Nokia X marks one million pre-orders in China

Nokia X the recently announced Android Mid-range phone has scored one million pre-orders in China just in few days

The news was posted by Nokia on China Weibo site on Friday and later retweeted
By Nokia Twitter account

The phone was announced by Stephen
Elop at the 2014 Mobile World Congress
In Barcelona

Continue Reading →

Nokia X can run Google apps and services if hacked

Nokia announced it's Android device, Nokia X less than a week ago. The main objective for the phone is to avoid Google's services and promote Microsoft services such as OneDrive, Skype and Outlook. After just a few days of its revealing, hackers managed to get root access to phone's filesystem. Kashamlaga from xda-developers converted his Nokia developer handset to run Google apps in simple 5 steps., suggesting Nokia has not locked down the device too heavily. Apps like Gmail, Google Now, Google Maps and Hangouts appear to be working.

It is not surprising that the Nokia X is able to be hacked to run Google apps as it is Android. When The Verge reached out for comment from Nokia, they stated that that they are actually happy about it. This is only the beginning progress to a full replacement of the Android OS. We are hoping to see a Cyanogenmod version on this device.

The Nokia X is made to completely replace Google services with Microsoft services, they even have their own app store to avoid using Google Play Store.

@KashaMalaga This is awesome! Very excited to see progress is being made - we actually really like @xdadevelopers
— Nokia Developer Team (@nokiadeveloper) February 28, 2014

Source: xda-developers(1), (2)

Continue Reading →

Microsoft may release a free version of Windows 8.1

To increase Windows 8.1s number of users Microsoft may release a free version of Windows 8.1. Reliable sources said to The Verge that the company is experimenting a build of Windows 8.1 with "Bing" which bundles with key Microsoft apps and services. ZDnet reported some Windows 8.1 with Bing details this week.

The Windows 8.1 with Bing is said to be a free or low-cost upgrade fr Windows 7 users. Upgrade offers are focused on increasing the number of Windows 8.1 users. The Bing version of Windows 8.1 might be also offered to PC makers as a part of  cutting the license price to under $250. The sources didn't say how much Microsoft is committed to this plan. It is also an initiative to push and monetize Microsoft's cloud services and app Microsoft see Bing as monetization landmine. The company is also said to consider low-cost or free versions of Windows Phone and seems to be working towards merging Windows RT and Windows Phone as a single platform for ARM-based chip sets. 

Bing-powered apps are bundled to Windows 8.1 and the leaked version of the OS does not seem to prove any significant changes. The company is expected to further detail the Windows 8.1 Spring update during its Build developer conference in April. More details about the merging of Windows RT and Windows Phone is also expected to be shared at the Build conference.

Source: The Verge

Continue Reading →