April 4, 2014 at 16:07Big Premiere Time: Nokia at Microsoft BUILD Conference
Hello, Habr!
As you may know, the big Microsoft BUILD Developer Conference 2014 is taking place these days . In 2013, the event was attended by more than 6,000 developers, and the most memorable event, in addition to announcements and demonstrations, was the impressive interactive light show Nokia Lumia .
However, this year the scale of the premier of Microsoft and Nokia may well surpass the past: BUILD features Windows Phone 8.1, the flagship smartphone Nokia Lumia 930 and the line of future bestsellers Nokia Lumia 630/635.
Before talking about new smartphones, we focus on their software component, namely Windows Phone 8.1. A detailed review of the mobile platform update is most likely to be published in the near future on the official Microsoft blog on Habrahabr, so we just focus on key changes.
The main innovation is, of course, the Cortana voice assistant, which will completely replace the standard search in Windows Phone. Moreover, Cortana, named after the virtual assistant from the popular HALO game series, is not just a voice search, it is a real assistant with a kind of artificial intelligence. During its development, colleagues from Microsoft conducted several dozen interviews with the best personal assistants in order to find out what makes a good assistant the best. Thanks to the support of natural voice queries, she can not only find any information inside the smartphone and on the global network, but also fully plan her day, launch applications and much more.
Cortana’s capabilities are indicated, for example, by the ability, in response to a request for planning an event, to instantly identify and report a possible intersection of plans, if another scheduled event has previously appeared in the correspondence or calendar. Cortana is also able to find restaurants according to specified parameters (approx. “Find a good sushi bar in Moscow”) and help in booking a table, answer questions about the weather in the city or report the results of a sports match. In addition, the assistant can be instructed to remind the format "next time I call my sister, remind me to ask about her new puppy."
Cortana is tightly integrated into the system, but its functions can be expanded using third-party applications, for example, by interacting with Facebook, Skype or Twitter. Moreover, the user can independently control what data Cortana can work with: interests, reminders, music, locations, etc.
At first, Cortana will appear as a beta version in the US market, and then will gradually receive support in other regions.
The long-awaited innovation in Windows Phone 8.1 is the notification center. Its menu can be called up with a “traditional” swipe from top to bottom. In addition to displaying the latest events from social networks, instant messengers and other applications, the notification center provides quick access to settings and switching modes. At the same time, each user will be able to customize the quick access list to their personal needs (for example: highlight Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS switches).
A few nice options got the platform interface. Firstly, users got the opportunity to set a single background image instead of the plain color of the “tiles”. In this case, the background image will be static, and transparent “tiles” will move above it when scrolling up and down.
Secondly, it became possible to install 3 rows of "tiles" on most of the devices on Windows Phone. Recall that the previously three-row “home screen” was the prerogative of larger screens Nokia Lumia 1520 and 1320.
Thirdly, it is the ability to customize the “lock screen” thanks to a whole set of built-in themes. They should add variety to how the user will unlock their smartphone and view notifications.
The app store’s interface has also undergone a number of changes, including a new look for the app’s ratings display page, the start page, and many other menu items.
The keyboard in Windows Phone, once recognized as the best keyboard for mobile devices, has been significantly updated. Having acquired its own name, Word Flow, the keyboard received support for “swipe gestures” and a more developed intelligence. She can now not only predict words by context, but also, for example, automatically put emoticons in the text.
By the way, now the buttons themselves can be not only touch-sensitive (read physical), but also virtual, which gives designers a certain freedom in developing new smartphones on Windows Phone 8.1. A vivid example of this was our new line of smartphones Lumia 630/635, which received a similar way to manage key functions.
These smartphones also support another new feature of WP8.1, namely the ability to work with two SIM cards. But back to this a little later.
Among the useful features of Windows Phone 8.1, which should appeal to users of Nokia Lumia, include the long-awaited separate volume for different applications and system menus. Which means, for example, the ability to adjust the volume of music separately from the overall volume of the smartphone. By the way, the Music and Video application with the system update will be divided into two independent services: Xbox Music and Xbox Video.
And one of the most important innovations for developers (and, as a result, for end consumers) has become support for universal applications that can run on both Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1. Moreover, if the application is such an application will be paid, then users will only need to purchase it once to run on (!) Any of the WP and Windows devices.
The list of innovations in Windows Phone 8.1 also includes:
• Support for VPN and S / MIME;
• Support for DLNA;
• Improved integration of the capabilities of social networks Twitter and Facebook in the hub "People";
• İnternet Explorer 11 with support for WebGL and improved support for HTLM5;
• Battery Power Sense to identify programs that consume the most battery power;
• Wi-Fi Sense - a feature that allows you to share a secure connection with contacts in Skype, Facebook and Outlook without giving them a password;
• Quiet hours, a function that allows you to limit the circle of contacts that can contact the user in the specified period of time;
• Automatic updates for applications over the air (similar to Windows 8.1);
• Changes in the work of NFC;
• Install applications and games on a memory card;
• Support WiFi Direct;
• Improved calendar.
And now the most important thing: Windows Phone 8.1 will begin to spread “over the air” to all existing Lumia models with Windows Phone 8 this summer along with the proprietary update Lumia Cyan.
In addition to the above innovations in Windows Phone 8.1, Nokia Lumia users will have access to new image manipulation capabilities. The main improvements will concern the display of the photo gallery, in addition, an advanced application for working with Creative Studio images will appear.
The Nokia Stories application will also be updated, which will allow you to share the pictures you have taken in the video slideshow format.
After the upgrade, the Windows Phone 8.1 business package will also be available for all Lumia devices, which includes a number of applications for corporate use and additional data protection systems. With this business package, new devices will be able to strengthen their position in the segment of business devices.
With the Lumia Cyan update, there will be support for SensorCore technology introduced in the new devices of the Lumia line. It provides in fitness solutions, such as Bing Health and Fitness, fundamentally new energy-efficient opportunities for receiving data from smartphone sensors.
Along with the update, two developer tools were announced:
- SensorCore SDK, which has already been tested in several partner companies, will be useful to the developer when creating applications using SensorCore technology;
- The updated development package Imaging SDK 1.2 BETA for working with images in Nokia Lumia, provides new opportunities for creating the next generation of applications for working with images and social networks.
Starting today, the package is available here . The new Imaging SDK1.2 introduces advanced imaging capabilities and filter effects.
We will certainly provide details about the new tools in our future posts.
The star of the first day of the BUILD conference, of course, was the new flagship smartphone Nokia Lumia 930. The
smartphone is equipped with a five-inch OLED screen with ClearBlack technology with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (pixel density is 441 pixels / inch). The touch screen covered with Gorilla Glass 3 is traditionally characterized by high sensitivity and allows you to control your smartphone with gloves on.
The Nokia Lumia 930 case consists of two parts: a monolithic metal frame in silver or black and a polycarbonate back cover in black, white, orange or green, which protects the components enclosed inside. Thanks to such a combination of materials and a variety of color solutions, the smartphone can appeal to both lovers of bright design and fans of strict solutions. By the way, the metal frame, which contains all the components of the smartphone, was used not only for aesthetics, but also to increase the overall strength of the device. The dimensions of the smartphone are 137 x 71 x 9.8 mm with a mass of 167 g.
The smartphone is based on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with a clock frequency of 2.2 GHz with an Adreno 330 graphics chip. The RAM is 2 GB and the internal memory is 32 GB.
The main camera of Nokia Lumia 930 is made using PureView technology and has a resolution of 20 megapixels (1 / 2.5-inch format sensor). The camera received ZEISS optics and a dual LED flash. Thanks to the maximum aperture value of F / 2.4, the smartphone will be able to take high-quality pictures in low light.
In addition, thanks to a high-quality camera and Rich Recording technology, which includes a system of four microphones, the smartphone allows you to record video in 1080p format with perfect sound quality.
The smartphone supports all modern communication standards, including LTE networks, Wi-Fi WLAN IEEE 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.
The battery capacity is 2420 mAh, providing 16 hours of talk time and 9 hours of video viewing. As befits Nokia flagship devices, the smartphone supports Qi wireless charging.
Sales of Nokia Lumia 930 will begin in June in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and India.
Technical specifications Nokia Lumia 930.
Future bestsellers, entry-level smartphones Nokia Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 have similar characteristics and design, but they have a number of cardinal differences. The Lumia 630 has two versions with support for one and two SIM cards, while the Lumia 635 supports LTE networks. The Lumia 630 also features a matte plastic case, and the Lumia 635 model boasts interchangeable panels of two-layer glossy plastic with a “depth effect” (as in the predecessor Lumia 625).
The implementation of support for two SIM cards in Windows Phone 8.1 is interesting: each of the phone numbers has its own “tiles” for calls and messages. In this case, in the smartphone settings, the user can by default set the choice of a SIM card for calls to a specific number from contacts.
Both smartphones are equipped with 4.5-inch IPS displays with ClearBlack technology with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. The models are built on the basis of a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with a clock frequency of 1.2 GHz and have 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of internal memory, expandable via microSD up to (!) 128 GB. Windows Phone has been optimized to work with devices with RAM less than 1 GB, so users can run applications and games without any restrictions.
The camera in each device allows you to take pictures with a resolution of 5 megapixels, which is a good indicator for models of the initial price segment. Batteries have a capacity of 1830 mAh.
The devices offer functionality comparable to expensive Lumia smartphones. By default, they support SensorCore technology with Bing Health and Fitness, the Microsoft Office application suite, Nokia Camera, free streaming music from Nokia MixRadio, and free HERE world maps and navigation.
In Russia, the Nokia Lumia 630 is expected in May at an estimated price of 7990 rubles for a device with one SIM card and 8490 rubles for a device with two SIM cards.
Nokia Lumia 635 will be available in many countries, including the United States, starting this summer.
The Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 will be available in white, orange and yellow.
Also in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, a black removable case will be available with each device.
Specifications Nokia Lumia 630.
Specifications Nokia Lumia 630 with two SIM cards.
As you may know, the big Microsoft BUILD Developer Conference 2014 is taking place these days . In 2013, the event was attended by more than 6,000 developers, and the most memorable event, in addition to announcements and demonstrations, was the impressive interactive light show Nokia Lumia .
However, this year the scale of the premier of Microsoft and Nokia may well surpass the past: BUILD features Windows Phone 8.1, the flagship smartphone Nokia Lumia 930 and the line of future bestsellers Nokia Lumia 630/635.
Windows Phone 8.1
Before talking about new smartphones, we focus on their software component, namely Windows Phone 8.1. A detailed review of the mobile platform update is most likely to be published in the near future on the official Microsoft blog on Habrahabr, so we just focus on key changes.
The main innovation is, of course, the Cortana voice assistant, which will completely replace the standard search in Windows Phone. Moreover, Cortana, named after the virtual assistant from the popular HALO game series, is not just a voice search, it is a real assistant with a kind of artificial intelligence. During its development, colleagues from Microsoft conducted several dozen interviews with the best personal assistants in order to find out what makes a good assistant the best. Thanks to the support of natural voice queries, she can not only find any information inside the smartphone and on the global network, but also fully plan her day, launch applications and much more.
Cortana’s capabilities are indicated, for example, by the ability, in response to a request for planning an event, to instantly identify and report a possible intersection of plans, if another scheduled event has previously appeared in the correspondence or calendar. Cortana is also able to find restaurants according to specified parameters (approx. “Find a good sushi bar in Moscow”) and help in booking a table, answer questions about the weather in the city or report the results of a sports match. In addition, the assistant can be instructed to remind the format "next time I call my sister, remind me to ask about her new puppy."
Cortana is tightly integrated into the system, but its functions can be expanded using third-party applications, for example, by interacting with Facebook, Skype or Twitter. Moreover, the user can independently control what data Cortana can work with: interests, reminders, music, locations, etc.
At first, Cortana will appear as a beta version in the US market, and then will gradually receive support in other regions.
The long-awaited innovation in Windows Phone 8.1 is the notification center. Its menu can be called up with a “traditional” swipe from top to bottom. In addition to displaying the latest events from social networks, instant messengers and other applications, the notification center provides quick access to settings and switching modes. At the same time, each user will be able to customize the quick access list to their personal needs (for example: highlight Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS switches).
A few nice options got the platform interface. Firstly, users got the opportunity to set a single background image instead of the plain color of the “tiles”. In this case, the background image will be static, and transparent “tiles” will move above it when scrolling up and down.
Secondly, it became possible to install 3 rows of "tiles" on most of the devices on Windows Phone. Recall that the previously three-row “home screen” was the prerogative of larger screens Nokia Lumia 1520 and 1320.
Thirdly, it is the ability to customize the “lock screen” thanks to a whole set of built-in themes. They should add variety to how the user will unlock their smartphone and view notifications.
The app store’s interface has also undergone a number of changes, including a new look for the app’s ratings display page, the start page, and many other menu items.
The keyboard in Windows Phone, once recognized as the best keyboard for mobile devices, has been significantly updated. Having acquired its own name, Word Flow, the keyboard received support for “swipe gestures” and a more developed intelligence. She can now not only predict words by context, but also, for example, automatically put emoticons in the text.
By the way, now the buttons themselves can be not only touch-sensitive (read physical), but also virtual, which gives designers a certain freedom in developing new smartphones on Windows Phone 8.1. A vivid example of this was our new line of smartphones Lumia 630/635, which received a similar way to manage key functions.
These smartphones also support another new feature of WP8.1, namely the ability to work with two SIM cards. But back to this a little later.
Among the useful features of Windows Phone 8.1, which should appeal to users of Nokia Lumia, include the long-awaited separate volume for different applications and system menus. Which means, for example, the ability to adjust the volume of music separately from the overall volume of the smartphone. By the way, the Music and Video application with the system update will be divided into two independent services: Xbox Music and Xbox Video.
And one of the most important innovations for developers (and, as a result, for end consumers) has become support for universal applications that can run on both Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 8.1. Moreover, if the application is such an application will be paid, then users will only need to purchase it once to run on (!) Any of the WP and Windows devices.
The list of innovations in Windows Phone 8.1 also includes:
• Support for VPN and S / MIME;
• Support for DLNA;
• Improved integration of the capabilities of social networks Twitter and Facebook in the hub "People";
• İnternet Explorer 11 with support for WebGL and improved support for HTLM5;
• Battery Power Sense to identify programs that consume the most battery power;
• Wi-Fi Sense - a feature that allows you to share a secure connection with contacts in Skype, Facebook and Outlook without giving them a password;
• Quiet hours, a function that allows you to limit the circle of contacts that can contact the user in the specified period of time;
• Automatic updates for applications over the air (similar to Windows 8.1);
• Changes in the work of NFC;
• Install applications and games on a memory card;
• Support WiFi Direct;
• Improved calendar.
Nokia Cyan
And now the most important thing: Windows Phone 8.1 will begin to spread “over the air” to all existing Lumia models with Windows Phone 8 this summer along with the proprietary update Lumia Cyan.
In addition to the above innovations in Windows Phone 8.1, Nokia Lumia users will have access to new image manipulation capabilities. The main improvements will concern the display of the photo gallery, in addition, an advanced application for working with Creative Studio images will appear.
The Nokia Stories application will also be updated, which will allow you to share the pictures you have taken in the video slideshow format.
After the upgrade, the Windows Phone 8.1 business package will also be available for all Lumia devices, which includes a number of applications for corporate use and additional data protection systems. With this business package, new devices will be able to strengthen their position in the segment of business devices.
With the Lumia Cyan update, there will be support for SensorCore technology introduced in the new devices of the Lumia line. It provides in fitness solutions, such as Bing Health and Fitness, fundamentally new energy-efficient opportunities for receiving data from smartphone sensors.
Along with the update, two developer tools were announced:
- SensorCore SDK, which has already been tested in several partner companies, will be useful to the developer when creating applications using SensorCore technology;
- The updated development package Imaging SDK 1.2 BETA for working with images in Nokia Lumia, provides new opportunities for creating the next generation of applications for working with images and social networks.
Starting today, the package is available here . The new Imaging SDK1.2 introduces advanced imaging capabilities and filter effects.
We will certainly provide details about the new tools in our future posts.
Nokia Lumia 930
The star of the first day of the BUILD conference, of course, was the new flagship smartphone Nokia Lumia 930. The
smartphone is equipped with a five-inch OLED screen with ClearBlack technology with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (pixel density is 441 pixels / inch). The touch screen covered with Gorilla Glass 3 is traditionally characterized by high sensitivity and allows you to control your smartphone with gloves on.
The Nokia Lumia 930 case consists of two parts: a monolithic metal frame in silver or black and a polycarbonate back cover in black, white, orange or green, which protects the components enclosed inside. Thanks to such a combination of materials and a variety of color solutions, the smartphone can appeal to both lovers of bright design and fans of strict solutions. By the way, the metal frame, which contains all the components of the smartphone, was used not only for aesthetics, but also to increase the overall strength of the device. The dimensions of the smartphone are 137 x 71 x 9.8 mm with a mass of 167 g.
The smartphone is based on a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with a clock frequency of 2.2 GHz with an Adreno 330 graphics chip. The RAM is 2 GB and the internal memory is 32 GB.
The main camera of Nokia Lumia 930 is made using PureView technology and has a resolution of 20 megapixels (1 / 2.5-inch format sensor). The camera received ZEISS optics and a dual LED flash. Thanks to the maximum aperture value of F / 2.4, the smartphone will be able to take high-quality pictures in low light.
In addition, thanks to a high-quality camera and Rich Recording technology, which includes a system of four microphones, the smartphone allows you to record video in 1080p format with perfect sound quality.
The smartphone supports all modern communication standards, including LTE networks, Wi-Fi WLAN IEEE 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.
The battery capacity is 2420 mAh, providing 16 hours of talk time and 9 hours of video viewing. As befits Nokia flagship devices, the smartphone supports Qi wireless charging.
Sales of Nokia Lumia 930 will begin in June in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and India.
Technical specifications Nokia Lumia 930.
Nokia Lumia 630 / Lumia 635
Future bestsellers, entry-level smartphones Nokia Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 have similar characteristics and design, but they have a number of cardinal differences. The Lumia 630 has two versions with support for one and two SIM cards, while the Lumia 635 supports LTE networks. The Lumia 630 also features a matte plastic case, and the Lumia 635 model boasts interchangeable panels of two-layer glossy plastic with a “depth effect” (as in the predecessor Lumia 625).
The implementation of support for two SIM cards in Windows Phone 8.1 is interesting: each of the phone numbers has its own “tiles” for calls and messages. In this case, in the smartphone settings, the user can by default set the choice of a SIM card for calls to a specific number from contacts.
Both smartphones are equipped with 4.5-inch IPS displays with ClearBlack technology with a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. The models are built on the basis of a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with a clock frequency of 1.2 GHz and have 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of internal memory, expandable via microSD up to (!) 128 GB. Windows Phone has been optimized to work with devices with RAM less than 1 GB, so users can run applications and games without any restrictions.
The camera in each device allows you to take pictures with a resolution of 5 megapixels, which is a good indicator for models of the initial price segment. Batteries have a capacity of 1830 mAh.
The devices offer functionality comparable to expensive Lumia smartphones. By default, they support SensorCore technology with Bing Health and Fitness, the Microsoft Office application suite, Nokia Camera, free streaming music from Nokia MixRadio, and free HERE world maps and navigation.
In Russia, the Nokia Lumia 630 is expected in May at an estimated price of 7990 rubles for a device with one SIM card and 8490 rubles for a device with two SIM cards.
Nokia Lumia 635 will be available in many countries, including the United States, starting this summer.
The Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 will be available in white, orange and yellow.
Also in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, a black removable case will be available with each device.
Specifications Nokia Lumia 630.
Specifications Nokia Lumia 630 with two SIM cards.