Droid Razr Maxx vs Nokia Lumia 900: Smartphone Shootout

Motorola's Droid Razr Maxx goes on sale today on Verizon, but should you grab the new smartphone or wait a few more weeks for the Nokia Lumia 900? It depends if you are an AT&T or Verizon customer or if you're contract is already up from your current carrier. That's because the Droid Razr Maxx is only on Verizon, and the Nokia Lumia 900 will only be on AT&T. Nokia may eventually bring their new line of Microsoft powered smartphones to other carriers, but so far there are only whispers to that effect. AT&T may only get to be the exclusive provider for the Lumia 900 for 45 days, but that is only a rumor for now. Furthermore, a March 18 launch for AT&T's Lumia 900 has not been confirmed, but has been reported enough by multiple sources to at least be likely.


To recap, the Droid Razr Maxx is an updated version of the Droid Razr that came out in November. It's the same phone, but with a huge battery Motorola says can last up to 21 hours of talk time. It has a 4.3-inch qHD display with 960x540p resolution, 16 gigabytes of internal storage, 1080p video capture, expandable memory card slot and Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system. There is no update time frame for when it will get the Android 4.0 update, but it most likely happen in the next two months. It's $300 on contract, and the Droid Razr now comes in 16 and 32 GB offerings for $200 and $280, respectively.

Nokia: Just 600,000 phones sold in North America

Nokia may have roughly doubled Windows Phone sales quarter-on-quarter, but the company is still struggling to make an impact on the North American market, shipping just 600,000 handsets in the country. According to Nokia’s Q2 2012 financials [pdf link], the US and Canada were by far the least interested in the company’s wares, with Asia-Pacific leading the volumes of devices and services sales (with 28.6m units).

Symbian continues to slide, meanwhile, blamed for much of Nokia’s issues. Symbian’s difficulties in penetrating the North American market to begin with meant it was the only region not particularly impacted by the OS’ decline. “All regions showed a significant year-on-year decline in the second quarter 2012 except for North America,” Nokia reported, “where the sharp decline in sales of Symbian devices was more than offset by sales of our Lumia devices.”

Meanwhile, year-on-year average smartphone selling price increased, thanks to Windows Phones being generally more expensive than their Symbian counterparts. ASP was €186 ($229) in Q2.

Will Windows Phone 8 Arrive on September 7?

We now know that Microsoft’s Windows 8 platform for desktops and tablets will be shipping starting on October 26, but what about the mobileWindows Phone 8 OS? According to a teaser that Nokia is posting outside of its Helsinki, Finland store, ‘something amazing’ will be coming on September 7, 2012. The company’s retail store is currently closed for renovations currently.

An image posted on My Nokia Blog shows a Nokia store with a banner outside teasing the arrival of something amazing along with the date.

It’s unclear what that something amazing is. According to a report on Phone Arena, Nokia’s annual Nokia World conference is slated to kick off this year on September 5. However, given that the close proximity of the conference’s start date to the amazing release date two days later, it may be unlikely that Windows Phone 8 devices would be available for sale two days after the conference kicks off. However, it is still a possibility that Windows Phone 8 could arrive by then.

Review: Nokia's Lumia 900 already feels outdated

Nokia's Lumia 900 was supposed to reboot the Finnish company's fortunes and provide a showcase for Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system. Just three months after its launch, though, the most-hyped Windows Phone is starting to look obsolete. Rob Pegoraro revisits the phone he tested in April. 

Remember when Nokia's TV ads for its Lumia 900 mocked other smartphone vendors for treating their users as beta testers? Those ads look a little cruel after Microsoft revealed that no current WP7 device will get an update to its upcoming Windows Phone 8, which has new features like turn-by-turn navigation and Internet calling.

Instead, the 900 -- originally priced at $100 but recently slashed to $50, and available exclusively on AT&T's network in the United States -- won't advance past a "Windows Phone 7.5 refresh" patch and a later WP 7.8 update adding WP8's more customizable start screen.

But the current software itself doesn't feel old, aside from its embarrassing reliance on desktop programs to sync files and install even minor updates. This operating system's basic innovation -- making the start screen a stack of easily rearranged, interactive tiles that present notifications from your apps -- remains an intelligent, fast way to stay on top of your life.

The hope that the Lumia would reboot the entire Windows Phone market hasn't panned out, though. WP7's 1.3% share of the smartphone installed base remains smaller than that of the unlovable Windows Mobile software it replaced, according to Nielsen's figures.

There are small signs of progress: From the first quarter of 2012 to May, NPD Group data shows WP7's share of each month's smartphone sales doubling from 2% to 4%. "The Lumia 900 far and away has been driving the increase," said analyst Ross Rubin. 

source form:money.cnn.com

Windows Phone 8: What Windows Phone 7 Users Need to Know

When Windows Phone 8 debuts this fall it will feature a slick new camera app, Internet Explorer 10, near-field communication, Nokia Maps, Direct X support for advanced gaming and multi core processor support. That's the good news. The bad news is current Windows Phone 7 users will be left out in the cold for most of these features, including recent buyers of Nokia's Lumia 900 handset.

But don't lose heart Windows Phone fans, because Microsoft is still throwing you a bone and delivering a few Windows Phone 8-like changes for you. Following the release of Windows Phone 8this fall, Windows Phone 7 users will receive an update called Windows Phone 7.8 that includes the new Windows Phone 8 start screen.

If you're a current Windows Phone fan with no immediate plans to upgrade to a new handset when Windows Phone 8 comes out later in 2012, here's what you need to know about Windows Phone 7.8.

Windows Phone 7.5 Mango review - the good, the bad and the ugly

It has been more than a month since I switched to using the Lumia 800 as my main smartphone. Coming from using Android exclusively for six months, there are obvious drawbacks with Windows Phone 7.5, but these are few and does not stop me from enjoying the OS. Unlike pre-Mango WP7, WP7.5 does not make me want to hurl the phone with frustration for one, and after getting over the initial teething period - I now love it.

Windows Phone 7 was designed with consumers, not geeks, in mind hence the lack of certain features we geeks take for granted. Nothing wrong with that, but if Microsoft wants to win the smartphone OS war, they need to also pander to the geeks. After all geeks rule the earth, or so that is the common saying here. Part of the problem with Windows Phone 7 is still the lack of apps, but that is changing. Everyday I keep seeing new quality apps get added. It even hosts the best Foursquare mobile client on *any* platform.

Yes I have issues with it. I have a feature list request that can fill a novel if I weren't so damn lazy. But for most parts, it just works. It lets me get on with my life and spend less time poking through the settings to figure things out. Do not get me wrong, iOS is now so mature I am actually beginning to like it (gasp!) and Android will always be in my heart as a geek tool - but, to me at least, nothing beats the simplicity of Windows Phone.

10 Windows Phone 7 Tips and Tricks

Do you have a Windows Phone 7 device? Want some tips and tricks? Well read on I have gathered 10 of the best and most useful.
1. Call when your hands are tied

Don’t have time to dial a number? just tap and hold the start button. This will activate Voice Controls on Windows Phone 7. Then just announce who you want to call, as in “Call Robert Mobile”. You can also do other things via voice activation like, “Find Coffee in Johannesburg”, “Open Music” or “Start Application”
2. Copy & paste

This was one of the criticised flaws of the first Windows Phone 7 launch. No Copy & paste. but now you can copy just about any kind of text on your phone and paste it anywhere you can type.
Tap a word.
Drag the arrows at each end of the highlighted text to include the first and last words you want to copy.
Tap Copy.
Open the file, app, or message where you want to paste the text.
Tap where you want to paste the text.