the aforementioned devices should be receiving notification for the new OS version's availability in the coming weeks. The update will be installed via Microsoft Zune desktop software.


Windows Phone 7.8 brings a host of upgrades to the table. They include a brand new homescreen with more customization options, camera extras, and a host of performance enhancements for the first members of the Nokia Lumia lineup.

Nokia has released a promo video with the update. Check it out below.

The Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade will be seeding through February. Its exact availability around the world will be carrier dependent.

Source

First Look at WP 7.8 running on Lumia 900

Skype for Windows Phone mobile app has arrived!

Nokia 808 PureView video and camera samples emerge

The Nokia 808 PureView's 41MP camera is causing quite a stir at the MWC and we finally get to see its full-sized camera samples. Alongside the four photos are also three full HD 1080p video samples.

All of them are really impressive, so let's start.

Nokia 808 PureView camera samples

This is what everyone has been waiting for - Nokia 808 PureView's full samples from its 41MP camera.

Nokia 808 PureView camera samples
Update: Nokia Conversations are kind enough to release another batch of untouched photos straight up from the Nokia 808 PureView. Download them by clicking here.

Nokia 808 PureView full HD video samples

Now, to the equally impressive 1080p full HD video samples. They are a month old, so they're definitely taken with pre-release software. They still look stunning, especially the first one, shot at night in low light.

Nokia's MeeGo device will be called N950, will be out this year

Despite the shift towards Windows Phone 7, Nokia will still ship a MeeGo device this year. It's going to be the successor to the Nokia N900 and will be called the N950. We don't have a photo of the device yet, but Nokia gave reassurances that they are committed to MeeGo, Symbian, Qt and S40 too.
At Nokia's Developer Day, Nokia's CTO Rich Green gave an extensive talk about the future of current Nokia platforms, MeeGo included. He said that they're working hard on the N950 and have come up with some "very elegant" hardware and interesting UI.
That's all we have on the Nokia N950 - the Nokia N9 (which was rumored as the coming MeeGo device) might have been canceled and Nokia showed absolutely no new devices at the MWC.
Anyway, here's a video of the talk. It starts off with N950:

Green assured the attending developers that the Nokia N950 is well-stocked as a developer platform and says "we'll see how that goes". It sounds like the N950 is aimed more towards devs than the mass market user (not surprising since MeeGo was re-targeted towards long-term market exploration).
Nokia's strategy still relies on Qt development for both Symbian and MeeGo and pushing forward with Java on Series 40, so work on those platforms continues. S40 will be getting a new Ovi Browser that aims to bring mobile Internet connectivity to hundreds of millions of people.

Nokia N8 in drop/torture test (Nokia N8 gets severely tortured, lives to tell the story)

A unibody anodized aluminum chassis and a reinforced glass over the panel make the Nokia N8 certainly look like one of the sturdiest smartphones around. And the Finnish company is keen to show just how resistant to the elements it really is.
The Nokia Conversations blog has just published a video demonstrating the drop test that the N8 prototype is subjected to before entering mass production. They have also listed some of the other endurance trials the N8 had to pass.

Those include exposure to extreme temperatures (from around -40°C to +85°C) and humidity over 95%. The N8 was also tested in some real life scenarios like simulation of carrying the phone in your pockets plus a buttons durability check, where buttons are tested to last over 1 million clicks.
Still neither Nokia nor we would suggest you try any of these at home, unless you want your warranty voided.

SOURCE: 
Nokia N8 Torture Test
Before they’re released to the world, Nokia phones undergo some rather stiff testing to see if they’ll stand up to the wear and tear of everyday life. After the break, you’ll see the heartbreaking sight of a pair of Nokia N8s undergoing the infamous drop test, simulating your phone falling from the height of your shirt pocket onto a hard surface dozens of times.
In addition to the drop test, there’s more than 200 other endurance tests that we put new models through to see if they pass muster. Some of the highlights include:

• Extreme weather: We use special machines to expose them to extreme temperatures from around -40°C to +85°C, helping them to withstand conditions from the cold of the arctic circle to the heat of the Sahara desert.
• Humidity: We also test for use in tropical and humid parts of the world by placing devices in a special chamber for several weeks where they will experience humidity levels as high as 95%.
• Clothing: When we carry devices in our back pockets they may bend when we sit down or rub on trouser fibres. We simulate these effects with special machines that bend and twist the device, and one that uses a real pair of jeans to test friction and wear and tear.
• Pockets: Devices are often in bags or pockets with other items like keys or coins, so we place devices in a special “shaker” machine with hard particles to see how resistant they are.
• Buttons: People press the main keys on their device an average of 200-300 times every day. To ensure the keypads can respond to this level of use, we press the keys up to one million times in the lab.

As they say on TV, though, don’t try this at home! Extreme endurance tests are not covered by your warranty…
PS: We’ve run a story on Nokia testing centres with another video earlier on Conversations. Head on over here for an introduction to the UK setup.

Leaked Nokia MeeGo OS Demo

We just spotted a video demo of what looks like MeeGo OS running inside a Nokia Phone Emulator. The screens don’t look like the UI where MeeGo screenshots pointed us about a month ago. But we heard that Nokia is going to have it’s own UI on top of the native MeeGo UI and this might be atleast a portion of that. But the UI looks pretty impressive !

Thx to chilko for spotting this vid who also feels that video might be about Symbian^4 rather than MeeGo. But we saw the extras icon in the video so its MeeGo we say !

But it might be confidential information and we shall find out soon when the video is yanked !

The First Official Interactive Unboxing Of The Nokia N8 -- Unboxing By Brenda