Nokia's latest Windows Phone addition might not stack up to the polycarbonate glory of its forebears, but at this price, it's hard to complain that much. While the reduced RAM specification is proving tricky with some apps, the Lumia 610 has some strong points, arriving with WiFi tethering out of the box and a raft of Nokia's impressive home-made apps. We're putting the phone through its paces for review now, so you can expect our verdict pretty soon. The Lumia 610 will be available across Vodafone, Orange, O2, T-Mobile and Three, in a choice of white, cyan, magenta and black finishes. Phone sellers Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4u will also be more than willing to take your money and if you'd like to hear Nokia wax lyrical on its tiniest leading light, take a look right after the break.

Continue reading Nokia Lumia 610 launches in the UK, starts on £15 per month contracts

Nokia Lumia 610 launches in the UK, starts on £15 per month contracts originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 08:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Always leave your PC on while you watch the latest Game of Thrones? Someone at Microsoft evidently does. A granted patent outlines a model that uses historical usage data to predict when it might be able to tweak power needs of the processor in the future, and for how long. So, perhaps you leave your machine on overnight, and jump on at 8am every day? It'd know this and make frugal use of resources accordingly. This, of course, could help fill your pockets and maybe cover that upgrade.

Microsoft patent outlines smart power-saving system that reads your diary, leaves a tip originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 19:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft has patented an online personal appearance adviser for those of us without a hotline straight through to Put This On's Jesse Thorn. Simply upload a pair of pictures of yourself in different hair, makeup and clothing choices and let the denizens of the internet vote on which one makes you look the best. Sounding similar to HotorNot and FaceMash, this patent purports to shift the emphasis to help the style-challenged choose a suitable wardrobe. We just hope the company built in some snark-protection -- or else we might see plenty of ingenues with ruined self esteem arrive at the opera in a dinosaur costume.

Microsoft patents asking your friends 'does my butt look big in this?' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Most Xbox 360 bundles focus on shiny colors over extra features. We'll take them any day, but we prefer functional pack-ins like that in the just-unveiled 250GB Racing Bundle. On top of Microsoft's higher-end console, you'll find a copy of Forza Motorsport 4 to build your racing chops and a Wireless Speed Wheel to give a slightly more faithful driving experience. The effect won't match that of a Motion Simulation TL1, but at $299, you'll have money left over to buy a real car when the Xbox bundle arrives in mid-June -- and only a slight premium over the usual 250GB console's $249 price tag.

Xbox 360 250GB Racing Bundle totes Forza and a wheel, driving talent extra originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 13:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If Amazon's video store is going to compete with the other online sources like Hulu and Netflix, getting on as many platforms as possible is key and it made a major expansion today by launching on the Xbox 360. The app launched on the PS3 back in April, and just like that version, this one includes access to Amazon's video on-demand and Prime all-you-can-eat subscription based streaming. Unique to the Xbox 360 app is support for the console's Kinect peripheral and its ability to recognize control by gesture or voice, plus a brand new feature for Amazon -- a queue. The Watchlist (for now only available on the Xbox 360, Kindle Fire and via the web) lets customers preselect programming they're interested in for easy access on the devices later, just like Netflix's implementation, however Amazon's VOD store means access to newer and higher profile content is just a click away. There's more details in the press release and video after the break, or you can just check out the app on your console right now (if you're in the US and have Xbox Live Gold, of course -- even if you don't have Prime, there's a one month free trial offer).

Update: Major Nelson also posted availability of other apps and a free XBL Gold preview weekend, as Antena 3 launches in Spain, MLB.tv in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Muzu.tv in Australia and New Zealand. June 1st through June 3rd, XBL Gold access will be "unlocked", letting Silver gamers in U.S., Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Chile play for free and access the Amazon, IGN, Manga Entertainment and Muzu.tv apps.

[Thanks, AtillaG!]

Continue reading Amazon Instant Video streaming is now live on the Xbox 360

Amazon Instant Video streaming is now live on the Xbox 360 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 13:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Those of us living in metropolitan areas don't think twice about our ease of access to medical care, but those in rural areas don't enjoy such easy access to a doctor. Abhijeet Kalyan and Shravan Narayan from McGill University in Canada are aware of this problem, and came up with a way for doctors to diagnose and treat patients from afar. Called Project Neem, it's got a hub and spoke organizational structure that puts a healthcare worker in every village and leverages the power of Windows Phone to connect them with medical staff in distant cities.

Participating healthcare workers are given basic medical training and a handheld loaded up with a custom app that identifies patients by scanning their national ID card and stores their pertinent medical info -- from temperature and blood pressure readings to a variety of symptoms. The app has a virtual human body on board that lets users tap parts of the anatomy to bring up a series of symptoms that can be selected to provide treating physicians with the info they need. That information is stored in the cloud and accessed by doctors through a Windows 8 app, who then can relay appropriate treatments to the local healthcare worker. Now all we need is someone to make a real-world tricorder, and we'll truly be able to bring medical care to the masses, wherever they may be.

McGill University student plan provides healthcare to rural areas with Windows Phone and Win 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 06:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Believe it or not, there hasn't been an official distributor for Microsoft software in Iraq in the near-decade since it's even been an option; if you wanted Windows or Office in the past several years, your choices were limited and seldom legal. Baghdad's Legend Lands is filling those big shoes through a deal with Microsoft that will see it provide both official copies, support, and other help for Iraqis that want to take the honest path. Stores across the country will take care of everything from large-scale government orders down to a Tikrit family's first home PC. The move won't completely quash piracy concerns, but it's a big step towards normalcy in technology for the desert nation.

[Image credit: Shbab4ever]

Microsoft lands an official software outlet in Iraq originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 May 2012 04:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Much ado was made when security experts found Stuxnet wreaking havoc, but it's looking as though the malware was just a prelude to a much more elaborate attack that's plaguing the Middle East. Flame, a backdoor Windows trojan, doesn't just sniff and steal nearby network traffic info -- it uses your computer's hardware against you. The rogue code nabs phone data over Bluetooth, spreads over USB drives and records conversations from the PC's microphone. If that isn't enough to set even the slightly paranoid on edge, it's also so complex that it has to infect a PC in stages; Flame may have been attacking computers since 2010 without being spotted, and researchers at Kaspersky think it may be a decade before they know just how much damage the code can wreak.

No culprit has been pinpointed yet, but a link to the same printer spool vulnerability used by Stuxnet has led researchers to suspect that it may be another instance of a targeted cyberwar attack given that Iran, Syria and a handful of other countries in the region are almost exclusively marked as targets. Even if you live in a 'safe' region, we'd keep an eye out for any suspicious activity knowing that even a fully updated Windows 7 PC can be compromised.

Flame malware snoops on PCs across the Middle East, makes Stuxnet look small-time originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 17:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Putting the squeeze on those hardware specifications has lead to several more app casualties on Microsoft's ever-growing mobile platform. Unfortunately, it includes one of mobile gaming's biggest hitters: Angry Birds. We gave installation a go on our own Lumia 610 and were met with the unfortunate message seen above. According to WindowsPhoneApps Spanish, it's not the only one affected by the reduction in RAM on these lower-priced smartphones. PES 2012 won't run on the lower-specced smartphone, while videocall app Tango also joins its rival Skype on the no-go list.

Update: Nokia's confirmed that Rovio is, indeed, working on an optimized version of Angry Birds for the Lumia 610, though an exact release date is still up in the air.

Angry Birds and PES 2012 join Skype: won't work on Windows Phones with 256MB RAM (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 06:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've see BBC iPlayer reach many devices over time, but it's been conspicuously absent on Windows Phone. Nokia has stepped into give us some relief, and it's now promising that a port of the TV catch-up service will be ready for your Lumia 800 "in weeks." Good news no doubt, although Nokia's encyclopedic knowledge of British TV streaming is also dashing hopes of using the Sky Go mobile app on Windows Phone anytime soon: the same Nokia rep doesn't see Sky being ready for a "good few months" at the earliest. As such, you'll have no problems keeping up with Doctor Who and Sherlock when they're airing, but we wouldn't count on watching live football matches for awhile.

Update: Pocket-lint is reporting that it quizzed the BBC over this issue and got a firm denial about a Windows Phone version, which suggests that The Inquirer's report, or its Nokia source, may have made an illogical deduction.

BBC iPlayer reaching Windows Phone within 'weeks,' will catch up with Sherlock on your Lumia (update: perhaps not) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 May 2012 01:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Despite amassing something close to a billion users, Facebook has mainly stayed true to the startup mantra of staying focused on a few core things. In this case, that has been promoting openness and sharing among friends and, increasingly, the world at large. Such was the case for its rival Google at the launch of the search company's IPO. Since then, however, the company has launched a pair of operating systems powering handsets and tablets around the world, a digital media store selling everything from apps to books, and its own social sharing service (at least twice).

With the vast capital infusion that comes with an IPO, Facebook has an opportunity to expand far beyond its own site and Like buttons that now line up in a row next to sharing buttons using Twitter and Google+. The company certainly has no love for Google and has kept Apple at arm's length, but it has had a strong partnership with Microsoft, which made a financially shrewd $240 million investment in Facebook back in 2007. Windows Phone would be a poorer experience were it not for its tight Facebook integration. The giant social network would gain from entering the device market or spinning its own version of Android as Amazon has done, but there would also be significant challenges to striking out into its own ecosystem.

Continue reading Switched On: Facebook's ecosystem dilemma

Switched On: Facebook's ecosystem dilemma originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 May 2012 21:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Let's say you're a developer eager to convert your apps for Windows 8 as soon as possible. Where do you start? Microsoft Developer Evangelist Jennifer Marsman is very much aware that you might be at a loss, so she has done the rather large favor of rounding up every porting guide the company has to offer in one handy place. Some of these are pure design guides, like a previously spotted iPad-to-Metro layout article, but others dig deep into converting code for the land of home tiles and charms. The focus is on porting from the web and Windows Phone 7, so we wouldn't work up hopes of bringing your high school computer class project to Metro. Still, Marsman is looking for more guides from readers; if you've developed just the technique to convert 10 PRINT "HELLO WORLD" 20 GOTO 10 into a tablet-native Windows 8 app, return the generosity and leave pointers at the source link.

Microsoft posts Windows 8 app porting guide roundup, forgets to include BASIC originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 May 2012 02:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ready for Samsung's latest entrant to the Windows Phone game? Hopefully you answered "yes," because we're about to take you through an in-depth look at such a device: the Focus 2. Around the time that we United States-based Engadgeteers were lusting over Nokia's Lumia 800 and getting to know the HTC Titan, Samsung introduced its Focus S and lower-tiered Focus Flash WP7.5 handsets. Redmond's hardware restrictions haven't exactly changed much since then, begging the question as to how the Focus 2 fits in as a late follow-up to the original Focus from back in 2010. The bulk of the answer, of course, is LTE. This handset is the only other Windows Phone aside from the Lumia 900 and HTC Titan II to feature such connectivity on Ma Bell's network. That, and it's priced at just $50 dollars on a two-year commitment. Is it a veritable steal like the Focus Flash proved to be, though? Join us past the break where we'll lay it all out.

Gallery: Samsung Focus 2 review

Continue reading Samsung Focus 2 review

Samsung Focus 2 review originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

To all the executives out there, consider what you have hanging on the walls of your office. Perhaps it's a fine work of art -- maybe even an original -- but it most certainly isn't an 80-inch Windows 8 computer. That curious distinction belongs to Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, who has eschewed use of his phone, notepad and a more practical email solution in the name of awesomeness (or, perhaps compensation for those lagging Windows Phone sales.) Initially said to be a machine that'd be marketed and sold by Microsoft, the company has since clarified that no such effort will take place -- although the door remains open for independent vendors to step in and sell similar behemoth Windows 8 setups. Unlike most tablets, we've a hard time imagining ol' Steve throwing this one under his arm as he scoots out of the office... but then again, the man can afford some mighty good chiropractors.

Steve Ballmer's Windows 8 rig measures 80 inches, so... does that do anything for ya? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 26 May 2012 07:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We already knew that Nokia had been running its fingers through Bing's map-like hair, marking it with its scent, now it's added a little lipstick to its collar. The latest addition to the Microsoft-mapping service now uses Nokia's live traffic and geocoding algorithms. This brings the functionality of Nokia's "Where" platform over to 24 nations (including the US, UK and Canada) of Bing users. Best of all for American maps that info also covers side streets. Good to see the Nokia / Microsoft collaboration yielding ever more fruits, let's just hope they're considering the bigger picture, too.

Nokia has its wicked way with Bing Maps, stork delivers traffic advice and geocoding originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 09:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not long after the Lumia 900 surfaced, Nokia's Windows Phone roadmap appeared to have come screeching to a halt -- official and otherwise. However, the first signs of Nokia's second wave may have just surfaced in WP Bench's testing leaderboards. The Nokia Alpha, Phi, PurePhi and PureLambda have all shown up at varying points in the chart; we've seen them for ourselves, although you'll need WP Bench on a Windows Phone to see them first-hand. Not much is visible without seeing the devices themselves, but the PureLambda appears to be running a build of OS 8.0 -- better known to most as Apollo, or possibly Windows Phone 8. As long as these aren't elaborate pranks, they could represent entry, mid-tier and high-end phones; we're wondering if the Pure tag isn't a reference to the PureView-equipped Lumias Nokia said were inevitable in the long run. No matter what the four phones turn out to be, any real devices will show us what Nokia can do with Microsoft's OS now that it's had time to strategize.

Nokia Alpha, Phi, PurePhi and PureLambda pop up in tests, bring Windows Phone 8 along for the ride originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 03:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google has been publishing what it's dubbed Transparency Reports for some time now -- detailing things like government requests to remove content from search results or requests for users' information -- and it's now added another big chunk of data to them in the interest of full disclosure. Starting today, you can see the number of removal requests it receives from companies over copyright and piracy concerns. As you can imagine, there's a lot -- over 1.2 million in the past month alone, a number that Google notes is increasing at a substantial rate. Among those asking for takedowns, Microsoft is by far the leader, filing well over half a million requests all by itself in the past month (the film and music industries are also, of course, well represented). You can pour through all the results yourself at the source link below.

Google adds copyright takedowns to Transparency Reports, 1.2 million a month and growing originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 20:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Some have called Microsoft's Facebook app for Windows Phone a red-headed stepchild to the Android and iOS darlings, but it's making up for lost time in good fashion with a 2.5 update. Those who live a Metro life now get full Facebook conversation threads with group support, so they're not left out of the loop when a friend mentions the pub he wanted to visit two days ago. Along with this more conversational addition, it's now possible to tag a friend or a place in a post using plain "with" and "at" statements, and the seemingly inescapable Like button has reached comments for Windows Phone owners. There's more control over posts and active post links in the mix as well, so you'll find a surfeit of social mingling when you update at the Windows Phone Marketplace link below.

Facebook for Windows Phone rolls in threaded messaging, tagging, kitchen sink originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Munich's regional court has ruled that Motorola is infringing one of Microsoft's patents relating to displaying multiple SMS messages. It's one of the sub-cases that's separate to the larger FRAND matters that are raging along in the background, but still has enormous ramifications. Redmond's deputy general counsel, David Howard said that he hoped Motorola would (join over 70 percent of all Android OEMs) license Microsoft's patent portfolio. If Google's latest plaything doesn't start writing cheques, then it's likely to have its handsets banned from Germany, at least in the short term.

Continue reading Microsoft beats Motorola in German SMS patent suit, litigation world cup continues

Microsoft beats Motorola in German SMS patent suit, litigation world cup continues originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We've been jonesing for a more international look at smartphone market share for the start of 2012, and IDC is now more than willing to oblige. In case you'd thought Android's relentless march upwards was just an American fling, Google's OS has jumped from 36.1 percent of the world's share a year ago to exactly 59 percent in the first quarter of this year. That's nearly two thirds of all smartphones, folks. As we've seen in the past, Android is siphoning off legacy users looking for something fresher: Symbian and the BlackBerry have both lost more than half of their share in one year's time, while Linux (led mostly by Bada) and Windows Mobile / Phone together lost small pieces of the pie despite raw shipment numbers going up. As for Apple? Even with all the heat in the kitchen, the iPhone's share grew to 23 percent, leading to a staggering 82 percent of smartphone buyers siding with either the Cupertino or Mountain View camps.

Continue reading IDC: Android has a heady 59 percent of world smartphone share, iPhone still on the way up

IDC: Android has a heady 59 percent of world smartphone share, iPhone still on the way up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 10:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's had quite a run, but Microsoft's months-long Robotics @Home Competition finally came to close this past weekend at the Bay Area Maker Faire. Taking home the title (and a $10,000 prize) was Arthur Wait for his SmartTripod, a robotic assistant that relies on Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4, the Eddie development platform and, of course, a Kinect to follow a person around and handle camera duties in a natural manner -- or "almost as though a human was holding the camera," as Wait puts it. Just how well does it work? You can get a look at the robot itself and the results it's able to provide in the videos after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft announces Robotics @Home contest winner: a SmartTripod that can follow you

Microsoft announces Robotics @Home contest winner: a SmartTripod that can follow you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 06:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Samsung's Euro-centric Omnia M has finished its mandated saunter through the FCC. The Windows Phone for the old country will sport a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 1GHz processor -- while the test documents reveal that it'll only carry a GSM and 3G radio, leaving the lucky few with LTE out in the cold. Now that it's passed the regulatory hurdle of being allowed into the US, we can hope that the company will soon start talking about when we can get our hands on one.

Samsung Omnia M stops off at the FCC, Europeans pine for the Focus 2 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 May 2012 04:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Germany is notoriously privacy-minded, and services like Facebook's Friend Finder and Google's Street View have come under scrutiny in the country's courts. The latest offender to raise Germany's ire is Bing Streetside, a Street View-style photo service. Microsoft took the feature offline in the country following complaints about how Streetside displays private homes. By default, houses are visible, though Microsoft conceals the images if users submit a complaint. Still, citizens were apparently unhappy with this process, which prompted the company to axe the service while it addresses those privacy concerns. There's always Street View if you need your fix of blurred-out Berlin buildings in the meantime.

Microsoft takes Bing Streetside offline in Germany, privacy complaints to blame originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 22:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft triggered some weeping and gnashing of teeth with its decision to keep Flash out of the Metro environment's Internet Explorer 10 browser in favor of HTML5, and it looks like that outpouring of grief has produced a compromise -- albeit with a catch. Leaks of the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview purport to show Flash running on IE10 in the new interface, but only for certain popular sites (such as Disney's) that can be trusted with Flash and don't have an easy HTML5 fallback. The company hasn't confirmed the change, but it's thought that Microsoft has skipped the familiar plugin route in favor of just coding Flash support for a few sites at a low level. If that's what we see when the Release Preview goes public in June, it could serve as a bridge for parents worried their kids will miss out on Where's My Water? games while preserving a browser that's overall leaner, meaner and safer. We wouldn't hold out much hope for Windows 8 RT tablets running ARM chips, though, knowing that backwards compatibility doesn't exist and that Adobe might not be keen to revive Flash-on-ARM support it's trying to wind down.

Windows 8's Metro version of IE 10 may keep Flash for edge cases originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 19:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft's Kinect Accelerator program kicked off over a month ago, but at the time we were only made aware of the participant start-ups' names, not their innovations. So, when Microsoft offered us the opportunity to talk with the folks behind four of the program's participants -- Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku -- we jumped at the chance. Join us after the break to see what this quartet of fledgling companies has planned to propogate the Kinect effect further than ever.

Continue reading Kinect Accelerator company profiles: Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku

Kinect Accelerator company profiles: Freak'n Genius, GestSure Technologies, Kimetric and Styku originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For all intents and purposes, the original Xbox, with its NVIDIA GPU, 8-10GB hard disk and custom Pentium III processor was a high-end PC for its time -- albeit, one that connected to a television. What Microsoft didn't realize back then, though, was that when you put that kind of hardware in the hands of hackers and enthusiasts, it's only a matter of time before people start doing more than just playing Halo. Fast forward to 2003, the year the Xbox Media Center was born. Nowadays, it's simply referred to as XBMC, since it runs on more than just your Xbox. In brief, XBMC is an open-source software solution that enables a plethora of media streaming capabilities on all sorts of devices. What once was limited to the original Xbox, can now be put to use on everything from a bare-bones Linux desktop to an Apple TV. In this how-to, we'll show you how to build a simple XBMC setup using XBMCbuntu. Catch us after the break for the full step-by-step.

Continue reading How-To: XBMC 11 the XBMCbuntu way

How-To: XBMC 11 the XBMCbuntu way originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft has been going into very exacting detail as to how Windows 8 works, but one area it hasn't explored much is what happens before you even see the Start screen. As user experience manager Chris Clark notes, the days of mashing F8 repeatedly to reach a pre-boot configuration are (mostly) over: you can invoke it either through an "advanced startup" in settings, through Start menu shortcuts or, if your PC is truly sick, let it show automatically. At least on systems blessed with UEFI instead of an aging BIOS, you'll get a lot more to tinker with as well, including going straight to the command prompt, recovering from a system image or booting from external storage. The emphasis on choosing your environment before you hit the power button is virtually necessary. A Windows 8 PC with a solid-state drive leaves just a 200-millisecond slice of time for any user input, and Microsoft would rather not have users caught in an infinite loop of restarting their systems as they unsuccessfully try to boot from USB drives. You'll likely discover the pre-boot space first-hand when the OS ships later this year, but for now you can check the source for more.

Microsoft details Windows 8's pre-boot world, helps you skip the F8 F8 F8 routine originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 23:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft warned us last month that it would be snipping legacy OS support in Windows Phone Marketplace within a few weeks, and it just made good on that heads-up. As of now, you'll need at least a Windows Phone 7.5 device to shop for, review and update apps, no matter how much you want that fix for Ilo Milo. The company still argues that the cutoff is needed to improve speed and security in the Marketplace as well as lay a foundation for a better Windows Phone future. Given that virtually every handset on the market can get 7.5 today, if it doesn't already ship with 7.5 preloaded, you have every good reason to grab the update through Microsoft's desktop apps and stay in the Marketplace downloading parade.

PSA: Windows Phone Marketplace now requires Windows Phone 7.5 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 20:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It took nearly a full month, but Nokia has finally been convinced that Skype is indeed incompatible with low-memory Windows Phones. In reaching out to a spokesperson, the company confirmed to us that it has decided to yank the official client from the Marketplace on the Lumia 610. The device -- which utilizes a scant 256MB of RAM -- originally allowed the service to be downloaded despite Skype's claims that 512MB was the minimum amount of memory required for the app to function properly. The internet phone service, as it turns out, was correct: Nokia, stating that the user experience is "workable" but not "up to par with Nokia's and Skype's expectation," has pulled the plug on any future downloads. Users who managed to snag the app before it disappeared can still enjoy (or hate, depending on your experience) it on their Lumia 610, but until Skype is able to lower the memory restrictions, it looks like everyone else is out of luck. Head below for the full translated statement.

Continue reading Nokia axes Skype client on Lumia 610, claims user experience wasn't 'up to par'

Nokia axes Skype client on Lumia 610, claims user experience wasn't 'up to par' originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bruise inducing high-fives, anyone? They're handing them out in Redmond, according to one mildly injured researcher, after breaking a data sorting record Yahoo set in 2009. The ruckus surrounds a benchmark called MinuteSort, which measures how much data can be sorted in 60 seconds. Microsoft's Distributed Systems group utilized a new file system architecture, dubbed Flat Datacenter Storage, over a full bisection bandwidth network to burn through the competition.

Not only did the nine-person crew best the old record nearly by a factor of three, it gave itself a handicap -- sorting 1,401 GB of data at 2 GB/s over a remote file system, forcing the system to crunch data at a slower speed than the technique is capable of. It's not all about bragging rights, however, Bing has its eye on the newfangled file system in hopes of boosting its RPM. Microsoft suspects the tech could also pick up the pace of machine learning and churn through large data sets in a jiffy. You can catch Microsoft Research's detailed explanation in all its glory at the source.

Update: Commenter Mark Streich points out that while 2 GB/s may sound fast, it's certainly not speedy enough to sort 1,401 gigabytes in a single minute. To achieve that performance, simultaneous input and output speeds could hit 2GB/s on each computer used.

Microsoft Research team shatters data sorting record, wrenches trophy from Yahoo originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 05:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Still rockin' Windows Mobile 6.x? Time to check all your apps for updates one last time. Microsoft has issued a final reminder that, beginning today, the Marketplace for 6.x devices will no longer be available. This means you won't be able to browse, buy or download apps from your phone via the service. Everything you already have will, of course, work just fine, but if you needed to reinstall something -- now is the time to do it. Unless it's available direct from third party sites, in which case you'll have a little breathing space. Still, better safe than sorry.

[Thanks, nAramRay]

PSA: Marketplace for Windows Mobile 6.x shuts down today originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 May 2012 04:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Elgato is releasing the Game Capture HD, a device that lets game-casters and YouTube walkthrough mavens shed low-resolution, over-the-shoulder smartphone footage once and for all. The sleek black box sits between console and display, enabling gamers to record their speed runs and kill records for the world to see. Xbox 360 users can daisy-chain the gear into their HDMI set-up, while PS3 users will have to use the bundled AV cable to circumvent Sony's stronger copy protection. The footage will then be compressed with the company's H.264 know-how and pushed to your PC or Mac for uploading. When it arrives at the start of June, it'll set you back $200 -- just giving you enough time to get practicing your soothing and confident narration voice.

Continue reading Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264

Elgato announces Game Capture HD, shows off your deathmatch prowess in H.264 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you're a multitasking extraordinaire who depends on Windows as your primary computing platform of choice, there's a good chance you utilize more than one monitor to get your work done -- unfortunately, the seventh iteration of Microsoft's OS didn't offer as much support in this arena as most display warriors would prefer. The Consumer Preview of Windows 8 offered a few functionality improvements, and with its upcoming Release Preview, Microsoft is focusing on further enhancing the experience. Mark Yalovsky, a lead program manager on the User Experience team, put together a lengthy piece on what kind of goodies we can expect.

Among the highlighted changes is the ability to access the Start, app switching and charms menus from the corners on any monitor, rather than just having these options locked to only the primary display. The Release Preview also improves shared edges and corners so that the flow of cross-display navigation won't get interrupted by obnoxious corners popping up when you don't intend them to. Finally, the option of dragging and dropping Metro-style apps (as well as snapped apps) between monitors has also been included in the new build. These enhancements may seem small, but will go a long way toward appeasing those of us who can't live without more than one screen. For the full listing of feature changes, view Microsoft's video below and check out Mark's post at the source.

Continue reading Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video)

Microsoft reveals more multi-monitor improvements in Windows 8 Release Preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft is busting out version 1.5 of its Kinect for Windows runtime and SDK that includes a raft of new features for the Xbox-lacking hoi polli. The update includes 10-joint skeletal tracking that'll work even when seated, face following capabilities and joint orientation -- the latter enabling it to predict how your body will move for greater accuracy. It's also gaining four extra languages for speech recognition: French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese, not to mention Kinect Studio, which will help developers record and play back your movements to fine-tune their applications. In addition, Redmond is offering language packs to ensure the sensor will play harmoniously with your local dialect, cobber.

Kinect for Windows SDK reaches v1.5, now works when you're sitting down originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The European Union has been taking a leisurely pace investigating Google over possible antitrust abuses, but it's now accelerating to a full-on sprint. European Commission competition head Joaquin Almunia has given Google just a "matter of weeks" to propose how it would patch things up and soften fears that it was unfairly pushing its own web services over others. If Google makes the Commission happy, Almunia says, the whole investigation might wrap up and avoid fines. Google hasn't responded yet, but we wouldn't guarantee that it makes a deal: its execs have usually argued that there's nothing keeping users from going to another search site, and the company has been eager to emphasize that competition still exists. That said, Google only has to see what happened to Microsoft to know how expensive an EU antitrust fight can be.

EU competition head gives Google a 'matter of weeks' to offer an antitrust fix originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 May 2012 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kudo Tsunoda: 'Waiting for the next big thing isn't about waiting for the Kinect 2' originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 May 2012 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, Verizon Wireless brought its LTE service to 28 new markets and expanded its reach in 11 additional areas. We also saw Straight Talk introduce the Samsung Galaxy Proclaim, and it appears that Rogers will soon offer the HTC One S. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of May 14th, 2012.

Continue reading Mobile Miscellany: week of May 14th, 2012

Mobile Miscellany: week of May 14th, 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Going by Microsoft's Greater China COO Michel van der Bel, the launch of Windows Phone in China is off to an auspicious start -- enough to give Apple the shakes. He claims that devices like the Nokia Lumia 800c have helped Windows Phone reach seven percent of the Chinese market, or just enough to get past the six points of the iPhone. We're waiting on hard data before we take van der Bel's word: the top smartphone makers worldwide aren't depending much or at all on Windows Phone, and the iPhone has a thriving gray market in China that masks some of its real numbers. Having said this, we've seen signs of Windows Phone enjoying a bit of a surge even in an iOS- and Android-loving Europe, so we'll be watching to see if there's an uptick in the number of buyers saying ni hao to Microsoft in the near future.

Continue reading Microsoft exec says Windows Phone outselling iPhone in China

Microsoft exec says Windows Phone outselling iPhone in China originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 May 2012 18:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ready for your latest tour through the dense and meandering wording of patent applications? Well, dig in, because it's Microsoft's turn to confuse lawyers the world over with this latest USPTO doc, submitted in November of 2010. The filing describes a computer-based program that would, essentially, analyze a primary device's installed applications, cross-reference it with a different device and then either migrate that software batch or suggest similar apps to download on a secondary unit. Sounds a lot like a potential Windows Phone Marketplace recommendation / app transfer engine to us, but what exactly Redmond intends to use this pending patent for is anyone's guess. As always, if you care to sacrifice a few minutes of your life to mind-numbing legal jargon, then by all means hit up the source link below.

Microsoft patent application outlines system to recommend and transfer apps across devices originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 22:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's safe to say that anticipation is high for the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview, which will become available in the first week of June. While we're still curious to see if Microsoft can better integrate the desktop and Metro environments of its latest operating system, the company has now revealed a significant change to the desktop portion of Windows 8 -- a completely restyled visual appearance. As you might remember from the Consumer Preview, window borders and widgets featured a simplified and subdued look in comparison to the glass-like materials of Aero, which Microsoft now calls "dated and cheesy." With the latest refresh, however, the company has pushed its modernistic philosophy even further to reveal a spartan (yet functional) interface that draws less attention to the chrome elements and allows the user to focus more on content.

Microsoft's latest reveal was made as part of a larger, retrospective look at its development of Windows and the evolution of the operating system. At every step, the company states that its emphasis has been on the overall "learnability" of the environment. As such, Microsoft claims that it's making great strides to ensure that consumers may quickly get up to speed with the latest OS, and hints that it has a number of reveals yet to be seen. In its very next breath, however, it also emphasized people's ability to adapt and move forward, which suggests the number of changes might not be as conciliatory as some might've hoped. Regardless, we'll know for sure what Microsoft has in store in just a few weeks.

Update: Well, this is interesting. In the screenshot above, you'll notice a highlighted mail-esque icon at the bottom of the taskbar. As it would turn out, Techblitz recently discovered that Microsoft swapped that shot for a nearly identical replica, albeit without the icon. Is this miniscule peek into something new in the way of Windows Live mail or similar? At this point it's anyone guess, but we'll keep you posted if we find out more. You'll find the new screenshot after the break.

Continue reading Kiss Aero goodbye: Latest Windows 8 build reveals minimalistic desktop UI (update)

Kiss Aero goodbye: Latest Windows 8 build reveals minimalistic desktop UI (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 18 May 2012 19:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.