Category Archives: Smartphone

Things to do on Sunday morning – update your Nokia Lumia Windows Phone

Looking for trouble on a Sunday, I updated my trouble-prone Lumia 920 with the much-anticipated, latest Nokia firmware 1232.5962.1314.0000

Home screen Things to do on Sunday morning update your Nokia Lumia Windows Phone photo

Nokia Lumia 920 home screen (S. Pate photo)

The sun was streaming in the south-facing Windows two hours ago when I announced to my wife “Oh look, my Nokia phone has an automatic update.

“You are a bear for punishment,” she said from her easy-boy chair taking in the morning sun after the frost last night.

“Isn’t that phone jinxed?”

“Babe, I like being on the bleeding edge.” I replied with a smile.

“Just because the phone has been replaced 3 times since Christmas and bricked last weekend does not mean anything. Hope springs eternal that Nokia will finally get it right.”

With a devil-may-care grin I pressed the OK on the automatic update and 10 minutes and one cold boot later, the Lumia 920 was back in action. Continue reading →

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Why Nokia may fail in North America

Fancy high-end phones will not hide the reality that Nokia’s customer service is substandard

Windows 925 258x300 Why Nokia may fail in North America photo

Nokia Lumia 925 set to launch on May 16th will be dead in the water unless Nokia can fix service issues

Nokia is set to launch the Lumia 925 on May 16th with a lighter phone and better camera than the Lumia 920 but it’s a futile effort when the existing Lumia phones are trouble prone and service from Nokia slow to non-existent.

If Nokia had no competition, one could understand arrogance and bad service. Up against Apple and Android, it looks like Nokia has a death wish, or at least watched “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” once too often.

When your business-use phone is dead and gone back to Nokia for service, its hard to remember the screen is cool and it takes good pictures.  Continue reading →

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Tami Reller dishes out the news on Windows Blue

As Microsoft readies the big Blue update for fall 2013, Windows 8 passes 100 million licenses, 700 million Windows accounts and 250 million SkyDrive accounts

Reller web thumb 15416417 Tami Reller dishes out the news on Windows Blue photo

Tami Reller Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer

People are expecting big changes with the next version of Windows 8 but the revolutionary changes are already in place and they work beautifully.

The news of Microsoft’s death from Windows 8 is greatly exaggerated.

Windows 8, the first major change in the world’s most popular operating system in a decade, is on track for success.

In a Q&A with Windows blogger Brandon LeBlanc, Tami Reller Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer dishes out the facts.

From a user point of view, I’ve been using Windows 8 for more than a year and despite the things that need improvement, I would not go back to Windows 7.  Continue reading →

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Will paywalls save the newspaper business

Faced with sharply declining advertising revenue for both print and online newspapers, papers are trying to entice free readers to pay up for the news. It works partially: old people will pay anything to keep their news habit but young readers have already left the barn.

Guardian digital Will paywalls save the newspaper business photo

Charlottetown Guardian erects paywall for digital readers – will it be enough (Guardian photo)

From Rupert Murdoch to the 25 local newspapers in the Quebec based Transcontinental chain, newspapers are struggling to survive the double whammy of the digital world and young readers who don’t give a flying fig about reading a paper.

Paywalls, charging for online access, is a temporary fix for the huge decline in newspaper subscription and advertising revenue.

The long-term survival of newspapers is in doubt.  Continue reading →

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First Look: Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone Makes Sense

The Nokia Lumia 920 is slick, easy on the eyes, fast and puts Office 365 on your phone

Nokia 920 screen shot 1 180x300 First Look: Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone Makes Sense photo

Nokia 920 home screen

{rating}  The killer feature for the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 is Office 365.

The speed boost with the Lumia 920 versus the iPhone 4 is phenomenal.

I made the switch to Windows Phone this week from an iPhone 4 to a Nokia Lumia 920.

This is my second Windows Phone smartphone. I reviewed the Samsung ATIV S in December.

Of course, the larger 4.5 inch screen is easier on the eyes. Isn’t every smart phone larger than iPhone these days? Apple is so passé.  Continue reading →

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Windows 8 Music App updated and inches towards usability

Only Surface and Windows Phone users will applaud the minor update to Windows 8 xbox Music

Xbox music 650x366 Windows 8 Music App updated and inches towards usability photo

Xbox Music update has volume control but still cannot read meta tags for your music

Another night, another tiny step towards making Windows 8 an adult operating system with the update to xbox Music. Crayons anyone?

I don’t want to seem negative but it is hard to commend Microsoft’s programmers for the addition of a volume control, cloud sync and rudimentary library controls in a music player.

Continue reading →

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NY Times Windows 8 app the pleasure of great journalism

Daily free stories on the New York Times Windows 8 app make it one of Windows 8 best apps

NY Times app NY Times Windows 8 app the pleasure of great journalism photo

Windows 8 New York Times app is the best journalism and partly free every day

The full subscription to the New York Times costs between $15 and $20 a month. Approximately 12 stories a day are free without subscription.

On a Windows 8 computer, tablet or phone with touch, that means 30 minutes of swiping and reading some of the best journalism in the English-speaking world.
Continue reading →

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