Windows Phone

HTC won't be making its budget-minded Windows Phone handset, the 8S, available in the United States.

In a statement to Engadget yesterday, the company called its higher-end device, the 8X, its "signature Windows Phone" and said that with its focus on that handset, the 8S "is not currently planned for distribution in the U.S. market."

Sources told The Verge that the 8S was originally tagged as a lower-cost phone for T-Mobile but that Microsoft decided to prioritize testing of the Qualcomm 8960 chipset that's found in the 8X (as well as in Nokia'… Read more

It's been kind of odd that no code name for the successor to the Windows Phone 8 operating system had leaked -- until November 26 (if the rumors are right).

Here's a quick refresher on code names. The Windows Phone team has been all about the o's. Windows Phone 7 OS was code-named NoDo. Then there was Mango (Windows Phone 7.5). A minor interim update arrived next, code-named Tango. And Windows Phone 8 OS was code-named Apollo. Joe Belfiore(o), manager of the Windows Phone Program, said awhile back that the team was finished with code … Read more

Microsoft will be launching its Windows Phone 7.8 upgrade on Wednesday, if rumors reported by Tonis Tech Blog today are correct.

The blog cited unnamed sources "near the subject." Meanwhile, WPCentral found some Finnish promotional materials that revealed there will be another update after the 7.8 update.

The materials also appear to shed some light on new features. The operating system will have a new start screen and more color themes to chose from, according to the translation posted to WPCentral.

CNET has contacted Microsoft for a comment and will update when we hear back, but … Read more

Many humans are competitive.

They want to prove that they have the winning hand -- or even the winning phone in their hand.

Microsoft, over recent times, has been keen to humiliate these people in public. First, there was the "Smoked By Windows Phone" challenge, in which Redmond's indefatigable Ben Rudolph proved that Microsoft's phones were so much faster than iPhones or Samsungs.

With the advent of Windows Phone 8, you are invited to a new challenge. This is called "Meet Your Match."

It is similar to the "Smoked By Windows Phone" … Read more

While worldwide phone sales fell slightly during the third quarter, sales of smartphones are continuing to rise, according to new figures from Gartner.

More than 427 million phones were sold in total during the third quarter, 3 percent down on the same quarter a year ago, Gartner said, but up slightly on the 419 million devices shipped in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, smartphone sales are continuing their upward trajectory compared to feature phones -- 169 million smartphones were sold during the quarter, an increase of 47 percent year-on-year.

Samsung, Nokia and Apple remain the top three vendors by sales for … Read more

In addition to announcing that its two Windows Phone 8 handsets, the HTC Windows Phone 8X and the Nokia Lumia 822, will be available starting November 13, Verizon will also offer one of its handsets for free by the end of the year.

According to The Verge, Tami Erwin, Verizon's chief marketing officer, said that a phone from the carrier's WP8 lineup will come "in at the free [price] point."

Currently, the HTC 8X retails for $199.99 with a two-year contract, and the Lumia 822 will be sold for $99.99 after discounts are applied.… Read more

A pair of likely photos of the Samsung Ativ Odyssey have surfaced online, thanks to reputable Twitter source @evleaks.

First announced last month, the Windows Phone 8 handset is expected to arrive at Verizon's doorstep in December, but the exact timing remains murky.

Details for the Ativ Odyssey have yet to be formally announced; rumors suggest it could feature a dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor with an Adreno 225GPU. As indicated by these images, we can see that the handset will support Verizon's 4G LTE network and feature a microSD expansion card slot.

The early photos also … Read more

If you're going to ensure that your new Windows Phone 8 is going to be respected as the only machine with which to be seen, you don't want has-beens holding them in ads.

You want Jay-Z, not Jay Leno.

And so the rumor is that Microsoft has employed not merely Jay-Z, but one of the queens of dressing-up and occasionally singing -- Gwen Stefani -- to implant its phones into the cool side of human brains.

According to the Sun, these fine aspirational figures will be thrust forward any minute now to bend your mind.

They are to … Read more

The Santa Clara, Calif., company, traditionally known for making graphics processing units found in computers and game consoles, has been counting on its Tegra mobile chip to help offset weakness in its core PC market. So far, it hasn't been enough. Nvidia is showing up in many tablets, but its presence in smartphones is minimal. In addition, the bulk of Tegra sales are for a couple of tablets, the Google Nexus 7 … Read more