Microsoft Lumia 950 goes official with PureView camera

Owners of a flagship Windows Phone have had their patience stretched thin, but those that held off have been rewarded. The Microsoft Lumia 950 improves on just about every feature of the Lumia 930. About time too, the 930 is a year and a half old.

The Windows 10 Mobile device comes with a 5.2" QHD screen – the sharpest on a Lumia yet. Like the XL screen, this one is an AMOLED with Glance screen and ClearBlack, except in a more compact footprint this time.

The camera is basically the same – a 20MP PureView sensor (1/2.4") with 5th gen optical stabilization and Carl Zeiss optics (f/1.9). It can record 2160p video natively with Lumia's traditional Hi-Fi audio recording. There's a 5MP/1080p selfie camera too, but without the LED flash.

The Lumia 950 is powered by Snapdragon 808 with liquid cooling and 3GB of RAM. Gaming performance will take a hit if devs want to use the screen's full QHD resolution, but for general app usage Windows was never picky about the chipset.

The phone comes with USB Type-C and wireless charging, plus a relatively big 3,000mAh battery. Using the Type-C connector you can hook up the Display Dock, which gives you HDMI and DisplayPort video out plus three USBs.

The Microsoft Lumia 950 will cost $550, available in November. There's a dual-SIM version too.

$139 Microsoft Lumia 550 is a 4.7" Windows 10 smartphone

Microsoft announced the Lumia 950 and L flagship pair and just as we though the devices event was moving from the Lumias towards the Surface, a Lumia 550 was briefly mentioned. An entire ten seconds of the spotlight were enough to announce the affordable smartphone will be available in December for $139.

The list of specs starts with a 4.7-inch LCD display of a 720p resolution, which seems to be the best part on paper. Computing power comes from a Snapdragon 210 chipset with a quad-core 1.1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM.

Storage is a rather limiting 8GB, but is expandable via microSD. There’s a 5MP/2MP camera combo and full LTE support, courtesy of Qualcomm’s chip.

   

Microsoft Lumia 550

The Microsoft Lumia 550 will be available in a variety of colors for its detachable polycarbonate back cover, a staple of the lower end Lumias. Battery capacity is listed at 2,100mAh, and the whole package measures 136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9mm.

The affordable Windows 10 device tips the scales at 141.9g, virtually the same as the new iPhone 6s. Apparently, that's the industry standard for a 4.7-inch smartphone.

Spanish retailer leaks Lumia 950 and 950 XL prices

Just days after there were reports that the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL will carry a price tag comparable to that of the Apple iPhone 6s, a Spanish retailer has leaked the price of the up coming Windows 10 device, as well as that of its smaller sibling, the Lumia 950.

As per the listing, the dual-SIM variants of the Lumia 950 XL and Lumia 950 will set you back €749 ($838) and €659 ($738), respectively. This compares with the iPhone 6s (16GB variant), which carries a price tag in the range of €740-€750 in some European countries - its Spanish prices are yet to be announced.

Specs-wise, from what is known till now, both the Microsoft handsets sport QHD display, 3GB RAM, and 32GB expandable storage. They feature a 20 MP rear camera, a 5 MP front shooter, and a USB Type-C port for charging.

While the 950 XL is expected to be powered by Snapdragon 810 SoC and pack in a 3,300 mAh battery, the Lumia 950 is said to feature the Snapdragon 808 chipset and a 3,000 mAh cell.

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The latest Skype beta by Microsoft comes with Windows 10 Mobile support

Microsoft’s latest Skype beta for Windows 10 comes with support for the mobile version of the OS as well. Users can try out the new version of the popular messenger if they are running a preview build of Windows 10 Mobile.

The new Skype beta for Windows 10 Mobile aims to become the default messaging solution. Just like Apple iMessage and Google Hangouts, the application can handle sending SMS or Skype chats seamlessly.

Skype calling on the other hand, becomes part of the phone app in Windows 10 Mobile. Skype Video, as its name suggests, will handle video chats.

The new beta is available only for Insider users for the time being. Microsoft is yet to announce its official availability.

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Microsoft announces which Lumias will get Windows 10 first

The desktop PC version of Windows 10 has been out since yesterday, but the mobile variation of Microsoft's latest OS is still in the making. Furthermore, we don't even have an exact release date for Windows 10 Mobile yet, so it may take a few months for it to actually surface. In fact, the latest rumors on the matter talk about a November launch.

In the meantime, however, you might want to know which Lumia-branded smartphones are going to get the update to Windows 10 first. Microsoft has helpfully published an official list.

So, if you own a Lumia Lumia 430, Lumia 435, Lumia 532, Lumia 535, Lumia 540, Lumia 640,Lumia 640 XL, Lumia 735, Lumia 830, or Lumia 930, you'll be among the first people on the planet to experience the final version of Windows 10 Mobile when it hits.

If you have a different Lumia, there's no reason to panic just yet. Microsoft has confirmed that the above are not the only Lumias to get Windows 10, just the first in line for the update. So the new OS should make its way to many more models at some point. In all cases, the update to Windows 10 Mobile will be free.

On this occasion, Microsoft has once again promised that all Lumias running Windows Phone 8.1 with the Denim software will eventually get upgraded to Windows 10.

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Xiaomi tipped to launch a Windows 10 tablet soon

Xiaomi will launch a Windows 10-powered tablet in the ongoing quarter, according to a known Chinese analyst Pan Jiutang. The device will be the successor to the Mi Pad tablet (shown in the image below), which the company unveiled back in May last year.

However, there was no word on whether the new tablet will run the standard Windows 10 version or the mobile version, dubbed Windows 10 Mobile. It's worth mentioning that Microsoft recommends the standard edition for tablets with displays larger than or equal to 8-inches.

The device could be unveiled on August 16, when the Chinese company traditionally announces the new version of its MIUI user interface. Needless to say, none of this has been officially confirmed by the Xiaomi, so take it with a pinch of salt.

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Windows 10 for smartphones will not launch this summer

Microsoft will not launch Windows 10 for smartphones this summer. The Redmond giant’s Corporate Vice President Joe Belfiore delivered the new at a Build media event in San Francisco.

As it turns out, Microsoft is focused on launching Windows 10 for PC first. Builds of the new OS for smartphones are said to be behind in their development compared to their desktop counterparts.

The above strategy by Microsoft should hardly catch anyone by surprise. The company pulled a similar trick with the launch of Windows 8.1 - its variant for smartphones (Windows Phone 8.1) arrived at a later stage.

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Microsoft Expects 1 Billion Windows 10 Devices In 2-3 Years

At its Build developer conference today, Microsoft announced that it expects Windows 10, its forthcoming operating system, to run on 1 billion devices in two to three years. That’s the idea, at least.

The goal is reasonable, given the company’s decision to offer Windows 10 to current Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users for free for a year. That, combined with the normal PC sales cycle and the upgrade of Windows Phone users, is how Microsoft gets to the 1 billion-device figure.

Keep in mind two things: Microsoft has granted itself quite a lot of wiggle room — a multi-year timeframe that has a full year of slack is a pretty wide band. But that’s hardly surprising, given that Microsoft has something at risk in this case. If the company cannot attract a mass of users quickly, developers might pass on building for the platform.

And if developers don’t opt-in, consumers might eschew using the Windows Store. That cuts downloads, revenue for Microsoft and, of course, developer incomes. It’s a negatively reinforcing cycle.

The 1 billion figure is a good stab into the future for Microsoft (who can ignore that amount of potential reach?), and it’s a benchmark that now must be met. Windows 10 is coming out in a few months, and then for Microsoft, this particular clock begins to tick.

Windows 10 may get support for Android apps

Microsoft kicks off its annual BUILD developers conference in just a few hours, but one of the biggest surprises may have already leaked out. According to noted Windows blogger Paul Thurrott, the company’s new operating system may finally offer support for Android apps.

If this is true, then Windows 10 for smartphones, tablets and desktops could finally solve the “app gap” that’s plagued Microsoft’s mobile platform for years. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard similar claims, but according to Thurrott the company could finally be closing in on Android support. Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean the announcement will be delivered onstage at BUILD 2015.

The report goes on to argue that Microsoft could be making a huge mistake. Android app support may sound like a quick fix right now, but it could mean the end of Windows Phone devices down the line. After all, what’s keeping developers and even customers from switching to Android entirely?

Still, we’re curious to see what Microsoft has planned, and for Windows fans frustrated by the lack of apps this could be a huge win. Hopefully we’ll learn more this week at BUILD. We’ll be covering the show live from San Francisco, so check back soon for all the news as it comes in.

Microsoft said it sold 8.6 million Lumia devices in its fiscal Q3

Microsoft has announced its fiscal 2015 Q3 (quarter that ended on March 31) earnings report, revealing that it sold 8.6 million Lumia devices in the quarter, up 18% year-on-year but down 18% compared to the prior quarter.

Lumia sales brought in a revenue of $1.4 billion, down 16% compared to the year-ago quarter. Microsoft said the decline was due to a "higher mix of low royalty devices."

The software giant also revealed that it sold a total of 24.7 million feature phones in the quarter, down compared to the same quarter last year. "Market for feature phones continues to contract," the company said.

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AMD CEO Says Windows 10 Will Launch ‘At The End Of July

Buried in the question-and-answer section of AMD’s earnings call this past Friday was an interesting note on the release timing of Windows 10. According to AMD CEO Lisa Su, Windows 10 should be released in late July.

In response to a question regarding its channel inventory, Su said the following:

What we also are factoring in is, you know, with the Windows 10 launch at the end of July, we are watching sort of the impact of that on the back-to-school season, and expect that it might have a bit of a delay to the normal back-to-school season inventory build-up.

TechCrunch reached out to Microsoft for comment on the supposed release date.The company has yet to respond. It’s worth noting, as GeekWire pointed out this morning, Microsoft has said that Windows 10 will be released this summer. Now we have a firmer release date to expect.

Microsoft has been coy on a public, hard release date for Windows 10 as there is little upside in providing one. It likely doesn’t drive demand to have a public final date set so far in advance, and having any such benchmark would create another trip point for the software company to miss. And if you miss what amounts to little more than a synthetic deadline, you don’t gain much other than a news cycle that frets about what has gone wrong.

If Windows 10 fails to attract a large cadre of users quickly, it could miss its chance to attract developers, crippling its application store. To combat that, Microsoft is providing free upgrades to Windows 10 for Windows 7, 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 users.Windows 10 is Microsoft’s attempt to build a single operating system that can function across all computing form factors, from embedded chips, to smartphones and tablets, all the way through to PCs and even larger screens.

The “end of July” is about 102 days away. That’s just over three months. Can Microsoft pull it off?

CyanogenMod 12.1 builds rolling out, but you might want to wait

CyanogenMod is perhaps the most popular custom Android build out there today and consequently, it has been getting a constant flow of attention from developers, tinkerers and android-enthusiast all around.

The latest 12.1 version of the OS has finally made it out of the source code realm and on to actual device builds. So if your handset currently supports CyanogenMod 12, it is most likely updatable to 12.1, which is, in fact, based on the AOSP version of Android 5.1. This brings the popular custom ROM up to date, seeing how Android 5.1 is currently being seeded to Nexus devices, as well.

Even better yet, Cyanogen developers promise that the new version is directly installable over an existing CM 12.0 install, so no data loss should occur. There is a catch, though - all third party add-on zips must be manually updated to run properly. So the challenge is actually finding the proper, Android 5.1 compatible versions that don’t crash on the new OS.

On another CyanogenMod-related note, some of you might remember a recent scoop about a partnership between Microsoft and CM, boiling down to the integration of MS apps and services straight into the custom ROM. The whole story was quickly debunked, but Cyanogen took the liberty of reiterating this along with the new builds announcement. In the team's own words:

We are not bundling or pre-installing Microsoft (or any Cyanogen OS exclusive partner apps) into CyanogenMod.

So, with that fiasco officially out of the way, we can happily enjoy CM 12.1. But, if you do hop on the new version, let us just remind you, that it is a nightly build and as such, bugs of all caliber are expected. So, if you rely heavily on your CyanogenMod-powered device, you should probably wait for a more stable milestone build to pop up in the near future.

Also, the official download page for the custom ROM is currently down, so you might have to check back a bit later for the package.

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Universal Office apps to hit Windows 10 for phones by month end

Microsoft recently released its universal touch-friendly Office apps for testers of the Windows 10 Technical Preview on PC and tablets. Now it’s promising that the suite will be available for Windows 10 for phones testers by the end of this month.

The apps are a bit different from the full-fledged solutions you’ll eventually find through Office 2016. Instead, they’re designed around touch-input and “optimized for viewing, quick edits, notes and markup,” Microsoft said Friday. The apps are built to fit the smaller screens on phones, and Microsoft moved the controls from the top of the screen to the bottom so they’re easier to reach with a thumb.

“The Universal apps will deliver tailored tablet and phone experiences for on-the-go productivity, and the Desktop apps will offer our broadest, deepest feature set for professional content creation,” Microsoft said. We’re excited to give the apps a whirl in the coming weeks, and you can prep a Windows Phone device to test the new apps by installing the Windows Insider application.

Interested in what else is new in Windows 10 for phones? Check out the gallery below.

New Maps for Windows 10 for phones released

Microsoft had a couple of Windows 10 for phones announcements on Friday. First it revealed that Universal Office apps, which provide a touch-friendly version of Office, will be available for Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones by the end of the month. It also released a new version of Maps for those devices.

The latest version of Maps is currently only available for folks in the Windows Insider program who are testing the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones, but it’s free and easy to become a member in that program if you have a supported device (and can deal with plenty of early software.)

Microsoft said it includes tools from both Bing Maps and HERE Maps and integrates them together for the first time. You’ll find aerial imagery, local search data, free voice guided navigation, live traffic data, public transit information and more. The new Maps app also supports pinch to zoom and panning, which is pretty common in most software these days. You’ll also find reviews on points of interest from Yelp, location photos and more.

Hit the source for more information, or check for the latest app from your Windows 10 for phones device now.

Microsoft Promises ‘Universal’ Office App For Phones Running Windows 10 This Month

Microsoft promised this morning to release by the end of April a set of Office applications that it calls “Universal” for smartphones running Windows 10.

The company has a two-prong productivity strategy in place for Windows: Office 2016for desktop use, and, for all other Windows 10 experiences, its touch-focused Office Universal apps. The latter apps, according to Microsoft, will function across tablets and smartphones, dynamically changing their design to allow users to better use them based on their current screen size.

The two names for the two groups of apps — Office Desktop and Office Universal — might seem a bit odd, given that the Universal apps aren’t quite designed to be. The universal tag is instead more useful in the mobile context — these are the apps you will use across Windows devices whenever you’re not at your desk typing away happily on a full-sized keyboard.

Here’s a shot of the Universal Word app, as shared by Microsoft this morning:

We’ve known for some time that the Universal applications will be free for smartphones and tablets. So, if you do test them out, you can leave your wallet at home.

The company has also begun to experiment with bundling its services into a single sale. I wouldn’t be flabbergasted if we see a Microsoft Bundle, akin to Amazon Prime from the company that encompasses all its services into a single price, sold on a yearly or monthly basis (probably yearly).Microsoft is slowly snapping the parts of its new platforms and productivity strategy into place: Windows everywhere; Office everywhere; Office tools for work environments that have a cost attached; Office tools for the on-the-go user for no cost, all glued together by an application layer — the universal Windows Store; and various subscription services to provide additional content and capability to those who need it — Office 365, Xbox Live, and so forth.

For now, all Windows 10 for phones users can look forward to new code in short order.

BLU Win HD LTE hit the shelves of the Microsoft Store

BLU Win HD LTE quietly arrived on the shelves of the Microsoft Store. The newcomer is a significantly updated variant of last year’s BLU Win HD.

In addition to 4G LTE connectivity, the BLU Win HD LTE features a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset. The latter marks a significant improvement over the Snapdragon 200 found in the non-LTE BLU Win HD.

The rest of BLU Win HD LTE’s specs include 5” 720p IPS display, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage, 8MP main camera, and 2MP front-facing snapper. The dual-SIM handset is powered by a 2,500mAh battery.

BLU and Microsoft will update the smartphone to Windows 10 for smartphones when it becomes available. The device boots Windows 8.1 out of the box.

The Win HD LTE is available in a quartet of different colors for $199 with no contract.

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Microsofties Were All Over That New Windows 10 Build

Microsoft dropped a new Windows 10 build yesterday, build 10051, adding support for a host of Windows Phone handsets previously unsupported by the operating system.

Windows Phone users were understandably interested in the new code, as it represents Microsoft’s most complete vision to date of how Windows 10 — the company’s attempt at a universal platform — will update their handsets. (Sadly, TechCrunch’s Lumia 929 remains unsupported, so if you spot a tech blogger crying in the corner, I just need a minute.)

Microsoft’s Windows 10 célèbre Gabe Aul released a chart detailing how many users made it to build 10051 on a per-minute basis, with data covering about an hour. The pace, as you can see below, works out to about one user per second making it to the new code:

As with many beta releases, there were rollout issues with the new code. Those have since been quashed, and the update appears to be Full Steam.

Now, to the numbers. 60 successful upgrades per minute is 3,600 per hour, or north of 86,000 per day. Of course, the pace of upgrades will slow over time, but those are sufficient rough run-rate calculations.

Is 60 per minute quite a lot, or not very much? Microsoft has picked up a few million Windows 10 testers, but how many of that group are Windows Phone users isn’t clear. And, the new numbers recorded above only include Windows 10 testers who use Windows Phone and who opted into a faster build release cycle. So, it’s a modest pool to pull from. I’d call the numbers healthy, but not ecstatic.

Microsoft continues to release Windows 10 builds even as Build, its developer conference, quickly approaches. I incorrectly presumed that the company would start to constrain releases to ensure that it had plenty of new material for the event. It seems instead that Microsoft wants to keep the kitchen open all the way to closing time.

A question for you, dear reader: If you did upgrade, are you going to stay on the new code, or revert back to Windows Phone and wait for Windows 10 to get another notch closer to production quality?

Upcoming Windows 10 for phones build will work on more devices

Microsoft has announced that the next build of the Windows 10 Technical Preview for phones will support a lot more devices.

"I get a ton of questions every day on Twitter about when your favorite phones will be usable, and I’m happy to report that the vast majority will be supported with the next flight," said Windows Insider manager Gabriel Aul in a blog post.

Aul explained that the reason the first build, which was released last month, supported a limited number of devices was that the company had to select from the set of phones that had sufficient system partition sizes configured by the manufacturer.

He, however, added that the problem has been resolved by implementing a feature called “partition stitching”, using which they can now re-size the system partition dynamically and hence support a larger set of phones.

Hit the Source link below to see the list of phones that the software giant expects to support in the next build. "If, during our testing, we find a device specific bug it MAY be pulled from the list," Aul said.

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Microsoft working on software to convert Android phones to Windows 10

After Microsoft announced on their blog post that Windows 10 will release this summer, the company also added that it is working with Chinese handset maker Xiaomi to offer some customers a test version of Windows 10 on their smartphones.

Microsoft wrote said that, it will help a select group of Xiaomi Mi4 users ‘flash’ their phones with the new Windows 10 OS on their handsets and let them contribute to its future release later this year. These users will then use Windows 10 on their Mi4 devices and provide valuable feedback. Xiaomi stresses that this is not a partnership but an initiative. This move portrays Microsoft’s new platform through a unique approach, points out TechCrunch.

As the company uses the word ‘flash’ here, it indicates that Microsoft will offer a ROM, similar to custom ROMs like CyanogenMod, to install their OS on the Android smartphone. Microsoft will deliver Windows 10 ROM for Mi 4 users with a software that helps convert an Android phone into a Windows 10 phone, complete with access to all Microsoft services, added the report. 

But the bigger news is that Microsoft will soon be rolling out this feature out to other devices as well.

With this move, Microsoft could attract many Android users to Windows 10, without having the need to to purchase another phone. Microsoft also added in their blog that China is an ideal market for testing such an initiative, given the region’s relative lack of lock-in to Google services and a general affinity towards custom ROMs.

The availability for Windows 10 on Xiaomi Mi 4 will be announced in a few months.