Skype for Windows Phone beta launched
Just in time for all the upcoming Windows Phone 7 handsets comes Skype for Windows Phone, in beta. Calls and video chats can be made over 3G, 4G, and WiFi. Skype users can also make calls to landlines and mobiles with the app, whilst Microsoft has certified a number of specific devices for Skype Windows Phone that can run it the “best”, including the Nokia Lumia 710, Lumia 800, HTC TITAN, HTC Radar , Samsung Focus S, and Samsung Focus Flash. From here on out the app will be updated consistently until out of beta.
Via: Skype for Windows Phone, Skype Blog
Of all of the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango smartphones in existence, the Focus Flash is the best if you’re on a budget. That is outright my opinion on it in a sentence, but since reviews cannot be condensed to a single sentence (unless you’re trolling your audience and the companies who make said product), the review after the break will take you on a brief journey on what makes the Focus Flash both amazing, its faults, as well as its uncanny performance. Confound it, I think the review was just completed in a single paragraph. Full review after the break. 
Apparently a leaked dev video for Windows Phone 8 “Apollo” has detailed all if not most of the upcoming features for the operating system. New features include dual-core processor support, NFC, Skype integration, official microSD card support, four new screen resolutions, and tons of new security tweaks for business integration. There is also a great deal of additional features, like Windows 8 desktop integration.
This is the Nokia Lumia 900. It’s a 4G LTE smartphone exclusive on AT&T, runs on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, comes in black or cyan, 1.4GHz CPU, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Clear Black display, 512MB of RAM, has an 1830mAh battery, a main 8 megapixel camera that is Carl Zeiss with a wide 28mm f2.2/28 aperture, front-facing f/2.4 wide-angle camera for video chat, Nokia Drive for turn-by-turn navigation, and according to Nokia is “the first real Windows Phone designed for the American market.” According to Nokia, it is made out of a svelte polycarbonate and has a sleek profile. There are also app partnerships with ESPN, CNN, and EA for upcoming game titles. It will be available “in the coming months” with an “aggressive pricing scheme”. Interesting.
This is fantastic. The HTC Titan II has a 4.7-inch display, 4G LTE from AT&T, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, a whopping 16 megapixel rear camera with f/2.6 28mm lens and dual-LED flash, 1.3 megapixel front camera, and of course, Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango”. It will be available “in the coming months”. Full PR after the break.
It turns out that the WP7Chevron team was allowed only to sell 10,000 tokens at $9 each to unlock Windows Phone 7 devices for modifications. ChevronWP7 spokesperson Rafael Rivera wrote, “Microsoft isn’t involved in our discussion yet. And they can’t provide us with more unlocks because we haven’t asked yet. If we do request more, we’re sure Microsoft will respond positively – as they have in the past.” So if you weren’t able to get your unlock token, then your only alternative now is a $99 official Microsoft unlock. Not appealing, indeed.
I don’t know about the reader, but I’ve never heard of an attractive phone for $50 that has HSPA+ “4G” speeds up to 14.4MBps, a 3.7-inch ClearBlack display, 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB RAM, 8GB of storage, 5 megapixel rear camera with single LED flash, and with WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. It’s a sweet little package for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. It’ll show up next year on the 11th of January, coupled with apps like Drive, MS Office, ESPN, T-Mobile TV and Netflix. All is good and well I suppose. Press release after the break.
