Tag: windows

$99 Nokia Lumia 920, $49 Lumia 820 Pre-Order Begins Today

by Katherine Elsasser
Nokia Lumia 920
Nokia Lumia 920 in yellow & red

Pre-orders for both the Nokia Lumia 920 and the Lumia 820 begin today at AT&T. Amazingly, the insanely fast and feature-rich Lumia 920 is available for only $99 (contract price), while the 820 will go for $49.99 (also contract price).

Available exclusively on AT&T, the Lumia 920 is without a doubt the Nokia new flagship device for the holiday season. In the past few years the company has lost ground to manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, and the Lumia 920 is Nokia’s comeback effort. And it’s a strong one. Ton win back users, they’re offering a great deal: a premium phone at a budget-conscious price.

The Lumia 920 is all about offering lots of features. First of all, it’s got 32 GB of space, which is unheard of in a top of the line smartphone under $200. There are turn-by-turn directions. You can use the touchscreen with gloves on. And it can be charged wirelessly with a charging plate, without any additional software or bulky cases.

The build is serious too, with 4G LTE, a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and a 4.5″ inch display. And like previous Nokia offerings, they’ve put a lot of work into the 8.7 MP camera. There’s a Carl Zeiss lens, and proprietary camera technology called PureView that allows for better image stabilization for low-light photos. Read more on the specs and features of the Lumia 920 here.

And colors. Let’s not forget about the colors here. Cyan, red, yellow, black, and white. The design factor of the Lumia 920 is definitely bold, and is interesting after several years of mostly black and glass phones.

Click here for complete specs and pre-order information.

For the more budget-conscious, Nokia is also offering the Lumia 820, a more mid-range version of the 920. It will run off the same Snapdragon Processor, but feature a slightly smaller screen at 4.3 inches, and only comes with 8GB of internal memory. Still, it’s a very powerful smartphone for only $49.99. Click here for more information and to pre-order the Nokia Lumia 820.

Microsoft Windows 8, Surface Coming October 25th

by Katherine Elsasser

windows 8 and surface reception invitationMark your calendars now: we got the official invite to “celebrate” Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface later this month in NYC! It’ll be an all-day event on October 25th as (presumably) Ballmer and team introduce us to the new Windows operating system that will also be powering a lot of the new smartphones coming for the holiday season (like the HTC 8X that we are very excited to get our hands on).

But perhaps the most interesting part of the day will be the launch of Surface, Microsoft’s long-awaited competitor to the iPad. We’ve talked before about how this is a crucial move for Microsoft as they try to catch up in the world of mobile devices, and we’ll all be waiting to see if Windows 8 seems like a real competitor to the more established mobile operating systems, iOS and Android.

There’s a lot riding on this event for Microsoft, and luckily we’ll be there to capture it all right here on the blog and of course on the smallbizgomobile twitter account.

Microsoft Surface (Running Windows 8) Coming October 26th

by Katherine Elsasser
Microsoft Surface
Microsoft Surface, image courtesy Microsoft

It’s finally confirmed: Microsoft Surface, Microsoft’s groundbreaking entry to the personal computer/tablet market, will be available to users starting October 26, 2012, along with Windows 8, the latest incarnation of the Windows OS .

A long time in the making, Microsoft first debuted the Surface to the world just last month, but without a firm release date or a price tag attached. And while we still don’t know much a Surface will set you back, we do know a little of what you’ll get.

The most prominent (and innovative) feature of Microsoft Surface is its built-in keyboard that doubles as a cover to protect the machine’s screen, a clever innovation. Even with the cover, Surface is only 9.3mm thick (for comparison, that’s .2mm thinner than the latest iPad) but still manages to incorporate a full-size USB port and a Micro SD card. And while journalists haven’t been given Surfaces to review yet, we do know that they will be running Windows 8, which gives us a sense of the device’s interaction experience.

Why is Surface so noteworthy?

Well, if you’ve bought a PC lately, it was likely from Sony, HP, Dell, Acer or another manufacturer. It certainly wasn’t from Microsoft, and that’s because until now Microsoft has limited its forays into the hardware business to peripherals like keyboards and mice. The Surface tablet changes that, putting Microsoft into direct competition with its pals: the PC manufacturers.

Given its incredible portability, keyboard, and the fact that Windows is still the preferred OS for many business applications, Surface has the potential to be the first device to truly bridge the tablet/laptop divide. But only if the device — and Windows 8 — live up to their potential.

The Tablet World is Shaking Up: Microsoft Unveils Windows 8 OS with “Metro” UI for You To Touch

by Nick Muntean

Big changes are coming to the Windows OS environment, as Microsoft unveiled the new Windows 8 OS at its BUILD Conference last week. While there are tons of the changes one typically expects from an OS revision—new features, the removal of some older features, etc.—the big news is that Redmond will be taking the “Metro” user-interface design, first introduced in the Windows Phone 7 mobile OS, and applying it as an across-the-board UI for its desktop, tablet, phone, and Xbox operating systems.  Despite the underwhelming sales of Windows Phone 7 devices (Ballmer himself admits that they haven’t sold as well as he’d like), the Metro UI is really slick, and it’s exciting to see that Microsoft is fully committed to re-imagining the computing experience it provides to consumers.

Sure, in many ways, this is simply Microsoft’s response to Apple’s meteoric rise of the past few years, as OSX and iOS offer fairly consistent cross-platform visual design and UI elements.  What’s exciting about the Windows 8 platform, though, is that it’s not Apple-like at all; Microsoft’s clearly put an enormous amount of resources into completely re-imagining the computing experience, and are attempting to essentially out-Apple the competition by releasing a system that’s genuinely innovative and unprecedented.  In many respects, this is probably the most significant new version of Windows since the introduction of Windows 3.1 almost twenty years ago. Read More

Get To Your Files Locked Up On Your PC with iTap RDP

by BrothaTech

Yeah, we have all heard about cloud computing where you can store all your files “in the cloud” to access them anywhere at anytime. But we all know the ONE TIME you forget to sync up or upload that document to your online storage, is the one time you will need to refer to it while on the go.

Traditionally, before the cloud, folks would use the tried and true Remote Desktop function as a last ditch effort to get to that file located up on your computer. Even still, you needed another computer to access your files stored on a computer at home or in the office. We all know that it is all about smartphones now, so wouldn’t it be nice to Remote into your desktop or laptop and get to that one file using your smartphone?

Enter iTap Mobile RDP available for all Apple iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad mobile devices running iOS 2.1 or later that gives Windows users the ability to remote access their PC and tackle many of the remote functions they are used to when logging into their PC using another computer.

Using the same convenient gestures as iTap touchpad, iTap puts you in full control over your desktop. Whether you need to scroll, drag and drop, or just right-click, you can perform all your tasks without having extra buttons or bars cluttering up you screen.

The built-in keyboard features all the keys and modifiers found on a traditional PC keyboard. Additionally it has full support for international languages, including eastern asian input methods.

In other words, with iTap, you know can remotely access your computer via mobile device and without much fuss, browse, navigate, and control your computer using your Apple mobile device. So if you absolutely NEED that document that you forgot to dump into your DropBox folder, you can access the file via iTap, and email it your yourself…or better yet, drop it in your DropBox folder from your computer via iTap for instant access without waiting for an email. Now at 12 bucks, this is pricey for a mobile app, but for accessibility like this, it might be well worth the price tag.

My only issue with the app is that it’s only for Apple mobile devices and only for Windows computers (yes, there are some people who haven’t completely converted). Not sure if iTap has plans for additional mobile devices and Mac Access, But i’m pretty sure there are similar apps that can handle your specific smartphone/computer configuration. Check out Xtralogic Remote Desktop Client for Android phones to name a few.

So if you haven’t quite got a handle on the cloud storage trend, or just need to make sure your can spring that document from its ‘desktop jail’ without too much fuss, you might want to try out iTap RDP