You may have heard the rumors of Microsoft building their own phone. Many have dubbed it the “Surface Phone”, taken from the name of Microsoft’s soon to launch tablets.
A quick Bing search of “Surface Phone” will bring up quite a few articles about this possible venture, along with a lot of analysis stating that such a move would be hurting their OEMs; especially Nokia, their most dedicated OEM.
Perhaps people are looking at it wrong.
Today, Nokia’s Kevin Shields demonstrated a feature called Smart Shoot, that will definitely help get rid of those photo bombers that may be infiltrating your attempts of capturing your most precious moments.
When you take a picture using Smart Shoot, the software actually takes several pictures so that it could determine what things in the view are moving. It then presents you with a screen outlining the moving elements. With a touch of an outlined figure the user can remove that element from the image.
This can prove useful when taking a picture in a busy area, where there may be many people walking around in the background. It also can be used to remove an unwanted subject that rushes into the photo in the last second.
Source (Nokia-Microsoft Press Conference)
What a difference some light makes!
Today, at the Nokia-Microsoft Press Conference, Jo Harlow us to Nokia’s newest addition to its PureView technology.
Up until now, image stabilization in mobile phones was hit or miss. Mostly miss.
Due to the tiny size of the lenses used in mobile phone cameras, it was difficult for manufacturers to create a system that stabilized the lens enough to offset hand movements. Nokia solves this problem by stabilizing the whole camera inside the phone.
This helps tremendously when taking video. This effect is like having a dolly for your phone. If you read our previous story about Nokia’s teaser videos, then you have seen the technology in action.
Where we might see the most excitement is how it changes night photography. The problem with taking photos at night is obvious – there is a lack of light. The flash on a camera can help, but often results in a glare, reflection or other simply does not provide enough light. One way to get more light into the camera’s sensor is to leave the camera’s shutter open a few tenths of a second longer. But unless you’re using a tripod, this may result in a blurry photo because your hand will likely move slightly. Nokia’s Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) solves this problem. The Lumia 920 will leave the shutter open 5 to 10 times longer when shooting at night to let in a lot of light, but the OIS system will compensate for hand movements, giving you a steady final picture with more natural lighting. The camera also has a large aperture (f2.0), giving it the ability to let more light in.
You don’t’ have to take our word for it. Fortunately Nokia just released a video where you can see for yourself.
Source (Nokia-Microsoft Press Conference)
Nokia posted an infographic today titled, THE NOKIA EVOLUTION: 1984 TO TOMORROW.
In it, there is an illustrated timeline of some of Nokia’s technological milestones, as well as key innovations.
The last innovation listed is “Introduces Flexible Devices”, with the technology listed as “Flexible.” This flexible technology is likely the same technology that was introduced to us at Nokia World 2011 as “Kinetic.”
Up until now, flexible screens have been an interesting R&D project. We’ve seen prototypes, but many believed that we were still several years away from seeing a product based on this technology. This appears to be the first solid statement that it is intended as their next major product feature.
Can we expect to see this as early as 2013?
Source (Nokia US)
Microsoft announced today that they will be changing their company logo. This is the first change of the Microsoft logo in 25 years.
This news comes just weeks after Microsoft announced that they would not change their logo.
Back on June 18th, Paul Thurrott noticed something different about Microsoft’s logo during announcement of the Surface tablet. He posted an article containing some photos, not only of the Surface tablet, but also what he claimed was the new Micosoft logo.
Back on August 2nd, some images of Microsoft’s packaging for upcoming accessories, such as the Wedge Touch Mouse and the Wedge Mobile Keyboard, were spotted with packaging including the Microsoft logo in Segoe type.
However, rumors of a logo change started to die down when Microsoft released this statement.
“This is not a new logo. Segoe is the font that we use in many of our product experiences and marketing materials. You will see the word Microsoft showing up from time to time in the Segoe typeface, which reflects the look and feel of the new experiences we are creating. We’ll also continue to use the traditional Microsoft logotype.”
Today’s events seem to contradict the earlier statement by Microsoft.
What do you think of Microsoft’s new logo?
(Source: Microsoft)
Have you wanted to create an app for Windows Phone, but have been held back by concerns about making money?
While nobody can guarantee that the work you put into creating an application will end up paying off, there are some things that you can do to stack the chips in your favor. Thankfully, Michael Stroh, Senior Writer at Microsoft, is prepared to help by breaking down ten secrets to making money with your app. Read the rest of this entry »
Generation App is Microsoft’s web resource focused on helping developers, and potential developers, navigate the app creation process from beginning to end. It’s a handy site where you can find a lot of the information you need all in one place.
In June, Microsoft launched Generation App by announcing a “30 to Launch” promotion, where they would give potential developers resources and support to create the app they’ve always wanted. At the end, the top app developers would end up winning prizes.
It is too late to enter this particular contest, but the resources are still available at Generation App to help you create that app of your dreams. After all, creating something new and awesome is the real prize, isn’t it? If you can commit yourself for 30 days, then Microsoft has the resources you need to get an app up and running.
The site has two main sections: one focuses on Windows 8 app development, while the other focuses on Windows phone. Many of the things you learn will apply to both. So if you create your app for one of these platforms, you should be able to get another version of that app up and running on the other platform fairly quickly.
Give it a try and tell us what you come up with!
Source: Generation App
Matic Bitenc, co-founder of Toshl, developer of Toshl Finance, recently detailed some of the challenges they experienced developing for Windows Phone on their blog.
They chose to develop Toshl Finance for Windows Phone because they saw potential in what they believe to be a beautifully designed OS. However, their blog goes on to state what they describe as a “surreal and horrible” experience.
The first roadblock they faced was due to their location. Toshl is located in Slovenia. In many countries around the world like Slovenia, a developer cannot register directly to create applications for Windows Phone. Instead, applications must go through a third party. In this case, Toshl had to go through Microsoft Slovenia. In some other cases, depending on region, developers might go through a company like Yalla Apps. The blog goes on to detail some of the challenges that resulted from this arrangement.
Max & the Magic Marker was developed by Press Play (now owned by Microsoft) and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It is currently available on Windows Phone for $.99 USD . It is an XBOX LIVE game and is available in the Marketplace (here).
Max & the Magic Marker is a creative offering from Press Play, that is part platformer and part physics based puzzle game. It was a launch title for Windows Phone, first being offered for the price of $6.99. It’s been almost two years since then, and the Windows Phone marketplace has grown significantly. Does Max & the Magic Marker stand the test of time? If you are new to Windows Phone, is this game a worthy purchase?
The story behind Max & the Magic Marker is simple, and is viewed by the player in a short animatic. Max is a regular kid who likes to draw. He gets a mysterious package in the mail, and opens it to find an orange marker. So he does what any kid would do with a marker: he draws with it.
The success of Microsoft’s SmartGlass will depend on developer support. Microsoft plans to lead the way by including SmartGlass support in future XBOX 360 games that they create.
Microsoft’s vision for SmartGlass in their games is to provide a rich supporting role as opposed to having the player need to pay attention to two screens at the same time. So don’t worry about trying to battle enemies in Halo while looking at your phone at the same time.
In an interview with Joystiq, Corporate VP of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer, had this to say. “It just makes so much sense for a developer who wants to supply, maybe not time-critical information, like ‘that enemy is getting ready to shoot you,’ but information that augments what’s happening on screen.”
