Skype app launches beta version on Windows Phone Mango and up (video)

In the midst of this week's mobile madness, Skype has announced that its finally ready to arrive on its good friend's mobile platform. Yes, Windows Phone is getting its very own Skype app -- at least, a beta version. Compatible devices include the Nokia Lumia 710, Lumia 800, HTC Titan, Radar, Samsung Focus S and Focus Flash. A spokesperson has told us that the app will be available on most devices running Windows Phone 7.5 and above. This early version will allow free audio and video calls over WiFi or 3G, alongside those any-number paid-for calls. There's a brief video overview right after the break and the beta's available to download now.

Skype brings voice and video calling to Windows Phone users around the globe


Many of you have been waiting for this. And today we are excited to announce our new Skype for Windows Phone Beta app. This now makes Skype available on almost all of the leading mobile smartphone operating systems. The gold version of the app will be available in April, but starting today, you will be able to download the beta version to test drive Skype for Windows Phone and share your feedback with us.

Skype for Windows Phone Beta* supports the most important Skype features you've come to know and love. And you will be especially thrilled by the clean and simple Skype experience that the Metro user interface delivers on your Windows Phone. It has never before been so easy to connect with the people you care about most.

With Skype for Windows Phone Beta you can make free audio and video calls** to your Skype contacts over 3G and 4G or WiFi***, make affordable calls to landlines and mobiles using Skype Credit, create and hold one-to-one and group chats, and update your profile and account information, among others features.

This is only the beginning for Skype for Windows Phone...it's just going to get better and better. We see incredible potential to include Skype capabilities in Windows Phone in order to enable a great experience for you.

You can download the beta version of the Skype for Windows Phone app for free**** by clicking here directly from your Windows Phone, or simply scanning the QR code below. You will need to have a smartphone running Windows Phone 7.5. You can check what version of Windows Phone your phone is running at Settings > About.

We have already tested and certified the following devices for the best performance of Skype for Windows Phone:

· Nokia Lumia 710

· Nokia Lumia 800

· HTC Titan

· HTC Radar

· Samsung Focus S

· Samsung Focus Flash

Nokia announces 808 PureView: Belle OS, 4-inch display, 41-megapixel camera(!) (video)

Remember that Nokia PureView tease from a few days ago? Well, suddenly it all makes sense. We are indeed looking at an imaging flagship phone and a true successor to the N8. It's called the 808 PureView and it's expected to reach Europe in the next quarter for a price of 450 Euros. Before we move on to its craziest feature -- the camera, of course! -- let's run down the other key specs: The OS is Symbian Belle; the engine is a 1.3GHz single-core chip; the display is 4-inches corner to corner but its resolution is a Nokia-style 360 x 640 (nHD). There's 512MB of RAM and 16GB of on-board storage that is thankfully expandable via microSD. A Pentaband modem increases the chances of getting a signal while globe-trotting, while data speeds will top out at plain HSPA 14.4Mbps. Now that Carl Zeiss-lensed camera: it handles continuous-focus 1080p, but is claimed to have an incredible resolution of over 41-megapixels when shooting stills -- or 34-megapixels for 16:9 images. It's achieved by some clever sub-pixel interpolation jiggery-pokery that basically entails five pixels being merged into one, but we'll dig deeper very soon. It's expected to arrive in May at a price of €450 and if you're curious, we've got a gallery of beautiful hands-on images and video for your pleasure.

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Nokia 808 PureView ushers in a revolution in smartphone imaging

Nokia sets a new industry standard with the first in a range of high end experiences based on exclusive Nokia PureView imaging technologies.

Barcelona, Spain - Nokia today ushered in a new era in high-end smartphone imaging with the Nokia 808 PureView. This is the first smartphone to feature Nokia PureView imaging technologies, bringing together high resolution sensors, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia developed algorithms, which will support new high-end imaging experiences for future Nokia products.

The Nokia 808 PureView features a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology. At standard resolutions (2/3, 5 and 8 megapixels) this means the ability to zoom without loss of clarity and capture seven pixels of information, condensing into one pixel for the sharpest images imaginable. At high-resolution (38 megapixel maximum) it means the ability to capture an image, then zoom, reframe, crop and resize afterwards to expose previously unseen levels of details. With superior low-light performance and the ability to save in compact file sizes for sharing in email, MMS, and on social networks, the Nokia 808 PureView makes it possible for anyone to capture professional looking images in any conditions.

In addition to superior still imaging technology, the Nokia 808 PureView, also includes full HD 1080p video recording and playback with 4X lossless zoom and the world's first use of Nokia Rich Recording. Rich Recording enables audio recording at CD-like levels of quality, previously only possible with external microphones. The Nokia 808 PureView also features exclusive Dolby Headphone technology, transforming stereo content into a personal surround sound experience over any headphones and Dolby Digital Plus for 5.1 channel surround sound playback.

"Nokia PureView imaging technology sets a new industry standard by whatever measure you use," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices. "People will inevitably focus on the 41 megapixel sensor, but the real quantum leap is how the pixels are used to deliver breath-taking image quality at any resolution and the freedom it provides to choose the story you want to tell."

Hands On Videos for Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia and Microsoft today announced the new Nokia Lumia 900 at CES, this new smartphone have the same characteristics of Nokia Lumia 800 but there's good hardware change which differentiate it from it's predecessor. We have recently posted an comparison chart between the new Nokia Lumia 900 verses the top smartphones right now available.

Here we have Hands-On videos of the new Nokia Lumia 900, so check out all of them to have an better review of it:

For More News on Apple, Microsoft, Google, Web And all new trending in Technology World, Stay Tuned with us.

Effort underway to port HARET / Android to Gen 1 Windows Phones

Some ex-Windows Mobile users may remember HARET as the tool used to enable to booting of Android on the old HTC HD2.

Now an effort is underway to bring the tool to Windows Phone 7.  I think it is safe to say the lead on the project is doing this more as a way to convert a nice Windows Phones to Android, writing:

WP7 is and will be shipped on many devices with quality hardware. In order to be able to run Linux on these, a novel aim is to investigate the use of HaRET on WP7 based devices.

I am sure however that there are a few Windows Phone users who would not mind hacking around with their device to access the full potential of the hardware.

I myself on the other hand would prefer an effort to port Windows Phone to some tasty Android hardware, like the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, with its massive battery and thin form factor. Maybe with Windows Phone 8…

Read more on the effort, which is really still only in the planning phases, at XDA-Developers.com here.

Confirmed: iPad 3 Has a 2048x1536 Retina Display

Over the past couple of months, several photos of displays claimed to be for the iPad 3have surfaced from various sources. Such parts leaks are typical with the device's expected debut early next month. While reports have claimed that these displays are high-resolution "Retina" displays, there has been no definite confirmation of these claims so far. 


MacRumors has now been able to obtain one of these iPad 3 displays and examine it under a microscope in an effort to determine whether it is indeed an ultra-high resolution Retina display. Physically, the purported iPad 3 display is the same size as the current iPad 1 and iPad 2 display at 9.7" in diagonal, and looks quite similar to the naked eye. 

However, when comparing the iPad 3 display to one from an iPad 2 under a microscope, the difference in resolutions becomes readily apparent, with the iPad 3 display's pixels appearing to be one-quarter the size of those on the iPad 2. 


Since we only had a raw iPad 3 display with no method to power it, taking high quality photos of the pixels was difficult. Still, even with the relatively poor lighting, you can easily make out the pixels on each display (made up of red, green and blue elements). We highlighted a cluster of 4 pixels (2x2) from the iPad 2 to compare it to the same area on the iPad 3. On the iPad 3, the same cluster was occupied by 16 pixels (4x4) -- exactly twice the resolution in each direction. 

Extrapolating out, the iPad 3 screen should carry a full resolution of 2048x1536, exactly twice the linear resolution of the iPad 1 and iPad 2 which is 1024x768. Such a screen should be able to display much sharper images as compared to the previous generation iPads. 

While these iPad 3 screens weren't directly sourced from Apple, they are labeled as OEM replacement parts for the iPad 3 and are apparently in mass production. The difficulties of any 3rd party in mass producing 2048x1536 9.7" Retina displays make us quite confident that these represent legitimate iPad 3 parts.introduce the iPad with a media event on March 7, and the device is rumored to be carrying this high-resolution display, a new A6 system-on-a-chip, and LTE support for models with cellular data capabilities.