Tag: Windows Phone 8

New Update for Windows Phone Update 3

Just a quick note. If you’ve upgraded your Windows Phone 8 handset to Update 3 ahead of its release then you might want to check for a couple new updates released this week. Not much is known about these updates other than providing general performance and stability improvements (which aren’t bad things). After installing the …

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Charging a Powered Off Windows Phone

Here’s a quick tip for Windows Phone users. You may have found that you cannot recharge a Windows Phone when it is powered off and the device will attempt to boot up before it will recharge. This behaviour could well be considered odd given that Android smartphones and iPhones have been able to do this …

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Test Drive Update 3 for Windows Phone 8

Something for Windows Phone 8 users out there. If you’re interested in trying out “Update 3” (also known as GDR3 previously) for Windows Phone 8 then you might be interested in checking out the Preview for Developers app which will enable your phone to receive this update ahead of the official roll out by carriers. …

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Backing up to the Cloud with CrashPlan

Another quick update this time regarding data backups. At home we run a Windows Home Server which centrally stores our data whilst backing up our computers. I do take periodic backups of the server using standard hard drives which I store offsite but I have been wanting to have a cloud backup solution as well …

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Microsoft Buys Nokia’s Devices and Services Business

This is already major news but if you’ve been under a rock then Microsoft is acquiring Nokia’s smartphone business and a ten year license arrangement to use the Nokia brand on mobile phone products. Perhaps the major kicker is access to Nokia’s intellectual property which is important as the smartphone wars heat up on both …

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Going for Broke – Manually Upgrading a Lumia 920 to GDR2 + Amber

That’s it, I can’t be bothered waiting anymore. I like to think I am a pretty patient guy but I just don’t understand why Nokia Australia is releasing the country variant (i.e. unbranded) firmware for the Lumia 920 after the Telstra firmware has been released. Maybe Nokia is being extra cautious and conducting testing on …

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Kill the Music Player in Windows Phone 8

Here’s a quick tip for Windows Phone 8. If you’ve fired up a music player but have stopped the music and exited the app you may find that when you adjust the volume you get the larger volume control sliding down from the top of the screen with the music player controls and cover art. …

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A Raft of Windows 8 Bing Apps Arrive on Windows Phone 8

If you’ve used Windows 8 you might have noticed that it comes with a few bundled apps including four Bing apps: Bing Finance, Bing News, Bing Sport, and Bing Weather. These apps are pretty slick and set the bar high for other Metro apps in terms of interface and quality. Anyway, the team that brought …

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Windows Phone 8 Book by Paul Thurrott

I am somewhat agnostic to the mobile operating systems I use on smartphones and tablets in that I can pick up any of the mainstream platforms and start using them fairly quickly. That said, I do hold Windows Phone and Android in favour over iOS but they they all have their strengths which align better …

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Incoming Gadget – Kreyos Meteor Smartwatch

You’ve probably read the title of this article and wondered why I am getting another smartwatch when I’ve recently received one of two Pebble smartwatches. I can understand that reaction but I have a good reason. I swear! One of the drawbacks of the Pebble is that it doesn’t work with Windows Phone 8. Sure, …

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