lumia

Verizon pops color into Lumia, Droid Razr lineup

Starting tomorrow, Nokia will whip out a new color palette for two of its phones. In addition to white and dark gray, the Nokia Lumia 822 Windows phone will now come in red.

For its part, Motorola goes soft on the Droid Razr M, which you'll be able to pick up in pink, as well as the more traditional white and black.

Earlier this morning, Verizon also announced that it will carry Samsung's Ativ Odyssey Windows phone, beginning tomorrow for about $50.

You'll be able to buy the new shades both online and in stores.

Prizefight: Nokia Lumia 920 vs. HTC Windows Phone 8X

It's the first time for Windows Phone 8 to step into the Prizefight ring, and we're comparing the top two competitors with Nokia's Lumia 920 and HTC's Windows Phone 8X.

The Nokia Lumia 920 brings wireless charging and a modern pop art-style design with its big bold screen. The HTC Windows Phone 8X brings a sleeker design with built-in Beats audio technology.

Who takes Windows Phone 8 to the next level? It's a face-off between Nokia and HTC for Prizefight supremacy. Which phone is your Prizefight champion? Cast your vote!

The next LG Optimus leaks

The next LG Optimus may have leaked!

This week Fortune debuted a list of the 100 best companies to work for. Google took the No. 1 spot while Microsoft checked in at No. 75. Wireless tech company Qualcomm took the 11 spot while chip manufacturer Intel showed up at 68.

Details of a high-powered version of LG's Optimus G have apparently leaked online. A slide sent to Engadget teases a new LG phone with a 5-inch 1080p display, a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, 13-megapixel rear camera, and 32 GB of on-board storage. There's no word yet on which … Read more

Nokia lets customers build custom Lumia 820 cases

Nokia Lumia 820 owners will be able to create their own cases for the handset.

Nokia today announced that it's now releasing 3D templates, case specs, and recommended material guidance to help Lumia 820 owners produce their own shell to replace the removable case on the back of the handset. Nokia has offered several cases for customers to choose from, but didn't allow owners to develop their own.

In order to actually create the cases, however, users will need to have access to a 3D printer. With 3D printing, users can input material and churn out their creation.… Read more

What gear would you take on a 5-year, 9,000-mile walk?

OK, let's just say you decide to walk the length of Europe and Asia and bring all your social-media peeps along for the journey. What devices would you bring with you to keep in touch and document your epic stroll?

These aren't questions most of us will ever be faced with, but Michael Lee Johnson is thinking very hard about the answers right now as he prepares to embark on a half-decade long sojourn by foot from Beijing to London later this year.

A developer from England who has also worked in social media (he had a moment of notoriety when Facebook nixed the 1-cent ad he purchased to promote his Google+ account), marketing and a few startups, Johnson tells me he's treating his trip as a sort of startup of its own.

In fact, the idea for a major overland trip was originally conceived as a marketing stunt for a startup. The startup is no more, but Johnson's dream of sharing the near-entirety of an epic personal journey lives on.… Read more

The 404 1,189: Where we rubber band your chopsticks (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- What it's like to experience new technology after 25 years in jail.

- Ante up that $100 if you want to message Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

- Why the next big DJ will be an algorithm.

- Enough with the social-media "gurus," "ninjas," "masters," and "mavens."… Read more

Surprise, surprise: Nokia's Q4 rides high on Lumia sales

Nokia is so excited about its fourth-quarter performance that today it announced preliminary financial information to let shareholders know how well it performed.

During the fourth quarter, Nokia's Devices & Services operation not only exceeded expectations, but delivered "underlying profitability." The struggling company said that the division's mobile phones unit delivered better-than-expected results, with 86.3 million total unit sales. Nokia's Windows Phone-friendly Lumia line generated 4.4 million unit sales, and the company's Asha line of handsets for emerging markets tallied 9.3 million units sold.

"We are pleased that Q4 2012 … Read more

Aluminum Nokia Lumia looming, 'sources' say

Call it the Nokia aLuminum.

If "sources" are correct, the next Lumia we could see land on shelves will be made not of the typical polycarbonate that's composed every Lumia since its inception, but of aluminum. The report comes from The Verge, citing "sources familiar with Nokia's plans."

Allegedly code-named the Nokia Catwalk, the future Lumia variant will succeed this fall's Nokia Lumia 920 flagship Windows phone. Hardware specs won't vary much in this model, if the rumor proves true, a point that's sure to bum out Nokia fans waiting for … Read more

Nokia Lumia 920, 820 update patches iffy performance

Nokia announced today that, along with Microsoft, it will roll out a software update that address user complaints about battery life, Bluetooth connection, and startup.

Starting today, the over-the-air update will cover the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 for all AT&T customers in the U.S. and Rogers subscribers in Canada.

Among the changes, Nokia says, users will see:

More efficient and reliable Bluetooth connectivity More efficient and reliable startup sequence Enhancements in imaging performance and battery management Enhancements in messaging Additional platform updates and enhancements

CNET has asked Nokia when and if Lumia 822 and Lumia 810 … Read more

Top five Cracking Open teardowns of 2012

From smartphones and tablets to a $7,000 desktop, we've cracked open a lot of tech this year. And as is the tradition at the end of each year, it's time to take a look at a few of our favorites. During this special episode of Cracking Open, I'm counting down my top five teardowns of 2012.

5. Nokia Lumia 900

First on our list is the Nokia Lumia 900. Released in the spring, this Windows Phone device was Nokia's attempt to recapture some of the American smartphone market.

Unfortunately, as we discovered during our teardown, the phone's hardware just wasn't up to par with the competition. I went so far as to call it mediocre. So why did I include our 900 teardown on this list? Because it's probably this year's best example of why knowing what's inside a device is an important factor in deciding whether to buy one.… Read more