My Nokia Blog |
- Windows Phone 8.1 outfoxes Android’s navigation bar
- Upload files from browser from WP8.1, and another look at week view
- Nokia Goes Green for Valentine, Hinting at an Android Powered Phone?
- Nokia Lumia ICON tear down/disassembly
- Lumiappdates: Instagram BETA, with bug/crash fixes, UI improvements, tagging and photo maps
- Video & Gallery: Nokia Lumia 1320 Unboxing and Impressions
- Nokia Lumia ICON Videos: More Hands on, Unboxings and Reviews
- Inforgraph: Actual Screen Size Vs. Bezel
| Windows Phone 8.1 outfoxes Android’s navigation bar Posted: 13 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST It was almost three years ago Nokia announced the Nokia N9, it was the first smartphone to come without physical or capacitive buttons, it was a financially sound decision where making smartphones without hardware or capacitive buttons will be way cheaper and easier to do.
Naturally Android soon followed suit with the Galaxy Nexus via the ICS Android update and later many Android handsets started using on screen navigation bars, sadly as Android is all about customization a limitless amount of navigation bars existed further fragmenting an already fragmented OS experience. Android’s navigation bars took some screen real state too except in certain OEM apps, that real state was only brought back by rooted apps and custom roms both of which meant breaking warranty and being a little bit of a geek to achieve, it also wasn’t the prettiest looking solution.
It was only on Android KitKat offered users the ability to see beyond the navigation buttons in the home screen, it also gave developers the option to let their apps go full screen without the bars via a mode called Immersive mode.
Kitkat users still couldn’t enter that mode on their own though, Cyanogenmod added the option to go full screen to users but some apps and games would crash instantly upon forcing immersive mode on them.
Another problem I personally had with Android’s navigation bars is screen rotation blackout; in the moments it takes to switch from portrait to landscape, your access to the navigation buttons is gone, you’d think that wouldn’t annoy anyone but it actually drove me crazy. (Samsung insists on using hardware buttons still for the above reasons too) Windows Phone was lagging behind other OSs for a while but it didn’t mean it wasn’t learning from Android’s mistakes, Windows Phone 8.1 the major update for WP8 handsets will also use virtual navigation bars for upcoming devices, so how did Microsoft implement its navigation bar?
Well, we might not get a glowing theme matching navigation buttons (except on that horrid Huawei) but you’ll be able to set the navigation bar bellow the button to match your themes accent color. If that’s too fun for your taste you can go with the always dark option! and if you’re one of the few who like using the Light theme the Match Background option will ease your sorrows. [I can't shake the feeling that this option hints at new background options- fingers crossed-]
I can’t believe how proud I am of what Windows Phone 8.1 update shaped up to be, its dauntingly beautiful that Microsoft introduced a completely thought out navigation bar while Android still didn’t manage to perfect its navigation bar three years after its debut! Thank you WP team. |
| Upload files from browser from WP8.1, and another look at week view Posted: 13 Feb 2014 02:22 PM PST
As part of the new WP8.1 features, it seems we are also finally getting file upload from the browser. This was a relatively new thing to iOS on my iPad too (though thanks to iOS7 and the constant reloading when I switch tabs, it has returned to being an unusable browser). Also, here’s a look at week view with entries put in. It’s nice that it’s here but it looks disappointing. Will it look better in landscape view?
Source: WPH Cheers Alvester for the tip |
| Nokia Goes Green for Valentine, Hinting at an Android Powered Phone? Posted: 13 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST
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| Nokia Lumia ICON tear down/disassembly Posted: 13 Feb 2014 01:56 PM PST
Take a look at the guts inside the Nokia Lumia ICON. Note the 2420mAh battery and that 20MP PureView camera module. Cheers AIKON for the tip! |
| Lumiappdates: Instagram BETA, with bug/crash fixes, UI improvements, tagging and photo maps Posted: 13 Feb 2014 01:50 PM PST
Instagram BETA got updated to v0.3.2.0 with bug/crash fixes, UI improvements, people tagging and photo maps. Nice to see the Instagram team following up their WP client. Unit converter also got updated. v1.5.0.0 |
| Video & Gallery: Nokia Lumia 1320 Unboxing and Impressions Posted: 13 Feb 2014 05:39 AM PST
Inside the Lumia 1320 is well equipped to deal with the featherweight requests of Windows Phone, with a Dual core 1.7 Ghz Snapdragon S4 processor and 1 Gb of ram it essentially has the same processor as the Lumia 920 (which has a 1.5 GHz S4). The 1320 has pretty much the same size and dimensions as the 1520, also sharing the same weight range (220 grams), meaning if you’re comfortable with one, you’ll feel at home with the other. In fact the slightly rounded back of the 1320 and curved corners make it more comfortable to hold in the hand. So far the lower ppi of the screen isn’t much of a deal breaker, in fact it actually looks quite crisp when its on; the only time I instantly noticed the lower resolution was when the sleeping screen came on and the clock showed jagged edges. I’ll be sure to post more coverage of the Lumia 1320 as I play with it some more, but in the meantime if there’s something in particular you’d like to see please leave a comment below.
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| Nokia Lumia ICON Videos: More Hands on, Unboxings and Reviews Posted: 13 Feb 2014 12:59 AM PST
Just to make sure we weren’t missing out on any of the Nokia Lumia ICON material, here are some more videos: More blogger edition packs can be seen.
Chris Davies has a first look:
- Engadget
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| Inforgraph: Actual Screen Size Vs. Bezel Posted: 13 Feb 2014 12:32 AM PST
Hopefully with WP 8.1 and its on screen buttons we’ll see less and less bezel, and more screen utilization; something I’m sure many of you would appreciate (although I fear the toll on durability of devices would take a hit).
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The Lumia 1320, similar to the 1520 is a 6″ beast, with a 720 p display instead of the Full HD 1080p one in the 1520, the 1320 clocks out with a ppi of 245, which is acceptable for the intended price-range of the device. The screen is an LCD IPS Gorilla glass 3 display, with Nokia’s amazing Clear Black display, meaning what it lacks in pixels it makes up for in actual display quality. 
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