Microsoft Recently posted a new job listing for a “Software Development Engineer in Test” for Windows phone, in which they mentioned something quite interesting, adding the following to the jobs description.

“This is a great time to join as we’re completing our current release are getting ready for our next release targeting the holiday of this year and we’re chartered with keeping the momentum for Windows Phone by bringing new killer devices and delightful user experiences. There are enormous growth opportunities in this role and organization.”

This is quite interesting, as recently an update that was nicknamed Windows Phone Blue has been rumored, and from the job description it looks like it might be true, however the interesting part of that quote is the part where they mention the launch of ”killer new devices”, could this mean that Windows Phone Blue may be a major update for the system, requiring new hardware?

I doubt it, but it is likely that companies such as Nokia will update their current phones, adding new features such as a 1080p display.

Of course, it’s all just a rumor, I would expect to hear more sometime soon, or at least in the near future.

Source: Microsoft Carrers

Via: wmpoweruser

Vodafone have today announced that they will finally begin selling Windows Phone 8 devices from February 6th, 2013, starting with a selection of five handsets currently on the market.

These handsets will include the Nokia Lumia 920, Nokia Lumia 820, Nokia Lumia 630, Windows Phone 8S by HTC and finally, the Windows Phone 8X by HTC. Which leaves the Samsung Ativ S, for which a release date is yet to be announced but is expected to launch sometime soon.

The carrier didn’t let us know why they have been taking so long to start selling the device, but did say they had ”been working day and night to get the new breed of Windows Phone devices through our network tests unscathed”.

[Update] Vodafone have now released pricing for the phones, the Lumia 920 will be available in black and yellow for £42 a month on a 24 month Vodafone Red Data plan, with unlimited calls, texts and 2GB of data.

The Nokia Lumia 820 will also be available in red and black on the same plan for £33 a month for 24 months. The Windows Phone 8X by HTC is £33 a month and the 8S will be £22 a month on a 24 month contract, with 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data.

The Nokia Lumia 620 will also be available in Cyan and white for £21 a month on the same contract and plan as the 820.

Microsoft have just confirmed that the latest Windows Phone 7.8 operating system will be coming to Windows Phone 7 users in early 2013, not exactly sure what early means but that’s still good news.

This will bring some of the latest features to some of the older smartphones that Microsoft doesn’t see fit to run Windows Phone 8, Microsoft confirmed the release of the mobile OS to 7.5 users with the following statement:

“We know you’re eager to get the Windows Phone 7.8 update, and we want you to know that we’re working closely with our hardware and carrier partners to get it tested, approved, and rolled out to as many devices as possible in early 2013.”

Some of the new features include the new start page with multiple tile sizes and features such as the Bing Picture of the Day as well as the new security features and a few more details.

Via: TechRadar

In a weird but very honest move, Microsoft have owned up and announced that the new Windows Phone 8 mobile OS doesn’t include a notification center because Microsoft ”Ran Out Of Time.”

This is one feature that a lot of people have been disappointed not seeing in the new update within reviews, as this is now a pretty basic feature available on both iOS and Android, allowing users to track their notifications in a handy pull-down bar and trigger those apps by simply tapping on the notification itself.

Microsoft’s Thomas Fennel was the man to spill the beans after being questioned on the lack of the feature by a member of the audience, you can find out more information on that at the source link below.

Source: The Verge

Nokia has confirmed that it’s Nokia Drive mapping solution will soon be available to all Windows Phone 8 manufacturers, but it appears that the application is not available just yet after a quick Windows Store check.

This could mean that individual manufacturers will have to decide whether or not the application will be available to download on their devices, Pocket-Lint have said that they will be getting a list of these manufacturers but Nokia said that this will only be “in the coming days”.

So it seems we may just have to wait and see how the application will be distributed or even if it would be free or paid, it is defiantly a great move on Nokia’s part.

Via: Pocket-Lint

Microsoft have today released its Windows Phone Software Development Kit 8.0, which is now available for download from the official Microsoft site and allows developers to build their own apps and games for Windows Phone 8 and 7.5.

In order to use it developers will however need Windows 8 or Windows 8 Pro installed on their PC, those with the new OS can however begin creating today a testing their creations in “real-world conditions”.

However the SDK will also allow developers to build apps older than Windows Phone 7.5 but will run on Windows Phone 7.8.

The app integrates into the People and Phone Hubs and there’s even a Bluetooth icon, which will obviously be used to switch calls to a Bluetooth headset, check out the video below to see for yourself.

Microsoft has been gradually transferring old applications it used to use on its current device with new apps, the most recent has just been revealed with the new Windows 8 companion app for Windows Phone 8 devices, which will be available from the Windows phone Store and has been designed to replace the Zune client, much like the Xbox Music app will do upon release on the Xbox 360.

The application has also been designed with a Metro style in mind, and will allow quick access to photos, documents, music and videos on their Windows Phone devices and even import or export this data to other handsets.

The companion application will be available for download sometime in October when Windows Phone 8 releases.

Via [The Verge]

Recently Microsoft announced the new Windows Phone 8 Operating System, which we already known would only be coming to new Windows Phone devices but it wasn’t very clear which countries this would be coming to, but today Microsoft has changed that with the release of the 180 countries to get the Windows Phone OS download.

Check it out in the image below:

Via [Windows Team Blog]

There has been a lot of controversy over Microsoft releasing Windows Phone 8 and leaving phones like the Lumia 900 out of the picture, because of that Microsoft are releasing a new software update to selected phones called Windows Phone 7.8, which will bring the new start screen to devices like Nokia’s Lumia 900.

To give us a bit more details Ben Rudolph released made a hand-on video of the beta for the new Windows Phone update, check out below and let us know what you think.

[via Microsoft]

If you missed Microsoft’s Windows Phone Summit Keynote yesterday then you are probably regretting it, thankfully The full Keynote video has now been posted on YouTube so you can watch the whole thing from your home right now.

Only in late December lat year Microsoft announced that they had reached 50,000 apps available on the app store, they have now doubled that to 100,000 over a six month period which is a huge milestone they announced at today’s summit, check out the video below from Microsoft for more information.

Don’t you just hate not having that great built-in maps technology that Nokia Lumia users have, well if you have a phone that can run the new Windows Phone 8 (spoiler alert not many can,) then you can also run the Nokia Drive app as Microsoft has now added it to the new OS, features include offline maps support, developer control over maps, turn-by-turn directions and support for Microsoft’s new deals feature allowing you to grab deals for businesses near you. Check out the video below for more information.

Today was Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 developer preview, during which Microsoft announced a whole lot of features one of which was a new start screen that allows users to customize the size of live tiles on the home screen from small, medium or large, alongside that Microsoft has also removed the right hand rail where the full apps list link was placed, as well as some new colors to select, check out the video below for more information.

When hearing the words Internet Explorer 10 naturally you automatically think of the desktop version, well now there is also a version for the Windows Phone 8 operating system, with a lot of different features coming from its desktop cousin including SmartScreen anti-phishing filter alongside JavaScript and HTML5 performance improvements, and of course touch screen support.

Via Engadget