Nokia Canada Website has WP7 Front and Centre! + Lumia 800 Updates

Not sure if some of you have been over at the Nokia Canada website recently but WP7 is front and centre with pretty much all the Lumia devices Nokia is offering (or about to offer in Canada).  It's good to see them finally ridding themselves of Symbian (at least in the welcome pages).

If you have a Lumia 800, Nokia is releasing a firmware update around the world that should the battery problem when idling (other sites have reported significant increase in battery life - mostly because the firmware has reduced the amount of current drawn while the phone is idle).

If you are a previous WP7 owner, you might remember the Microsoft website where they posts where abouts the firmware update is in terms of each country and each carrier.  What you also probably remember is that Microsoft also took this update site now recently (for the 7740 and 8107 updates) because the carriers are probably complaining that MS is making them look bad for still not releasing the firmware updates (see AT&T)

So what does Nokia do?  They created their own "where's my update" page.  It's in the Nokia Europe website (source: pocketnow.com) which is kinda of weird.  What's even weirder is that it does contain update information for the 800 for Canada (and the good ol' US of A).  So head on over if you want to check whether or not your Lumia 800 is receiving the updates soon.  

As March 31, there's no update for Canadians yet.

However, if you are lucky enough to have an unbranded Lumia 800, you should already be receiving this  new Nokia firmware.

Must have WP7s for you hardcore gamers!

Over the next several weeks, I'll be sharing some of the apps I have been using for the last little while.

It's almost 1.5 years since the launch of WP7 in Canada and over that time, I have installed/uninstalled quite a number of apps as they are released.

If you are new to WP7, then I hope my series of recommended apps (paid/unpaid) would help you find the apps that you are looking for.

I am a pretty big gamer (a hardcode gamer) as I do play a lot of console games when I have time, I own both an XBOX360 and a PS3.  Casual games are not really my thing but there are some good ones that are on the WP7 that are definitely worth mentioning.  There are quite a few of them so instead I'll get to those in the future.

First of all,  I am in no way associated with Microsoft or any of the WP7 app publishers.  Just that some of these apps are quite useful and a lot of them are pretty damn awesome and I'd thought I shared them with you guys.  Free feel to add what apps you like in the comments section.

If you are a hardcore gamer, the games can get pretty expensive.  Fortunately, there an app for that:

If you are familiar with the website tivs.ca, well, you are in luck as there's also a wp7 version of this.  This app gives you the last known trade in values for games for different console and handheld devices so you know where you will be getting the best trade in Canadian buck (FREE!)

Click here to install on your WP7   

If you own an XBOX360, you have to download this free app from Microsoft.  The XBOX LIVE Companion app allows you to turn your WP7 into a remote control for your XBOX360 console over WiFi (it actually works also over 3G!).  Also FREE!

Click here to install on your WP7

One of the recently BIG EPIC games on the XBOX360, PS3 and the PC has to be Mass Effect 3.  Fortunately, there is an app for your Mass Effect 3 adventure as this app contains walkthrus, powers, and a whole lot more about this awesome RPG/Adventure/Action game. Also FREE!

Click here to install on your WP7

More app posts on the way!

Nokia Lumia 710 coming soon to WIND!

Over at MobileSyrup, they are reporting that the Nokia assault on Canada is continuing with the Nokia Lumia 710 making its way over to WIND.  So this will be WIND's second WP7 phone besides the HTC Radar (tried it, liked it, very solid build - I am still holding for a Lumia 800 or 900)

The release date it claims should be sometime in April.

Would be interesting to see how this will be priced since the outright price at Rogers is  $254.99.  Will this force Rogers to finally release this phone on Fido?

All I know is that WIND needs some high end WP7 phones.  How about some 800/900 love?

Competition is always good I guess.. now if they can just get some better phones... but it's a good start.

Source: MobileSyrup

At least Canadian Carriers aren't AT&T

If you thought your Canadian Wireless Carriers hates you, you are not along, from the endless 3 yr contracts to the one of the highest mobile phone rates in the world, that crosses my mind everyday (especially if you have been to Hong Kong where $40 HKD - around $5.50 or so Cdn) gets you around 1000 minutes in airtime on a temporary SIM card you can buy from 7-Eleven on any network.

At least Robellus (and some say WIND) are not AT&T.

Besides the crappy coverage, AT&T just announced that they will not push out the Mango 8107 update to any of their current WP7 handsets (guess Lumia is pre-shipped with it) where it fixes the sometime disappear keyboard problem.  Yes the same firmware updates we Canadians have been enjoying the last month and a bit (if you haven't got it yet, remember to plug your phone into Zune or the Windows Phone Connector on your Mac)

Good thing Americans only have to sign their life away 2 years at a time.  Bring on the Lumia 900!

Cross Border Gas app now available

Have you ever wonder how much $$ you are saving when filling up in the US?  No?  Well, I have..  Since Math is hard, I have decided to write an app that does this for me.

All you will need is the exchange rate (or you can acquire it from the bank of Canada directly inside the app), the per litre price (in Cdn$) from your area, the price per gallon in the US and the total amount you paid for filling up in the US and my app will tell you how much the Canadian Government and Gas companies are screwing you over.

Trial version and Paid versions are exactly the same (both ad driven) but if you like buy me a coffee for the awesomeness of it telling you how much you are getting screwed over by filling up in Canada, you can purchase it via the donate link within the app or just buy the app for a low low price of 99 cents (I swear I can't make it any cheaper!) plus appropriate taxes

Click here on your Windows Phone or use Bing Vision on this QR code

Nokia Lumia 900 pre-order available at Rogers

The 3rd Nokia movement known as the Lumia 900 is now available for pre-order over at Rogers.

Strangely, only the black one is available at the moment.

This is a 4.3" version of the beautiful Nokia 800 with a front facing camera plus support for LTE

New customers can pre-order one at $99.99 on a 3 yr term with a minimal ($45/month) plan - strangely lower than more smartphone subsidized plans as they are normally $50/month for the subsidies to kick in.

If you preorder, you are eligible to win a private pre-screening of Dark Knight Rises and other prizes.

No outright prices or official release date available yet but at least it is getting closer!

Check this out for more information!

Nokia Lumia 800 on sale at Telus + Good Reviews!

Wow, that was fast, less than a week after official release, the Lumia 800 can now be had at Telus for $24.99 (3 yr term or $50 per month or more plan)

It's part of a smartphone sale at Telus that will last until March 31

Looks like quite a few people have picked up the phone judging from the number of customer reviews in less than a week's time.  The average scores for the reviews so far is a excellent 4.7/5 stars from 22 reviews I saw this morning.  The "low" scores mostly come from the battery life but Nokia is in the middle of rolling out the battery fix which some websites have been significant battery life improvement due to the battery drain improvement while the phone is idle

So head on over to Telus and check out this sale and the reviews!

Developer Movement - Rewards are arriving?

It looks that the Canada only Developer Movement is for real and are finally doling out the rewards.  This program was start around last Christmas solely targeting Canadian developers

Just received an email yesterday alerting that my app publication from a month ago qualifies me for the first reward choice which is one of:

• A Kinect^™ Sensor for Xbox 360^®
• 10,000 Microsoft Points
• Monster^® Beats^™Headphones
• A 1TB External HD

The current one I am working on should qualify myself for additional goodies upon marketplace publication (haven't even really started yet) is one of:

• A Windows^® Phone 7
• A $500 Gift Voucher
• 35,000 Microsoft Points
• An Xbox 360^® with
  Kinect Bundle

As I have said before, these rewards look pretty good.  The Windows Phone 7 device is interesting as there are no mentioned of what it actually is (just that it is around $499 retail value).  What could it possibly be? (I am only speculating but if one of you WP7 developers out there knows what is it, please share)

There's still time to sign up if you haven't already, Canada only for once :)

This runs until May 20, 2012 (guess it means you must have your app published in the marketplace before then)

what's your choice of reward?  

Development Movement (again, Canadian developers only)

Nokia Lumia 900 - Rogers pricing coming into focus?

As previously posted, Rogers is getting ready to unleash the Lumia 900 sometime in April.

Over at WPCentral, they have a screenshot of the possible pricing for this.

Now sure how accurate it is as it could be just a price placeholder.  The posted "price" is at $499.99 (could be the outright price, no idea).

What's more interesting is that one of lines in the screen shoot reads "Class    4 Rogers/Fido" - I don't work in mobile phones retail stores so it might just read "Rogers/Fido" for all Rogers based phones but to me it looked interesting (especially since I am still on Fido)

So head on over to WPCentral if you are interested.

Given this information, are you going to wait?  Or are you picking up the Lumia 800?

Nokia Lumia 800 now available at Telus

The Nokia Lumia 800 is now available over at Telus.

From the telus specs, looks like this will not work on WIND/Mobilicity.

Pricing:

$529.99 - no term
$479.99 - 1 year
$429.99 - 2 years
$49.99 - 3 years (so called promotional pricing as you will need a min $50 monthly plan)

Black, Cyan, and Magenta are the available colours over at TELUS.  I would imagine that sometime in the future, the glossy white one could become available.

Enjoy!

Link