Windows Phone now home to 120k apps, downloads and dev revenue rising post-WP8

Windows Phone 8 is a roaring success! That is if you ask the platform's Senior Director, Todd Brix, who tweeted today that developer revenues and downloads have doubled since its launch in November. While this sounds all good, what does it really mean? Back in June, the former Windows Phone Marketplace surpassed 100,000 published apps. To further gauge the platform's progress, Nokia recently announced that the Windows Phone Store now has over 120,000 apps, with 46 of the top 50 iOS and Android applications being available for WP8.

While today's vague declaration of success didn't reveal any specific numbers, a 20 percent software increase in under six months is definitely something to smile about. As much as we'd like to slap Microsoft a high-five, we'll have to save our jubilation until we get a little something more concrete -- hopefully a set of official statistics will Surface sooner than later.

[Source: Engadget]

Nexus 4 set to become available in the UK and Germany again today at 5PM local time

Canadians got their crack at it yesterday, and it looks like today's the day that those in the UK and Germany will have another chance to order a Nexus 4. Google has sent out emails informing subscribers that the phone will again be available to order from the Play store in Germany at 5:00PM CET (less than an hour from now), and from the UK store at 5:00PM GMT. Once again, there's no indication of quantities available, but if past history is any indication it's a good bet that they'll sell out fairly quickly.

[Source: Engadget]

Microsoft plans OTA update to keep Windows Phone 8 devices from randomly rebooting

Microsoft is prepping a remedy for Windows Phone 8 which will squash a bug that's caused some devices loaded with the OS to reboot without notice. According to a statement issued by Ballmer and Co., Redmond and its partners have identified the cause of the restart woes and are working on pushing out an over-the-air update in December. However, Microsoft is remaining coy regarding what's behind the mishap. Sure, a randomly restarting handset is cause for agitation, but remembering that the latest release of Windows Phone has accounted for the month of December might be a small consolation.

[Source: Engadget]

Bing Translator gets updated for Windows Phone 8, available now in the Store

The Bing Translator app has been helping Windows Phone users avoid cross-cultural mishaps since April of last year, adding augmented reality and offline capability along the way. Naturally, Microsoft has updated this utility forWindows Phone 8. The latest version of Translator supports six languages (Chinese, English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) and features a new "lens" for translating text via a smartphone's camera. The app is available as a free download in the Store. Head past the break to see it in action.

[Source: Engadget]

Range of 4G smartphones makes it a network for everyone

Autumn saw the introduction of a new service in the UK that promised us mobile web speeds up to five times faster than what had previously been available. As Britain’s first 4G network provider, EE offered a great way to get the most out of the next generation of smartphones – and even came with a range tailored to all tastes.

Arguably the most notable of these devices will be the iPhone 5, which managed to grab all the technology headlines in the run up to the 4G launch in October. The fifth generation model of the Cupertino gadget giant’s game-changing mobile phone improved on its predecessor with a new operating system, a bigger screen and a faster processor. This was great news for many, but was hailed as a disappointment by some people who had already set their sights on The Samsung Galaxy S III.

One of the biggest critics of the device was Samsung itself, which is of course locked in a pretty high profile on-going legal debate with Apple. The South Korean manufacturer has highlighted its slick design, Android operating system, 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display and super-fast processor as being superior to what the iPhone 5 can offer, as well as features like picture in picture display and the S Voice vocal command system. Of course, both are absolutely brilliant and each can claim to be better than the other in different fields – but what if you don’t want either of them?

Well, luckily there are other options from EE that may be of interest. The HTC One XL, for example, not only comes with a brilliant 4.7-inch (which is again bigger than the one on the iPhone), but it also boasts Beats Audio Integration – which could be a big deal for those who use their handset for music. 

Not to be outdone, the Finnish have also been keen to stake their claim on 4G with smartphones like the Nokia Lumia 920 Windows phone. This model has a Puremotion HD 4.5-inch touchscreen display and an eight megapixel camera with Optical image Stabilisation. This handset also has a lower price point than its rivals, as does its sister device the Lumia 820.

It has been another big year for smartphones and all the major companies have been busy preparing for the 2013 market that will undoubtedly see more of us take up 4G services. It will certainly be interesting to see what the mobile landscape looks like this time next year. [spon]

Sharp ships its first phone with an IGZO display on November 29th, ushers in a low-power LCD era

The gray clouds of Sharp's gloomy earnings are about to get a silver lining: NTT DoCoMo is at last launching Sharp's new flagship phone, the breathlessly wordedAquos Phone Zeta SH-02E, on November 29th. When it arrives, the SH-02E will be its* first smartphone to carry an IGZO-based display and show us just how well the high-brightness, low-energy invention fares in a 4.9-inch, 720p LCD. There's no known fixed pricing, although it's likely the Android 4.0 device will be sitting at the very top of its Japanese carrier's range through its Snapdragon S4 Pro, 16-megapixel camera and LTE data. Not fully convinced of IGZO's worth? Fujitsu's more conventional Arrows V F-04E is arriving a day earlier with a regular LCD and a Tegra 3, although we'd say that it's worth waiting the extra 24 hours to be a technology vanguard.

[Source: Engadget]

HTC opens store-within-a-store in Germany, hopes it's your One-stop shop

Electronics giants who want to compete for retail attention but can't always justify a full presence have a common trick: open a mini store. Apple did it, Microsoft did it, and Samsung virtually based the Galaxy S III launch on it. HTC is next at bat. While it has its own stores in Asia and parts of Europe, the smartphone designer is trying out a store-within-a-store at the giant Saturn-Markt shop in Hamburg, Germany. Swing by and you can buy or test a device like the One X+ or Windows Phone 8X alongside accessories -- including Beats headphones, naturally -- with dedicated staff to help. HTC didn't immediately have details of larger plans when we reached out, but there's talk at MyDrivers of further such stores as well as seminars that would help make sense out of Sense. There's no guarantee that HTC will benefit from carving out its own retail space in what's often considered hostile territory; even so, the move can't hurt when the company is fighting for relevancy.

[Source: Engadget]

Lenovo IdeaPhone P770 stuffs 29-hour battery and Jelly Bean into a lower-cost smartphone

Motorola may face a new contender to the Droid RAZR MAXX HD's battery capacity crown. Lenovo's quietly introduced IdeaPhone P770 at least theoretically challenges its American counterpart by cramming a 3,500mAh lithium polymer battery into a thicker 11.9mm (0.47-inch) body. That's 200mAh more than Motorola's energy champion, and enough for the company to flaunt a 29-hour talk time. That's not quite as long as Motorola's claimed 32 hours, but Lenovo has done something its American rival seemingly can't -- launch a phone with Jelly Bean. Motorola might rest easier in knowing that the the P770 is an unrepentantly budget-focused behemoth, carrying a 4.5-inch qHD display, a (possibly MediaTek-made) 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4GB of built-in storage, an 8GB microSD card and both 5-megapixel rear as well as VGA front cameras. For the ¥1,699 ($273) Lenovo is asking for an off-contract model in its native China, the P770 could still be the first pick of many local phone owners on long-haul trips. It's just a shame that the lack of 4G (and Lenovo's domestic-first mobile strategy) likely means we won't see a launch in the US.

[Source: Engadget]

Nexus 4 works with LTE after simple tweak

Some enterprising tinkerers on the XDA Developers forums are demonstrating that despite the lack of a working signal amplifier and filter in LG’s Nexus 4, it’s still possible to force the phone onto an LTE network from the phone’s debugging menu — at least on LTE band 4 (1700MHz and 2100MHz) on Canadian carriers Telus and Rogers.

Last week, Anandtech reported that "Band 4 (AWS) could essentially be supported with the power amplifiers and transceiver that already are onboard the Nexus 4, but again it ultimately comes down to a particular OEM choice whether these get supported." As we've written previously, getting LTE support across multiple carriers across the US and internationally is a minefield, which is why Google chose not to include support for multiple LTE bands on the Nexus 4.

[Source: The Verge]

Beaten, twisted, sprayed and sat on: how Samsung stress tests its phones

Just treated yourself to a new Samsung Galaxy S III or a Note II but wondering how the plastic body will stand up to the rigors of daily life? The manufacturer's showing off a smorgasbord of tests its smartphones go through in the labs while being prepped for prime time. These experiments are engineered to see how sample and prototype devices fare when subjected to use and abuse -- including having their buttons mashed thousands of times, being twisted, splashed with water, and tossed in a churning pot of killer corn to gauge scratch resistance. One test even plonks a fake, denim-clad posterior onto unsuspecting phones, attempting to bend them out of shape. Sammy's hardly going to smash things in its own marketing, but you may still glean some sadistic pleasure from the video after the break -- and understanding Korean is optional.

[Source: Engadget]

Hack gives HTC Droid DNA the bootloader unlock that Verizon took away

Custom ROM fans were briefly teased with the prospect of Verizon loosening its anti-modding stance when the HTC Droid DNA first arrived: in the pre-release days, the official HTCDev portal allowed unlocking the DNA's bootloader. While the carrier unfortunately clamped down and denied the option by the time the giant smartphone was in stores, that hasn't stopped Android Police and Sean Beaupre from keeping the dream alive through very unofficial means. A special backup file, a carrier ID generator app, a shell script and judicious use of ADB tweak the carrier information to trick HTCDev and let the unlock work once again. To call this a risky procedure would be an understatement, however -- venturing past a certain point raises the real possibility of bricking the device, and HTC's bootloader tool already puts limits on post-unlock support even when it's blessed by carriers. Should the urge to liberate the Droid DNA overwhelm a sense of caution (or a wait for the Deluxe), you'll find both the hack and unofficial help through the source links.

[Source: Engadget]

Samsung announces Galaxy Note II has moved 5 million units worldwide

Well, that was quick. We started off this month with word from Samsung that its 5.5-inch Galaxy Note II passed three million in sales, and now the company is announcing it's moved two million more in less than a month. Now available on North American carriers the stylus-packing smartphone is apparently experiencing popularity in all regions, with no sign of slowing down. It's even had the rite of passage of being included in an Apple lawsuit, and a new ad focusing on using the stylus to become an internet meme. It may not be ready to challenge the smaller Galaxy S III for the company sales crown just yet, but with five million out the door and more every minute, XL-sized handsets are clearly here to stay.

[Source: Engadget]