Lumia flagships are put on hold as budget devices battle it out

It has become abundantly clear that Microsoft has been really working hard to gear its mobile business to the low-end, budget market segment and the strategy has definitely been yielding results. The company has been striking hard on huge emerging markets, such as India, where, according to analysis, around 78 percent of market demand is for phones in the sub $190 range.

This has forced Microsoft to put out competitive low-end devices, like the Lumia 520 and Lumia 535 and, rather naturally, neglect the higher-end market. In a recent statement Microsoft Mobile Devices Managing Director in India, Ajey Mehta reiterated that the company's current strategic goals are still targeted to the low-end market and was happy to announce that the Microsoft Lumia 535 has finally surpassed the Lumia 520 as the most-popular Windows phone device ever.

Both phones are clearly budget-friendly with a price tag of around $130 and the Lumia 535 is a clear upgrade over the older 520 model. But, even though, it offers a better qHD screen and a dual 5MP camera setup, the Lumia 520 is so vastly popular that dethroning it was considered almost impossible.

So, the US company has really settled in nicely in this specific market niche, but that leaves a lot of Windows Phone fans craving for fresh flagship devices. Mehta made it clear that Microsoft understood the need and importance of new premium devices, but made it clear that new high-end offers can be expected only after the official launch of Windows 10. In his own words

We believe we have to offer the best possible experience to the consumers. Once we are ready with Windows 10 and our devices, that is the right time to launch.

So it appears we won't be seeing any new powerhouse Lumia devices before Windows 10 becomes official, which is expected to happen in the summer. In the meantime, we are left with the knowledge that Microsoft has regained its spot in the top 5 OEMs list in India with a 4.6% market share, which will, hopefully, give the company enough of a boost to really come through with future high-end devices.

Source | Via

how to Fix bricked Lumia 520 or 525 with the updated recovery tool

Recently Microsoft made available the Windows 10 Technical Preview for Lumia 520/521 and 525. These are the weakest phones among the Windows Phone 8 gang with just half a gig of RAM. The update process went well for the early adopters, though issues arose when trying to roll back to Windows Phone 8.1.

Apparently lots of users, who didn't want to stick with the Windows 10 Preview got their Lumia 52x bricked after trying to revert back to Windows Phone 8.1. Some devices got stuck on a red Nokia logo, while others just went dead with nothing on the screen.

Microsoft has a dedicated Windows Phone Recovery Tool, which usually saves bricked smartphones. Unfortunately it doesn't help with the bricked Lumia 5 series. Microsoft now has a new version of this tool, which should help recover the bricked Lumia 520/521/525.

According to Microsoft the major issue was with the data writing size and speed. Microsoft basically lowered the image files and the writing speed. The company doesn't promise this updated toll will fix all bricked Lumia 52x, but it should work in most cases for those with a red Nokia logo and with the black screen.

Microsoft is still investigating the problem and is working to bring back to live all bricked Lumia smartphones. Meanwhile the Windows 10 Preview update is on hold until all issues are resolved.

You can download the new Windows Phone Recovery Tool from this link. Its version should be 1.2.4.

Source | Via

Microsoft pauses Lumia 520, 525 update due to bricking

Did you update Nokia Lumia 520 or Lumia 525 (including the 526 variant) with the preview Windows 10 build? Then you should hold off on rolling back to Windows Phone 8.1, multiple users report that they bricked their devices doing so with the Windows Phone Recover Tool.

Microsoft has paused the availability of the update while the issue is being investigated. You can join the discussion, the Microsoft team is working with users trying to resolve the issue.

Some users are offering solutions, though it would be best to wait for the official team to resolve the issue. Also note that some users are having similar issues with the Lumia 920.

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