Good thing all the Fin users from years ago are not around to see this. They were so proud of Nokia. But it could not weather the American Juggernaut. No one can. The irony is that Microsoft is not even the biggest player. Google and Apple passed it up long ago. (One last parting shot to any of the Fin users still lurking here....I told you so =)
I just bought a Nokia Lumina 520 smart phone for just $59.00. Hooked it up with Consumer Cellular and now get my phone, Internet and text for less than $30.00 a month. This is my first smart phone and I'm blown away with what a cheap phone like this can do. It has Windows 8 on it. It's costing me about $10.00 less than I was paying Verizon for their basic plan on my dumb phone and there is no contract with Consumer Cellular. Great deal. Not crazy with Windows, but I'm learning.
Looks like I'm already going to get an update to my $59.00 Nokia cell phone and what an update it is. Nokia-needs-to-escape-Windows-Phone microsoft-build-2014 Microsoft got its Build 2014 developer conference underway in San Francisco this morning, and the first event on the calendar was a keynote presentation delivered by Joe Belfiore, Corporate VP of Operating Systems at Microsoft. He went straight into the good news, and we were introduced to Windows Phone 8.1, the first major revision of its mobile operating system since its launch. Here’s everything we know about the operating system so far: When is it going to arrive? Before we get into the details, here’s what we know about Windows Phone 8.1′s arrival date. According to Belfiore, the update will be sent out to existing Windows Phone users in the next few months. Sadly, he didn’t provide a more specific timeline. It’s similarly approximate for its release on brand new hardware, but we should look out for them on shelves from the end of April and in early May. Meet Cortana, your personal assistant Microsoft has introduced its own personal assistant in Windows Phone 8.1, and gamers, you can sleep happily in your beds, as it has secured the Cortana name. For you non-gamers, Cortana is the name of the artificially intelligent computer in the Halo series. Accessed through a Live Tile, or a long press of the search button, Cortana will provide help on most apps, from making calls, sending messages, performing searches, and informing you about music that’s playing on your phone. For a more personalized relationship, Cortana can interact with third-party apps, including Facebook and Twitter, where she can post tweets for you. Her main screen shows a blue circle, and a search bar, while a swipe up on the screen reveals a scrollable list of news, the weather, and contextual help. For the latter to work, she needs to read your email, through which she will note trackable data, such as flight times. Windows Phone 81 Cortana Like all good personal assistants, Cortana has a notebook, where she can keep track of your interests and things you search for frequently. When something comes up which she thinks will be useful in the future, she will ask you if you want a note to be stored, and will refer back to them at another time. You can converse with Cortana using natural language, and verbal commands can be specific, such as “call this person using Skype,” or adding a new show to your Hulu queue. Facebook is supported too, and you can ask “What’s up with this person,” and she’ll take you to the app and that person’s page. Cleverly, reminders can be set for people too. If you ask to be reminded about a subject the next time you speak to a particular person, she’ll make sure to let you know when you make that call. Cortana was demonstrated on stage setting alarms, and making calendar appointments. She will notice any conflicting dates, and will rearrange for you. She’s powered by Bing, and will perform Internet searches based on your preferences. If you ask to see the best restaurants in the area for example, she will only look at those with four stars or more. You can then drill down to find ones which will take reservations, and finally ask Cortana to call the number. Other features demonstrated including searching for sports scores, answering general Internet searches, and checking the weather. It’s all performed in natural language, just like Siri on iOS, but you can also interact with Cortana using the keyboard. This includes giving instructions to her, again in a natural way, and performing local searches on the phone. The app is still in beta, and Cortana will first be available in America, then expand out to other countries including the UK and China. Action Center arrives for notifications, and the lock screen gets a makeover Action Center is a pull down notification drawer, which shows a battery percentage meter, dual-SIM information, customizable quick settings, and a list of new notifications. It’s accessible from all over the user interface. Windows Phone has always been good looking, but the lock screen was a little plain. That changes in Windows Phone 8.1. Themes can now be downloaded from the app store, which change the way the screen looks, including new clocks, and some very slick unlock animations. Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/windows-phone-8-1-rumors-news-release-date/#ixzz2z6x6fhQG Follow us: @digitaltrends on Twitter | digitaltrendsftw on Facebook
Meet Cortana: The New Windows Phone 8.1 Personal Assistant http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/features-8-1?signin=true What's great about it is that Windows is putting it on even their cheapest phone. Mine cost $59.00 Nokia 520
