Lumia 920T leaks in China, could be Nokia's ticket to a huge new subscriber base

Cellphones

Lumia 920T leaks in China, could be Nokia's ticket to a huge new subscriber base

By Deepak Dhingra posted Oct 15th 2012 12:22PM

It's not just America waiting keenly on the Nokia Lumia 920 and its PureView powers -- new images have popped up proving that this Windows Phone 8 device is also headed to China. Corroborating earlier reports of a Lumia 920 that is compatible with China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network, the phone's settings screen mentions "CMCC", which is a reference to that operator -- although it's not clear whether the handset will also support the carrier's fledgling LTE network. The pics only show a dark-colored variant, but Nokia will no doubt be depending on the booming Chinese market to bring some sunshine to its balance sheet.

Sprint lets you make your name your phone number for $3 a month

What if, instead of handing over some hard to remember combination of 10 digits when it came time to exchange numbers you could just give someone your name? Sprint is actually willing to let you enjoy the luxury of having your own vanity phone number, so long as you're willing to fork over $3 a month for the privilege. This isn't the sort of service enjoyed by businesses, though -- no one will be dialing 1-800-Joe-Schmoe. Instead the carrier is offering "StarStar" numbers from a company called Zoove. So now, friends will just punch a couple of asterisks into their handset followed by your name, Twitter handle or anything else you might desire to get in touch with you. Of course, in the age of smartphones, we're pretty sure memorizing phone numbers isn't a skill anyone actually uses anymore. So might be that your $3 a month and clever new number will never be recognized by anyone.

Barnes & Noble Nook HD, HD+ vs. Nook Tablet: what's changed?

When William Barnes and G. Clifford Noble set up their first bookstore in 1917, neither of them could have conceived of an e-reader or tablet, let alone trying to sell one of 'em. Their historical lack of foresight aside, the company outed a pair of second generation slates this morning, and it's our job to see what technical nips and tucks have been made from version one. If you love to start the day with a spec chart comparison, then why not grab a bowl of cereal and join us after the break?

Texas Instruments wants to ditch smartphones, switch focus to embedded processors

Texas Instruments has made the startling announcement that it's going to wind down its wildly successful smartphone and tablet business in favor of embedded systems. VP Greg Delagi told investors that the switch would create a more "stable" and "long-term business" than the cutthroat battles it's faced in mobile. While, currently the world's third biggest semiconductor company, it's concerned about losing ground to players like Qualcomm, Samsung and Apple -- despite its latest OMAP CPUs powering tablets like the Nook HD and Kindle Fire. We're scratching our heads as to why a major player would drop such a strong position like this, but perhaps they know something that we don't.

An apple a day...

As I'm sure most of you have heard the news by now, but Apple has released their latest iphone this week. As a life-long apple enthusiast, I was quite excited to see what they would do to improve the already best selling phone in the world. Once again, they did not disappoint.... After reading just about every review on the web, I made up this brief conclusion myself. Do not forget, I have NOT handled the new iphone yet as it does not make it to shelves until this Friday, September 21st.

The good: The iPhone 5 adds everything we wanted in the iPhone 4S: 4G LTE, a longer, larger screen, and a faster A6 processor. Plus, its top-to-bottom redesign is sharp, slim, and feather-light.

The bad: Sprint and Verizon models can't use voice and data simultaneously. The smaller connector renders current accessories unusable without an adapter. There's no NFC, and the screen size pales in comparison to jumbo Android models.

The bottom line: The iPhone 5 completely rebuilds the iPhone on a framework of new features and design, addressing its major previous shortcomings. It's absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.

First post of first blog.... EVER.