The official CNN application for Windows Phone 7 has finally been released today and is exclusive to Nokia handsets for the next 90 days (Lumia 710, Lumia 800 and Lumia 900). As of right now the app seems to be relatively good with a great use of the Metro UI but suffers from a small bug/glitch; the videos feed isn’t loading at all (could be a simple server side problem). Other than that you get basically everything that you can except from such a news app and also access to CNN’s iReport functionality that lest you submit you iReports on the go directly from your handset. Check out my short hands-on video of it running on on of my Lumia 800s after the break:

In case you missed this little piece of news from late last week, the Bing team has announced that Bing Vision in Windows Phone 7 Mango is now available outside of the US (this has been the case since early February in some European countries like France) and also announced a new feature called Image Matching for Newspapers:

Enabling people to quickly find the digital version of a print magazine or newspaper article, Bing Image Matching for Newspapers allows users to take a photo of an article using their Windows Phone camera and link directly to a digital version of the article online.

Offering global access, consumers will have access to content from over 3,000 publications worldwide.

Image matching fro Newspaper ill only launch in March so don’t go around trying to scan every newspaper in sight yet (also note that Bing vision won’t be available everywhere either so just set your search region to US to try it out). Now where’s my local traffic data in Bing Maps please?

This month’s MWC in Barcelona will probably see the official unveiling and launch of the Tango update/build of Windows Phone 7. As things are getting closer to release we are stating to discover more info about this update’s features and today we may have stumble upon it’s official naming which is Windows Phone 7.7. Nothing really surprising here given that Mango is Windows Phone 7.5 (but is really only Windows Phone 7.1). The hackaton event will take place tomorrow in Greece so we may hear more about this in the coming hours.

A handful of screenshot of the upcoming Windows Phone 7.7 Build named Tango have recently appeared on a Russian site. As we have previously heard Tango will be mainly aimed at enabling lower-end handset to run Windows Phone 7 with lower ram requirements (even though 256MB has always been the minimum req for WP7), lower MP cameras,making some sensors optional and adding more language and region support. As you can see in the screenshot above this will obviously introduce a form of fragmentation in the ecosystem because some application will require more than 256Mb to run and thus not be compatible with some of the low end device running Tango. This is in someday reminiscent to the way the iOS platform works in terms of application compatibly across the iPhone models (but still far from the mess that is Android).

In addition to this Tango will also finally introduce video, audio sharing and multiple-attachments via MMS. Exporting contacts to the SIM card and more Data roaming option:

LG which was one of the most active launch partner of Windows Phone 7 in the fall of 2010 with the LG Optimus 7 and LG Quatum has been oddly missing from the WP7.5 Mango festivities a few months ago. The mysterious LG Fantasy that has emerged on the web several times in the past 6 months is back again flaunting in the wild and nearing it’s official unveiling later this month during MWC. So what can we expect from this devices? Well not much in terms of over all design compared to HTC and Nokia’s offerings and the SoC is apparently an MSM8255 clocked at only 1Ghz. The device also on packs 8GB of internal storage, a front facing VGA camera and a 5MP main camera with no flash on the back. The 4″ screen is a LCD TFT Nova panel. The most interesting part though is the inclusion of an NFC chip which as far as we knew won’t be supported until Windows Phone 8 Apollo launches later this year but seems to be functional under windows Phone 7.5 thanks to an native debug app developed by LG. Anyway, hit the break to watch the device in blurry action and more blurry pictures.

If you still had any doubt that Windows Phone 8 would be based on the Windows 8 kernel Microsoft just detailed the new desktop OS support for the ARM architecture in a lengthy posted today courtesy of the company’s Windows President Steven Sinofsky. Besides all the in-depth info provided in today post which I highly recommend you to read Steven also posted pictures of a rather old Asus Galaxy Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphone running a very early build of the ARM version of Windows 8 back when Microsoft didn’t have access to ARM based prototype tablets.

Other info included in today’s blog post is the claim that Windows 8 ARM tablets are still scheduled to start shipping during the same time frame as the first X86 tablets later this year. Windows 8 on ARM will also feature the desktop view contrary to what some rumors have claimed in the past few weeks and also offer regular Office software support. More importantly Windows on ARM aka WOA will not support any type of virtualization or emulation approach, and will not enable existing x86/64 applications to be ported or run. So if you want the best of both world and X86 based tablet will be your best option this fall. Anyway, head over past the break to see WOA in action and to the source link to read all about about it. If you are the proud owner of a Samsung Slate 7 BUILD Edition (the developer version) and want to sell it please contact me here as I’m really interested in getting one ASAP.

The much anticipated shooter which was announced more than a year ago has finally landed in the Xbox Live section of the marketplace today for the price of $2.99. The games performance is top notch on my Nokia Lumia 800 handset but didn’t have time to check it out on my Omnia 7 yet so go grb the trial version now to check it out for yourself especially if you have a 1st gen Windows Phone 7 handset. I personally found the Lumia’s 3.7″ screen to be a tad too small for this game though. Here’s what’s included:

- Multiple unique game modes, including Arcade, Survival, and Architect.
- Dozens of upgrades; because bigger guns are better guns.
- Several game modifiers; change the rules – change the game.
- Leaderboards; Show your friends just how much better than them you are.
- Achievements; 200 Gamerscore up for grabs.

The white Nokia Lumia 800 has just been made official by Nokia today with n estimated launch date of late February in the following countries: UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Finland, Poland and Switzerland. Besides the new color there’s nothing new about it compared to the previous black, cyan and fuchsia version of the handset. For more info and my latest hands on experience with the Lumia 800 please see here.

As you all already know my Nokia Lumia 800 user experience has been plagued with some serious issues that I didn’t hesitate to publicly report here in the past few weeks. Poor battery performance, disappearing battery status, poorly grounded screen digitizer, audio and camera issues, etc. The list isn’t short and many early Lumia 800 owners have suffered the same fate. My latest post made enough noise for Nokia to notice that something wrong was going on  and made them gracefully replace both my handsets with brand new ones coming straight from the factory.

So here are my recommendations based on my experience with the brand new phones:

1) If your device suffers from the missing battery bug: Get it replaced by your Operator/Carrier or Nokia Care

2) If your phone suffers from a really badly grounded digitizer (screen jitters even when the device is not being charged: Get it replaced. All Lumia 800 I have seen have a jittery screen when charged but it shouldn’t happen when the device is unplugged.

3) Battery Life: Seems to be fine on both new handsets but I need to test it further in the coming days. Don’t pay attention to the readings in the diagnostic app because they are all wrong (charge capacity etc..). Make sure to disable the OS Update notification via cell network in the settings to save some standby battery life and remember that setting the screen brightness to high will nuke your battery really fast (It would be really great if the medium settings was as bright as the one on the Omnia 7…).

UPDATE FEB 10: Battery went south today. Before going to sleep the phone reported 40% left, unfortunately 5 hours later when I woke up the phone was dead. I charged it but the thing seems to be permanently busted for now: Max battery capacity is now stuck between 800mAh and 950mAh which is below 1000mAh so Nokia says that it’s a hardware defect (my other phone experienced the weird fast battery rain earlier this week for no apparent reason either..). Everything is working fine on the device but the battery reading is totally wrong. The company is sending me to new phones which I should receive early next week (they also may be loaded with a beta FW so I can test if things are still running wild or not). I’m betting on a Radio or Qualcomm PM8058 Power Management IC driver issue. But in either cases this shouldn’t turn the device’s battery into a lemon…

4) Audio and Camera issues will be addressed in upcoming updates. One of my handsets doesn’t suffer from the pink/purple spot as much as the other so your mileage may vary

5) Screen viewing angles and color seems to be random depending on the device: as with my previous devices one of them is yellowish while the other is perfectly fine. As if the polarizing process wasn’t perfectly done on one of the two.

The Windows Phone Marketplace ongoing expansion has just hit a new milestone today with the service’s availability in five new countries: Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines. The Marketplace now reaches 41 countries worldwide and should hit 42 pretty soon once it opens in China (where dev can already submit their applications for certification). It should also be noted that application submitted to the Indonesia, Malaysia and China marketplace will be subject of additional requirements (censorship?) due to local laws, regulations, or norms.

In case you haven’t noticed yet the official Vimeo application is now finally available in a glorious Metro UI fashion on Windows Phone. The ratio of quality content on Vimeo is miles better than on YouTube so I highly recommend you to check it out as soon as possible especially if your device features an AMOLED screen (the UI is just gorgeous on them). Vimeo Windows Phone App Features:

• Watch and manage all your existing Vimeo videos
• Watch videos from your Vimeo inbox, Watch Later queue, or videos you have liked
• Easily like, comment on, and add videos to your Watch Later queue
• Discover new and fascinating featured videos
• Quickly search for videos on Vimeo
• Easily upload your footage in HD
• Pause and resume uploads
• Replace existing videos
• Edit titles, descriptions, tags, privacy settings, and credits
• Share via Facebook, Twitter, email, or SMS
• Add videos to your Groups, Channels, and Albums
• Get stats on plays, likes, and comments

Grab it directly from here

The good folks at Pocketnow who apparently managed to get their eyes on an internal Microsoft/Nokia video hosted by Joe Belfiore (I say apparently because they haven’t posted the video and it isn’t clear if they actually saw it or if they are reporting what somebody saw in it) detailing most of the new features coming with Windows Phone 8.

First of all the OS will be, as we all have been expecting, based on the Windows 8 Kernel and share the same networking stack, multimedia and security support as its bigger brother. This means that most Metro applications developed for Windows 8 will be easily portable to Windows Phone 8. Once again nothing really surprising here. Native code development will also be part of the show this time around and finally enable developers to creating richer applications and games. Microsoft is also apparently going to ditch the Zune desktop software in favor of an ActiveSync like integration with Windows 8 while Xbox and Skydrive integration will finally be fully backed into both the desktop and mobile OS (Ie: Music on Skydrive will instantly be available on the phone etc..). Skype which has yet to be released on Windows Phone 7 will also be seamlessly integrated into Windows Phone 8 and the Dialer/Phone application. Third party app-to-app communication will also be supported now. On the business front Windows Phone 8 will support Microsoft’s BitLocker encryption (128bit) and finally enable businesses to easily deploy proprietary software on the fleet of Windows Phones.

Internet Explorer 10 will also include server side compression support (via a proxy server) to reduce page loading times by 30%. This shouldn’t come as a surprise knowing that Microsoft was actually the first company to introduce such feature in the short R&D browser project on Windows Mobile 5 code named DeepFish a few years ago. Hopefully this feature will be optional though. The OS will also include a DataSmart Live Tile Functionality which ill serve as a hub where users can easily track their data usage (a similar feature is present in Windows 8 ) and LocalScout will detect nearby WiFi hotspots too.

On the hardware front Windows Phone 8 will now support four different screen resolutions (not specified) compared to only one right now (WVGA) and also multi-core CPU configurations. Nothing really uprising here given that we all expected it. Micrdo-SD expansion cards support will also be official now and allow users to finally have Windows Phone devices with more than 16Gb of internal storage. WP8 will also have native NFC support and a new Camera API that will allow hardware partners to more deeply integrate their camera.

Quick heads up to let you know that Need For Speed hot pursuit has just been released in the Windows Phone Marketplace for $4.99. You can grab the trial right know and try it out for yourself especially if you have a 1st generation handset just in case it doesn’t perform well on your handset. Everything is running smoothly on my Lumia 800 that I tested it on, the only nasty thing being the “right in your face” and low resolution mipmapping level used in this version of the game (compared to Android and iOS) which I’m guessing was done to make the game playable on the Adreno 200 powered handsets. I will shoot a hands one video later today to show you the game in action.

It has been a while since I posted any Android related news here so there you have it: According to an official Samsung statement the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy SIII will be announced in the first half of 2012 closer to its retail launch and not during MWC later this month unlike it’s predecessor the Galaxy S III which was announced there and released nearly 6 months later.

“Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012. The successor to the Galaxy S2 smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product.”

I would also like to point out that I unfortunately won’t be able to go to MWC this year because of my full time job (unless something changes between now and then..).

Just in case you where still putting any faith in that crazy Russian guy named Eldar…here’s another major blow to his latest FUD against Microsoft and Nokia:

Crazy Russian guy: WP8 os isnt compatible with wp7 on app level (u need to rewrite all apps). Thats another os core with metro ui…

Microsoft: Rewatch Mix11 keynote. We were pretty clear on this. Any app built today will run on next major Windows Phone version.

Windows Phone 7 apps will run on Windows Phone 8. Case closed.