HTC Windows Phone 8X Three UK PAYG pricing set at £350

Shortly after the HTC Windows Phone 8X announcement we learned that the SIM-free version of the device might cost a rather hefty £399. It turns out that wasn't entirely accurate as Three UK, will be selling the smartphone off-contract for the easier to swallow £350 ($564 / €436).

The image above was sent to us by a source from Three UK who wished to remain anonymous. As you can see, the PAYG (no-commitment) price of the smartphone stands at £350. You will also be able to grab the HTC Windows Phone 8X for as low as £29 if you are willing to sign a two-year £30/month contract.

The full list of Three UK plans for the HTC 8X

There's still more than a month until the 8X arrives in UK on November 15, so let's hope other UK retailers follow Three UK's lead and bring their prices down as well.

VIA

Nokia Lumia 920 Super Sensitive Screen:The Battery Killer for phone

Guys from JDB Pocketware (creators of legendary PocketShield) have risen up a concern and written an open letter to Nokia regarding what could be a potential battery drain issue on the Nokia Lumia 920:

Nature of Windows Phone buttons

Pressing either the power button or the camera button will cause the device screen to turn on, even when the proximity sensor detects proximity.

The lockscreen behavior
Upon power on, screen lights up and shows the lockscreen (or camera), which runs a timeout to auto power off the device if screen is not touched in X seconds.

But if screen is touched, the timeout counter is restarted, so continuous touching could lead into a loop, the “death loop” which won’t let the device to power off (standby) and will consume battery power.

New touchscreen technology
The Nokia Lumia 920 comes with a touchscreen that reacts to touch from pretty much any material such as metal or clothes. This can be dangerous…

So here is a theory
When the phone is inside a pocket or bag it can be touched by other objects. These objects can press buttons and can touch/rub the screen. This will initiate the “death loop” for who knows how much time, could be minutes or hours, depends on how active the user is since body movement will produce friction between objects/clothes and touchscreen.

The “death loop” will drain battery and battery is precious.

Solution?

Should be simple: screen must not power on if the proximity sensor detects proximity. Current version of Windows Phone does not take care of this. The big question is: will Windows Phone 8 take care of this? Is the Lumia 920 a potential battery drainer?

Nokia replied on its blog about its problem

“While the Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 both enjoy super sensitive touch, the firmware has been configured to avoid accidental activation of the display.  In testing this has not proven to be an issue or to cause unwanted battery drainage.

What has been configured to stop it happening?

The firmware requires a ‘landing event’ to move into active mode and without a repeat of that landing event will eventually return into sleep mode.”

VIA Source

Leaked:Verizon Bounded Blackberry Laguna specifications

RIM is completely renovating its BlackBerry OS in its BB10 release and its new gesture-based UI. The Canadians also developed hardware that should stands up to BB OS 10’s biggest competitor, Windows Phone 8.

A leaked specs sheet details the BlackBerry Laguna for Verizon, an L-series device (those are the touch-only ones) that seems to be the CDMA version of the oft-leaked BlackBerry London.

According to this sheet, the Laguna will pack a 4.2” screen with the non-standard 1280 x 768 resolution (only the dev units and the London are supposed to use this one instead of 720p). The pixel density works out to the impressive 355ppi.

The phone will be powered by a dual-core Krait CPU and feature 1GB RAM (Qualcomm MSM8960 chipset), the same that powers the upcoming crop of WP8 flagship devices. Other specs on the BlackBerry Laguna include LTE (with GSM 2G and 3G for roaming), dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n with mobile hot-spot and Wi-Fi direct, NFC and microHDMI port.

Then there’s an 8MP camera capable of shooting 1080p video, 16GB of built-in storage and a hot-swappable microSD card. An 1800mAh battery is set to power the whole thing.

VIA

Samsung precede nokia, with the latest windows phone 8

Samsung has become a giant android smartphone with them around the world. While Nokia with Microsoft still can not beat the samsung even though it has windows phone like Nokia Lumia.

But the whole world is shocked by samsung. at the IFA 2012 in Berlin, Samsung introduced their windows phone. No half-hearted, it is a windows phone 8. They even predate Nokia,the new windows phone 8 will introduce them early this september.

But whether this means the use of windows phone samsung will leave google android belong? Since everyone already knew Samsung had just lost a patent lawsuit by Apple and iOS.

The name of this phone is Samsung ATIV S. With width of screen 4,8 inch. 8 MP camera resolution and 1,9 MP face camera. This phone will be new squad to reach the pitch of market. Samsung being the best in the world.