Mobile OS Comparison - iOS 7 vs. Android 4.2 vs. Windows Phone 8 vs. BlackBerry 10

On the WWDC 2013, Apple officially released iOS 7, and declared it to come with “Biggest Change Since the Original iPhone”. By checking what’s new in iOS 7, we could easily get the right point of iOS 7, like the multitasking preview, Control Center, AireDrop, etc. These changes are more cosmetic and iterative than they are groundbreaking. That's completely understandable; not every update can spark a revolution.

However, apart from a few notable innovations, iOS 7 doesn't seem like it's enough to overturn criticism that its growth has stalled, that it's less innovative than archrival Android, and that it borrows heavily from other competitors (in truth, they all steal ideas from each other). At least not at this point in the game.

Nokia Windows Phone 8 Lumia 920 Officially Released with Powerful Pureview Camera

Just as the report goes that Nokia would release its first Windows Phone 8 flagship smartphones on the September 5th event, on the September 5^th event, Nokia didn’t disappoint us, by bringing out the its first brand-new Windows Phone 8, Nokia Lumia 920, which was once reported to be codenamed as Nokia Phi. Being the first flagship of Nokia adopting WP 8 as operating system, the Lumia 920 comes with various eye-catching features, among which the powerful Pureview camera has been the centerpiece.

Though the PureView camera doesn't have the same whopping 41-megapixel sensor found on Nokia's 808 PureView Symbian phone, the sensor in the Lumia 920 is a more typical 8.7 megapixels. Nokia claims that the 920's camera captures five-to-ten times more light than other phone cameras, which makes it better at shooting photos indoors or in low lighting, which was a major issue with Nokia's Lumia 800 and 900 phones, which struggled in those situations. Also, a 1.2-megapixel HD camera is up front for video chatting. The Lumia 920's camera also has so-called “floating-lens” technology for image stabilization. The floating lens is particularly beneficial for video because it minimizes the erratic shaking found in some other smartphone cameras. Well, without doubt, with the Nokia Lumia 920 Pureview camera, users could get even better picture and video shooting experience.

Along with its outstanding camera, the Nokia Lumia 920 has a 4.5-inch curved glass display with 1280-pixel-by-768-pixel resolution. To take advantage of new screen-resolution possibilities in Windows Phone 8, the Lumia 920 has a “Pure Motion HD+” display. Nokia says the screen offers blur-free scrolling and enhancements to sunlight readability, so the phone can react to minimize sunlight glare. We can be sure that the screen would produce even better experience for users to watch HD movie on Lumia 920.

Besides, a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 1GB of RAM inside the Lumia 920 would definitely provide a smooth and fast system reacting. Users could enjoy an even better user experience. The internal 32GB memory storage would be large enough for you to store files. If you still feel not enough, take it easy. Nokia also announced more advanced features for this flagship, including: built-in wireless charging, Nokia Maps for navigation, NFC (Near Field Communication), and of course the Windows Phone 8 operating system. 

Nokia Lumia 920 played a very important role on the Nokia September 5^th event. But it’s not the only one that Nokia brings to us. In addition to release of Lumia 920, Nokia also announced the Lumia 820, which has a 4.3-inch, 800-pixel-by-480-pixel resolution display (without curved glass), a 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics (not PureView), a VGA front-facing camera, 8GB of storage and a microSD card slot.

The First Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 Handset Is Coming On September 5th?

By far, the detailed official release of Windows Phone 8 OS still needs to be confirmed. From previous rumors and reports, most of us would prefer to believe a November release of Windows Phone 8 OS. But is this true? Probably not. Very recently, Nokia and Microsoft have sent out invitations for a joint event on September 5^th event in New York City. And based on all clues and information, this upcoming event is mostly likely to point to the first Nokia Lumia Windows Phone 8 devices. As from the rumors collected previously, this joint event on September 5^th is most probably about a mysterious device from Nokia codenamed under Nokia Phi.

According to the rumors, the Nokia Phi is expected to sport a design similar to the one on the Lumia 900 with an equally sized 4.3-inch screen, but with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and expandable memory via microSD.

Aside from the joint press event of Nokia and Microsoft and the rumors about Nokia Phi, still some other reports also show that there would be a big move from Nokia and Microsoft to compete with their common rivals, Samsung and the next Apple iPhone. As reported, Samsung is going to bring its competitive Galaxy Note II to the market while the next Apple iPhone is reported to mostly be unveiled on the September 12th event. And now, Nokia is also going to bring out their first, or maybe the world’s first, Windows Phone 8 handset. Isn’t September a big surprise for the world? And what else more could you ask for?

Oh, nearly forget to bring another fact to this. Chris Webber, Nokia’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Tweeted the following words days ago to rival Samsung - "Samsung take note, next generation Lumia coming soon." Feel the strong smell of gunpowder? It is quite unusual for companies to directly call each other out so publicly, unless they are going to bring something new, or they are in a lawsuit, obviously the latter of which is a little reliable.

Anyway, these are just still our guess work. We need to wait for the truth. Stay tuned for more detailed and latest news. 

Windows 7.8 vs. Windows 8 features leaked in comparison

On the Developer Conference held this June 22 developer, Microsoft announced the exisint devices would not be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 system, but will launch Windows Phone 7.8 as compensation. Countless Windows Phone users were disappointed as after all Windows Phone 7.8 isn’t the Windows Phone 8 system. What makes users more disappointing is that besides the leaked new Start screen, there aren’t any other features revealed by Microsoft to the crowed. And now, WP7Forum.ru received a detailed contrast table of features between Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8, which is showed below:

As expected, while Windows Phone 7.8 will get the new start screen with the new Tile sizes, most of the other major features aren't making the cut. Skype, RCS-e, and DataSmart are all available in WP7.8, but only as separate apps, and not integrated as with WP8. DataSmart is the app which allows users to monitor data usage, and RCS-e allows carriers to hook in data services. Not surprisingly, IE10 will be WP8 only, and WP7.8 users will have to make due with IE9 (our condolences).

Additionally, Voice Command, Bing Audio, and cloud services all seem to be staying the same from WP7.5 to WP7.8, but WP8 users will be getting more powerful versions of each. WP8 will have more voice command options, as expected, and will sync all data to the cloud. The new piece of info is that Bing Audio in WP8 is getting "improved TV recognition", which we hadn't heard about before, but seems to be a way to tag TV shows from the audio, and more than likely will shoot you into the Zune Marketplace to buy said TV show.

Microsoft Unveiled Windows Phone 8 with New Home Screen, Turn-by-Turn Navigation and Skype Integration

It’s been a very busy June for Microsoft, who not only revealed its own Windows 8 Surface tablets on an event in Los Angeles, but recently brought out Windows Phone 8, its next phone operating system at the event in San Francisco with abundant of new wonderful features. As the manager of the Windows Phone program, Joe Belfiore told readers in his blog that “Windows Phone 8 is based on the same core technologies that power Windows 8. As a result, Windows Phone 8 will unleash a new wave of features for consumers, developers, and businesses.” He said the next version of Windows Phone will share the same underlying technology of the Windows operating system that will run on tablets, laptops, and desktops.

Leading the additions to Windows Phone 8 include: New Start screen, turn-by-turn navigation and Skype integration. The home screen or Start Screen, which has rectangular tiles to represent apps, will now allow users to change the tile sizes if they're using the phone for many things at the same time.

Microsoft is making Windows Phone 8 even more personal, with a new palette of theme colors and three sizes of Live Tiles, all of which are under users’ control. As Live Tiles are one of the things current owners really love about their Windows Phones, Microsoft makes them even more flexible and unique. The bellow short video shows the new Start screen in action.

Microsoft is also putting its Skype acquisition to good use in the forthcoming software. Skype and other Voice Over IP (VoIP) services will integrate right into the phone dialer and People or contacts apps. Skype's CEO, Tony Bates, hinted that Skype would also be integrated into Windows 8.

And there's another partnership at work in Windows Phone 8 -- the one between Microsoft and Nokia. The two companies worked closely on Nokia's new Lumia handsets, including the Lumia 900; now they are bringing Nokia's mapping technology to the operating system, including offline maps and turn-by-turn navigation.

Other key features of Windows Phone 8:

* Multi-core processor support: As reviewers have noted, Windows Phone runs buttery smooth on phones with a single processor. But piggybacking on the Windows core provides support for multiple cores—so we’re ready for whatever hardware makers dream up.

* Bigger, sharper screens: Windows Phone 8 supports two new screen resolutions—1280x768 and 1280x720, opening the door to amazing new handsets with high-definition 720p displays. This would mean that users would have more flexible options to watch HD videos on Windows Phone 8 smartphones.

* More flexible storage: Windows Phone 8 supports removable MicroSD cards, so you can stuff your phone with extra photos, music, and whatever else is important to you, and then easily move it all onto your PC.

* NFC wireless sharing: If you haven’t heard the term “NFC” yet, I’m betting you soon will. This emerging wireless technology lets phones share things over short distances. In Windows Phone 8, it helps make sharing photos, Office docs, and contact info easier—just tap your phone another NFC-equipped device. How cool is that?

* Internet Explorer 10: The next version of Windows Phone comes with the same web browsing engine that’s headed for Window 8 PCs and tablets. IE10 is faster and more secure, with advanced anti-phishing features like SmartScreen Filter to block dangerous websites and malware.

* Wallet: Windows Phone 8’s new digital Wallet feature does two great things. It can keep debit and credit cards, coupons, boarding passes, and other important info right at your fingertips. And when paired with a secure SIM from your carrier, you can also pay for things with a tap of your phone at compatible checkout counters.

* Better maps and directions: Windows Phone 8 builds in Nokia mapping as part of the platform. Our partnership will provide more detailed maps and turn-by-turn directions in many countries, plus the ability to store maps offline on your phone so you can work with maps without a data connection.

* Cooler apps and games: Basing Windows Phone 8 on the Windows core will unleash a new wave of amazing apps and especially games, for reasons I’ll touch on in a moment.

Microsoft did not disclose when Windows Phone 8 would be available and start shipping on phones. It did say that those with Windows Phone devices now won't be able to upgrade to the new operating system. The first wave of Windows Phone 8 phones will be made by Nokia, Samsung, and HTC.

The Windows Phone 8 features leaked, Convert MKV to WP8 to Watch MKV movies on WP8 freely

The Windows Phone 8 specs leaked

Apple’s iPhone 5 is not the only next smartphone people are waiting for. The next generation of Windows phones, Windows Phone 8, is also an eye-catching and much anticipated great bombing of 2012. Speculation about what the next version of Microsoft's mobile OS, dubbed Windows Phone 8 and codenamed Apollo by the company, has been rampant for months. And according to the latest news of WP8 leaked from Pocketnow upon an allegedly leaked video featuring Joe Belfiore, Microsoft Senior Vice President for Windows Phone, speaking about the latest features on Windows Phone 8 to partners at Nokia, the new handset would include the bellow features:

*Support for multi-core processors

*New screen resolutions (4 total, no more specifics)

*Removable microSD card storage (!!)

*NFC radio support, including…

*Carrier branded and controlled “Wallet experience”

*A “dedicated companion application” to replace the current Zune application for PC sync.

*Microsoft is expecting 100,000 apps in the Marketplace at time of Windows Phone 8 launch

*Native code support for app developers

*Support for app-to-app communication

*A revamped Skype client “that hooks directly into the OS”

*A “lens app” for camera applications, allowing camera skinning or overlays with viewfinders

“DataSmart” – a feature to simplify tracking of data usage.

*A proxy server to feed pages to IE10, using server-side compression, reducing data needs by 30%

*Native BitLocker encryption

Convert MKV to Windows Phone 8 to watch MKV movies on Windows Phone 8 freely

With the wide support of video file formats like 3gp, .3g2, .mp4, .m4v, .mbr, and .wmv on Windows Phone 7, you can freely watch HD videos on WP7 at your will. Just like WP7, the WP8 would also support various video file formats for you to watch various videos on WP8 freely. But if you want to play and watch HD MKV movies on WP8, you would have to use a MKV to WP8 converter which could help you easily convert HD MKV videos to WP8 friendly videos and then enable you to watch HD MKV movies on WP8 as you like.

Can’t wait to try to convert HD MKV movies to WP8 and enjoy MKV movies on your portable WP8? Check the following brief guide on how to convert MKV to WP8 with ease:

* Download the MKV to WP8 converting program online firstly. For your convenience, download links are provided bellow

For Win: http://www.leawo.com/download/videoconverter/hdvideo_setup.exe

For Mac: http://www.leawo.com/download/mac/machdvideoconverter_intel_setup.zip

* After downloading, install this program and add your source DVD content to this program for processing.

* Click the Profile frame to choose output profile format for your WP8, like MP4 or 3GP. As the WP8 provides four different screen resolutions, you could reset output profile parameters like video size, bit rate, aspect ratio, etc. to meet your WP8 more exactly.

* Hit the convert button to start converting.

After the conversion, you could now import the converted DVD movies to your WP8 via USB or other devices. Then, you could freely play and watch DVD movies on WP8.

Useful guides for reference:

How to put movies to HTC EVO 4G on Mac

How to Convert MKV to iPhone 4S to watch MKV videos on iPhone

How to Convert Video to Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9